What sort of law would there be in the name of Bruiser? There are laws on the book against animal cruelty. They are strong laws. It's a felony to fight animals in Tennessee. The problem is that prosecutors need evidence. They need proof. They can't just pick up a dog like Bruiser or Mac and solve the crime.
Who owned Bruiser? Who had him when he was a puppy? What did they do to him? How did this happen to him? How did he end up on Shelby Oaks? Prosecutors and law enforcement can only bring charges if there's a reasonable belief that they can get a conviction. The person who dumped Bruiser was long gone.
The problem is that if Bruiser wasn't alive when he was found, if Jody Fisher hadn't happened by, he would have probably died out there alone. His body would have started to smell and someone would call dead animal pick-up. They would have scooped him up and taken him to the incinerator. Case closed.
Do you know how many dead dogs there are in the fields and dumpsters of Memphis? The female dogs that can't breed anymore, the ones that don't fight. Michael Vick is the tip of the iceberg. I have a video called Off the Chain that was produced by a man trying to save the breed. He actually got in to some pit bull fights and videotaped what he saw. He let trainers go on and on about the dogs. He even showed one who didn't fight get electrocuted. That was just one man in one city with one camera. Do you know how many there are just in Memphis? Michael Vick was one case.
When I did my series last year on pit bulls and I wrote about the horrible treatment, the chained dogs, the pit bull farms in people's back yards, I expected people to rise up and demand better treatment for that breed.
Nope. A little chatter. But nothing came of it. I just don't understand. There are Bruiser's everywhere. If you saw what I saw, the ones that are skin and bones and chained up in yards, you'd scream. I had nightmares for months after that story.
I had some people hollering to ban the breed. Like the dogs are somehow to blame for what is happening. It completely takes the responsibility off the owners and says that these puppies become killers or aggressive all by themselves. It completely takes the blame from where it should be, which is on the people raising, training, fighting, abusing these dogs. It's a systemic problem that isn't going away unless people rise up and demand that it does. Adopt pit bulls from shelters that allow it. Help rescue groups by fostering their animals or funding their work. Fight the stereotype. Get educated on what is going on. Buy a book called The Pitbull Placebo by Karen Delise. It will open your eyes. Demand laws be enforced. Call the animal shelter and report abuse. Turn on your neighbors that keep breeding stock chained up in their back yards.
What about a law that eliminates the selling of live animals on street corners and in flea markets? That will knock out a marketplace for these puppies. I wouldn't mind a moratorium on the breeding of pit bulls, maybe 5 years. All pups confiscated and sent to rescue groups for adoption. The problem is that there's a huge market for these pups. Read the number of ads for the pups. Look on the street corners on the weekends. Of course, the problem with a local moratorium is that people who live on the outskirts of Memphis will just bring their pups here to sell or people will drive across the county line to buy them.
I'm open for debate and discussion. I asked the new shelter manager if he's seen any city deal successfully with the pitbull problem. Not one, he said. Maybe we can be the first. Please tell me what you think. Remember, it's one thing to hope that people do these things to these dogs get what's coming to them, it's another thing to make that happen. It will take a village to save this breed. People have to stop being afraid and start getting proactive in the fight. What are your thoughts?
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In keeping with its tradition of having celebrity members, the Riverfront Development Corp. has added University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari to its board of directors.
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