Color-coded with paint or permanent marker unwanted cats are used as bait in dog fights. Spectators bet on which color will survive the longest.
It doesn’t surprise me, almost nothing surprises me nowadays concerning acts of cruelty against animals. In this instance it has come to my attention that cats acquired in various ways, perhaps online for free, are being colour-coded with paint or marker on their fur so that dog fighters can place bets as to how long they last when attacked by dogs in what I presume is dog fighting rings.
This story concerns a beautiful grey-and-white male cat found in good health and rescued by Clewiston Animal Control and then passed on to Megan Sorbara of the Naples Cat Alliance in Florida.
We’re not told, and people don’t know I guess, as to how this cat escaped his fate at the hands of a dogfighting ring but he did. He was not micro-chipped and nobody reported him missing. Despite his experience he is a loving and gentle male cat and as a result he was adopted quickly within a week.
Comment: the spray-painting of unwanted cats to turn them into bait for dog fighters is new to me. It is deplorable and apparently not uncommon.
In an earlier post I speculated that dogfighting was the initial motivator for declawing cats. When cats are used as bait to train fighting dogs their claws were removed to protect the dogs. Sadly there is a big connection between dog fighting and cats. It is very uncomfortable but kittens and cats are used as bait to train fighting dogs. We know it now; no one should advertise their unwanted cat as ‘free to a good home’ on websites where items can be sold. The cat is exposed to unscrupulous individuals involved in dog fighting. These are crimes that go unpunished.
This story first appeared in coleandmarmalade.com in the middle of 2018.
