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'Gentle Soul' To Help Stop Animal Fights
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Published: June 1, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Winston the black pit bull is gentle and happy in his new home, his adoptive family says.
But when animal officials confiscated him from a fighting ring last July, he was emaciated, covered with scars, had two fractures in his right front leg and had heart worms. Authorities said Winston was used as "bait" to train fighting dogs.
The Humane Society of the United States used the pit bull during its recent announcement of a $5,000 reward program for reporting illegal animal fighting in Florida.
The reward program, offered nationally, will be paid out of donations that have poured in after the arrest of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.
Vick is serving 23 months in federal prison after acknowledging he helped run a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia home and executed dogs that performed poorly.
"It says a lot about our society when people are still getting entertainment out of two animals ripping each other apart," said Laura Bevan, the Humane Society's southeast regional director.
Attorney General Bill McCollum stooped down to pet mild-mannered Winston before joining Bevan to announce the reward program at a news conference outside the Florida Capitol.
Besides being cruel to animals, McCollum said many people involved in dogfighting and cockfighting often commit violent crimes against people.
Winston's former owner is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to 10 counts of animal fighting and four counts of animal cruelty.
Amy Raddar, an animal shelter volunteer, has adopted the pit bull.
"Knowing him and his gentle soul, I think he probably wasn't mean enough to be the top fighting dog," she said. "So I think they used him to train their other dogs."
The Associated Press
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