Dog fighting: New data base could track down breeders

Sep 27, 2010

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/pawprintpost/post/2010/09/dog-fighting-new-data-base-could-track-down-breeders/1?loc=interstitialskip

A new DNA data base could help find the breeders -- and lead to their prosecution -- of dogs used in dog fighting rings, according to a story by National Public Radio.

As much as most people want to see people prosecuted in the violent "sport'' of dogfighting, not everyone is in favor of the data base, fearing it might lead to discrimination against the dogs or people who end with them as pets. The NPR story explains that dogs seized in the largest raid of dog fighting ring in 2009 were related, leading prosecutors to believe they were all bred to fight. Dogs from champion lines can be sold for $20,000.

Also on NPR's Diane Rehm show today is an interview with Jim Gorant, author of The Lost Dogs, the new book about the redemption of the dogs from Michael Vick's compounds and with a spokesman from the ASPCA who was opposed to having the dogs euthanized. The full show can be listened to here.

I'm curious to know if you think DNA alone will make a dog violent. Many people try to defend pit bulls from sweeping generalizations.