Out of The Pits Into The Ritz Gala

Saturday – July 31,  @ 7:00PM – 10:00PM

Please join Out of the Pits for a night of fun at Union Gables in Saratoga Springs. Emcee for the evening: Jason Keller, radio personality from Channel 103.1fm.

Special appearances by our “Special Success Stories”:  Hazel (Michael Vick rescue), Sidney (Hurricane Katrina) and Bandit (our Wheeled Wonder).

Live music by Got 2 Groove.

Silent and Live Auctions Lite fine fare will be provided.

Prices are $100 pp or $75 if non-profit, to reserve your tickets, visit Out of the Pits

For more information please email Out of the Pits directly: Events@outofthepits.org

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A.6287b was introduced by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn, and S. 3926a was introduced by Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Flushing. These bills would provide misdemeanor penalties for spectators at these organized events. Presently, offenders can receive only a traffic ticket-style citation, which does not provide an adequate deterrent against chronic violators.

Spectators who attend animal fights do not stumble upon them accidentally. These criminal activities take place at clandestine locations.

“We commend Sen. Stavisky, and Assemblyman Lentol for championing these anti-crime bills,” said Patrick Kwan, New York state director for The Humane Society of the United States. “Now that the legislation passed in the Senate, we look forward to its passage in the Assembly.”

Facts:

Animal fighting spectators, with their admission fees and gambling wagers, fuel these undeniably cruel and criminal industries. Under current law, dogfighters or cockfighters can claim they were only present at an animal fight as spectators, thereby avoiding any meaningful punishment.
Law enforcement officials have documented a strong connection between animal fighting operations and narcotics distribution, illegal firearms and other illicit activities.
While dogfighting and cockfighting are felonies in New York, possessing animals for the purpose of fighting is only a misdemeanor, and attending an animal fight is just a traffic-ticket style violation.
New York has the nation’s fifth-weakest dogfighting laws, making it a magnet for spectators from surrounding states where penalties on spectators are significantly more severe.
According to news reports, in June 2008, authorities raided a Bronx, N.Y., building that housed a dogfighting ring. Seven people were arrested and two additional suspects fled from the scene during the raid. Of the seven who were arrested, four were New Jersey residents. New Jersey is currently ranked as having the nation’s strongest dogfighting law, punishing spectators with three to five years of imprisonment and/or a maximum $15,000 fine.

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CAMPAIGN TO END BSL: Operation Denver, by Maggie Marton

Denver, Colorado has the most oppressive Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in the country. Denver has engaged in an aggressive seizure program, which involves taking family pet pit bulls from their homes and killing them. Between 2005 and 2006, the city euthanized 1,454 dogs. Since the ban began in 1989, the city has killed thousands. Last year, an animal control worker leaked photos of the situation. (PLEASE NOTE: these images are extremely graphic.) This situation is dire.

Visit Be the Change for Animals and Oh My Dog! A Dog Blog and create an electronic postcard (or two) telling the Mayor you oppose his law.

Stop back next Monday when the next “Be the Change for Animals” cause is posted!

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The confiscation of 26 pit bull terriers in a suspected dog-fighting operation Friday has left the Mobile County Animal Shelter crowded with dogs, authorities said.

Animal control officials said the shelter’s adoptable pets may be in danger of being euthanized because the pit bulls must be isolated and kept until a judge determines what should be done with them.

The 26 dogs were confiscated from the home of Bruce McDonald on Red Fox Road in far north Mobile County, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lori Myles said.

McDonald is yet to be charged in connection with the dogs. He was arrested May 22 on multiple charges related to a methamphetamine operation at the same address, Myles said. Mobile County Humane Officer Carmelo Miranda said the shelter’s adoptable pets suffer when suspected fighting dogs are brought in.

“These dogs must be sheltered one dog to two kennels for at least seven days, because a door separates the kennels back-to-back,” Miranda said.

He added that strays, which also must be kept isolated for seven days, end up moving in to kennels meant for the adoptable pets, adding to crowding problems.

So far since the seizure, Miranda said, no dogs have had to be put down. He said 80 to 90 adoptable dogs reside at the shelter on average.

Since Saturday, Miranda said, rescue groups and individuals have taken in 72 dogs, but at least 37 adoptable dogs remain, and that number could increase.

Miranda said sheriff’s deputies noticed the pit bulls June 16, and animal control officers confiscated them Friday along with treadmills, medications, scales and other paraphernalia associated with dog fighting.  Miranda said anyone interested in adopting a dog can visit the shelter’s Facebook page online or call 251-574-3230 or 251-574-3647.

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The nation’s first criminal dog-fighting DNA database has been established by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), The Humane Society of Missouri (HSMO) and the Louisiana SPCA (LA/SPCA), and will be maintained at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.  Known as the Canine CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), the database is designed to help the criminal justice system investigate and prosecute dog fighting cases and address the growing problem of dog fighting using 21st century technology.

“Dog fighting is a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise that leads to the cruel treatment and deaths of thousands of dogs nationwide every year,” said Tim Rickey, the ASPCA’s Senior Director of Field Investigation and Response. “This database is an unprecedented and vital component in the fight against animal cruelty and will allow us to strengthen cases against animal abusers and seek justice for their victims.”

Rickey, the former Animal Cruelty Task Force Director at HSMO, Kathryn Destreza, the ASPCA’s Southeast Regional Director, Field Investigation and Response and formerly Director of Humane Law Enforcement for the Louisiana SPCA, and Dr. Melinda Merck, the ASPCA’s Senior Director of Veterinary Forensic Sciences and the nation’s premier forensic veterinarian, collaborated to create the database, working with Dr. Randall Lockwood, the ASPCA’s Senior Vice President of Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and Training.

“This database will connect investigations across the country and internationally, creating multi-jurisdictional collaboration,” said Ms. Destreza, who presented on the Canine CODIS at the recent Veterinary Forensics Conference in Orlando, Fla. “It’s another tool we can use toward the elimination of dog fighting.”

Dr. Merck, who testifies as a forensic veterinary expert for animal cruelty cases around the country, added, “Juries expect forensic science to support the evidence that’s presented to them, and animal cruelty cases are no exception. This database breaks new ground in supplying that evidence for dog fighting investigations.”

The Canine CODIS contains individual DNA profiles from dogs that have been seized during dog-fighting investigations and from unidentified samples collected at suspected dog-fighting venues. The HSMO provided the 400 original and initial samples of dog DNA collected from dogs that were seized last July during the nation’s largest dog-fighting seizure ever, a multi-state raid led by Mr. Rickey that followed an 18-month investigation by federal and state agencies.

The database is similar to the FBI’s human CODIS, a computerized archive that stores DNA profiles from criminal offenders and crime scenes and is used in criminal and missing person investigations. DNA analysis and matching through the database will help law enforcement agencies to identify relationships between dogs, enabling investigators to establish connections between breeders, trainers, and dog-fight operators. Blood collected from dog fighting sites will also be searched against the Canine CODIS database to identify the source.

“The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory has one of the largest sample databases in the world,” said Beth Wictum, Director of the Forensics Unit of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory in UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine. “This is important for estimating the rarity of a DNA profile. The Canine CODIS database is unique because it includes many more DNA markers than are normally tested, and that provides greater power when calculating match probability or assigning parentage.”

“When these cases come to trial, it’s important to make your strongest case,” she adds. “DNA evidence not only establishes links between owners, breeders, and dog fighting sites, it tells a story. We can tie blood spatter on pit walls and clothing, or blood trails found outside of the pit, to a specific dog and tell his story for him. We become the voice for those victims.”

How the Canine CODIS Database Works

DNA samples from animals have been used in forensics investigations for over 15 years to help solve criminal investigations. In some cases, the animal may be related to the suspect, the victim or the crime scene.  In other cases, the animal itself is the victim or perpetrator.

In dog-fighting investigations, the dogs’ inner cheeks are swabbed to collect DNA in their saliva at the time they are seized.  These swab samples are then submitted to UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory for DNA testing. Law enforcement agencies also collect DNA at suspected dog-fighting venues in samples of blood, saliva, tissue, bones, teeth, feces and urine. These unidentified DNA samples can be submitted to the laboratory at UC Davis for analysis and archiving in the database.

When an agency submits a sample to the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, the DNA is analyzed and the Canine CODIS database is then searched for corresponding DNA profiles. In the event the database search locates a match for the submitted DNA, the lab will notify both the agency that submitted the new sample and the agency that submitted the existing sample.  The Canine CODIS database is only available to law enforcement agencies; analysis is part of the cost of testing.

Dog Fighting Statistics

Although there are no official statistics, the ASPCA estimates that there are tens of thousands of people involved in dog fighting in the United States. Dog fighting is a federal crime, as well as a felony offense in all 50 U.S. states. For more information, visit http://www.aspcapro.org/dog-fighting-faq.php.

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