Article 10

 I would use this picture in my presentation to attach people emotionally to my presentation. a lot of people love animals but even the ones who aren't to crazy about animals still would never want to see a dog in this state. This picture will give pathos to my argument. no sugar coding of what these poor dogs go through.

Proposal Paper Outline

Blog (Journal) 9

Create an outline for your proposal paper, following these guidelines.  The order of information may be modified.  Be sure to include detail and specific information. It does not need to be written in complete sentences, but I should be able to understand it.

I.                    Introduction:

a.       Explain how the topic isn’t being broadcasted like it should

b.      I propose that we increase the penalty for dog fighting and increase the reward for tips leading to the arrest of a dog fight. Change the burden of proof that we use with other crimes and make an exception with dog fighting.  Remember to qualify it and narrow it down so that it is arguable.

  

II.                  Context and background:

a.       Nothing really I give them everything they need to know and what is being hidden from them

b.      Not knowing any prior knowledge in this subject wouldn’t affect you from understanding this essay

 

III.                Proposal:

a.       Use extremist views to change the way we prosecute and deal with dog fighting

b.      The general public benefits and dog fighting dogs benifit. Prisoners suffer from it

c.       This proposal will work because it would potentially put a huge risk for dog fighting that wasn’t present before. A weakness in my proposal would be defending prison overcrowding

 

IV.                Conclusion:

a.       Increasing the punishment for dog fighting so the risk outweighs the rewards

b.      You should care because dog fighting could be on its way to your community, bring a lot of criminal activity

c.       Dog fighting would drop dramatically.

Article 7

Stephan Dube

March 19, 2014

Mrs. Denise

Article 7

Article 7

          So in the breed pitbulls there need to be more pitbull awareness of the breeds. When people are adopting a dog they need to understand that every dog has the potential to be a good dog. Also realize that any dog can attack not pitbulls as a whole are going to attack you. Statistics show that Chihuahua bite more people that pitbulls do.

          Also to prevent pitbulls from being unwilling participants of dog fighting breeders and adoption agencies need to do a better job on follow ups. Me personally the pitbull I own I signed a contract saying that I have to send him pictures every six months and of I miss 2 dates he has legal right to take my dog which I don’t oppose at all because he is doing his part to make sure that his dogs aren’t being used to dog fight.

          Just in general a lot of people who has a bad stigma to pitbulls haven’t ever met a pitbull or interacted with one. Encouraging people to go to the nearest shelter to so that everything they hear from the media isn’t true and might find out that a pitbull might be the dog for their home.

Article 5

Stephan Dube

Dr. Denise

February 22, 2014

Article 5

Article 5

          When people think about dog fighting they think of Michael Vick and Pitbulls. Think of money, gangs, and violence. They see the victims are the general public and people who come in contact with Pitbull are dog fighters. The purpose of me writing this topic and why I’m staying with it is to show people why dog fighting is wrong, and show why Pitbulls should not take the blame for what horrible handlers put their dogs through. For example, in a case where a man goes and gets into a altercation with another man and the result of the confrontation is that one man shoots another man. In court the man who shot the other man is guilty because he took a man’s life with a gun and they man is looked at bad and has a stigma as a killer attached to him. Not in court the gun will be charged and the gun is guilty of the crime. Same with Pitbulls, they are the victim; they are the tool and means in which the crime is committed. The Pitbull when it is born does not have the need to dog fight. Just like humans, humans aren’t born with stigmas or prejudice. This action is taught not born. That is the purpose of me using dog fighting, To break the stigma on Pitbulls and that they are horrible dog but forced to take part it in for a way of survival; also dog fighting is wrong and the penalty for it should be maximized.

 

Annotative Biblography

Stephan Dube

Dr. Denise

English 1302

February 10, 2014

 

Annotated Bibliography

Molina, Melody, Hiroko Arikawa, And Donald I. Templer. "Approval Versus Disapproval Of Dog-fighting And Cockfighting Among College Students." Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal 41.2 (2013): 345-352. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

In the Approval Versus Disapproval Of Dog-fighting And Cock-fighting Among College Students Molina, Melody, Hiroko Arikawa, And Donald I. Templer explore the approval and disapproval in dog-fighting and cock-fighting, also go into the lives of dog fighters and see their perspective and the process of being a dog fighter. Both Dog-fighting and Cock fighting are correlated because both involved animal cruelty, and aren’t concerned with the best interest of the animal. In the article they did survey on approval/disapproval of dog-fighting and cockfighting in two hundred and six community college students with 97.1% disapproving of dog-fighting. The survey strongly indicates how society feels about dog-fighting. The other 2.8% feel it’s a blood sport comparable to boxing, MMA, and UFC fighting. Dog-fighting was selected for this study because it is illegal and occurs mainly in the United States. It is an epidemic in other countries but it isn’t illegal so dog-fighting isn’t closely documented. The history of dog-fighting in the United States stems from its roots in England, where the Staffordshire bull terrier was bred for aggressiveness. English breeders first introduced Staffordshire terriers to the United States in the 1860s. The American bull terrier was bred to be larger and stronger than its English counterpart. They interviewed thirty one dog men of dog fighters and spent hours in dog fights, pre-dog fight meetings, and the dog men’s houses where the Pitbulls were kept. Dog fighters in America tend to be Southern men of the working class. Pitbull fighting was essentially a poor man’s sport. They maintained that dog-fighting is a symbolic expression and validation of masculinity.

Destreza, Kathryn. "Dog-fighting: A Basic Overview." Veterinary Ireland Journal 64.5 (2011): 281-284. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

In Dog-fighting: A Basic Overview Destreza, Kathryn  discuss dog-fighting being a blood sports, as the name indicates, an “activities[y] that involve violence against animals for public entertainment”. There are multiple types of blood sports, from bull fighting, to animal ‘baiting’, to the more popular styles of animal fighting, where animals of the same species are placed in a confined area and forced to engage in combat for public entertainment and financial gain. This form of animal cruelty happens in every country especially in the United States on a street and past-time level, as well as in middle and upper-classes. Dog-fighting involves more than just the fight itself; it is an operation that includes breeding, selling, marketing, training and medical care. Dog fighters make their lively hood from the puppies that are bred from their top fighting dogs. They market their dogs through internet, magazines and by word of mouth. Professional dog fighter’s supply dogs both across the United States and internationally.  Baits dogs are used in the professional dog fighting industry for training purposes and mainly are stray dogs off the street that come from loving homes and had no purpose to fight. The dog fighters put starved  bait dog against their top dog in hopes that the odds are stacked for the trained dog and killing the bait dog will build the confidence of the dog and make the owner happy.

Lee, Sherman A., Jeffrey A. Gibbons, and Stephen D. Short. "Sympathetic Reactions To The Bait Dog In A Film Of Dog-fighting: The Influence Of Personality And Gender." Society & Animals 18.2 (2010): 107-125. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

In Sympathetic Reactions To The Bait Dog In A Film Of Dog-fighting: The Influence Of Personality And Gender Lee, Sherman A., Jeffrey A. Gibbons, and Stephen D talks about the lack of sympathy for animal rights by the dog-fighters. The article also discusses the reactions the public had when shown actual footage of dog-fighting released by NFL super star quarterback Michael Vick. He was convicted for several accounts of animal cruelty because his involvement with dog-fighting. Footage released by Vick a dog fighter breaking the bait dog’s leg then simultaneously putting the bait dog up against a well-trained top dog. Also footage was released of dog fighters killing their dog after losing a dog fight. The worlds response to the footage with overwhelming sympathy for the dogs. As long as the financial gain out ways the punishment for dog-fighting, dog-fighters will not stop fighting innocent dogs in the United States.

 

Blog 4

Stephan Dube

Dr. Denise

English 1302

February 17, 2014

Blog 4

          After writing my annotated bibliography I learned a lot about dog fighting. Going in I wanted to gain more knowledge than what I had coming in on the topic. I succeeded on that goal. A huge information gain was the Michal Vick case and all that dealt with that case. I knew what the media portrait but not the facts in its entirety. Even when I was done reading the sources that I used in my essay I went further into the topic because I was genuinely interest in it. I watch 2 documentaries and read what was released from Michal Vicks trial. Watched some episodes of the Michal Vick project on Netflix. I feel extremely strong in this subject now more than starting this annotative bibliography. Also when I was finished reading my second source I went ahead and did some research on where dog fighting was originated from and how the Pitbull terrier was created. I know that they were created to become the exact prototype of the elite fighting dog. Overall I feel that doing this annotative bibliography I gained a lot. If you have a negative stigma about pitbull's I recommend reading my essay.

Article #3

Stephan Dube

English 1302

Dr. Denise

February 12, 2014

Blog #3

                Picking this topic I knew a lot about this topic threw research. This topic had my curiosity going since I loved the breed Pitbulls and didn’t know why a lot of people hate them. When researching this topic there wasn’t many options I had to pick from when picking articles. This topic is grey area topic in the sense that it is hidden to the normal public. I like how one of the articles based there article on a survey. The results of the survey were interesting because it gave the perspective of the public. When I researched dog fighting I only looked at article from 2000 and up. The information about dog fighting wasn’t relevant because back in the day dog fighting wasn’t looked at the same. I learned a lot about the Michal Vick’s case and the specifics. What was presented to the public by the media did not tell the whole story of what happen. Even though the media portrayed it bad, but the actual full facts of the case was horrific. Also the articles gave me a new perspective on bait dogs and how they are victims also. Stray dog are in great danger when left a stray in Dog fighting saturated areas.  I didn’t find articles that spoke about dog fighting in England as useful. Overall I felt that I learned more than what I came in from this topic.

Dog Fighting

Stephan Dube

English

January 24, 2014

Journal 2

Dog Fighting

          The reason I Picked Dog fighting is because it is a growing epidemic that is growing in the United States as well as overseas. Most people do not know the aspect of dogfighting; only know what they see in the media’s eye. In return build a negative association with animal involved with dog fighting, ones that are involved our just the breed of dog they bring the negative association. In my First journal I wrote about Pitbulls and the breed and the reason why I’m passionate of the breed. One of the stigmas that are tied to the Pitbull breed is dog fighting. A lot of people do not know the magnitude of dogfighting in their own communities. The dog fighting world is so hidden and is similar to an underground society; kept far away from law enforcement. In the eyes of Dogfighters they feel like fighting dogs is a sport comparable to boxing and don’t see it as a “Blood Sport” that is inhumane and vicious in which participants of this activity can lose their life unwillingly. I don’t believe that dog fighting will stop anytime soo only because of the big business is presents. Dog fighter takes the illegal risk of fighting dog because the reward to punishment is heavier in the reward side. One dog fight can be worth a lot of money upward in the $5,000 and up for one fight and more revenue is made by individuals walking the event in gambling on the outcome of the fight. Making millions of dollars a year in dog fights, this why dog fighting is going to be a hard problem to stop.

Pitbulls

Stephan Dube

English 1302

January 17, 2014

Pitbulls

            I feel like I am an expert in a lot of things but one thing that I’m pretty knowledgeable about is Pitbulls. I’m originally from Florida where my cousins owned Pitbulls and I was just fascinated about going over their house on weekend that I helped take care of them. After helping for a long time when one of their Females had a litter they gave me one free of charge. Where I was living Pitbulls are banded in the part of Florida where I and my mom and my little brother were living. Pitbulls had a horrible wrap where I come from. When you think of Pitbulls you think especially of dog fighting and that the breed is mean and vicious. From the day my cousins gave me my first Pitbulls to now being 23 years of age I’ve only owned Pitbulls and I love the breed. When I graduated High school in California I had a male Pitbull by the name of Trey that was a show dog/ agility coarse dog that was decorated in first place metals.  Ended up getting my breeding license and took some course to better understand dog behavior in general. In which now I feel like an expert in dog especially Pitbulls since I did so much to understand the breed. Also I taught a training class and made good money but interacted with Pitbulls of all ages. From the well behaved to the non-socialized dog. A stigma that Pitbulls carry is being mean aggressive and will turn on their owner. Statistically Chihuahuas bite more people that Pitbulls and any dog that is not socialized can be very mean and aggressive. Bottom line I feel like I’m an expert in the Pitbull breed and could argue with anybody about the breed that I love.