Audrain Humane Society warns of multi-state dog fight
Concerns of a multi-state dog fight involving mid-Missourians have swirled around social media recently.
The Audrain Humane Society posted this message on its Facebook page:
“IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! PLEASE BE AWARE! THERE IS WORD GOING AROUND OF A MULTI-STATE DOG FIGHT COMING UP IN THE FALL. THEY WILL BE LOOKING FOR STRAYS, FREE PETS AND STEALING PETS OUT OF BACKYARDS AND HOMES FOR BAIT! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PETS UNATTENDED! IF YOU SEE SOMEONE SCOPING OUT YOUR HOUSE OR NEIGHBORHOOD TRY TO GET THEIR TAG NUMBER AND CALL THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY.”
Cathy Foreman, President of Audrain Humane Society posted this on Facebook to get the word out.
“We’ve stepped up patrol,” Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller said in response to one recent incident involving a kennel owner who spotted suspicious activity of a car scoping out their animals.
Oller also said the department has not taken any reports of stolen dogs. He said they usually take one or two stolen dog reports each year, but it’s hard to tell if the dogs went missing or were stolen.
The Callaway Humane Society said it had not heard of the multi-state dog fight, but had a spike in stolen dogs summer 2017.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals calls dogfighting, “one of the most heinous forms of animal cruelty.”
“Dogfighting is a type of blood sport in which dogs are forced to fight one another for the entertainment and/or profit of spectators,” the ASPCA said. “Although dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states, it continues to occur in every part of the country and in every type of community.”
The ASPCA also gives the following signs of dogs involved in this crime:
“Dogs with multiple scars, possibly with lips or ears ripped off Pit bull mix-type dogs weighing approximately 40-50 pounds Dogs on heavy chains, tethered to a tire axle or dog house/barrel Dirt ring around the dog Dogs chained inches apart from one another Dogs chained or penned in a secluded area intentionally kept out of the public’s view”
