Dogs v.s. Hogs: Lose your faith in humanity
08 Mar '04
Posted by: ryan in: Ethics/Animal Rights, In the News
If there was ever any doubt that some people just don’t deserve to exist: Dogs go hog wild: Some object to event pitting canines against feral pigs.
The Feliciana Hog Dog Festival, like other “hog dog rodeos” across the South, features one-on-one confrontations between feral hogs and dogs trained to hunt them in the wild.
Most of the dogs entered in the competition appear to be pit bull terriers or pit bull mixtures. The hogs’ tusks are removed with bolt cutters to lessen the chance of injury to the dogs.
101 Responses
Amy
23|Mar|2004 1There are a lot of people putting down on the hog dog rodeos but most of them will tell you that they have never been to one. Why not come to one and see what it is all about. The people are making it out to be a lot of blood and stuff. That is not so. The hogs are very mean and can defend themselves. The dogs lock on and stay on until broke. They do not sit there and tear away at the hog like they are saying. That shows how much you know about the sport. We are a part of the hog dog rodeo and we attend them with our pit bulls. My kids do the pig chases and they enjoy it. So before you go on and on about what goes on why don’t you actually come to one and see what goes on!!!
Ryan
23|Mar|2004 2The hogs are very mean and can defend themselves.
Yeah, no shit. I’d be pretty pissed, too, if I was forced into a so-called “sport” like that.
So before you go on and on about what goes on why don’t you actually come to one and see what goes on!!!
I don’t need to see someone getting beaten with a lead pipe to know that it’s wrong. Same principle.
anna
10|May|2004 3hey guys i think that animal cruelty is a good thing, i love to see pigs visciously slaughtered and poor dogs being trained to rip them apart. I wish i could be that hog and run around in a pen only to be slaughtered, because of course pigs dont have feelings there just mean evil things. So I totally agree that killing things for no good reason is fun!!-NOT
Byron
11|May|2004 4A little E.B. White goes a long way…:-D
You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it. - Noam Chomsky
Fern: Please don’t kill it! It’s unfair. http://www.harperchildrens.com/authorintro/index.asp?authorid=10499
Mr. Arable: Fern, you have to learn to control yourself.
Fern: Control myself? This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.
Mr. Arable: Fern, I know a lot more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!
Fern: But it’s unfair. The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been born very small at birth, would you have killed me?
Mr. Arable: Certainly not. But this is different. A little girl is one thing. A little runty pig is another.
Fern: I see no difference. This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.
Mr. Arable: All right. I’ll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be.
Salutations pig friends!
Happy Post Mothers Day! http://www.karinkruger.com/images/kobieHogs.jpg - I found this charming photo of three piglets being raised by a Surrogate human Mother, albeit a remarkable person doing this, why shouldn’t we all strive to be nurturers! Thought I’d share this along with E.B. White’s brilliant work above. Like Fern says, a baby is a baby regardless if it has hoofs or not –RIGHT?
Do any of you have a comparable story to tell?
I’ve also been thinking about a book called “DOMINION” http://www.matthewscully.com/reviews.htm. The author, both a compassionate and infuriated gentleman, sort of like myself, writes about an energy some are nourished with -it’s called “hope”. He points out that for every vile and despicable act of people plundering the earth and tormenting creatures; there always are others to come along and pick up the pieces, tending to the ill-treated and doing what they can to prevent such things from happening again. It’s not easy
The dreadful and despicable act of sport hunting is exemplar of this. I.e. Man shoots mama boar leaving behind her babies, there they lay somewhere in the cold and darkness, oinking and crying. They wait in vain for her to return and nourish them, which leads me to ask isn’t life hard enough for such creatures without men and their wicked devices hounding them from dawn to dusk.
Fortune favors the feeble sometimes when good gusts of wind blow in hearts and minds of people that not only realize the urgency of the situation, but make every effort to safeguard and assure the welfare of creatures that are injured, orphaned, etc. This has part to do with natural paternal/maternal instincts I think, and the other goes deeper, something to do with the metaphysical part of our souls, which leads me to believe “good and evil” do exist and grow in, and among us
Last I’d like to share an article done by Humane Society USA. It has to do with the natural behavior of pigs living free in the forests, deserts, mountains, and plains, places where they should be allowed to live in peace. Not on farms or in steel warehouses, or set loose on canned hunt grounds. Not dangling from rope and chains, and definitely not posing dead with the animated face of its killer, smeared with its blood!
The article analyzes the life of pigs, I was especially drawn to a part about mother pigs singing to their babies in the twilight hours. I could hardly believe it when I read this, but it’s true. Pigs also sing to each other when they court, as in mating! What fascinating new news it was to me, I’ve heard about such things happening and that pigs have an affinity for music, but I never in my wildest dream would imagine that mother pigs sing their children to sleep at night. Hence felt it was most appropriate for me to divulge this miracle of song to you on this happy belated mother’s day
To all moms and everyone!
Please write back
Byron Sf Bay
cody
18|Mar|2005 5my pit bull diesel and i particapate in hog dog rodeos he can take a hog down in 8 seconds and he only wieghs 43 pounds the hog is over triple his size and has bigger teeth and y’all say the hog has no chance FUCK YOU i dont care what you say hog dog rodeos are not cruel, how can you sit there and talk all this shit out of your asses when none of you so called animal lovers have never been to a hog dog rodeo you just go off what the media tell you, well they are full of shit. well i have some hogs to attend to talk at y’all later
Ryan
18|Mar|2005 6I don’t delete messages like the one above because they serve to help prove my point.
how can you sit there and talk all this shit out of your asses when none of you so called animal lovers have never been to a hog dog rodeo
I’ll quote what I said above: “I don’t need to see someone getting beaten with a lead pipe to know that it’s wrong. Same principle.”
Ash
26|Mar|2005 7Oi Cody, if you like blood and sports so much instead of letting your poor dog do your fighting why not do it yourself you little chicken sh*t? Oh thats it , i forgot, none of you rednecks aere any good at that are you. All you can do is gang up on some poor defenceless animal now you cant lynch ppl.
Ash
26|Mar|2005 8Amy, so the Hogs are evry mean and can defend themselves, well thats such a relief. Not only to the boars get hurt but the owners dogs can get mauled as well, how fantastic! That makes it all OK then surely? You people do not deserve animals
courtland
15|Apr|2005 9I was never a fan of Ultimate Fighting, but now I would love to get one of these hog dog rodeo promoters into the Octagon. You want blood sport–I got if for you.
Ashleigh
02|May|2005 10I don’t think this is a bad thing to be involved in because half of the people have never attended one of these hog dog rodeos unlike myslef i think there is nothing wrong with it. These hogs are caught in the wild and are not able to be tamed therefore they are still wild and can defend themselves, most people think it is cruel to the hogs because they get their teeth trimmed down and they have no defense mode, but it is just the tips and they are still very sharp. Matter of fact i have been bit by one. I think there is nothing wrong with this and it is not a cruel sport. So for all the people who do think so it is a bunch of BS!! There is hardly ever any blood incolved unless the dog gets bit very badly, but most of the time it is the people. OR in some cases the hog can be bitbadly but it is not over and over again.
Ryan
02|May|2005 11There is hardly ever any blood incolved unless the dog gets bit very badly, but most of the time it is the people. OR in some cases the hog can be bitbadly but it is not over and over again.
Oh! Well NOW you’ve convinced me with that very pursuasive argument!
*rolls eyes*
Doug
11|May|2005 12LOL @ Mr. I want them in the Octagon!
You may be suprised at just who you may have to face tough guy.
Hailey
15|May|2005 13Wow. I am shocked that their are people who think that this “sport” is ok. And to expose kids to this violence for entertainment is just wrong. I hope that they can become more educated and sensitive people than their parents as they grow up.
So why are the hog’s caught in the first place? and is the pain these animals (both dogs and hogs) experience worth it for the sake of your entertainment? that is worldly and self-centered view.
Proverbs 12:10 teaches, “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast,” and Psalm 145:9 reminds us that “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”
So whether you are a Christian or not; you should recognize that Jesus was an exceptional man who preached love and compassion. So Cody, Amy, and Ashleigh… ask yourself what would Jesus do?
Ben
29|May|2005 14How about we throw you dog owners in the pit and let the dogs have a go at you? You are big and tough and can defend yourself right? You are an idiot if think this is not cruel, but then again, in order to participate in this “sport” you can’t be very bright to begin with.
Will
31|May|2005 15Ive only been to one hog dog rodeo and i saw nothing wrong with it. even if there would of been alot of blood and stuff that yall clame there to be, i wouldnt have gave a shit for something that tears up acres of my costal and corn each year which causes thousands of dollars in damage. And they are not scared innocent poor little pigys pigs neither, if u get one cornered its gonna come see ya. What the hell would you do if u never killed any hogs they would become so overpopulated and probally starve to death and die of diseases. “what r u supposed to trap em and relocate them” yea right lol
Ryan
31|May|2005 16Thanks for yet another lucid and well-reasoned opinion. *sigh*
JASON
31|May|2005 17NO ANIMAL LOVERS HERE SEEM TO HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THE STATE DNR OPENING YEAR ROUND SEASON WITHOUT ANY LIMITS ON THESE POOR HOGS. NO LIMIT AS TO HOW THEY ARE KILLED ALSO. ANY COMMENTS ON THE DNR? MAYBE THATS IS ON NEXT MONTHS BLEEDING HEART SESSION.
Ryan
31|May|2005 18Your sarcasm is touching, JASONWITHALLCAPS.
Reno
01|Jun|2005 19The only reason some people are still walking on this earth is because it’s against the law to put them im a pen against a wild boar…
Joey
06|Jun|2005 20Why dont you take all of this energy & apply it to saving human Life, That would be a good Cause. Hunting Is a heritage that no one can take away. So give up And stop trying to interfer with others lifes.Hog do rodeos are not like you make them out to be. There not blood everywhere no do they cut the hogs teeth of. Give up And Go Save a human Life
Ryan
06|Jun|2005 21Tell you what, Joey, show me what you’re doing to “save human life” and we’ll talk.
Compassion towards animals and compassion towards humans aren’t mutually exclusive.
Hunting Is a heritage that no one can take away. So give up And stop trying to interfer with others lifes.
You mean like the way hunters interfere with the lives of wild animals?
panzer
12|Jun|2005 22hey cody…we dont go off what the media tells us because we dont have to. what is the purpose of putting a dog and a boar into a pit or ring together to fight to the death??? I dont know what the media says about this, I dont need to know. all I need to know is that you are forcing a pig and a dog to fight. it serves no purpose in life but to make you feel tough. when 2 men step into a ring and fight they are both very willing competitors. so are you saying these animals requested to fight each other? as the owner of either of these animals it is your responsibilty to look after their well being. cattle owners kill cattle for a purpose, to feed millions of people, and they do it relatively humanely and quick. they dont make the steer fight a dog and the loser goes to the market wrapped in plastic.
and as to open season on hogs? they are a feral species which is why they have no season or limit. they are a nuisance species which ruins crops, very strong competition for native wildlife, and they are extremely dangerous to humans. should there be restrictions on HOW they are killed? probably but I doubt if anyone is going out into the woods or fields, dousing wild boars with gasoline and lighting them on fire. wildlife conservation departments estimates are that 80% are killed with firearms, 19.5% are killed with bows and arrows, and .5% are killed by one of those means after being caught in a live trap. sure there are some sick people out there who somehow kill them slowly, like gutting alive or something, but those are the ones we will all see on the darwin awards soon because one of those boars will tear them apart someday.
and what are the legalities of these so called dog boar rodeos? dog fighting is illegal, cock fighting is illegal, dog vs leopards lions, tigers bears bulls etc is illegal, what about dog vs boar???
anyone who participates or sits and watches one of these “sporting events” should be fed to the pigs, just like in the movie “hannibal”. jmho
panzer
12|Jun|2005 23“all cruelty springs from weakness” Seneca 4BC-AD65
http://members.petfinder.org/~NJ309/pitvideo.swf
dennis
25|Jun|2005 24First of all,I am a hunter. I use trained cur dogs to trail and bay up hogs. I am not in-humane to my dogs, or any of the hogs I catch. 98 times of 100, I practice catch and release with minimum injurie to the hogs. The care my hunting dogs get year round, is better than your dogs ever get. There are people in this sport, as with any, that will make it look bad, but to be rude and offensive talking about animal rights, thats bull-shit. In nature, your even your dog had to hunt to survive. All that I do, is try and use these instincts and see the reason why dogs can smell more than we can, why they have more heart and passion for what they do. If I did not take my dogs hunting they would be un-happy and out of shape like your tree-hugging shit-eaters. Not to be rude, but you cannot take this super-primal hunting away from me, some-where in your family tree, at some time, probably fed the family with game taken using dogs.Chew on that, I have hogs to ‘hurt’.
Ryan
25|Jun|2005 2598 times of 100, I practice catch and release with minimum injurie to the hogs.
And the other two times?
If I did not take my dogs hunting they would be un-happy and out of shape like your tree-hugging shit-eaters.
Hey, good to hear from you, pal!
Steven
28|Jun|2005 26One’s opinion of what is acceptable in this world is not anothers. We all have different value systems and our multitude of cultures in this country reflect that. One person spews criticism of another over treatment of a wild beast while neglecting the plight of the poor. Another may choose to acknowledge the plight of the poor, but is less sensitive to animals. Another may not recognize at all the rights of certain genders or nationalities. Keep it in perspective, prioritize our efforts, and try to learn tolerance of others views and values. In other words, GET A LIFE, and leave things you will never understand alone. In times like these, the age-old tradition of hog hunting is not an enemy worth addressing. There are other more important fights out there. Your efforts to fight this reflects your arm-chair laziness and lack of courage to address more important issues.
Ryan
28|Jun|2005 27In other words, GET A LIFE, and leave things you will never understand alone. In times like these, the age-old tradition of hog hunting is not an enemy worth addressing.
Appeal to Tradition.
Your efforts to fight this reflects your arm-chair laziness and lack of courage to address more important issues.
Personal Attack.
C’mon. You can do better than that.
lan
11|Jul|2005 28bluh,bluh,bluh,bluh,bluh………..your not going to convince each other because all ya’ll are in one big human/human fight rodeo, you don’t care either way,as long as you get the last word in.boo whooooo………….why don’t ya’ll sale ya’ll computers and feed a homeless family because the last time i asked one if they cared about hog/dog fights they said can we eat the animal that dies first. my four year old little girl has ore sinse than anyone on this page. get a life and care about something that matters like the war in iraq, gas prices,terrorist, or the aids issues in africa. animals this animals that you all make me sick to my stomach.
Andrea
13|Jul|2005 29Hog hunting is I think is fine. There are those that make the other hunters look bad, just like with all other hunting. So there should only be limits, not have hunting taken away all together. I’m not a hunter, couldn’t kill a rat if I needed too. Hog dog rodeos, on the other hand, I believe are way worse than the hunting. I think. Especially since most of the boars defense is cut off with bolt cutters. Not fair. Sounds painful. Then, the whole chase and gettin bitten then having apple vinegar poured in the wounds to “Make it heal faster for the next time round” sounds painful too. Then having your children come to watch a mostly gory sport, sounds like the Roman times to me. Yes, teach your kid how to torture animals that are defensless, oh, by the way, that is one sign of them becoming a serial killer.
James
21|Jul|2005 30What is all this non-sence about fighting to the death? Goary blood sport? A “hog rodeo” / Hog baying contest, is about dogs being able to move a hog, and bay a hog. Most of the bay contest wont allow “catch” dogs in anyway. The way it works in a hunting situation is you have a team of bay dogs, and a team of catch dogs. The bay dogs track and then hold the hog in place by barking and mabie a little nip, NOT forceful biting. You then release you catch dogs to hold the hog down while you slaughter or tie up the hog. what ever you prefer.
In a bay contest, like I said catch dogs are not alowed. The dogs are scored on how well they bay a hog. If the dogs try to “catch” the hog, they have points taken away! The hogs are not killed. yes an animal could, and animals do get injured. As do dogs in endurance contests or police work, or running through the backyard after a cat that jumped the fence. Are these all cruel?? I am a Vet Tech. that means I work with animals for a living. I love animals and love what I do. Dogs get injured all the time doing normal everyday dog things. There are more dogs hurt in a day at home than at a hog bay contest anyday!
I also want to know about all this, “why dont you get in there with the hog?” I DO !!! Who the hell you think ties the hogs up. Sure as hell aint the dogs. My dogs love to hunt. They love to bay a hog. If I had a dog I didnt think liked to hunt. I wouldnt take it hunting. They love what they do. You wouldnt know though, because you havent taken the time to go, and watch the dogs that do this work.
Marcus de la Houssaye
01|Aug|2005 31First, I want to thank James for presenting the truth about hog dog baying, ie: it ain’t a rodeo. Let’s call it what it is, a hog dog field trail. And it is an important part of hog hunting. Any dog that catches the hog is disqualified! Baying translates: barking not catching. Bear in mind there are catch dog trails.
But that’s a different event altogether.
And he attempted to explain the complexities of hog hunting where we chase the hogs with bay dogs, who stop the wild pig from running, and then bay to signal the hunter that the pig ain’t running no more. Then we get there with a catch dog, who runs in and catches the “wild” pig and then we tie the pig and take him out alive. I could go into great detail about why some of us don’t kill the pig on the hunt but I assume that is irrelevant at the moment. But I will say this: When we hunt in an agricultural environment with livestock, many times the landowner is concerned for the welfare of his domestic beasts and would prefer we not use guns. Also, when we hunt in close proximity to houses and businesses sometimes and it is best we catch rather than kill on site because we shouldn’t be carrying guns in the city and some idiot who doesn’t understand animal control is liable to interfer with our service to the public and run in there to defend a pig and get his self hurt by getting shot. Please consider that the wild boar is considered to be the second most dangerous species in North America after the Grizzly Bear! So we hog hunters are doing a great service to protect the public at large who sometimes live in close contact with wild pigs. By hunting and therefore creating a barrier between this dangerous animal and innocent, defenceless people we are doing a public service. Furthermore because wild hogs are not an indigenous species, they compete with other wild animals who depend upon the same food supply and can degrade the environment that all species depend upon. So hog hunters are protecting the enviroment that all species depend upon and defending the defenceless wild animals who are bullied by wild pigs. So if we want to defend wild animals we should look at the big picture and not isolate the isuue as hogs versus dogs, because we human beings have eliminated so many of the big game predators that if we don’t hunt certain species, such as wild hogs, then an imbalance can occur and a lot of wild animals suffer malnutrtion and then disease sets in and they die after suffering a great deal.
Second, I want to thank you Ryan for opening up this discussion, because there is a lot of misunderstanding about hog dog trails and an open forum to discuss the issues allows some people who don’t know very much about something to gain an insight into what it is all about. But the point of all this seems to me to be about your wanting to draw attention to yourself and how holier than thou you are when you compare yourself to these brutal, insensitive hunters.
You challenged a few with a comeback of “can’t you do better than that?”.
So I want to suggest to you: Can’t you do better than that?
You are presenting yourself as a defender of the defenseles but how can defend something you know nothing about. So I am challenging you to join me who is a defender of the defenseless and let’s go catch a pig that is causing a public nusuance in a state park or destoying crops on farm land or tearing up some golf course, or maybe even terrorizing some suburban neighbor hood where children are afraid to play outside because they know what you do not! Wild pigs are dangerous when not regulated by hog hunters! If animal control doesn’t call me when they have a wild pig situation, then an animal control officer who is probably unequipped (because he doesn’t have hog dogs) has to take time away from more important issues like enforcing laws against animal cruelty to try to deal with something that is probably a waste of his time. And by the way, hog hunting is open season 24 and 7, and 365 days a year because they are a pest. Unlike most species we hunt, we can kill them at night with a light and a gun year round, because there is so many of them, we need to thin them out.
So if you want to do something positive let’s go and get an education about hog hunting and then maybe you can do more than just insult people who possibly do not deserved to be attacked and insulted.
I doubt that you will accept my challenge, because I don’t think you care about wild pigs.
I think you only care about drawing attention to Ryan and comparing yourself to others that you consider inferior to you.
Bear in mind that I assume you will not post this comment in “your” blog because it reveals too much of the truth about hog dog trails and your true motives, so I will copy it and post it
in other places where the truth is allowed to flourish freely.
Third, I want to apologise for some of my fellow hog hunters who used offensive words to express thier disgust towards you. I don’t think you deserve that. What you do deserve is an opportunity to learn more about something you are mouthing off about and obviously know very little from first hand experience. And if you want to learn about hog dog trails then you need to understand hog hunting in the first place.
Consider this: How would you like it if you were ridiculed for being vegetarian or worse maybe a certain gruop of people attacked you for eating defenseless vegetables.
You got one thing right; promote peace.
There is way too much needless fighting.
I hope you accept my challenge, because in the name of hospitality it is an invitation for us to get to know each other better. I am a hog hunter, and I was a total vegetarian for five years. I respect your choices. Can you respect others right to engage in a legal and enviromentally positve “sport” such as hog hunting?
You got my email address, contact me personally if you can face the truth. And may I ask this one thing of you: If you can’t post this email in it’s entireity, don’t post it at all, because I hate it when people take the truth out of context and twist it to fit thier own agenda.
Marcus
Ashleigh
17|Aug|2005 32WELL TO EVERYONE WHO HAS NEVER ATTENDED ONE I THINK YOU SHOULD BEFORE YOU MAKE JUDGEMENTATION ON SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN IT IS NOT A BLOOD SPORT….. THANK YOU.. GOOD BYE.
Paul
17|Aug|2005 33Don’t elevate animals to the same level as humans. Mankind’s superiority is infinate.
Ryan
17|Aug|2005 34Mankind’s superiority is infinate.
Except when it comes to spelling, apparently.
amanda
27|Aug|2005 35you all say that we need to spend our time trying to save human lifes well seems to me that all of your time is being focused on us hog hunters you say that we are all bad well not all of us do they bay pen thing but personally i dont thimk its that bad they stoped using catch dogs (pit bulls) and the hounds are not supposed to catch if they do for some ungodly reasonthere are 3 sometimes 4 people not counting the dog owner who breaks it up the hogs are a whole lot tougher than some believe the dog owner doesnt want the dog to catch either because autamaticaly that dog is elliminated for the rest of the baying in other words they are out of the running for first second or third well personally i think that if you took all the time that you all have invested in this issue you could have possibaly already acheived something great such as world peace so you say that we need to focus on issues like that well i say if we all settle our differences we might accomplish something like stopping child molesters world hunger maybe even a cure for cancer what im trying to say is lets stop focusing on something petty when we have so many other major problems going on in this place that we call the land of the free i am an avid hog hunter i really do believe that my dogs want to hunt and 1 more thing you say we make our dogs do this we dont we put them in the pin if they take to it great if not o wellim an animal lover if i could id take in every stray every sick animal nurse him or her my dogs are treated like queens and kings but anyway if a dog doesnt like it they wont do it and you cant make them either its completely there choice ill tell you something else any morning i back my dog box up to there kennels they are all barking jumping up and down ready to go its in there blood to hunt not one is cowering down and doesnt want to go they dont hang around the truck not wanting to go either they go as soon as you open the dog box i have an open invetation any one who has never been and wants and is dowing us hog hunters as cruel people you are more than welcom to drive fly walk i dont care how you get here you can go with me one time if you still dont like it then ill be open to hearing your complaints dont knock it till ya try it sighned an avid female hog hunter always
Ryan
29|Aug|2005 36That post didn’t have a single punctuation mark so I couldn’t get past the second line.
Did it say anything important?
amanda griffin
30|Aug|2005 37ok mr. asshole, you try and type with a child in your lap .if you were so damn smart you should have been able to read it standing on your head. city slicker .
Ryan
30|Aug|2005 38Seems to me that if you were able to type that much, hitting an occasional period or comma wouldn’t have killed you. That’s all I’m sayin’.
Marcus de la Houssaye
30|Aug|2005 39Well Ryan I see you haven’t lost you self-righteous style for insulting people who you think are inferior to you. How about meeting me in New Orleans tomorrow. I am bringing my boat and my two best catahoula hog dogs to rescue people who are trapped in their attics in the wake of Katrinna. And why hog dogs? Because they kill poisonous snakes and do what ever else needs getting done. They will be by my side all the way and back and I pity any snake coils up to bite me, cuz Bob will intercept him and protect me from getting bit. Then he will kill him. Ya Bob is a bad dog, and he has no less fear in the face of a wild hog. Riley is younger, but he is chosen because he likes people, and his nose will help sniff out someone unconscious or dead. And as soon as he understands that we are there to rescue people, he will get to work. So what are you doing to make the world a better place? We need volunteers in New Orleans, what else you got to do? Peace, brother.
Ryan
31|Aug|2005 40Well Ryan I see you haven’t lost you self-righteous style for insulting people who you think are inferior to you.
It keeps me young.
And Marcus, in all seriousness, thank you for your efforts in helping with the relief effort in New Orleans. That’s good stuff.
kendra
31|Aug|2005 41personally I am not against these trials at all. A lot of these dogs are used by hunters in the woods and this gives them a chance to make sure the dog can cut it before they go out. These hogs are a problem animal that destroy entire crops and will charge at and kill a child! I moved to MS from CA and abotu a month after moving here had a boar charge out of the woods at my 2 year old. Thank God for my pitbull that latched onto that hog and held it until my husband could kill it! If it hadnt been for my “mean horrible” pitbull my child would be dead now. My pit is not mean and has never offered to hurt an animal before or after this. She was working off instinct which she learned from years of being used for such tasks. I have seen trained hog dogs and the majority of them are well cared for and are even family pets. And the hogs are also cared for. Who wants to go catch another hog everytime you have to train a dog? It is easier to care for them as best as possible. Myself personally would love to have one of these dogs so I would know my children are safe from anymore attacks. BTW my pit was 13 years old when this happened she died of old age at 15. Now a dog who is not taking care of would not ever live to that age. btw my email is macdairmid@hotmail.com
amanda
31|Aug|2005 42that was a great thing your dog did kendra. two of my hounds were in the woods baying a hog, it took my husband and i a while to get to them because the brush was so thick,when we got there one had backed of i guess he had been hit he wasnt cut though. my husband said you wait here because he had to crawl the rest of the way, and you could tell it was a big hog by all the movement in there so i waited with my dog, the next thing i heard was my other dog yelp i started in when i heard gunshots my husband emptyed his gun it was a minute or to before he came back to were i was , and he told me the story he said that it was the biggest hog he had ever seen, about 700 pounds, he said the hog charged him and my hound bloked the hog from hitting him take in mind that this hog had 8 inch cutters if he would have cut him he would have been hurt badly, but thanks to nanny do he wasnt this hog was so bad that all the shots my husband made didnt faze him, and he didnt mis there was blood every were but he didnt die just troted away we have seen him several times since. and i agree our dogs are very well taken care of, i have a 10 year old bulldog living in my house, she also hunts, she is great with my baby he can hit her bite her of course because he knows no better yet i get on to him of course as well but she is very protective of him and us. dogs will protect the people they love, if they are treated well. p.s good luck with your catahoula rescue dogs marcus all of my thoughts and prayers are with you on your trip.sighned a female hog hunter
john
02|Sep|2005 43ya’ll need to get off of our nuts. these hogs are not cute little pigs ya’ll think they are. when a dog catches the hog the hog is normal twice the size of the dog.so the dog norm. gets the worst end of the deal. the prey drive that dogs have to please us is a out standing. some training occurs but they do it natural. we dont make the dogs do it if they dont wont to i have been thourgh several dogs that wouldnt catch and gave them away. and yeah i will fight in a ring so you peta punks can try all you want to but ya’ll cant stop us!!!!!!! IT AINT REAL TILL IT SQUEALS
Ryan
02|Sep|2005 44these hogs are not cute little pigs ya’ll think they are.
“Cute” has nothing to do with it.
so the dog norm. gets the worst end of the deal.
And this supports your argument how?
IT AINT REAL TILL IT SQUEALS
Thanks for the insight.
susan
05|Sep|2005 45You ladies and gentlemen who go to these horrid hog rodeos need to make better lives for yourselves. What instincts are you satisfying except your lower ones?
amanda
06|Sep|2005 46Well we are not satisfying any instinct it is a type of competition and the dogs love it. i dont do bay pens but i do hunt hogs in the wild and it is very fun you should try it,and it helps us to have cotton, corn,p-nuts,soybeans, so on and so forth if you could see the damadge they do around here you would say go ahead.they have caused many people to wreck by running out in front of them,and they are not all small one caused my uncle to just about total a duramax thats a big truck.ihave had a pack of 40 to run out in front of me before thank God for good brakes. but i dont think that bay pens are bad , ive said it before they dont let the dogs catch as soon as they do they pull them off. have you actually seen a big bad boar hog in action hes not no sweetheart he will get you and i mean good.ill bring a truck load of them to your house and drop them out then you can see for yourself just how destructive they are.when the farmers around here go to plant there p-nuts the hogs are following right behind the tractor rooting the seed up, ive seen it with my own 2 eyes more than once.
Marcus de la Houssaye
13|Sep|2005 47To Susan,
With respect to your comment about the “horrid hog rodeo” are you imagining we ride em, rope em, wrangle em or what? I must admit we do have a few clowns in there now and then, but sounds like you been watching too many horror flicks, and live in a world in your own mind. Now I have a life, and I do eat pork, and I am a defender of the defenseless. But, are you trying to mind other peoples business, because your life is meaningless and empty? Get a life Susan, and an education too, while you are at it.
“Better to be silent and thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” And this is something all of us commenting on this blog have to consider: “Never argue with a fool, people watching might not know the difference.”
Next time anyone finds out about an upcoming horrid hog rodeo, please contact me, because I think I would like to go see for myself what this is all about. Might be socially redeeming.
amanda
14|Sep|2005 48Amen MARCUS, you said it they all are so focused on us i agree they must not have a life!!!!!!!!!!!
kevin
16|Sep|2005 49I’m a trapper in Texas and in my state there is a serious problem with feral hogs. The use of dogs in some case is the only way to remove feral hogs from private land.The action can be violent, but if any animal rights people could handle the problem than I won’t have to release my pit.In most cases the one that can cry about injustice is ussually the one not dealing with the problem.If you had a horde of wild hog digging up your prize winning roses and bring diseases in your yard then you would call someone like me to handle the messy job while you went to work.The hogs are ussually processed for comsumption and often times are shipped over seas to Europe.The amount of feral hog has brought forth the sport and the amounts grew because of right wing animal rights people that sit on their high horses and complain about wrongful acts.Rednecks not alway tree hugger,I’m a Mechanical Engineer working at NASA.For any to label another is a sign of ignorance.
Ryan
16|Sep|2005 50I think we’ve lost focus of the original article a bit… it didn’t discuss removing hogs from land, it talked about a disgusting bloodsport where people would sit around and watch these battles as if they were a “sport.”
Just like hunting’s not a sport unless the deer has a gun, there’s no sport in pitting animals against each other solely for the pleasure of the audience.
Ryan
16|Sep|2005 51Incidentally, here’s a copy of the article since the original is gone.
Marcus de la Houssaye
17|Sep|2005 52Well Ryan, thank you for clarifying the source of the term “hog dog rodeo”. And just for the record I hate newspaper and television reporters, because they just can’t seem to get it right!
And bear in mind I am an independent tv journalist!
What was reported in the article in the Baton Rouge Advocate was a “catch trail”, where pitbulls are released to catch a hog in an arena. Catch trails were legal at the time the article was printed.
And again for the record the competition is not between the hog and dog. It is between the dogs who are individually timed to see who can catch quickest. There is no fight because bulldogs were bred to control something far worse than a feral hog. The bull dog was bred to control livestock, specifically big bad bulls. And I have been congratulated by deputies who were convinced that we would have to shoot and kill an escapee calf that was loose on the highway, that is untill I got there with my pitbull and caught the calf which was then safely loaded on a trailer and transported home. So my pitbull saved the calf when he caught it, he protected the public at large on the highway from getting in an accident with the calf on the highway and made me points with the deputies who didn’t want to shoot the old man’s calf to start with. The pitbulls of today are decendants of bulldogs that were used to control the herd before there was fences. The bulldog controlled the bull, and the herd followed. Bulls in the old days were BAD! And bulldogs caught em by the nose and rolled em and after that dog brought the bull down a few times the bull cooperated and went where the cowboy wanted him to go because he knew he was no match for that little bulldog. Unfortunantly pitbulls today are often used to fight other pitbulls in a “pit”. That’s how they got the name “pit”bull. But originally they were “bull” dogs. Many people today who read a slanted news article are comparing and confusing pitbull fighting and hogdog field trails. Bulldogs are very useful today to catch wild hogs and herd livestock. By the way catch dog trails are presently illegal in the state of Louisiana. That article appears to be a bit outdated as catch trails were made illegal in 2004. Hog dog trails are conducted with a bay dog which is usually a catahoula hound, and if the dog catches he is disqualified. So now that we all know that catch trails are illegal in this state what are ya’ll animal rights activists gonna complain about now? Let’s see, I have been known to catch big gators by the tail who were too old defend themselves and turn and hurt hurt me. Is that cruelty in your book of accusations!
I do have pictures to prove it. Oops I guess I just incriminated myself. If it is indeed a crime! How about a fishing rodeo, I’m sure there is a lot of blood there. But do fish have feelings? And if they do would anybody care considering the way we pollute their world? Ryan have you ever considered defending the environment that all species depend upon? I wouldn’t mind having you on my side, just so long as you don’t mind a joke now and then! Come on, let’s all work together to make this world a better place. Peace, brother!
Guitar Jones
02|Oct|2005 53Now there are [i]gay[/i] rodeos too. When will this savagery end?!? Oh the humanity…
Guitar Jones
02|Oct|2005 54BTW how do you all feel about ripping unborn babies apart in the womb?
I mean do you only reserve your outrage for creatures that have already been born?
amanda
07|Oct|2005 55What kind of freak are you talking about riiping unborn babies apart.Hog hunting has absolutly nothing to do with babies.You are trying to copare two things that have absolutly nothing to do with each other!!!!!! Come on people wake up and smell the roses.
amanda
11|Oct|2005 56sorry for the miss spelled words i was in a hurry lol
Cody
13|Oct|2005 57Hey it’s me agian how ya’ll doin me and Diesel r doin just fine he’s weighing in around 50 lbs now and has been catching more hogs then ever and fuck does he ever enjoy it so i take it ya’ll still hate hog dog rodeo’s well i gots a news flash ya better get used to her cause she’s still here and still goin hard, personally i think that most of ya’ll r just jelous that i can provide a good home for my pit and i keep him in shape and that he earns his keep unlike those souphounds ya’ll got that lay around all day eatin and shitten well talk to ya’ll later,
p.s Diesel has been
working his arse off
on them hogs
notre druide
15|Oct|2005 58I’m trying to let my love light shine here, but it’s hard to avoid pointing out that all you apologists for this repellent practice are sure a credit to your region. Can’t spell, can’t type, and worst of all, can’t think. Clue: Defending an obnoxious practice on the ground that you participate in it and enjoy it is actually not very likely to convince anyone who doesn’t already want to be convinced. That defense works equally well for, say, necrophilia, pederasty, or making snuff films.
BTW, anyone who wants a memorable image of blood sports in general — without all the blood, as we think of it — should really check out Steven Spielberg’s underappreciated film _Artifical Intelligence_, which ought to resonate with all vegetarians.
carl
20|Oct|2005 59i have been to many rodeos the dogs ive raised have won the president stopped the hodog comp. in brighton because animal rights people. these things have been going on and willgo on in the south on private property for past generations and future generations. As long as this country is free. I am proud of the people that dont like it and proud of the people that do like it. You see that is what makes this country great if the terrorists come over here we all know that we will unite and defend it no matter what . any ways i just wanted to remind everyone about that.
Kory
24|Oct|2005 60Allright lets see. hogs cost people millions of dollars every year from property damage. They are rodants. Would be upset if ur cat killed a rat? No! you wouldn’t. So people found a way to have some fun with some rodants. Its been going on for hundreds of years. I’ve never been to a hog rodeo but on plenty of hog hunts with dogs. Theres nothing wronge with it. The dogs hate hogs naturally and the hogs hate dogs. it like a dog and cat type of thing. So get over your-self and find something better to do then bother a sport that will be here no matter what you say. People don’t want hogs costing them money by ruining their land and they don’t care how u get rid or the probelem.
FRED
02|Nov|2005 61Man this Ryan guy sure is a condescending smart ass. Maybe he needs to dress up in a pig suit and get in the pen for the catch dogs to “play” with.
Cody
04|Nov|2005 62GIT-R-DUN FRED ryan is just a sniffling sissy i think diesel would have fun with him and his pig suite
anne
05|Nov|2005 63Okay, first of all, thanks to all of you that wrote coherent blog entries. It would be wonderful if we could actually discuss the moral implications of this issue - rather then a couple people signing on to an animal rights blog and poorly articulating their reasoning behind these practices. This makes for very boring and frustrating conversation.
I would suggest that Ryan is responding as he is because
a) it’s extremely hard to have any intelligent exchange of ideas with comments like the “hog hunters/rodeo goers” have put forth;
and b) slinging insults around and making absurd assumptions never got anywhere.
Animal ethical issues are a hot topic to debate, everyone would agree. But it’s vital we discuss them.
So, I would suggest that anyone willing to revert back to the idiotic response of “i can do want i want and i’m going to kill something right now and it’s going to be great so take that you fucking veggie freaks !!!!” would do better to reflect on what’s making them so ridiculous. Cut out the shit and post something meaningful.
And I’m going to address the “cityslicker” comment, just because this is so indicative of our cultural biases.
Please don’t assume that if you live out in rural areas, your moral arguments are indefensible. So often the “cultural difference” or “you couldn’t possibly understand me” trumps any argument, and that’s extremely unfortunate.
We need to be sensitive to cultural differences and respectful of differing views, but they should never automatically shut down a debate.
Don’t assume that anyone who advocates for animal rights/welfare is obviously a city-slicker. That’s insane to suggest.
I come from a tiny town in Alaska, so don’t go there.
Please everyone, let’s have some good, honest thoughts thrown out there.
Marcus de la Houssaye
05|Nov|2005 64I believe this writer has captured the essence of a hog dog trail, and we have it at a rodeo arena every year. It is the high light of my daughters yearly travels.
WINNFIELD, La. — The unearthly yowl rattling the swing gate out at the fairgrounds offends the eardrums in almost unimaginable ways. It crosses from a squeal to a grunt and back again, a blaring, impossibly awful incantation.
The gate cracks only an inch or so before the beast shoots out, all 250 pounds of snorting, speeding, sharp-tusked meanness. The bogs where Louisiana’s peerless political scamp, Earl K. Long, once hunted can’t offer up a creature surlier than this one: a fully grown, fully cranky wild boar.
Junior Toler waits, squatting behind a splintery wooden box and holding back a yapping Catahoula so eager to chase the pig that it has stretched its collar to a windpipe-crimping tension point. Toler is a bit of a scamp himself. He runs a boar-hunting excursion business as far south as you can go in Georgia, and he boasts that he’ll let you kill those hogs any way you want: bow, gun, knife — heck, bare hands, if you’re in the mood.
“Y’all don’t take away points if we get to bein’ a lil’ crazy?” Toler asks the judge.
Bill Huff, a ruddy, big-boned man with a clipboard, just smiles. “Y’all do whatever you want.”
And that’s when Toler cuts loose, releasing his dog like a bullet from a rifle and shuffling his rubber shrimping boots as if he were at a hoedown instead of a modified rodeo arena.
“Stop that hog. Talk to him. Talk to him. You better stop that hawwwwwwg. Whoooooo-eeeee!”
The crowd, often as quietly mesmerized as a symphony audience, bursts out laughing. Anything is possible at Uncle Earl’s Hog Dog Trials, even a jig-dancing Georgian, and the observers are on their feet straining to catch a glimpse.
Westminster, it’s not
Just about every weekend in the South, such audiences are lining up to watch dogs chase hogs. The events — part obsessively tracked competition, part southern-fried festival — play out like down-home antidotes to the manicured rigidity of the Westminster Dog Show.
No hog-dog trial is bigger than Uncle Earl’s, the Super Bowl of hog-dog trialing, which ended Sunday with the crowning of the top dog, Hunter, a yellow black-mouth cur, from Beaumont, Texas. Uncle Earl’s is held not far from the bumpy lane in Winnfield where Long lived in a ramshackle country place called the Pea Patch until he died in 1960. Winnfield, about 100 miles southeast of Shreveport, gave Louisiana three governors: Long; his brother, the Kingfish, Huey P. Long; and their pal O.K. Allen. Now it offers the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame, where the motto is: “We induct ‘em, they indict ‘em.”
Uncle Earl, whose last campaign featured one of the great slogans in U.S. political history — “Vote for Earl Long; I ain’t crazy” — hunted hogs with flair. A few years back, Claude O’Bryan, who used to cure pork to Uncle Earl’s specifications — 25 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of salt — got to thinking there should be a way to honor the old governor.
A hog-dogging event seemed like a natural, and the inaugural Uncle Earl’s in 1995 coincided with a burst of hog-dog trials across the South. O’Bryan, wearing “Sunday overalls” that barely contain his 305 pounds, presides over his creation from the driver’s seat of a four-wheeler. Lean, sinewy, strong dogs — more than 800, not counting the puppies sleeping everywhere in tangled piles — are tied to trees and fences, curled up in tents next to teenage boys, lounging in horse stalls, crawling out of camper shells. The air fills with deep-throated baying; walking on the grass is, well, inadvisable.
$10,000 and more for champs
If hog-dogging has an 800-pound gorilla, it is Billy Long, 64, whose sun-scorched neck looks like creased leather. When Long’s wife is around, he says he paid $10,000 for his dog Coushatta, a pretty, yellow black-mouth cur, but most everyone knows the price was probably closer to $15,000. When his dogs don’t win, Long — no relation to Uncle Earl — buys the ones that do, hoping to secure thousands more in prize money.
Long’s 12 dogs ride to Uncle Earl’s in a custom-made, stainless-steel trailer with air-conditioned and heated cages.
A good hog dog like Coushatta, a three-time Uncle Earl’s champ, casts a spell. The Catahoulas, Louisiana’s state dog, fix eerily beautiful blue eyes on a snarling pig and stare down the beast until it freezes. It’s a bit of a mind game.
Put two dogs on a pig at once, and the sound is deafening. The dogs don’t wait for their partners to move; they leapfrog each other. But pigs have moves of their own, scampering away and occasionally flipping their yelping pursuers into the air like playthings.
Excessive nipping by the dogs is not allowed. Huff, like a football ref in cowboy boots, calls “unnecessary roughness” if a dog clamps its teeth for too long on the unruly shag of bristly hair that covers the boars or sinks its fangs into their flesh.
Hog-dog trials and their bloody cousins — hog-catching events, which encourage dogs to wrestle hogs to submission, sometimes with deadly consequences — have angered animal-rights groups. But even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hasn’t bothered with Uncle Earl’s, saying it’s “mild” by comparison with unsanctioned events being held elsewhere in the South.
In the shade of the announcer’s tent is Sherry Bando, the whiskey-toned voice of the trials.
She ticks off the competitors: There’s “Stupid” and “Trashy” and “Ugly” and “Boudreaux,” those are the dogs, by the way. The handlers come from tiny towns with names like Okolona, Miss., and Telephone, Texas, where the hunting is right out the back door. There was a time competitors went nonstop for 36 hours at Uncle Earl’s; lately, they knock off about midnight before starting again at sunrise.
Off in the distance, Bando’s voice is crackling in the evening air. Junior Toler is handing out fliers for his Broughton Island hunts.
And up on the hillside, a little curl of smoke is tickling the pines. The smell is familiar. It’s the scent of roasting pig.
Well if the veggies are keeping count, it looks like we hog hunters got them outnumbered, and last I checked majority rules.
anne
05|Nov|2005 65To all the rodeo supporters, how do you feel about the Roman games? What is your position on cockfighting or dog fighting?
Marcus, I was also wondering what impact you think the rodeo’s activities will have on your daughter’s sense of humanity/compassion? Is it possible she will become de-sensitized to suffering in general?
I would also argue that, no, a majority “ruling” doesn’t make anything morally right.
Marcus de la Houssaye
10|Nov|2005 66Anne, my daughter knows that hog dog trails are not like a pitbull or cockfights. She has been there, looks like you only “heard about it”.
Now if you want to really protest suffering, you need to consider what we hunters in general are doing in the woods and on the lake. Like last weekend, my daughter put three live redfish on the ice to die in my boat. Shame on her for wanting to eat that fish! Now let’s see, where can we trim the bloody, suffering that goes on in our world? Hockey, boxing,football,rugby, hey I got it! Let’s ban automobiles, trucks and motorcycles because lot’s of people die and are injured on the highway, not to mention all the poor critters that are victims of the highway.
Or maybe we should ban high speed, because it is not the vehicle, or the highway that is dangerous. How about a nationwide limit of 35! That would end a lot of suffering, but it is as rediculous as comparing a hog dog trail to a pitbull fight. And to address your last comment Anne, “A minority protest doesn’t make something morally wrong, it just makes boring, ignorant, self-righteous people feel like they have something meaningful to live for”. Well you can call me insensitive, inhuman, insane, just make sure you call me in when the barbeque is ready!
anne
11|Nov|2005 67The argument of ban-cars-to-end-suffering is unoriginal and grows tiresome. I’m sure you would agree, Marcus, there is a large difference between torture or killing someone intentionally, and the accidental suffering (traffic fatalities).
Human sports, bloody or not, require consent of said players. Animal sports do not.
I would encourage you to think more on your comment about “minority protest [s]“. Throughout history, these minority protests are solely responsible for bringing about social / moral changes.
How would spectators feel if the animals in rodeos or hog shows were purely dogs? What is the difference between a dog and a pig? Why is it okay to abuse and eat one species and not the other? Is it intelligence? Pigs are as, if not more, intelligent then our canine compainions. They can reason, have distinct personalities, etc.
Animal lives are not ours to take or control. I do not understand how an otherwise intelligent, feeling person would desire to subject any living being to misery.
Marcus de la Houssaye
14|Nov|2005 68Anne, are you questioning my right to take an animals life? Well God gave me the right to eat them and the laws of the federal and state government gives me the right to exercise my God given right to eat them by “taking their life”.And for the record, wild pork is my favorite and I consider it the best meat out of the woods. And isn’t that really the issue here? Your ultimate goal is to stop people from eating meat. Well real soon with the majority of Americans, I will give thanks for being born into the greatest free country in the world, and specially I will want to thank The Lord Jesus for assigning me to Louisiana, the greatest pantry of wild foods in North America. So there, I confessed to intentionally killing animals for food, but are you also accusing me of torturing animals because I support the fine art of hog baying by attending a hog dog field trail? And where is the evidence that supports these accusations of torture? I sure am glad I live in a country that presumes innocence until “proven” guilty. Because you make it sound like I am a convicted hardened offender of some kind. I think all of us hunters are being tried, convicted and sentenced in veggie court. And then we get charged with contempt for failure to appear, but hell, it was openning day of squirrel season, and we had took our kids out of school to take them hunting! Thank God, frogging season coincides with summer vacation, so our kids don’t have to miss so much schooling. Now if you think you can keep a Cajun from the delight of torturing live crawfish in boiling water, and then eating them, well get a grip, I also torture oysters everytime I eat one raw! But the real torture is not in chewing ‘um up live,I burn them in lemon juice before I stab them with a fork. Ouch! Is it just me or does it seem that veggie people are just not happy and don’t know how to have fun?
anne
15|Nov|2005 69Are you for real, Marcus?
When I read posts like this, and the many above, I have a difficult time discerning if the blogger is intentionally trying to mimic “a moronic redneck hick” or if it’s just coming across that way by accident.
Please write coherently and thoughtfully.
And to answer your closing question “Is it just me or does it seem that veggie people are just not happy and don’t know how to have fun?” :
Yes. It is just you. And I think most humans find it repulsive when killing/maiming/torturing is required for someone (such as yourself it seems) to “have fun.” Quite disturbing on a number of levels.
People who get their kicks from entertainment of this nature are often struggling with personal insecurities. The idea is to exert tremendous power over those who are less able to defended themselves, proving that “you’re a man.” However, all that is really proven is that they do in fact have a small dick. It’s a familiar phenomenon with a long and glorious tradition.
And actually, while we are on the topic, you may be interested in the growing number of studies about the connection between the joy of brutalising animals and the joy of spousal abuse or the joy of homicide. Most serial murderers began torturing/killing animals and later, because that line of “thou shall not kill” was crossed, it was easy to inflict harm and death on humans. Something to think about. Enjoying the suffering/death of anyone or any creature is cause for concern.
J
16|Nov|2005 70Didn’t this all start with this woman saying the pigs were mean and could defend themselves? And then she stated she let her kids chase the young pigs and they love it. Something wrong with the mentality here.
Ryan I love your comebacks.
FYI I have 6 dogs and none are permitted to show aggression towards each other or other animals. A dog that is permitted to show aggression towards one animal may mistake your child for one of the hogs one day. They are animals after all unable to think or feel yet authorities will have him PTS for a mistake you as a human created and trained him to do to make yourself happy.
Marcus de la Houssaye
17|Nov|2005 71Once again, confusing the difference between a big boar(who can defend himself) and a young piglet being chased by little children coming from someone who has never been there. And this comes from someone who questions “our” hunter mentality. And before that it was not enough for Anne to assume she knew the proportions of my penis(and like a hog dog trail, she never been there), but then go on to suggest that my comedy and making fun of her was evidence of animal brutality, spousal abuse and homicidal tendencies. Well people, we have entered the twilight zone! Do do do do, do do do do. Good thing I know who I am and don’t need a woman to define what I should be doing, saying and thinking. Well Anne, if you have a problem with the fact that you can’t control me, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! But at least I am having some fun, if you haven’t figured that out yet. Now seriously, are you so desperate to appear to be superior to me as to question the size of of my penis as having something to do with my mental health or the lack of it? Have you examined yourself lately? No, not there, I meant mentally. It sounds like you are not only, not having fun, you are not having sex either! And if you are, maybe your partner is not satisfying you. Now lighten up, try to enjoy yourself and consider that you cannot discern when an enlightened, intelligent, caring, sensitive, confident, well-endowed man is having a good laugh at your expense. In case you haven’t noticed women really aren’t looking for size in a man. But go ahead and abuse, insult, humiliate, and inflict all your feminine sufferings and rage toward me and my armor-plated ego. I can take it! In fact, is trying to insult my penis the best you can do? The least you could do is check it out before criticizing. It’s like hog dog field trails, you like to pass judgement without examining the evidence. Now I don’t care what you may think of me, but I will defend your right to think it even if you are wrong. And if you are entertaining the possibility of examining the evidence regarding my penis. All I can say is “In your dreams, baby!”
Tim
28|Nov|2005 72I have no problems with people killing animals to EAT. If an animal is killed quickly and not tortued then i do not see anything wrong if that animal is consumed by the hunter. Of cause, that is only in moderation, as I don’t think its right to make an animal extinct, as for example guns vs tusks is hardly a level playing ground.
Now killing an animal painfully is just not acceptable in my opinion, even in the animal is eaten. I also do not see killing animals for sport as right in most cases as the animal is often not consumed the animal meets its end in a painful way.
Now, if people hunted animals and did not eat them, I would only see this as right if they did not use projectile weapons such as guns. Go in with knife, sword etc, as this is more fair. If they want to attack an animal, then if the fight is fair, and they win, then good for them. But, if they get injured /killed, that is the price they would have to pay.
ME
29|Nov|2005 73tim your a fuckin moron, who the hell is gonna hunt with a damn sword, were not in midevil times, were not the knights of the fuckin round table. I mean really learn to be a little realistic. and argue a point that is at least a little bit legitmate
Tess
30|Nov|2005 74After watching a horrible segment on television about these “Hog Dog Rodeo’s”, I decided to see what there was on-line concerning the subject. I have to say that southerners always wonder why people think of them as backwards, redneck, ignorant, and stupid. I think the answer lies within these posts.
I am constantly surprised at the depths of cruelty human beings are capanle of. To compare hunting or meat eating to cruelty is absurd. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who takes part in this disgusting display of cruelty and viciousness and yet professes that God gives them the right to do such is more than an idiot or a moron, they are beyond hope. And the God they so proudly tout will be the one they stand in front of someday trying to explain their ugly souls to.
Ashleigh
30|Nov|2005 75well hello to all you supposed know it alls.. i think that all of you are smart asses that have nothing other to do than sit around and talk about something that is gonna stay around. i think that there are more important things going on in this world and in society. i have seen this first hand, the hogs are taking care of atleast the ones that i have seen. then the dogs are also taken care of. the owners treat them like their kids. so may be you should come watch one before you all pass judgement on it. i catch hogs with my two pits so therefor most of you probably have no clue what goes on at these. i think that if you don’t know don’t pass judgement.
ashleigh
30|Nov|2005 76hey tess did you see the tv show on inside edition
Starr
30|Nov|2005 77This is so unbelievable.
I don’t mind Vegitarians as long as they mind their own business, and don’t push it on me. I feel the same way about Tree Huggers, Christians (or Whatever Religion you maybe), Hunters, Smokers, Non-Smokers, Etc. It is my opinion, that people should mind there own business. Keep your nose in the hobby (or business) that you know.
As an owner of Catahoulas, and bay dogs at that, I believe that unless you have been to one yourself, and asked decent questions, you should keep your mouths shut. I don’t come to whatever Vegan or Vegitarian thing you have going on, and push my meat eating beliefs.
As for this being a family event… it is. Alot of people aren’t as well to do as you all. They can’t afford to be picky or choosy. Hunting is what gets some of these family by in the winter. If you can catch the hogs then they can feed their families. But as someone mentioned earlier… we don’t worry about the poor. You have to remember, this sport is mostly southern based. Not all the families can afford what you choose to do.
I work for a Sheriff’s Office, and see what kind of children people breed & raise. In the end, it turns out to be the folks that believe all this new age crap whose children we see the most. As for the people who believe in the “old way” of discipline & values, we don’t see their kids in Juvenile Court, or on calls anywhere near as much.
Most of the guys I work with know the sport I chose to run with, and most of them have even been to them, and approve. OHHHH… how outrageous that deputies approve, and even participate.
So, mind your hobbies, and WE will mind ours.
Liv
30|Nov|2005 78It’s always amazing to me what illiterate, ignorant, low-class people call sport! I hope this isn’t considered offensive, because I simply have a hard time believing PhD’s make up the audience at a hog-dog fight. Have these sadists nothing more constructive to do? I suppose not. From what I’ve seen, the people who are proponents of “hog-dog fighting” can barely form a literate sentence (has anyone seen the IE piece?), and it’s no wonder they have no higher aspirations in life than to pit these animals against one another. Removing the hogs’ tusks with bolt-cutters? How could anyone with any education and a sense of what is right and wrong not see this is inhumane, and barbaric?
One proponent said it best, that you cannot take his “primal” need to hunt away. Primal=caveman. It would seem that evolution of the species missed a small group of people!
Starr
01|Dec|2005 79From what I’ve seen, …
That is a laughable sentence coming from someone like you. I doubt you have seen anything.
cq
01|Dec|2005 80I am outraged after witnessing t.v. footage of the torture of defenseless animals brought on upon so-called human beings. To think these losers actually pay to amuse themselves by watching and hearing the cries of an animal being ripped apart makes me more than sick - it tears at my soul. I personally would pay to see those same people put in a cage and torn to shreads by these hogs. Maybe your kids could watch, too.
Liv
01|Dec|2005 81Okay, Starr! ;) Since you were so kind as to take the time to read my post, I decided to do the same for yours. I must say, quite entertaining! You’re enlightening statement of “keep your nose in the hobby (or business) that you know” speaks volumes as to your thought process. Most people are able to comprehend that by being aware of things going on in the world, atrocities can be prevented – and some people think what you do is an atrocity. What is truly laughable is your suggestion that mankind keep to themselves and ignore obvious misuse of our position as higher thinking beings than animals (although I admit, some people make me wonder). Some people call molesting children, or swinging cats by their tails their “hobby,” or their “business.” Therefore, I suggest you come up with a better argument for why people should be allowed to perpetuate this ridiculous “sport” than your basic stance of it’s “nunya,” or that they have a lack of funds to participate in hobbies and sports that require more comprehension than “git that hog BillyBobDog!”
And by the way, poor doesn’t equate to ignorance. Many people without money find plenty of things to do that are fun, compassionate AND intellectually stimulating. Go figure!
Rex
01|Dec|2005 82Since some of you don’t seem to have anything better to do than to sit at your computer discussing something you only hear about and never experienced or examining every word for typos so that you can feel smart when you point them out, I thought you would like a little more footage to discuss. (Just in case you missed the video on this web site.)
http://www.helpinganimals.com/hogdogrodeos.asp
Just because we live in the south doesn’t make us ignorant. Sterotyping people, as many of you have, is one of the most asinine behaviors you could exhibit.
Fareeha
01|Dec|2005 83I was working on my essay when my brother came and started talking about this tv show he watched about dog hog rodeos…..I haven’t been able to resume working since then, all this sounds so disgusting and sick that it makes me cry and tears my soul. I don’t understand how anyone can enjoy this…I can’t even bear to hear about it, let alone watch it!
Hunting animals and consuming them for food is fine ( great emphasis on humane practices to achieve that) cuz I believe this is the law of nature, a balance of ecosystem on earth. BUT TO INFLICT PAIN ON ANIMALS FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, (whether you think, it makes you have a life or it is justified since you enjoy it p~) IS AN UNJUSTIFIABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE PRACTICES. People should pay gravely for such dumb practices, just like there are laws against people who abuse other people, there should be laws for people who abuse animals.
Hey Ryan, did you happen to stumble upon anything about the Animal Fur Industry in North America? I became aware of this disgusting industry just recently and have been trying to work with a local animal rights group on that. I didn’t see a blog here on that one, perhaps, there is one and I just haven’t seen it. So, let me know.
And keep up the good work!
Fareeha
01|Dec|2005 84You don’t have to experience something directly to begin to understand the ugliness and sickness of anything of that sort. Most of us were not there for the Holocaust, not even born at the time, but we can still use our human conscience to understand the extent of brutality and insanity involved in that. But thanks for the website, it is informative.
Starr
02|Dec|2005 85I wonder how many people you down-grade, treat badly on a daily basis, or just downright stereotype. Just because you have seen bits and pieces of things edited together on tv makes you all experts in the matter. That is a laugh! I just love it. Why do you think that when people like you try to get bills against it to pass in your states it gets turned down, and you look like fools? That is because you are jumping on a bandwagon with other fools without finding out the facts first. Believe everything you see on tv. Don’t say you don’t because you already do. You jump up, and want to do something against a thing you know nothing about. Tv is there to try, and get ratings, and they do so by conning the foolish (which would be you) with hot button topics. By the way, they are NOT called hog dog rodeos.
Rex
02|Dec|2005 86Thank you Starr. I don’t know who came up with that name. That just goes to show you how much people know about it. They can’t even get the name right.
Ryan
02|Dec|2005 87OK, so what are these events called? I have yet to see a single message even begin to provide a decent justification for their existence.
Marcus de la Houssaye
02|Dec|2005 88OK Ryan, it looks like you want to learn something for a change and not act like you know it all. READ YOUR OWN BLOG! #30 JAMES MAKES A GOOD START DESCRIBING A FIELD TRAIL! #31 I BUILD UPON JAMES’S DESCRIPTION AND ELABORATE. #52 I SHOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CATCH TRAIL AND A BAY TRAIL.AND IN #64 I POSTED A NEWSPAPER WRITERS ARTICLE CLEARLY SHOWING THE HUMANITY OF THE UNCLE EARL’S HOG DOG TRAIL. I WENT TO THE PETA MOVIE TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING. IT IS A CATCH TRAIL WITH PITBULLS. YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT CATCH TRAILS ARE ILLEGAL, AND BAY TRAILS ARE NOT. A HOG DOG TRAIL IS NOT A CATCH TRAIL. AT A BAYING, A DOG THAT CATCHES THE PIG IS DISQUALIFIED. WE DO NOT USE PITBULLS AT A BAYING, WE USE CATAHOULAS MOSTLY. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A CATAHOULA IS? BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW A CATCH TRAIL FROM A BAY TRAIL. BY THE WAY, THE CATAHOULA HOUND IS THE OFFICIAL STATE DOG OF LOUISIANA. MAYBE THIS IS ALL TOO COMPLICATED FOR KNOW IT ALLS. THE PROBLEM WITH KNOW IT ALLS IS, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN WHEN YOU KNOW IT ALL. A BIGGER PROBLEM IS TV DOESN’T SHOW THE WHOLE PICTURE. WE MIGHT BE ALL A LOT HAPPIER IF WE DIDN’T WATCH SO DAMN MUCH TELEVISION! WELL, I GOT ONE BIG PROBLEM WITH TV SHOWING PEOPLE THINGS TO GET EM MAD AT SOMEONE ELSE, BUT NOT SHOWING THE WHOLE PICTURE. BTW - THIS HOG HUNTER IS A TV PRODUCER/WRITER AS WELL!
Ryan
02|Dec|2005 89As I mentioned back up in comment #50, I’m specifically talking about the events featured in the article and on the undercover videos.
Rex
02|Dec|2005 90Hog catches are illegal in LA. I have been to both the hog catch and bays. Although, we use pitbulls as catch dogs at the bays. I don’t think anyone is trying to justify their existence. Their lots of things in this world that can’t be justified. Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong.
Starr
02|Dec|2005 91I am wanting to say that Catch Events are illegal almost everywhere. I know where we are they are illegal. Bay Events are the only things allowed. At most of these events Catch dogs are not allowed. That is the #1 rule. No Catch dogs allowed. Catch dogs do occasionally show up but they stand out like a sore thumb (most are there for sale to other hunters or have been bought & being brought to their new owners), and you never seen them as trying to be passed off as a bay dog. Most of those dogs are stictly used in the woods except for private facilities that train them.
***Sorry but can’t send you examples of them, I would hate to know someone was harassing them (friends of mine) because I was using their facility as an example.
cq
02|Dec|2005 92Everyone is avoiding one simple fact. The fact is that these hogs are being attacked and the attack is causing prolonged pain. Can you supporters answer this simple question and forget all the other b.s.? Does the hog feel pain? Since you cannot understand that question, let me ask another. If screams of horror come from an animal or human, is it likely pain is being experienced? How can you promote this? You can talk all you want about catch trails, bay trails, etc. but you are not answering the question. What exactly don’t YOU understand?
Liv
02|Dec|2005 93Yay! It appears that some finally understand we are talking about the *illegal* events that have been shown on the news and are being brought to light by many animal welfare groups. What is interesting is that it seems some hunters took it a little too personal, especially since they are saying what they do (baying) is not the same as the [catch] events we are discussing.
These catch events are illegal for a reason - they are inhumane and exploitive. And once again, the old “to each his own” additive just doesn’t work in this situation, not when you are talking about something that is abusive to another person or animal. So, try again as to why people should not be outraged over this “sport.”
Rex
02|Dec|2005 94Catch events are not illegal in MS. I know this for a fact. We even have an on-duty officer on patrol at these events. Pain is caused to animals everyday “in the name of science”. That’s not right either, but it’s done.
Starr
02|Dec|2005 95Yes, we are talking about catch events. They are not legal in some states. Where we are they are NOT legal, but they are legal in many states. But I love to see a good catch dog in the woods hunting. They can keep a 400# plus hog from eating you (ask a friend, before getting run a tree by one, he lost three fingers to it which it ate).
As for bay events they are a different story. Do you find it right for most of you to jump on someone that runs dogs at bay events when you know nothing about them? Which most of you do, you lump them all in one catagory with no regard for anyone else. Back to the we don’t care about anyone but ourselves, as usual. A bay event is no different from a sheep herding trial. Works on the same principals. So what is wrong with that? I say I have hog dogs, and you people go into fits. Still lumping dogs together without asking simple questions that could distinguish the two kinds. It is kind of like saying I have horses. Most people just generalize it being the hack horse you trail ride not the 5 gaited show horse in the ring.
Starr
02|Dec|2005 96Oh almost forget…
On the cruel part, what happens if you are hiking, or camping (whatever you do) and find the massive irrate sow with piglets and she gets you down? Are you going to let her just go at you knowing good and well, that she doesn’t care if you are in pain or not? She will NOT stop, and feel sorry for you. You will be like my friend but probably missing more than three fingers. Would you perfer that if people with hog dogs were close let them loose and save you, or keep them on their leash and let them eat you. Where the events are legal, they serve a purpose. They are NOT just for fun. Some people cannot afford to have a facitily at home to teach their dogs how to do this in the wild. If you take the chances of running a inexperienced dog in the woods, you will more than likely not have a dog. In an area like those, the dog can be taught about getting in a bind with a hog. Out in the woods, there is no vet (just the dog 1st aid kit which most owners are better than vet), and there is no help. You will have to look at the fact that alot of these dogs are pups, and in the woods the hogs will FAR outweigh the dogs. I would rather be teaching my 15-30# pup in a spot where they can helped instead of throwing them out in the woods to a massive hog with 3 or more inch cutters on them. The dogs have the instinct to do this in them. It is straight to pure breeding. As for being social dogs, I have never seen any that were bad around people. They get out too much to have behavior problems. The only thing they need is for their instinct to be honed.
Catahoulas are no different than the bulldogs used. Their instinct has been bred into them for ages. Their primary use is for cattle, and hogs. I have even seen some that make excellent coon dogs.
Erica
04|Dec|2005 97Rednecks that support Hog fighting are so ignorant! I would love to put them in the ring with pitbulls and wild hogs and sell admission tickets! I’m sure there are a few people on this board who would LOVE to see that!
Starr
05|Dec|2005 98For Erica…
I would have to say you are ignorant one. They are in the pen with the dogs & hogs. The handlers (1-2) are not only in the pen but so is pen help. Depending on the pen, sometimes up to 4 or more. It’s people like you that show just how bright you are when you get up and try make yourself look like someone with “expert testimony”. So tell us…
What else do you know?
Starr
05|Dec|2005 99If you decide to ask how I know… I run my own dogs in the pen.
Marcus de la Houssaye
05|Dec|2005 100Just when I thought we were getting somewhere by clarifying these events that we love to participate in, here comes some ignorant know it all with “hog fighting”. This is no different than a hog dog rodeo - it doesn’t exist! If you want to critisize me and attack my behavior then know what you are talking about before you open your mouth! This is a complex issue and part of what makes it so complicated is the laws very from state to state. And then in the state of Louisiana it is illegal to catch pigs in a pen during competition, but not illegal to do it in the woods during hunting. Let’s face it, there is a lot of wrong going on in the world. Have you done anything except point fingers at the wrong doers? That doesn’t make the world a better place. We in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, have thousands of homeless people and animals as a result of natural disasters. Some people will never recover, because they are too old, discouraged, poor, or disabled to “start over”. Has any of you people who claim to care so much about animal welfare, done anything in the last 90 days to relieve the suffering caused by mother nature? I am not talking about monetary donations, but actually took someone in, an animal or human. If you care so much, you now have an opportunity to show. “Caring” is an action, not a feeling. While you are trying to figure out what to do, I think I”ll go kill another of those pesky, stinking, environmentally destructive hogs and feed some of my hungry guests who are refugees of the hurricanes. And by the way some of these attacks against hog hunters are so rooted in hatred, I am beginning to wonder if the real issue is animal cruelty or intolerance of carnivorous humans. There sure was a lot hunters and fishermen who turned out to search and rescue the victims of Katrina. Literally, thousands of men who have been in boats all their life were turned away by FEMA who left refugees for days without food and water. If the federal government had got out of our way, we cold, insensitive, bloodthirsty hunters and fishermen could have evacuated New Orleans in 2 or 3 days. Not only the people but the pets too! Now if you want to complain about suffering and pain and neglect, do so to your congressman. And if you want to make the world a better place, get out in it and volunteer to help someone get the mud and ruined furniture and appliances out of their house even if they are not vegetarian. We have a lot of recovery left to do in Louisiana and points east and west. Oh, you thought we were getting back to normal here on the Gulf Coast because it is not on CNN anymore? We have over 500,000 homeless people as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
BTW, staying with family and friends is also homeless even if they are so generous to share their home. And I won’t even begin to touch on the jobless issue or people who lost their business.We have our work cut out for us. It would be nice if we could put away our differences and work together to get involved and make the world a better place for those of us who lost it all this year. Accusing me of being insensitive to suffering, when I was willing to risk my life, to save the victims of the New Orleans flood? Well I guess you can’t count on folks to be there for you, unless they are a bunch of redneck, hick, moron, hunters and fishermen.
Ryan
05|Dec|2005 101At this point, after 100 comments, nothing new is being said and no ground is being gained, so it’s time to close the comments off. I think both sides have said their peace and there’s enough here for people to decide for themselves.
Thanks to everyone for your participation.
(PS - Marcus… I removed your last post since this string of comments has gotten long enough and I preferred to end on your on-topic comment.)
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