Humane Society International Mounting an Attack on Dogfighting in Mexico Wayne Pacelle - HumaneSociety.org
go to original July 22, 2016

No más peleas de perros en México (The Humane Society of the United States)

It’s time to ban dogfighting in Mexico – everywhere in the country. It’s already banned in several states there, but the law is silent in others, and there’s no national law against what is perhaps the most widely reviled animal crime in the world.

This week, our Humane Society International – Mexico office announced a new campaign, “No More Dogfighting” (No + Peleas de Perros), to snuff out dogfighting throughout Mexico – a nation of more than 130 million people that has so much cultural and economic exchange with the United States.

Due largely to The HSUS’s work, dogfighting is a felony in every state in the United States, and it’s also a federal felony (along with bringing a minor to a dogfight and possessing dogs for fighting). But it was a long and tough fight to achieve these goals, and we’re still chasing down people in the shadows who stage dogfights.

There’s some endemic dogfighting in Mexico, but we’re now also seeing that American-based dogfighters are trekking down to Mexico to avoid law enforcement. It’s yet another case – as we see with so many other activities – in which animal abusers go venue shopping to find the spots where cruelty is deregulated.

Dogfighting deadens the souls of the human participants, including the spectators, producing individuals more inclined to engage in interpersonal violence. We see it all the time in the United States. And now that we are paying attention, we see it in Mexico. In Ciudad Juarez in 2013, it’s suspected that dogfighters were responsible for the stabbing and slaughter of an entire family of eight, including three children, because of unpaid dogfighting debts.

Let’s be clear that there’s almost no reservoir of support for dogfighting in Mexico. One poll revealed that 99 percent of Mexicans condemn dogfights and 85 percent believe dogfighters should be penalized. More than 110 news outlets covered the launch of our campaign, which made it to the front page of Excelsior, one of the largest national newspapers.

We’re reminding Mexican leaders that they don’t want to be a hub for people involved in the enterprise, since we are banning the practices in nations to its south. HSI led the effort to enact anti-cruelty legislation in El Salvador and Honduras to ban dogfighting, and we have a major campaign in Costa Rica moving ahead too.

Read the rest at HumaneSociety.org

Related: No Dogs Allowed on Zihuatanejo Beaches: Expats Raise a Fuss Over Municipal Bylaw Banning Pets (Mexico News Daily)

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