Cops, Prosecutors Announce Rewards To Stop Dog, Cockfighting

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CHICAGO (WBBM) - Police and prosecutors are putting teeth into efforts to curb  dogfighting, cockfighting and the breeding and training of other animals to fight.


As a playful pit bull reclaimed from a kennel of fighting dogs rolled over, licked hands and faces and mugged for photographers, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Police officials said that they would offer rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and up to $5,000 upon conviction in cases of dogfighting, cockfighting and the breeding and training of other animals to fight. 

The Humane Society of the United States will administer the  rewards program.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said he sees no joy in activities, thought by partisans to be sport, that leaves one combatant dead and the other often injured severely.

"They aren't (born) to kill.  They are bred by twisted, twisted people to become killing machines," he said.  "Those people cannot be prosecuted hard enough."

Dart says the ties between dogfighting, street gangs and illegal drugs are strong, and said uncovering the fights often proves to be difficult.

"One of the ones we tried to grab, we started off in Dolton and ended up in a cornfield in Pontiac," he said.

Watching a dogfight remains a misdemeanor, although a bill has been introduced in Springfield, sponsored by State Rep. Marlowe Colvin (D-Chicago), that would make the mere act of watching a dogfight a felony. 
The 60 people ticketed in the latest successful raid on a dogfight, in Englewood, ranged from small children to a full-term pregnant woman. 

He says the change in the current law is long overdue.

"It's a joke," Dart said. 

Chicago Police officials said their statistics indicate that nearly two-thirds of those convicted of animal abuse crimes, including dogfighting, are also charged with violent crimes against people.  

Those with tips can call police or animal control officials locally, Crime Stoppers or the Humane Society of the United States. Even those who offer tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers can qualify for awards once arrests are made and convictions are obtained.  

Crime Stoppers' animal abuse hotline is 800-535-STOP (800-535-7867).