DEL.ICIO.USHumane Society enlists ministers to combat dogfighting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, October 20, 2008
If a guy with a gun can’t eliminate dogfighting, say its opponents, perhaps someone with a Bible can.
Monday, representatives of the Humane Society of the United States announced they enlisted some metro-area ministers to preach against pit-bull dogfighting. They’ll join law enforcement officers in trying to curb the illegal practice.
Mark Davis/mrdavis@ajc.com
Darian Prather of Decatur has agreed to work with the Humane Society of the United States to keep pit bull dogs and their owners from getting involved in dogfighting. Kenya, his 2-year-old pit bull, is expecting puppies next month.
The campaign is called End Dogfighting in Atlanta. It also recruits people to locate dog owners who may be considering fighting their pit bulls, and linking them with qualified dog trainers who encourage owners to keep dogs out of rings. They’ll also help police find dogfighting groups.
The program, introduced at the New Life Community Center in Decatur, is modeled on initiatives in Chicago and Charlotte.
Dogfighting is a sin, said the Rev. Marlin Harris, senior pastor at New Life Baptist Church. “Pit bulls are God’s creatures, too,” said Harris. For his first sermon against dogfighting, Harris would use the Bible’s Psalms 139, which says humans are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” And humans, he said, should be stewards of lesser creatures.
Tio Hardiman, a consultant the society hired to take its anti-dogfighting message to urban neighborhoods said some young people “have a fascination with pit bulls. They have pit bulls because they like them as status symbols.”
In his native Chicago, Hardiman recruited the first anti-dogfighting advocates to find youths in danger of getting involved in the bloody sport. It began two years ago and has 150 advocates bringing pit-bull owners and trainers together. The trainers show humans how to look after their dogs, and teach the animals basic commands. Ten owners and their dogs have finished the Chicago course, and more are enrolled, he said.
Last month, the society announced End Dogfighting in Charlotte.
Now, it is eyeing Atlanta, which last year gave dogfighting a human face: Michael Vick. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback was an active, big-money dogfighter until authorities arrested and convicted him on federal charges. Vick is at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary Camp serving a 23-month sentence.
Vick’s conviction hardly stemmed dogfighting, said Darian Prather, a pit-bull owner from Decatur who agreed to be one of End Dogfighting in Atlanta’s first advocates. He sat on a low wall at the community center cradling Kenya, a 2-year-old pit bull. Honey-collared and pregnant, she licked her owner’s chin. Her tail thumped the asphalt.
When he advertises puppies for sale, said Prather, he gets calls and e-mailed questions from North Carolina, south Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi. They use a code word for fighting: Do you “roll” dogs?
“I don’t,” said Prather. “I don’t sell to people like that.”
For more information, visit www.hsus.org.
Services »
