Learning Not to Fight: Boy and Pit Bull Top of the Class
The HSUS
Anti-dogfighting advocate Sean Moore (back
right) has mentored Terrence Murphy (center).
In a Chicago neighborhood racked with too much violence, a 12-year-old boy is about to engage to fight his pit bull in a dogfight. They’re tucked away in an alley, with police nowhere in sight. In the right place at the right time, however, is Sean Moore. He’s an anti-dogfighting advocate with The HSUS's End Dogfighting in Chicago program. He gets wind of the fight and talks to the kids. A reformed dogfighter himself who knows the streets, Sean says there’s a better way. Don’t fight the dogs, he counsels. Join the Pit Bull Training Team.
Fast forward to today and this boy and dog first spotted in the alley—Terrence Murphy and Elmo—have just graduated from our Pit Bull Training Team classes and earned a Canine Good Citizen® certificate. Star students, the video of this pair celebrating their successes is something you'll want to see.
Transformations like this, turning youth away from the violence of dogfighting and offering them positive alternatives, are key to stopping the epidemic of street dogfighting in urban areas across America. That’s the goal of our End Dogfighting programs in Chicago and Atlanta and, coming soon, in Philadelphia. A similar program has just started in Milwaukee. These programs are working person to person, and, with time and with your support, we hope to expand them even further.
