Welcome to Protect Pit Bulls.

This site was originally planned for a later release however in light of recent news events it time to get it started. So I apologize for the crude look of the site, it will start to evolve and in the near future not only point fingers at bad pit owners, but also offer Pit Bull training tips, information, and a QandA forum.

NEW! Nala's Pit Bull Enemy List Click Here!

NEW! Nala's Pit Bull Heros List Click Here!

Recent News:

2007-08-24 NFL suspends Vick indefinitely without pay
2007-08-24 Vick files plea, admits bankrolling operation
2007-08-20 Vick accepts plea deal

I’m sure by now every Pit Bull owner has heard of Atlanta Falcons Michael Vick. He is the one that despite his PRO Football career liked to illegally fight dogs. What a freaking piece of work this guy is. $130 million dollar contract and he cant find anything else to do with his money? Vick is living proof that you can take a person out of the trailer, park but you cant always take the trailer park out of the person!!!!!!!!!!

I think once Vick is found guilty (remember innocent until proven guilty, or until your defense attorney gets you off) that he should be placed in a pit with 10 angry pissed off Pit Bulls and interview him as the dogs tear him apart…

“Mr. Vick. Could you please tell the audience what it felt like to have that dogs jaw clamp around your arms?”

“Mr. Vick. How did that shattered leg bone feel”

“Mr. Vick. How does it feel to be bleeding to death from the neck?”

“Mr. Vick. How did it feel being tired to the rape barrel while a number of male Pitbulls have their way with you.

And finally…

“Mr. Vick. How did it feel it be murdered by your owner because you were either too injured to fight anymore, or you lost the fight.

Sounds extreme doesn’t it… That’s just what these dogs go through and worse. The difference is the dogs cant call the police, sue, and cry like babies like I am sure Vick would.

See what horror of dog fighting!

Doesn’t dog fighting look like a glamorous sport Michael Sick VICK????

PUNISH THE DEED/OR OWNER
NOT THE BREED!

Vick faces blitz

On the same day that one of his co-defendants entered a potentially damaging plea bargain and agreed to fully cooperate with federal authorities, Michael Vick expressed remorse for putting fans and Falcons owner Arthur Blank in this predicament ...

Falcons should have had foresight on Vick Issue

I guess trading away QB Matt Schaub was premature and ill advised at best for Atlanta. It is going to haunt them all season. Some of the motivation was new head coach Bobby Petrino counting on the versatile Mike Vick to make big plays and flourish in ...

Vick distractions are something Ravens can relate to

The charges brought against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for his alleged involvement in a Virginia-based dogfighting operation don't have an impact on the Ravens, but if any NFL team can relate to what the Falcons are going through, it's ...

Associate says Vick bankrolled dogfights

RICHMOND, Va. — One of Michael Vick’s co-defendants pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a dogfighting conspiracy he says was financed almost entirely by the Atlanta Falcons quarterback. As part of a plea agreement, Tony Taylor pledged to fully ...

Taylor's plea change is terrible news for Vick

Tony Taylor, one of three individuals charged along with Michael Vick in a dogfighting and gambling scheme in Virginia, entered a plea of guilty on Monday. Taylor, 34, agreed to testify against Vick and others at a trial that will begin in federal ...

Upper Deck pulls Vick cards, memorabilia

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Upper Deck has removed all Michael Vick autographed memorabilia from its online store and will remove the indicted quarterback's trading card from NFL sets that are scheduled to be released in October. The announcement by the ...

Falcons not to suspend Michael Vick — yet
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 | 7:23 PM ET
CBC Sports

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank revealed Tuesday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell asked him not to suspend Michael Vick until a league review was completed.

Blank told reporters that he planned to suspend Vick, who is facing felony charges stemming from a dogfighting ring, for four weeks — the maximum permissable under the collective bargaining agreement between the league and NFL Players' Association.

Michael Vick was indicted July 17 on charges of illegal dogfighting.
(Marc Serota/Getty Images) "The commissioner asked us not to take any action until he completed his review of the situation," Blank said. "And we agreed to his request."

Vick, 27, was ordered Monday by Goodell not to report to training camp, which opens Thursday, the same day the quarterback is due in federal court in Richmond, Va., for a bond hearing and arraignment.

"While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the NFL to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the personal conduct policy," Goodell wrote in a letter to Vick.

Goodell further justified the decision during Tuesday's joint media conference with NFLPA chairman Gene Upshaw at Washington.

"Let me make it very clear that the NFL is very disappointed that Michael put himself in this position," Goodell said. "In no way do we think that dogfighting or anything related to dogfighting is acceptable.

"We think it is despicable, frankly. We're looking at this from the long term.

"We understand how our fans are reacting to this [and] it's very emotional for all of us. But we have to remember that we are still at a state where these are charges, these are allegations."

Vick, a three-time Pro Bowler who set an NFL record for quarterbacks by rushing for 1,039 yards last season, will be replaced at training camp by veteran pivot Joey Harrington, who joined Atlanta on April 9 — three months after Bobby Petrino was hired to replace Jim Mora as head coach.

"I absolutely have no regrets of taking the job," said Petrino, who signed a five-year, $24-million US contract with Atlanta.

"This is a big obstacle. But I do believe this is the best job."

Indicted on July 17

Vick and three other defendants were indicted July 17 on charges of competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

If convicted, Vick and the others — Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor — could face up to six years in prison and $350,000 US in fines and restitution.

"These charges are extremely serious," Blank said. "This is not about playing football in 2007.

"This is about having a life going forward. My only personal suggestion to Michael would be to focus on his defence and focus on putting his life together.

"This is a very difficult process he will be going through over the next couple of months. It's very difficult to do that and focus on football at the same time."

According to the indictment, "Bad Newz Kennels" was allegedly a dogfighting ring operating out of a property owned by Vick in Surry County, Va.

Dogs were allegedly housed, trained and even fought to the death — or close — on the property, and losing dogs were sometimes put down by drowning, electrocution, hanging or gunshot.

Authorities seized 66 dogs, including 55 pit bulls, and equipment commonly used in dogfighting.

Purses for the dogfights ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars, excluding side bets, the indictment alleged.

"This sort of behaviour is really horrific," Blank said. "But these are charges — we have to let the legal process play out."

Vick is a 53.7 per cent passer as a pro, having completing 930 of 1,730 pass attempts for 11,505 yards and 71 touchdowns with 52 interceptions in 74 NFL games (67 starts) since being drafted first overall by Atlanta in 2001 — the year he and the three defendants allegedly became involved in dogfighting.

Vick signed a 10-year, $130-million US contract extension on Dec. 23, 2004.

With files from the Associated Press

Going for the Throat
Though illegal, dog fighting continues to draw crowds hungry for the sight of blood and the gambling thrill. A law enforcement officer takes us inside this underground world.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Steve Tuttle
Newsweek
Updated: 8:04 a.m. PT June 4, 2007

June 4, 2007 - The recent discovery of dozens of dogs and dog-fighting paraphernalia at a house owned by NFL superstar Michael Vick has drawn much media attention to this centuries-old blood sport. Illegal in all 50 states, dog fighting still has a loyal underground following. Millions of dollars are wagered annually on the outcomes of these outlaw matches, and the Humane Society of the United States estimates that participants and spectators number in the tens of thousands.

NEWSWEEK’s Steve Tuttle talked to Detective C. R. Beals of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to better understand just exactly what goes on at one of these gory fights. Beals, who has focused on this type of crime for over a decade, has been an expert witness in a number of dog-fighting cases and is his department’s blood sport authority, which also includes cockfighting. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What happens at a typical organized dog fight?
C. R. Beals: There are three basic types of dog fighting. There are the professional dog fights—I hate to use the word professional and dog fighting in the same sentence. There are the hobbyists, or the persons who aspire to be professional dog fighters, and then there are the street-level fighters, the gangbangers who torture their dogs into being mean and they’ll fight anything.

What about the professionals?
On the professional level it's very well organized. The secrecy is very, very heavy. They will fly dogs across the United States. The matches are set up either by phone or by Internet and the meet can be a neutral place for both parties. The dogs are fought in a very strict weight class. If your dog doesn't come in at the weight it’s supposed to for the match, you forfeit the entry fee, which can be pretty heavy sometimes. At a fight back East several years back the police took over $500,000 from the participants and spectators there. Let’s be honest, if I'm willing to put my dog on a plane to fly to a neutral spot to fight your dog, I'm not going to do it just for grins.

Describe the start of a fight.
The handlers say, “Face your dogs!” At that point, the dogs are turned around and faced toward each other. There is what they call the scratch line, and when the dog crosses that line he is “scratched,” meaning he has full intent to get involved in the fight. The dogs are released from the corner, they “scratch,” and then engage. At times the impact of the dogs blocking up is audible, you can hear them collide with one another. It's unbelievable. There is no collar, nothing. They're completely void of any type of control or restraint.

How do you know who wins?
If a dog refuses to scratch, or if the dog jumps out of the ring or refuses to fight, it's over. If a dog gets a lucky shot, if you get a dog that zips in and hits just right and takes out a jugular, the dog is all done. If you get a dog with a broken limb or a broken leg, it’s over. Broken limbs are common. You just see how much punishment the other dog will take until he just gives up or he's incapacitated so he can't fight any more.

How long can a fight last?
It varies; it's like a boxing match. But there are timed rounds and they have rest periods and go at it again.

How big do the crowds get?
For security reasons, the crowds are kept as small as possible.

What are the venues like?
The venue can be anything, anywhere. It can be a barn, a commercial building. I have actually seen where they have gone into a housing tract and they broke into a new home and used one of the rooms for a pit. It can be any place that will afford the secrecy they need to prevent getting apprehended.

How are the dogs isolated from the people at a fight?
In the professional world, a man-eater, or a dog that will bite other people, cannot be tolerated and will most likely be destroyed. There are two handlers, either the owner or designated handler, and a referee in the pit with the dogs. The dog has to concentrate on the other dog.

Don’t they have a wall?
They do separate and contain the dogs, because they lock up and start tumbling around. The walls are usually 18 to 25 feet, round or square, and usually two and a half to four feet high. They use plyboard, hay bales, any type of barrier. The preference is dirt floor but they also use carpeting to allow dogs to get good traction.

How do they separate them if they’re locked up?
They use what they call a “breaking stick.” It's a misnomer that the pit bull's jaw locks, but they have such hellacious tenacity that once they get a hold they are not going to let go. Both handlers will have a breaking stick in their pocket, nine to 15 inches long with a flat point on one end of it. It’s generally something rigid made of wood or white nylon like cutting boards or plastic. They pry the jaws apart and pull the dogs back to the corner and sponge them like a boxer.

How many dogs are killed in the fights?
Most likely the dogs will be stopped short of death, however there are a number of other things that go beyond that and it just depends on how good of a vet the owner is. You can't go to the neighborhood vet with a dog that you fought because you’d be turned in. Most of them practice their own style of veterinary medicine. Dogs die of infection, they die of shock after the fight, or they're injured so bad they just expire. The actual death in the ring is probably not as often as one might think.

What do they do with dogs that aren’t good fighters?
They think, why waste dog food on them. We’re talking dollars and cents. If it isn’t going to make a yield there’s no reason to feed it. That sounds cold, but I’m being bluntly honest. I have actually gone to a place where one of the ways to get rid of a dog was simply attaching a raw electrode to the dog’s tongue and a raw electrode to his testicles and then plugging it into the wall. That’s sick.

How do they train the dogs?
These dogs are conditioned, not trained. That entails such things as treadmills, or cat-mills—they'll either use a caged cat or a rabbit. They’ll simply tie a cat or rabbit to a hot walker like for a horse—it’s a big thing that looks like a merry go round with spokes on it. They’ll tie a dead cat or a live cat to one of the spokes and tie the dog to one of the other spokes and let him tug that around all day. They use weight training where they have the dogs pull weighted sleds. Then they have the spring pole, which is simply either a tree or a large pole with a spring or a cable or tire on it and the dog will jump up and grab it. He will actually hang on to it and bounce and have his own personal tug of war.

What is the “keep?”
The keep is the intense conditioning period in prep for the fight. During that period of time the dog is handled regularly, exercised regularly. His diet is monitored, he is given vitamins, and his weight is monitored.

What is the rape box?
These dogs are trained to be nasty towards another dog, so consequently if you’re going to breed you don't want a female that’s in heat tearing up your stud. So you put her in a rape box, which means you basically tie her to a barrel. Then you put him in there with a muzzle on and he does his thing and leaves.

How do bets get placed?
There will be an entry fee into the thing. That comprises the purse and the winner gets that. Then the owners of the dogs will have side bets between themselves. They'll probably cover some action with other people in the audience, and there will be side bets between people in the audience. Sometimes they take outside action and actually film the fight, so you can view it at a later date if you disagree about how your money was won or lost and you weren't among the chosen few who attended.

Are the fights moving away from pit bulls to other breeds?
You hear that from time to time. Over history there have been a number of dogs tried—the Shar-Pei was raised as a pit dog but now they're a trendy pet. But pound for pound they always come back to the little pit bull terrier because they're more bang for your buck, they're the best things going. They’re small, they’re compact, and they work well for that kind of scenario. The only reason for dog fighting is gambling, period. It's just like cock fighting. It's strictly a gambling scenario, nothing more. They raised Rhodesian Ridgebacks for fighting; Rottweilers are something you’d see on the street level.

How big is this subculture?
The level that garners the most attention is street level because it's in your face and it's practiced by gangs. They'll use anything that has four legs, preferably if it looks like a pit bull, but they’ll use Rots or anything else. But professional dog fighting is also there, and it's very, very hard to stumble on. It's real hard to say exactly how big it is, but it is prevalent.

How do you catch these guys?
We use informants, we use people in the neighborhood that call in, we use something as simple as somebody driving by who saw a bunch of dogs staked out. People love animals and when they see something that doesn't look right and they're likely to tell someone and it filters back to us. There are informants, people who didn't think they got a fair shake at a fight who will turn in folks.

Why do you think professional athletes would be into something like this?
I will be very honest—and I hate to say it—but there have been law-enforcement officers involved, professional athletes, professional people, blue-collar people, gangster people. It's a mixed bag.

Where do they house these dogs?
Wherever they can. Sometimes warehouses, garages, sometimes “on the yard” as they refer to it. That means they drive a car axle into the ground, put a piece of chain on the axle, and put a dog on the end of the chain, and that’s where the dog lives.

Is it bigger than cockfighting?
I wouldn't say which is largest; it depends on where you are geographically in the country. It's a gambling "sport," and wherever they can do either one they will.

How do they keep the fight locations secret?
They use countersurveillance—or as we call it dry cleaning—they use background checks, phone calls. There’s secrecy, mystique. You might make an arrangement for a fight and they say show up at the Howdy Doody Motel at 6 o’clock Wednesday evening on the 24th. And when you go there and you check in pretty soon you get a phone call in your room that says go to this corner. A car will pick you up, take you someplace else, and then you’ll be offloaded out of the car and onto a bus or something. It's very, very cloak and dagger.

I guess they feel like they have to do all that?
Yes, because there are people who are animal lovers who would do everything up to and including put a bullet into some of these clowns.

Politicians Beware!
Damn Right My Dog Votes!!!

Click the image to visit MyDogVotes.com

Links

http://www.workingpitbull.com Great Information Website

http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/dogfighting_fact_sheet/ A really good information website about the facts of dog fighting

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cruelty_pitbull Information about Pit Bull Cruelty

http://www.dapbt.org/ Defense of the American Pit Bull Terrier

About this site.

ProtectPitBulls.com is more then just a rant about bad Pit Bull owners. A full information site is underway behind the scenes. Its our #1 goal to educate the public about Pit Bulls on how to train and manage their dogs. The optimal goal is to change the public consensus that Pit Bulls are bad. In truth Pit Bulls are loving, protective, good natured dogs. The problem is bad or uneducated owners.

Sincerely,
Nala
Proud American Pit Bull Terrier

Nala - Click to see me full size!

P.S. Please send me another box of Sick Vick chew toys. I have already chewed up the last box!