4.3. The Staffies, Fighting Dogs And Dogfighting
There are many descriptions of dogfighting; however, they vary, just like any account of any event, from the benign and gentile to the brutal and outrageous. As the accounts are repeated, they frequently tend to drift away from the real facts, and more-often-than-not they are embellished, exaggerated, overstated, enhanced, etc. to the point that have little or no connection with the real truth.
In addition, not all dogfighting is going to follow the same procedures and/or rules.
Suffice it to say that for purposes of this document, dogfighting happened and happens. However, most accounts that I have read indicate that dogfighting started in England in the early 1800s after-bull baiting was outlawed.
While the early 1800s would technically be “centuries” ago, i.e., two centuries, a reasonable interpretation would be much more than two centuries. Consequently, if I were making this statement, I would have stated that a very small group of “dogs were bred in England as fighting dogs beginning in the early 1800s.” However, the statement in question seems to imply that all Staffies were bred for dogfighting, and this was done for many, many centuries, i.e., more than two.
It is incorrect to state that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was bred for dogfighting. In fact, it was bred to be a utilitarian dog used by poor peasants on farms, like all of the other terriers. If some persons bred some of the dogs for dogfighting, that doesn’t make the entire breed “fighting dogs”. It only makes the dogs that were used for dogfighting fighting dogs.
At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dog_fighting_breeds, the following is a list of alleged “dogfighting breeds”.
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It is estimated that there are 494 breeds of dogs recognized by the national and internationally recognized kennel clubs. There are nine (9) extinct breeds and thirty-three (33) non-extinct so-called “fighting” breeds of dogs in the preceding listing. Therefore, according to the available information, there were six and seven-tenths percent (6.7%) or one of every sixteen of all dog breeds “dogfighting breeds”?
Would all dogs of these breeds be so-called “Pit Bulls”?
Of course, this presupposes that the “dogfighting” dogs are of a real “breed” and not “mutts”, and the “breed” is correctly identified which later in this document it will be found that the consensus is that even the experts are more-often-than-not wrong. See http://pitbullsfactormyth.net/16-5-1-breed-identification/
“Modern ‘purebred’ dogs are an entirely different story. In current dog breeding circles, the term ‘‘breed’’ refers to a population of closely related animals of similar appearance that are bred and maintained from a known foundation stock through genetic isolation and deliberate selection. For any modern dog to be successfully registered as purebred, both its parents and grandparents must also have been registered members of the same breed, which means that essentially all modern dog breeds are closed breeding populations.” (Ostrander, E. A. (2007). Genetics and the shape of dogs. American Scientific, 95, 406–413).
It should be noted that I have been unable to locate any objective credible evidence that so-called “Pit Bulls” came from any foundation stock recorded by the American Dog Breeders Association, the United Kennel Club or any other so-called American Pit Bull Terrier registry. Likewise, I have been unable to locate any reference to any foundation stock by any of the American Bully registries.
At http://www.pawculture.com/breed-basics/dog-breeds/american-pit-bull-terrier-dog-breed/?intcid=LINKAR, it is stated that,
“Because of its controversial origins, the Pit Bull is not recognized by the American Kennel Club. This has resulted in the formation of two separate clubs for the specific purpose of registering Pit Bulls. The first was the United Kennel Club (UKC), which was formed in 1898 by founder C. Z. Bennett. The founder’s dog, Bennett’s Ring, was assigned UKC registration number one, making it the first registered Pit Bull in recorded history. The second club, the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), began in 1909 as a multiple breed association, but it has been dedicated mainly to Pit Bulls, as the original president, Guy McCord, was an avid fancier and breeder of the American Pit Bull Terrier.”
Note that when I first researched the UKC and the ADBA several years ago, their websites stated that they were created specifically to register American Pit Bull Terriers. Since then they have changed their websites to claim that they are multiple breed associations. Obviously, the change to multiple breed from exclusive American Pit Bull Terrier breed registry has not caught up with all of the other websites that show the UKC and ADBA history.
For example, at http://www.badrap.org/breed-history, it is stated that,
“In 1909, Guy McCord founded an organization titled ADBA (American Dog Breeders Association). This was created exclusively for APBTs and continues to be the lead registry for this breed. In 1976, the ADBA outlined its own breed standard, or, Basis of Conformation. In 1990, a new registry called ABKC was formed to promote ‘American Bully’ dogs – a new breeding style of thick, bulldoggy looking dogs that are said to have English Bulldog in their background as well as other breeds.” – See more at: http://www.badrap.org/breed-history#sthash.oXmRK9Nw.dpuf
Note that on July 3, 2017, the preceding link was broken. A Google search no longer found a badrap.org website.
At http://www.adbadog.com/p_pdetails.asp?fpid=2, it is stated that the ADBA was started in September, l909 as a multiple breed association. The residing president, Mr. Guy McCord, was an avid fancier and breeder of the American Pit Bull Terrier, and was a close friend of John P. Colby. Colby was the mainstay of the A.D.B.A. which prompted the boast of being the “home” registration office of the Colby dogs. Colby dogs are supposed to be “fighting dogs” that have been bred by the same family since 1889.
On September 18, 2016, I attempted to check the referenced link and found that the web page has been deleted.
At http://www.colbypitbull.com/, under “History”, it is stated that,
“John P. Colby (1875-1941) started his strain of American Pit Bull Terriers in 1889, from the best dogs from England and Ireland brought here by immigrants to such ports as Boston, MA, Portsmouth, NH and New York. The Colby dogs have been bred continuously since then.
Now, some 116 years later, the strain is still known worldwide for tops in conformation, temperament, and gameness. A “Colby dog” would be readily recognized by breeders anywhere in this country, as well as many foreign countries.”
Note that at http://www.cfba.co.uk/creating-a-new-breed.html, an article entitled Creating a New Breed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia states, under “Breed Standards”,
“The path to recognition should not be taken lightly. It requires a large population of dogs with pedigrees that can produce consistent and predictable type. To accomplish this, a written breed standard is needed that describes the traits that the judges and breeders will use to advance not only temperament and type but many of the other desirable traits.”
and under “Creating a New Breed”,
“In order for a breed, new or old, to be recognized, the breeders must be able to demonstrate several generations of pups that resemble one phenotype and are genetically similar to their parents. This means that they can be distinguished based on their appearance and genetics. For example, breeders who choose to create a new breed must be prepared to spend upwards of 50 years of continuous breeding to create a gene pool that will produce entire litters consistent in type and genetics.”
and under “The Foundation Stock Service (FSS),
“Legitimate breeds in the United States must eventually become an AKC-recognized breed. As the world’s largest and most prestigious stud book, the AKC is recognized as the authority for purebred dogs….
By the time a breed is ready for the Miscellaneous Class, it should have established three major milestones.
(1) A national breed club with a minimum of 100 active household members located in at least 20 states in the United States.
(2) A list of the current officers and members, the current breed standard and the club’s constitution and by-laws.
(3) A minimum of 300 to 400 dogs, with complete 3-generation pedigrees in this country.”
And under “Conclusion and Summary”,
“Two conclusions can be drawn from this discussion. The first is that cross bred dogs should always be known for what they are – mongrels or mixed breeds [“mutts”]. When breeders refer to them by their pseudo name i.e., “Labradoodle, or Cockapoo”, they legitimize the efforts of the mongrel breeders and encourage them to create markets for their puppies. The second is that the history of breed development is filled with failure and disappointment. Creating a new breed is not for the timid or those lacking in time, resources and adequate kennel space. The more than 150 AKC-recognized breeds each took decades to develop. It is folly for breeders to think they can create, in a few years, what it took others a lifetime to accomplish. For these reasons, creating a new breed should be left to those with the necessary skills, time, resources and determination.”
At http://www.colbypitbull.com/, under “History”, the following is found.
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If the first dog in the preceding “pedigree” is dated in 1881, does that mean that Colby was six (6) years old, i.e., born in 1875. and started his breed in 1881, when he got his first dog and started his breeding program?
If it typically takes fifty (50) years to develop a new breed (See http://pitbullsfactormyth.net/9-0-creating-a-new-breed/) and the American Pit Bull Terrier was a new breed and if Colby started his stain of Colby Dogs in 1889, at age fourteen (14), i.e., Colby was born in 1875. and the Colby’s strain started in 1889, are the Colby dogs a “new breed”?
If it typically takes fifty (50) or more years to develop a new breed how did Colby develop his strain (breed) in fifteen (15) years beginning in 1881 and having the first Colby dog in 1896, per the above “pedigree”?
Are the Colby dogs a “breed” or a “scam”?
The idea of ‘fixing’ the characteristics of dog varieties by genetic isolation and inbreeding is less than 200 years old, having originated from the hobby breeding of prize-winning poultry and livestock in England during the middle of the nineteenth century (Ritvo, H. (1987). The animal estate: English and other creatures in the Victoria age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). The implication of this statement being that “breeding” of any animals began in the mid-1800s. Consequently, to say that any animal has been bred for centuries to do anything is incorrect since it has been only slightly more than one-and-a-half (1 ½) centuries since the first animals were “bred” and they were poultry and livestock. Obviously, the “breeding” of dogs came after the breeding of poultry and livestock.
In some cases, it is claimed that modern purebred dogs are direct descendants of ancient or foundational stock but usually the genetic evidence for continuity is shaky at best (Larson, G., Karlsson, E. K., Perri, A., et al. (2012). Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 109, 8878–8883).
James A. Serpell and Deborah L. Duffy of Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, on page 33 at http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9783642539930-c2.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1443918-p176454302, state that
“In reality, the lines of descent between modern and ancestral breeds have been thoroughly obscured by the effects of arbitrary selection for unusual or extreme aspects of physical appearance combined with deliberate hybridization between existing breed types to produce new, truebreeding strains that combine the attributes of the parental lines.”
