Is the Brutal Practice Called "Trunking" Real? We Asked an Expert

It does happen, but trunking "has nothing to do with the sport of dog fighting," the ASPCA's Randall Lockwood tells us. "It's just brutality."

Earlier in the month, Dogster's news writer Michael Leaverton shared a story that made everyone on our team cringe. It was the first time we'd heard of "trunking," a disgusting practice where two dogs are put into the trunk of a car and driven around, expected to fight until one "wins" and the other dies. This post included quotes from a video report filed by a Miami news station, WPLG Local 10, which featured group of dogs rescued from a trunking situation by the Miami-Dade Animal Services Department. 

The story struck a nerve well outside our regular readership and has been the most-trafficked story of the month thus far. More than 6,000 readers shared it on Facebook, and the response we've gotten in the comments section, on our Facebook wall, and in emails was overwhelming. Many were furious with the practice itself, and others were mad at us for "sensationalizing" a report they did not believe to be true. 

Over the weekend, Dogster Community Manager Lori Malm and I attended the Blogpaws conference in Virginia, and we were invited to a private viewing of the ASPCA's dog fighting exhibit at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C. Before the tour (which included a startling map of the number of dog fighting arrests made in the U.S., and a selection of sinister-looking contraptions used by dog fighters), we met with Dr. Randall Lockwood, senior vice president of the ASPCA's Forensic Sciences and Anti-Cruelty Projects. 

Lockwood has a ridiculously long and impressive resume, and has worked with humane societies and law-enforcement agencies for more than 30 years. He has testified in numerous trials involving cruelty to animals or the treatment of animals in the context of other crimes such as dog fighting, domestic violence, and homicide. He also helped orchestrate the exhibit we were there to see. 

Before the tour, he talked about his work on the forensics team, and he called dog fighting "the greatest violation of that relationship between people and dogs." 

"Dogfighting does not occur in a vacuum," Lockwood told us. "It almost always involves illegal drugs and illegal weapons." And getting those in law enforcement to see the correlation between the sick sport and other crimes has helped make shutting down dog fighting rings more of a priority. 

But trunking isn't something dogfighters necessarily do. After our tour of the exhibit, we took Lockwood aside to ask about the practice, which he confirmed is real (albeit not widespread) and not a Snopes-worthy prank or urban legend. The first time Lockwood heard of an official trunking case was two years ago, and there were rumors about it for years before that. 

"We are hearing some reports of trunking. We had recent reports from Texas, some from, I believe, New Jersey and Missouri, but it seemed to be a relatively [isolated] phenomenon," he said. "Unfortunately it's one of those things that goes viral on the web, that then idiots hear about and think 'Y'know, that might be interesting to try.'"

"It has nothing to do with the 'sport' of dog fighting," Lockwood continued. "It's nothing that a professional or hobbyist would engage in, because it defeats the purpose of recognizing a well-trained dog and breeding a successful fighter. It's just brutality."

"I still hear very few confirmed cases, but I will no longer say 'Now I've heard everything,' not in this business. There's no limit to the depths of idiocy that some people will go to." 

If you hear of a trunking or dog fighting incident in your area, the first step is to alert your local authorities or law enforcement agency. The ASPCA also offers a 96-page dog fighting toolkit for law enforcement.

View the original article here

Man Who Killed 100 Sled Dogs Allegedly Asked SPCA for Help

Outdoor Adventures sled dogs giving it their all (AP photo)

Update 8:20 a.m. Feb. 3: After we published this story, we received a comment saying the information in the story in The Vancouver Sun, which we cited in our post, was not accurate. BC SPCA CEO Craig Daniell issued a statement refuting the charges, saying the man who killed the dogs contacted the SPCA only after the dogs had been killed.

“I would like to make it clear to our supporters and to the public that the suggestion in the Vancouver Sun story published today (Feb. 2) that the BC SPCA had prior knowledge about the slaughter of the 100 sled dogs in Whistler is 100 per cent false….It is deeply distressing to our organization that anyone would imply we had knowledge of, or could have prevented, the devastating killings carried out by Outdoor Adventures Whistler on April 21 and 23, 2010,” it begins.

You can read the rest, and the timeline given by BC SPCA for actions related to the sled dogs, in the Comments section below the story. (Look for the comment from Robert.) Please read the story below with this information in mind.

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The man who killed 100 sled dogs in Whistler went to the SPCA for help on two separate occasions finding homes for the dogs, according to a new report in The Vancouver Sun.

He was given no help either time.

Officials at the British Columbia SPCA say they didn’t realize the dogs from the Outdoor Adventures dog sledding outfit would be slaughtered, The Sun reports. But they admit they told the man the dogs were not adoptable because they wouldn’t make good pets.

“[The employee] didn’t advise me he was going to kill any dogs. He was looking to find homes. I spoke to an animal behaviorist who is also a vet and she spoke with an expert in the [United] States who said [the sled dogs] weren’t adoptable,” senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever told The Sun.

Five months after the cull, which sent the man into major post-traumatic stress disorder, he is alleged to have once again contacted the SPCA, looking for homes for some of the pack’s remaining dogs. The Sun obtained a copy of the email he sent. It states:

“I understood…that there were to be some dogs going to you for adoption? Is that indeed happening? Or should I just show up with a truck full so they can get off the chain and get some attention, exercise, stop fighting, etc….I am happy to bring some down to stop cruelty they are going through here.

“This is me as a bystander (I am off due to injury to both arms). I am the only one who has made any effort to move dogs. We still have almost 60 dogs too many, and a new litter of pups to be given away. Can you please give me a call so I know something can be done. It’s breaking my heart.”

Two Outdoor Adventure sled dogs. (Photo: Outdoor Adventures)

Drever wrote back once again that after consulting with behaviorists, she has deemed the animals unadoptable. She said she would conduct an inspection of the Outdoor Adventures facility. She never did.

“What people have to realize because of the way they’re raised they’re not highly adoptable animals. Maybe a few could have been adopted but these dogs are on tethers 90 per cent of their lives,” said Marcie Moriarty, the SPCA’s head of animal cruelty, in The Sun story. “Is it fair [Outdoor Adventures] profits — get thousands of dollars from tourists and not have a retirement plan? Is it fair they would dump them on the SPCA and then we’d have the pain of that euthanization?”

Moriarty said that the agency would have acted if they’d known slaughter was imminent, but that the dogs would likely have been euthanized anyway. But she said it’s not the agency’s responsibility  “to take on their issues … to suddenly make a phone call and say, ‘I have 100 dogs that need placing;’ that’s not an answer to their business operation’s issues,” Moriarty is quoted as telling The Sun.

If this is true, it looks like there’s blood on a lot of hands in this tragic case.

Even though he carried out his atrocious duties in the end, the man who killed the dogs
(his name is being withheld by The Sun because of his condition) may have been the only one to try to get help for these dogs — many of whom he’d helped raise from puppyhood. Before this was revealed, many Dogster readers left comments on our original post about the slaughter wishing the man into hell,  and much worse. But now that these facts have come out, perhaps some will see shades of grey in the blackness…

Meanwhile The Globe and Mail reports that the Humane Society International Canada is calling for stronger laws involving dog sledding. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering  a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone engaged in the illegal killing of sled dogs in Canada or the U.S. Maybe this is just the beginning of some much-needed oversight for this industry.

View the original article here