Shropshire Star

Why do we allow cruelty of dog fighting to continue?

I went to do my shopping the other day. At the entrance to the supermarket there was a barking, ferocious Staffordshire Bull Terrier male dog with a muzzle on, tied up on the bar outside.

Published

Everybody who passed by looked terrified, especially the person who collected their little Skye Terrier nearby.

A man in a wheelchair parked his vehicle at a safe distance giving a glancing trepidation.

Ordinary members of the public shouldn’t have to experience this sort of fear while doing their daily shopping.

I waited anxiously for the owner of this Staffordshire Bull Terrier to appear, which he did eventually, because I wanted to know the reason why he had a muzzle on. The male owner replied ‘because he cannot be trusted’.

I continued on with the conversation, although I was quite scared at this point with a dog barking and leaping up at me as the owner got quite agitated.

I asked him ‘is it because you mistreat him?’. His reply was ‘no, because he is a rescued dog’ – rescued from what? I believe this poor dog had been used for dog fighting.

This says everything: why on earth does the law allow this type of dog to be owned by individuals who clearly have only one thing in mind for their pet. Dog fighting is abhorrent, it is so cruel, even kittens are used for bait.

We are a nation of animal lovers and yet this horrific sport is going on right under our noses. Bear-baiting and cock fighting are condemned, so why not dog fighting?

If anybody in the street tied up a dangerous bear outside a supermarket there would be cries of outrage. What is the difference?

I thought we were a civilised society, the best in the world, yet our government turns a blind eye to this terrible cruelty.

What happened to the green and pleasant land of England?

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