Dog fighting in Canada
On a near-weekly basis, we are tagged or notified of a social media post about dog fighting. The source is often a rescue or self-professed animal welfare advocate. The most common posts are about pet thefts or stray animals found with bite marks/scars. These are taken to be signs of dog fighting activities, and PSA-type announcements go viral.
While we do not dispute that dog fighting does happen, we do not believe that stolen or scarred dogs is evidence of this activity. And we do not believe it is the epidemic it is being made out to be, especially in Canada
As we say this, we brace for the outraged comments – but this should be good news!
Come with us on a journey. We will put our critical thinking hats on and get to the bottom of these posts. We understand this is a difficult topic, but please read the entire piece before reacting or commenting.
Dog fighting has been illegal in Canada for well over 100 years – since 1892 to be exact. Under the Criminal Code of Canada it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering. This includes the fighting and baiting of animals. Punishment can include imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
These crimes do not slide under media’s radar and are quick to be reported! We all love animals and seeing them suffer provokes fear, outrage, and the ultimate goal – attention.
Common techniques of fear-based media include:
- dramatic anecdotes in places of scientific evidence
- a focus on isolated trends
- a focus on categories of people (or dogs in this case) that can be turned on as “the other”
- instills a sense of fear, pessimism or outrage
So take the headlines below that have been shared with us:
"Spike in stolen dogs could point to underground fighting rings in Alberta: animal society"
"Dog fighting rumours spread in Central Alberta, RCMP investigating"
"Dog fighting ring feared after pet rescue takes in a battered pit bull from a reserve south of Edmonton"
Even if you only read the headline, your blood pressure would go up and you would begin to worry about your own pets, wouldn’t you? But within those exact same articles, there are these factual statements:
"No reports of dog fighting ring have been reported to Nanton RCMP."
"Alberta SPCA is looking into the matter, though spokesperson Roland Lines said the organization has not received any recent calls on dog fighting."
"However, according to the Calgary Herald, there is little concrete evidence that such nefarious actives are taking place."
"Nothing specific enough for us to investigate. It is, at this point, just rumour and hearsay." "Alberta SPCA and RCMP say there are no active cases."
"The RCMP have confirmed there is no current investigations into Southern Alberta dog fighting rings."
Of course, this is rarely the takeaway. The headlines rule and achieve their goals of scaring and sharing.
In Canada, in the last 50 years, we could find only one documented case of organized dog fighting. In 2015, Chatham-Kent Police and the OSPCA charged two men with suspected dog fighting. In 2018, 67 of these charges were dropped due to an unreasonable delay in court proceedings. A total of 31 "pit bull" type dogs were seized in this investigation.
Sadly, animal mistreatment is a reality in our society. We appreciate people wanting to raise awareness. But if an organization’s goal is to protect animals, sharing “suspected dog fighting ring” posts based on speculation is – at best – not a good use of resources. At worst it is scare-mongering and manipulative, and often serves to fan the flames of BSL.