Saturday was our first annual Compton Pet Fair, which was held in conjunction with our monthly spay/neuter event at East Rancho Dominguez Park in Compton. My goal for the Pet Fair was to get information out to community about caring for dogs, including proper feeding, health care and basic training. We also promoted the Dog Fighting Tip Line, handing out lots of postcard size reminders for people to call if they hear of someone fighting dogs. There is a $5,000 reward for any tip that leads to a conviction. However, I hear this phrase over and over from people in the community, especially the pit bull owners, “It’s not enough money to be a snitch.” This is a very sad reality.

I know that some of the youth and especially some of the older homeless men, like our friend and volunteer David, know people who are actively fighting pit bulls. Therefore, the best way to prevent dog fighting is to get the youth active with their pit bulls doing things other than fighting them. I’m proud to say, I work with a group of young men who own pit bulls that are very against dog fighting and dog breeding. My star example is Edgar, who volunteered all day Saturday, helping us translate in Spanish. He is the proud owner of Queenie, a red nose pit bull.

There is another small group who are definitely against dog fighting but are still actively breeding pit bulls or are contemplating creating their own blood line. Cris and Lando are two would be pit bull breeders who brought their dogs to the park on Saturday and decided to spay their female. We didn’t even discuss neutering the male pit bull because I know that’s “off the table for discussion” and I respect that.

Month after month, as Downtown Dog Rescue volunteers continue to raise awareness about the importance of making one’s dog a part of the family, we are seeing word of mouth referrals book appointments to the clinic and dog owners changing their minds about breeding. It’s an ongoing process that is built on trust and being there every month for one of the most needy communities in Los Angeles County. Compton is often considered a “write off” area, where nothing can be done because no one cares. Downtown Dog Rescue cares about the Compton community and the dogs who live there. Our goal is to eliminate the cycle of suffering, where packs of dogs roam the street looking for food and it’s very common to see dead dogs lying […]