One lucky bait dog

[idgiehkt]

Meet Oogy. He was used for 'bait', to train fighting dogs, and he survived.



"When Oogy was four months old and weighed thirty five pounds he was tied to a stake and used as bait for a Pit Bull. The left side of his face from just behind his eye was torn off, including his ear. He was bitten so hard a piece of his jaw bone was crushed. Afterward, he was thrown into a cage and left to bleed to death.

I am not a religious man, but I can only conclude that at that moment God turned around and paid attention. The police raided the facility, found Oogy, and took him to Ardmore Animal Hospital, where Dr. Bianco stitched him up and saved him. This coincided with the last weekend of life for our cat, Buzzy, who was 14 at the tine. My sons and I had taken Buzzy to AAH for his last visit. The staff had gathered Buzzy in when out comes this pup to be walked that looked like nothing more than a gargoyle. He covered us with kisses. The boys and I fell instantly in love with him."

the rest of it is here:
http://www.mlar.org/advocacy/dog-fighting

I've never read the story of a bait dog that lived to tell the tale before* so I thought I'd post a happy story.

I just remembered another one, a puppy used as bait by the dealer that owned him and went on to become a drug sniffing dog and won medals, he was a pit bull named popsicle and his story is here:
Popsicle the drug sniffing super dog
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/articles/popsicle.html

when found (left for dead in a freezer)


after winning one of his 'significant seizure' medals


edit: Oogy is a dogo argentina, which are larger than pit bulls. Popsicle is a pit bull and he is a good representation of how big they generally get.

[philosophie_en_rose]

1. Dogs are better than some people.

:(

I can't see how it can be entertaining to see animals hurting.

[flvegan]

2. What a fantastic story.

Both Oogy and Popsicle have me, admittedly, in tears at this point. Dogos are WONDERFUL dogs, and not very common. I'm surprised they'd use one as bait.

Bait dogs, of course, have a special place in my heart. Here's pics of two that we have:

Found him under a bush in the woods, waiting to die. He had wounds all over his body, broken jaw, missing teeth.



And of course, this girl who I just plan swiped. We originally thought that she was just a fighter, but I recently had the revelation that she was likely bait, as she still has her ears and tail.



and



As I think is displayed by these pics, once they've been introduced to fighting, they can never be trusted again. :eyes:

[idgiehkt]

3. very beautiful pups

those bite wounds make me sad. I know Oogy was identified as a Dogo at the vet he was at. It may not be accurate, that is just what the vet or vet tech said.

Do you have any pits that have previously been fought, instead of just used as bait? How do they handle being around other animals, do they try to fight them?

edited because my brain function is impaired, lol.

[flvegan]

8. The uncropped ears tell the tale.

Fighters won't spend the time/money to cut up a dog that they're going to throw away. Same with the breeder bitches they don't intend to fight or sell. I believe the vet is correct about Oogy.

We've had ex-fighters come through here, but we don't have any now, I don't believe. The few that I can think of were adopted into responsible, VERY well-screened homes with full disclosure of their past. We've not had an incident resulting from any of them. Granted, I do think that some of the fighters are too far gone to be put into a home. I've seen some evidence dogs that scared the hell out of me. I've also walked through a field of chained fighters and 95% of them rolled over to get tummy rubs.

[idgiehkt]

10. I worry about that part of it

I don't think they should be re-homed if they are a danger to other animals. It's good that you screen them. Of course there are dogs that have injured people or animals that have never even been fought or exposed to other animals. I know of two that have killed another animal in the home that were owned by the same people their whole life and were never exposed to any kind of fighting. Sigh...

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. They're so adorable.

I don't think every dog is a fit with every person, but there is a person out there for every dog. I'm glad you found each other.

I'm so glad you swiped your girl. She looks like she hasn't had a lot of love in her life, until now.

[flvegan]

11. The first one has been placed in a great home.

The second one is going through heartworm treatment, and they'll go to a good home too. I run a rescue. Well, it's more like "animal repossession/recovery" at this point, though.

[philosophie_en_rose]

21. That's amazing.

I'm glad the first dog found a home, and that the second one has found you. Even though you might not be her home forever, at least she has some kindness in her life now.

I love the rainbow leash, by the way. :)

[Karenca]

5. Your pictures just made me cry.

If I believed in god, I'de say god bless you.

[flvegan]

16. Thanks.

Blessed, or just damn lucky.

[Karenca]

6. oh, Idg ---

:cry:

[LeftyMom]

7. What a brave special guy to survive all of that.

[idgiehkt]

12. when I think about the probably millions he represents that didn't make it

it really upsets me. :cry:

I may have to hide my own damn thread. :(

Well at least he puts a face on it. I fell in love with the story of Popsicle years ago. I still have the original People magazine article on him, and I think that was over a decade ago.

[LeftyMom]

14. Me too.

:cry:

Getting stories like this out there is part of changing the culture. People need to realize that this is not a victimless crime by a long shot.

[xchrom]

9. recommend.

isn't that a testament to dogs and their ability to forgive what is done to them?

they are true companions.

[DS1]

13. Dog fighters belong in modern-day Coliseums

They are scum, vermin, stacked-high-shit, and deserve to fight each other to death and nothing more.

[idgiehkt]

18. and nothing less

you should see what I googled my way into just looking for the link to Oogy's story. It's heartbreaking. Google is not always a good thing. :cry:

[flvegan]

19. Ah, but DS1, how specifically shall we get them to fight one another?

These are cowardly little shitstains. If we waited for them to "get it on" we'd be dead before they were.

We'd need provocation, or a third party. I'll leave it to your creative imagination to come up with it.

[DS1]

22. Winner gets to live till tomorrow

[lost-in-nj]

15. OMG

There are just NO words

:cry: :cry:

but oogy looks like he's smiling.....


lost

[Joe Fields]

17. OMG, that's a heartbreaker...I think that whoever used Oogy for bait

should feel God's wrath in a most unforgettable way. Nice ending, thankfully. Oogy's cute.:hi:

[idgiehkt]

20. Oogy is cute. Another pic

pretty ironic his name is a variation of 'ugly' because he was so injured when the owner first saw him his thought was 'that is one ugly dog'.

[flvegan]

23. What's also nice: the vet/animal hospital

"An essential part of this story is the fact that AAH has never taken a dime in payment for anything they have done for Oogy. I never asked them for such an arrangement. When I went to pay the first bill I was told, "Oogy's a no-pay." I never asked why this is. Oogy is their dog. We are just lucky enough to look after him."

Vets and clinics like that? :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[idgiehkt]

24. I know

because his medical bills were in the thousands I'm sure of it. It's a miracle he even survived.

[Joe Fields]

25. truly remarkable. restores one's faith somewhat