What Texas Monthly left out about 'bringing down the dogmen'

Examiner.com -- The August 2009 issue of Texas Monthly features Skip Hollandsworth's "Bringing Down the Dogmen," about the undoing of a Houston-area dogfighting ring.

Skip Hollandsworth is one of my favorite writers in my favorite magazine, so it pains me that he has given convicted dogfighter Rob Rogers a complete -- even a romanticized -- profile, while making the victims -- the dogs -- appealing only to the sickest among us.

I understand that articles have scope and space constraints, but Hollandsworth had a chance to be fair to the dogs on the TM website, and he did not take it (though my 'back talk' comment is currently on the site). Hollandsworth appears to have consulted only dogfighters, law enforcement and humane societies. He quoted no one from the show, sport, rescue or pet-owning community.

Most people who will read Hollandsworth's article have never met an American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) or met a typical APBT owner. For them, this story reinforces most of what they have already heard: Pit bulls are good only for ripping other dogs to shreds. Why would any decent person adopt one? It could be your child next! Why should they be legal at all?
Pick up the magazine and reach your own conclusions. Subscribers can read the entire story online, and everyone can get the drift of the article on the TM website.

Here are four things the Texas Monthly article left out:

1. The story mentions that all 185 dogs and puppies owned by alleged ring members, including Rogers' two pet Boxers, were destroyed. Most disturbing: Not even the dogs who lived with the undercover officers and helped bring the dogfighters to justice were spared. Hollandsworth accepts this without question. Yet his article states that some of Rogers' dogs lived in the house with children (who cried when the dogs were hauled off). Certainly at least some of the dogs had rehabilitation potential. Sterilizing the dogs prior to adoption, which is required under Texas law anyway, would have stopped the spread of "fighting bloodlines."

What happened to the dogs belonging to the murdered Thomas Weigner? Liberty County seized the 285 dogs including 68 puppies under six months of age for cruelty -- not for dogfighting. The judge allowed Weigner's widow to keep four dogs and ordered all dogs over the age of six months destroyed.

The judge ordered the puppies sold at auction, which is typical for livestock but unusual for dogs and cats. The judge was well-intentioned, so rescue groups scrambled to help with alternatives. The Houston Humane Society, which does not adopt out pit bulls of any age, had custody of the puppies and said they came down with Parvo and/or a blood disease. The puppies have simply disappeared. Weigner's widow has never been criminally charged with cruelty or dogfighting. (Source: Zandra Anderson, Texas Dog Law Manual 2009 ed.)

To the rescue community, whose offers of help were refused, it seemed like the authorities could not kill dogs fast enough.

2. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is quoted extensively in the online and print articles. The HSUS gets great press and donations from big fight busts. However, a lot of folks have problems with the HSUS sweeping in and playing the hero without assisting with the victims' rehabilitation. Until April 2009, the HSUS advocated the killing of all fight bust dogs. The HSUS changed their policy under pressure from groups such as Best Friends (read their press release) and BAD RAP, who successfully rehabilitated some of Michael Vick's dogs. HSUS now recommends a policy of allowing seized dogs to be individually evaluated for placement.

3. Hollandsworth says on the TM website: "It wasn’t until September 2007 that the Texas Legislature decided to make dogfighting a felony, instead of a misdemeanor where a dogfighter could get away with only paying a fine." Dogfighting for money, which is the focus of the TM story, has been a state jail felony since 1983. The 2007 legislature elevated dogfighting where no money changes hands from a misdemeanor to a felony. When promotion or transportation crosses state lines, dogfighting is also is a federal crime. The 2009 Legislature added paraphernalia and enhanced penalties to the mix.
Like any underground illegal activity, such as drug and sex trafficking, prosecuting dogfighting cases is difficult and costly, but Texas law gives no one a free pass.

4. Hollandsworth manages to include all of the staples of the stereotypical "pit bull" story: Monster jaws, ripping flesh, macho men, gambling, drugs and of course scary gun-toting black men and white trailer trash.

Today's APBT owner has more in common with celebrity chef Rachel Ray or actress and dog rescuer Linda Blair than with the criminals described in this story. Women have a special affinity for the breed, but the bull-breed owning population is as diverse as Texas. When most APBT owners talk about shows and Grand Champions they are referring to legitimate dog shows, not fights. Owners of all breeds use strenuous exercise such as treadmills and swimming to prepare for legal dog shows and sports or simply to tire them out.

Hollandsworth has failed to give the victims of the fighting ring the respect that they deserve. The story, told differently, could have conveyed the heroism of the police officers who broke up the ring without further victimizing all APBTs in need of responsible homes.

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