Dog fighting.

This photo above is of a sport.

This photo below is not.



Dog fighting is a cruel spectacle that, much like cock fighting, is a worldwide act of violence many think of as a sport. It can also be known as a blood sport. Some may think that this only happened in heavily dense urban areas where the people who participate and promote the sport are economically disadvantaged, but the truth is anyone from a lawyer to a postman could be a supporter of such a brutal display.


Another fact that dog fighting has in common with cock fighting are the various violent crimes associated with the sport. As aforementioned in my cock fighting statement, illegal gambling is involved, as is drugs, alcohol and weapons, and money laundering. Assault charges often occur between owners of the dogs, or betters that had lost. However, many think it worth it because the profit from the fights and the sale of pups from the bloodlines of notoriously strong fighting dogs can be up to thousands of pounds, dollars, etc. It may also be that the owner revels in the sense of power he or she holds over the animal when they command it to attack, but if the animal loses the dog is often severely brutalized if the owner feels shame.

Many websites are trying to stop this abomination.

Furthermore, if the animal loses it is often discarded, killed, or left untreated from the wounds it gained during the dog fight. If the reputation of the owner is severely damaged due to a bad fight, it may be killed in front of the audience, as many would enjoy the execution just as they enjoy the fight itself. However, this rarely happens if the dog is from a valuable family bloodline, or has a winning history of good past performances. As it is in cock fighting, the prize of the winner is that it gets to fight for its life again.

Unfortunately, there are many types of dog fights, which can be roughly put into three categories which depend on the owners’ background of the dog and location of the fight:
‘Street’ fighters often train their dogs in heavy chains to build stamina, and pit them against other dogs in training fights to help them grow stronger, however it usually ends with the dog getting serious injuries. These dogs are often also a threat to people as well as other dogs as they have grown knowing nothing but the torture of its master. These types of dog fight are often spontaneous and last-minute, with no formality or rules of a professional fight, and because of this they often occur in back alleys and street corners. They are often associated with gang activities, betting, drugs and ‘bragging rights’ are often the payoff, with the light to the fuse of the situation being something as simple as an insult, or turf invasion. There is no care for the animals injured in the fight and often the RSPCA and other animal control officers find dead or dying animals after such a spectacle has taken place.

Hobbyist’ fighters are more organized than ‘street’ fighters, and often take more care in the breeding and health of their dogs also. These dogs are forced to participate along with several others in a select few organized fights a year, often to entertain or to gain extra income.
Professional’ dog fighters earn money from breeding, selling and fighting from the wide range of forty or so more dogs they have. They fight at specific locations and promote winning bloodlines of their pets, and also use it as an opportunity to sell dogs to ‘street’ fighters which are too aggressive for the ‘professional’ dog own ers to handle. Losing and otherwise unsuccessful dogs are killed using methods such as shooting and blunt force trauma, which is getting mutilated by a heavy object, most often to the skull.


Whichever the type, dog fights are cruel and barbaric and should not be named sports, as it certainly diminishes the noble title of sport itself.

Not under my roof!

As it is with hoarding animals, this form of abuse occurs at the home, and because of this it is mainly only family members and close friends who visit who notice it. The animal is rarely also abused outside unless the owner is sure of his position within the society and that it will go undetected. The person who sees one or more of the below facts often dismisses the notion of animal cruelty and sums it up to the owner merely having one bad day, if you find this situation I urge you to delve deeper.



There are many reasons that an owner may choose to abuse his or her pet, and the most common aspect they have is control. A pet can be used to demonstrate power and control over the family, and to enforce submission in a specific victim. As well as maintaining an environment of fear which can isolate the victims and punish them, it can be used to prevent the victim from leaving or to intimidate them to return.

There are many signs of animal cruelty, but don’t think this a lucky thing, many are subtle and difficult to spot, and those spotted are sometimes put down to another excuse. Some of the physical signs are untreated skin conditions that leave scaly, hairless skin with bumps and rashes, fur infested with fleas, ticks and other parasites, and heavy discharge from the eyes and nose.

The animal may appear to be confused or lethargic, and extreme thinness with protruding bones, matted dirty fur, and overgrown nails are also all signs. It may walk with a limb or be unable to stand up, with a collar that has embedded itself or caused a neck wound. Sometimes, it can even be a case of wounds being left unchecked and having a maggot infestation, or multiple healing scars from the last beating.

If you cannot get close to the animal, try to see what form of living quarters they are provided with; remember the abuse comes in many covert forms. Is the pet kept outside in horrible weather without shelter, if shelter is provided is food and water supplied, is that food and water sanitary?

Are the animals living areas decimated with faeces, garbage or something as harmful as broken glass? Are the living quarters themselves too small and crowded so that there is no room to move for exercise?

Just remember, it isn’t always as simple as physically seeing an owner beat his or her animal, more often the signs are something you have to look out for purposely. More information can be found here.

Rooster fighting.

There are many forms of sports where animals are pitted against each other in a violent display of strength to determine which animal is the winner. Ironically, the winning animal has the prize of competing again; the loser is often killed to sate the audience. Because, yes, as incredulous as it may seem these barbaric events do attract a sadistic audience.

Cock fighting is one of the most popular forms of animal violence for the purpose of sport; the fowl used are specifically bred for aggressiveness and are often starved and provoked by torture so that they are feeling irritated. The birds go through months of training, feeding, steroids and vitamins to become murderous fighters for the entertainment of watchers, and also practice fights with other roosters are common. Without aesthetic, the hanging wattle combs below the beak of the bird are cut off so that they cannot be torn in the fight, and the feathers are plucked, and another preparation is that sharp artificial spurs capable of puncturing eyes and lungs are attached to the ankles.



Although in the wild roosters fight for territory the scuffles are usually brief and rarely end in death, however in these organized fights death is always the outcome and fights go on as long as they must.

Cockfighting is connected to a wide range of other crimes, such as gangs, gambling, drugs and violence. In the audience, illegal weapons are often handled casually and large amounts of cash present due to the high gambling means that any means of protection is deemed necessary.



Unfortunately, cockfighting is also seen as part of a culture, in countries such as France, Mexico, Spain and Italy, and because of this it is still very popular.

It may be of worth to note that the video below shows a child handling the bird that later fights.

How many is too much?

The hoarding of animals is one of the most complicated forms of animal cruelty, and very difficult to spot. It is also known as animal collecting. Failure to see this form of cruelty can result in starvation, illness and death. Should you be ringing the RSPCA because you suspect your neighbour of having an indecent amount of cats?

People who are suspected of hoarding animals always have more than a normal number of animals, and cannot provide any animal with nutrition, shelter, veterinary care and sanitation. The animals will suffer from fleas and vermin, as well as being thin from starvation which will make them lethargic. The home itself will be dirty, possibly with things broken and clutter on every surface, in an obvious state of decay, with toilets and cooking appliances not working. There will definitely be a strong smell of urine, and stains of vomit and faeces, the owner will not see this.



There are many reasons why people hoard animals, and we must not think of these owners as bad people. Sometimes it can be a simple obsessive-compulsive disorder, but paranoid, delusional thinking and attachment disorders stemming from mental illnesses have been proven to have an effect. Some genuinely do not see themselves as doing anything wrong and see themselves as heroes as they have rescued the animals and given them a home, no matter how bad that home is. Many are of right-mind and say that any home is better than no home, and it is a rare case where the owner understands the physical and psychological harm they are doing to the animals kept.

Any gender, age, or ethnic group can be an animal hoarder, but those of deteriorating health and social isolation tend to do so more, and they often do not know the exact amount of animals they have. Unfortunately, this is a world-wide affliction. An animal hoarder will bring more animals’ home regardless of the bad condition of the animals he or she already has, and many are picked up as strays on the street rather than from a shelter, as these rescue organizations are often viewed negatively by them. Because of this, the owner is unwilling to show where the animals live, especially to animal rights officials, and is unwilling to put the animals up for adoption in such places.

Hoarders must also be carefully watched, by neighbours and officals, as they often carry on collecting animals even after legal action has been taken.

A small side-note.

Many are not aware of this, but those who abuse animals often move on later to humans, another deeply disturbing facts. For a long time, abuse towards animals has been recognized as an indicator that the abuser may act violently towards humans in later life, instead of just confining the aggression to animals.

“Murderers very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Animal abuse is a sign of deep mental disorder and the first sign of a violent mind. A history of cruelty to animals is something serial rapists and murderers often have in common regularly.

Below is a map I have made depicting the amount of animal rescue centers in the UK alone, see how there are many more in southend in more populated areas than there are up north nearer to Scotland, where there are more wildnature reserves for the creatures of that area such as deer, badgers and foxes. The small pink markings are agencies such as farms, whereas the larger letter labelled pointers are larger establishments such as the RSPCA animal welfare shelter.

Pets on the street.

It is becoming increasingly commonplace to see homeless people begging for small change in dark alleyways and rank street corners, where they often defecate and sleep. Often a dog is by their side, and more frequently these animals are appearing to be malnourished due to being underfed and miserable.

Although this pet may be the only connection that this person has, and may help the homeless person from becoming lonely and stressed, as everyone deserves the unconditional love only a pet can bring, often these people have made the wrong choices in life, which has led them into this situation. If they cannot get a home or look after themselves, do they deserve to own a pet which will be in the same situation as them?

If they truly love their animal, shouldn’t they give them away to caring homes that can satisfy their needs?

"Life is life's greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you would your own because it is your own. On life's scale of values, the smallest is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest." - Lloyd Biggle Jr.

Many say that the dogs are happy as they get to be with their owner, whom they will see as a pack leader, constantly, and will get lots of exercise. Also, as dogs didn’t live in houses originally, they would get well socialized with members of the public walking past. However, one must think more about the dangers with living outside constantly:

*It is almost entirely positive that the pet will not have proper care as the owner cannot afford it, such as regular feeding, heart work prevention, vaccines and shelter from the bad weather. Disease like Parvo and Rabies can be fatal to dogs that aren’t protected against them. However, there are several organizations that will help with vet services for a homeless person so their pets can be sprayed and neutered, and sometimes volunteers will feed the pets when the homeless eat at soup kitchens.

*It is much more difficult for a homeless person to gain a home, be it temporary or permanent, with a pet.

*There is the constant threat of public abuse to the animal, not everybody on the streets can be trusted to treat it with respect.

*A young or untrained animal may rush into the street into oncoming traffic and be injured; if it lives the homeless person would not be able to afford veterinary care.


Pets are becoming subjected to these cruel conditions to be used as props so that we feel increasingly sorry for them, and give money to the owner to feed his pet. Unfortunately, they count on this and actually use the money you generously and unwittingly donate to fuel their drug addiction and own selfish ends. It is rare the money is spent on the pet itself even though that was your intention it would be. There is no way of stopping this unless the RSPCA notices the animal is being neglected and would be in better care when removed of its owner, but homeless people are very clever at hiding and preventing this. One way to ensure the pet of the homeless person is looked after is rather than give the homeless person money, go and directly buy a blanket, toy or pet food for the pet instead of digging into your pocket.

Factory Farming.

Personally, I love a nice boiled egg and soldiers, or bacon butty in the morning. I like fried eggs and chips, or a nice juicy steak, for my tea. I can tell the difference between an animal or animal product which has been free to roam outside and been fed healthily, as opposed to one that hasn’t seen light in weeks. Not only the price of free-range is different, the quality is much better, too.

Behind the scenes of bright, lush fields and sun dappled skies that we are told are the environments out animals graze in, animals are forced into dark, squalid conditions that we would not give to the worst of our own species, humans. Words which describe this filth are intensive farming, industrialised farming, and factory farming. Living quarters that if given to prisoners and captives would spark indignation if the prisoner was human and yet if it does not seem to directly affect us, nobody minds.



Battery hens: Battery hens are chickens crammed into small wire cages in groups of five, in a honeycomb pattern of cages sat atop each other. Through lighting and heat to mimic the season in which chickens lay, and selective breeding of chickens which notoriously lay more eggs, and feed that promotes fattened chickens and the nourishment for more promoting egg-laying, chickens can now produce eggs daily.



The eggs that are laid are often weak-shelled and a sure sign of a battery hen’s egg is the weak yellow colouring of the yolk. Many people try to disguise this by injecting the egg painstakingly with a needle and then inserting a food dye, which then stains the yolk a bright, vibrant yellow. However few know a healthy chicken egg should be with a pale pink shell which may be speckled with brown flecks, and the yolk should be more orange than yellow. Any chicks that hatch which are scrawny or male-and therefore incapable of egg laying, are gassed or crushed to death.

Ducks, turkeys and geese also share the same fate as chickens. The young are reared for up to six weeks in dark sheds force-fed on high-fat-ratio food which makes them grow unnaturally fast. Many cannot cope and their hearts give way, and those that live suffer broken legs, as although the body develops the legs do not and remain stunted, able only to support the weight of which a young fowl would be naturally.



Dairy cows: Kept outside in all weather conditions be it blistering heat or frigid cold, with little grass in the over-grazed field often available due to the amount of cows grazing, cows must endure pregnancy and milking at the same time. Many have distended udders from having to product up to double the amount they need to produce to suckle a calf, as well as contracting leg and hoof problems from almost continuously standing. The calves are removed a day or so after birth, females kept to replenish the herd while males are shot in the head if too malnourished to use for meat. Those remaining males will be sent to veal farms, and then killed before they reach nine to ten weeks old, depending on the length of the journey. Many die from stress, thirst and heat-stroke. As are sheep, cows are tricked into ovulating around every season, often giving birth in the wrong months. Many are fed the remains of their own kind to save money.




Please, buy food that may be a pound extra, but. If we stop buying cheaper products from factory farms because it saves us a little loose change, we can stop them all together.

Animal testing: malicious or a necessity?

Stop, before you reach for that nailvarnish! If you look carefully at the label, check to see whether or not it specifies if this product you hold has been used on animals or not to see if it is safe for humans.

If it doesn’t specify against animal testing, or have the company logo of an against animal testing such as The Body Shop, it probably has!

You may think that this is cute; some of you may even find it funny. Though obviously photoshopped, it is dangerously close to the truth. The perfumed lipstick and colourful eye shadow isn’t hurting the dog, so what’s the problem?

This is how we make our makeup safe to use.


For these products to be safe, rabbits have to suffer ulcers in their eyes, small rodents such as mice suffer burnt skin, and very little get away with simple stress-related hair-loss as a result of such cruel testing.

Not in the name of science, but more so of vanity, cosmetic products are poured into the sensitive areas such as eyes and rectums of animals to determine the harmful affects that might be caused, often without anaesthesia.

Although animals possess the same feelings and widely the same emotions as humans, the physiological differentiation between humans and animals is drastic. A product which harms a rodent may not cause the same effect on a human, due to different skin textures, and eyes.

People approve of animal testing as they believe it is necessary for the progress of medicine, but tests are both disgusting and unreliable.

There is no law that requires cosmetics and household products such as bleach be tested on animals to see what affects they would apparently have on us, yet on the skin irritancy test, animals such as rats has a highly concentrated solution of a chemical, such as completely undiluted bleach, applied to their shaven skin.

It is then observed over a number of hours for signs such as redness and blistering caused by the product irritating the skin, and in some cases the skin is completely burnt through.

Another famous test is Draize, known as eye irritancy, performed mostly on albino rabbits. The rabbits are brutally immobilized and a liquid is placed into one eye of the rabbit, these substances can be mascara, after shave, oven cleaner and scented room spray.

The Florida White seems to be the most popular as it is docile, cheap, and the rabbit does not have tear ducts to wash away the product. The rabbits eyes are then clipped open and observed in the same manner as the rodents’ skin in a skin test for inflammation, ulceration, rupture of the eyeball, corrosion and bleeding.

So really, is it worth all of this pain to creatures who can feel hurting as much as us, for a new lash-lengthening mascara?

Animal cruelty at the circus.

Everybody loves the circus, from small children to the older generation reminiscing of earlier days when they too were enthralled by the acts. Circuses where animal tricks and performing animals are proven to be much more popular, with the audience granted a rare glimpse that they otherwise might only get of an exotic animal at a zoo or on a safari holiday.

Many circus animals are kept in conditions that are far removed from their natural habitats. But at what cost? Animals do not stand on their heads or ride bicycles in the wild, nor do they jump through rings of fire normally. For example, many bears have their paws burnt to force them to stand on their hind legs, which gradually leads to weak calf and ankle muscles in the bears. They are forced to perform what are often physically uncomfortable tricks which leave them feeling confused and in pain.



Would you still dig into your pocket for circus tickets after reading the following facts?

*It is a proven fact that trainers use pipes, tight collars, bull hooks driven into the animal body and muzzles to force animals to perform tricks, and whips, baseball bats and electric prods are all considered tools of the trade in dominating the animals. Tim Frisco, a Carson and Barnes elephant trainer, learnt from his father to ‘sick the hook into ‘em, when you hear that screaming, you know you got their attention’.



* Muzzles are also used to subdue them and keep from attacking the trainers when they are threatened with pain. Another subduing technique is keeping them drugged, and teeth removal, often done without adequate dental training.



*Animals accustomed and evolved physically to roam free in the wild are forced to live and travel in far smaller cages in their own filth, eating, sleeping and defecating in the same area. To keep them from moving or attacking, the animals are often chained down for long periods of time, often using ropes which leads to rope burn via friction against delicate skin. With the change of climate many are left out in extreme heat and bitter cold that their bodies are not accustomed to being exposed to.



*In the wild, animals often have social groups, like herds and packs. In the circus, animals are often kept in very limited groups or alone to discourage comradeship, and have no opportunity to bond.



*When travelling, circuses often have limited water between stopping in towns to refill, and because of this drinking water, the cleaning of the animal living conditions and cleaning of the animal itself, is often prohibited. The diet of each animal would not be of primary importance, more so the profit of what the circus makes and because of this they would not have what they eat naturally.



*A training method is also keeping them half-starved so that they perform in the hope of treats. Also, as they are often travelling between locations, unless a qualified veterinarian is paid to journey with them, disease is common in circus animals and it can often be days before they reach a location with adequate care for them.



Once an animal is unable to perform they are permanently caged, used for the fur and ivory trade, sold to a game farm to be hunted for sport, or sold to a lab.