Man Sliced Off His Pet Pit-Bull's Ears To Make Him Look Tougher

[matcom]

<snip>

SAN FRANCISCO --A man has been convicted of animal cruelty for cutting off his pet pit bull's ears with a razor in an effort to make the dog look tougher, officials said.

Smokey, a tan and white male pit bull, was turned into city animal care workers after his owner lopped off the ears in a bathtub on Aug. 1.

Shadrach Go, 25, was accused of taping Smokey's mouth closed, straddling him and performing a crude "crop" job, according to authorities.

"We have seen really bad home 'crop jobs' but this was particularly bad," said Deb Campbell with the city's Animal Care & Control Department.

Go faces a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine and a year in jail, but he will most likely receive probation and be prohibited from owning dogs for several years. Sentencing is set for Sept. 14.

Go's listed phone number was disconnected.

"Cropping" is frequent among unlicensed pit bull breeders and owners who use the dogs for fighting or intimidation. Authorities say many owners believe cropping makes the dogs look tougher.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/08/31/sf_man_convicted_of_severing_dogs_ear?mode=PF

:popcorn:

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Hope they slice off the man's ears before they throw him in jail.....

[greenman3610]

5. Shadrack? what do you expect.

[ret5hd]

2. man owns dog to make himself look tougher...

hey! dumbass! Yeah, you!!! why don't you crop your OWN ears? you ain't a wuss, are you?

[ramapo]

3. Not an isolated incident

I volunteer at a shelter in NJ. We have had a number of pits, rotties, shepards, etc. that have been similiarly mutilated. There are plenty of sick people out there....

[Spinzonner]

4. Wouldn't it be more appropriate just to lop off his ears ?

[Coventina]

6. I hope this will make some people realize that it's this kind of abuse

that makes INDIVIDUAL pit bulls turn dangerous.

If pit bulls were loved, cared for and socialized properly they would be the same as any other breed of dog. But instead HUMANS mistreat them, torture them and even TRAIN them to be mean and dangerous. Dangerous dogs are a HUMAN created problem. And the humans that create the problem need to be punished much more severely.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Throw him in a cell with Mike Tyson and let Nature run its course. (nt)

[flvegan]

8. But wait, this vicious breed, killer of children everywhere, LET him?

Didn't attack him during the taping of his snout? During the first ear "crop" nor the second?

Hmmm...sorta makes one think.

At least when vets crop, they put them out for it. Still a barbaric practice, 99% of the time for vanity, but hey...

[B3Nut]

9. We're pretty much opposed to cropping too...

...my wife and I do pit rescue. My first pittie was cropped, though (dual-registered AKC/UKC AmStaff/APBT, finished show dog), he was a handsome boy. Lost Obie at 11yo in 12/03 before Christmas due to cancer. He was euthed by candlelight and Christmas music, with me and my wife (who is the vet's assistant at the clinic) there. I still miss him. He had cancerous nodules all over inside...was awful.

I have another crop-eared rescue dog from Chicago, we were fostering him for Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue and I fell in love with his dopey self, so Cain-Brain joined the herd.

Here's Cain and Deuce giving me a good working-over:


:D

Todd in Beerbratistan
WI Independent Pit Bull Rescue
http://wipbr.freeservers.com

[flvegan]

10. Beautiful dogs.

We've had very, very few pits come into our rescue that haven't been cropped. Two that we took in were abused, so it was no surprise that the "owner" didn't want to spend the time or money on it. One was a bait dog (used to train fighters ON) and one was a guard dog. One was being starved, and I just kinda...took her.

Pit rescue...I don't think you find it, I think that it finds you. You rock for the work you do up there.
:toast:

[China_cat]

11. Fighters crop the dogs' ears and tails

to take away a hold in the ring. When done by fighters, it's usually done with scissors and then cauterized with a soldering iron.