Bronx Dog Fighting Victim Recovers, Finds New Home

ONCE THOSE PRECIOUS ANIMALS ARE SAFE & HAPPY EQUAL FERVER SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THOSE MONSTERS THAT CREATED THIS INCREDIBLY CRUEL ACT! THEY NEED TO BE PUT ON A 'ABUSER' ISLAND NEVER TO SEE ANYTHING OR ANYONE BUT THEIR OWN KIND! AND THAT INCLUDES MICHAEL VICK!

This is a wonderful story! My friend breeds Bullies a very kind gentle dog (they have 5 kids) that is a pit bull offshoot It goes to show that it is all how U raise them

God love her heart!! I'm so glad she's safe and okay, as well as the others that were saved. This is such horrible behavior for supposedly civilized human beings. It really takes a mean-spirited, hateful, evil person to mistreat these animals this way. I hope that Raul Sanchez is fined, incarcerated, made to attend therapy, and mandatory registration on an animal abuser list which will be posted on the internet. These people are dangerous and should be monitored closely.

I don't understand why I have not been able to find any studies on the psychology of dog fighting. All of these people, who span all races, all cultures, cannot be sociopaths. We can punish, but we can't hope to change a person's world view until we understand his context. We need information to use to reeducate. Name calling, emotional over reaction, & calls for an eye for an eye, though somewhat satisfying, only shuts the dog fighter down to insight & change. They must go to jail. I think they should be held financially responsible for the rehab of the animals. However, if we want to stop the problem, we have to change the person and culture. The ability to distance oneself from another's pain extends to those in research and factory farming.... Again, all of these people cannot be sociopaths. I can't find interviews and serious research on this other than old research done on military torture.

These kind of humans have no soul and will be judged but the greatest of all....our God. I would love to be able to see them sent to burn in hell of all eternity!!

"I'm a Good Dog" That is why All Dogs go to heaven.Dogs are so special animals, I hope these criminals are prosecuted.

the only reason dog fighting happens is that some cultures just don't want to work - even Oprah excused this pagan behavior on her show a few years ago and after receiving tons of comments from shocked listeners she never said another word. There is no excuse and this horrific practice must be stopped - no animal should have to suffer fighting and torture because some people just don't want to get a job. Hope legislature passes laws this year to put an end to dog and any other animal fighting this year. Thank you for caring and I hope Mona Lisa lives a long and much deserved happy life.

The only possible end to animal fighting rings is to punish all the people involved in it by making them fight each other. We should keep them in dingy conditions as well, so that they experience the same cruelty they were dishing out. It's time to start treating them like the beasts that they are, instead of their treating animals who are worth a lot more than these people.

Years ago I adopted two sister KITTENS who had been rescued from a police raid on a dog-fighting ring in NY. They, and other kittens and puppies had been used as BAIT for training the dogs to fight. Many people don't know how the dogs are "trained": they are starved, and then are forced to fight over these bait animals to survive. After these horrific experiences their aggression is turned on other dogs in the "fights." My Cleo and Tasha were the loves of my life: Cleo never weighed more than 5 pounds, but she loved to walk on a leash and catch snowflakes on her tongue when she rode around in her special fanny pack (she was that little). Both of them had such personalities! They *ruled* my 120 lb. Alaskan Malamute. They lived long and very loving lives, and I only pray that they came to forget their violent beginnings. Adopt rescue animals -- they love you like there's no tomorrow, and they fill your hearts and homes with character and joy!!

I'm so sorry Mona Lisa that you had to go thru that, it should be stopped and no animal be treated that away. People are cruel for allowing that.

I am truly saddened when I hear of people abusing these loving creatures. I had 3 pits growing up and they were each loving, compassionate and extremely protective! Stronger laws should be put in place and this should take a priority in our society! In order to call ourselves human (goal of humanitarian) we need to be the voice of both animals and less fortunate people. Please do not turn your back. Thank you to all who support ASPCA and its work for animal rights!

I couldn't believe it when a "friend" of mine casually told me her boyfriend, Shorty, was taking her to a dog fight. For some reason, in spite of my love of dogs, she didn't see anything wrong with it or why telling me would horrify me. To top it off, the house I rented from them caught fire, while I was asleep and they tried to extort money from me. They sent a sheriff's officer to my work suggesting I was stealing her identity. I told him how they wanted $15,000 from me, that they thought I started the fire on purpose (which killed 2 of my dogs) and I just wanted them to leave me alone. I don't know why, but I asked about her boyfriend. The officer didn't know anything about him. I gave him Shorty's real name (I don't remember it now, but it was a doozy) and I saw the screen when the officer brought up his name. Having been a police/fire dispatcher before I knew how to read it. This guy had almost $10,000 in drug warrants on him and she wasn't far behind, but I don't remember what for. After looking at that the officer told me not to worry, he'd make sure they didn't bother me anymore. I drove past the burned property months, maybe a year later and saw a beautiful blue nose pit that I'd raised as a puppy. I was getting ready to jump the locked fence and take him when Shorty walked up. I know he saw me and my baby wasn't there the next time I drove by. I had once found out about one place Shorty kept some of his dogs and I never suspected dog fighting (yep, I was totally naïve and took care of the dogs he didn't fight, just used for breeding), but I didn't like the way they were cared for. A nursing mom in a little hay shelter in winter? So, I called it in. That's how I found out his name. He came up to the house one day and asked if I'd called animal control on whatever his real name was and I said "who's so and so?" he said me. Of course, I got totally side tracked and went talking about his real name which kept me out of the eye of trouble. He suspected it was someone else altogether. I live too far away now to check often, but when I get a chance I drive by both places to see if there are any dogs there and always call animal control. The thing was that since I did take care of Shorty's non fighting dogs one of the animal control officers would actually stop by once in awhile with a pitty for me to rehome because she knew if she took it in, it would be put to sleep because that was the county run shelter's policy. When she accepted a job at another county as an animal cruelty investigator she actually stopped by and let me know. I was and guess am proud that I could form such a relationship with someone who manages animals. Because of course I usually had too many dogs, but the way I cared for them she always turned a blind eye and would just suggest I get a kennel license. Jennifer

I think people who mistreat or abuse animals are mentally sick. Let them trade places with the defenseless animals that they abused and let hear and see how they feel. Sick humans ought to be locked up and put away for good.

Horrible and horrendous! Humans are truly the least humane creatures on Planet Earth. Here in upstate NY we had a case where 3 puppies were left on the railroad track. One had a hind foot chopped off, the others had holes in their paws as though they had been nailed to the tracks. One puppy died. The other two have been rehabilitated. Just last week 4 adult dogs were found locked in a rental truck with no food or water or bedding. It turns out to be the same culprit. Obviously he will not receive jail time and will only have to pay a minor fine. He will be able to get more dogs. The only reason anyone can find is that he must be involved in DOG FIGHTING. He is on welfare and gets his living quarters from Public Assistance. He has a "girlfriend" and children (more than 1). Anyone who cares about animals should e-mail Governor Cuomo and urge him to press for stricter animal cruelty legislation. We have Buster's Law, but the penalties are laughable. Clearly the most appropriate penalty would be: public castration without anesthesia; branding on the forehead with the nature of the crime (Torturing puppies); 4 years in jail for each animal tortured or abused and 16 years for each animal killed; any money earned in future should go 90% to helping animals-he should be able to live on 10% and get NO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.

Shows you how low the human race has gone in its 7 million years on this planet. Homo sapien is not the brightest bulb on this planet and truly shows it most of the time. Congress included!

I pray for those precious animals who can't help themselves and are thankful you are there looking out for them. I don't know what is wrong with people. They would not want that type of fate impossed on them. Keep up the good work.

In January my family and I adopted our baby Luggy, he was one of the 50 pitbulls rescued from the bronx basement. He is a beautiful, happy dog who gives back as much love as we give him When i look at his eyes, they tell a sad story. I cant imagine the hell he was living in. It sickens me to see that they have only given this b***** 1 to 3 years. Perhaps they should take that judge and everyone else on this case to spend a night in that god forsaking basement. Maybe they would have seen things more clearly. 20 years would not be enough for this crime. Shame on them!

I was so moved reading Mona Lisa's story....she really is a special dog and deserves a wonderful life. Thank goodness your organization found this dog fighting ring and saved these animals. Keep up the good work and the fight against this horrible sport!

I wish we would enact laws everywhere that made it "mandatory" to impose a minimum 10 year prison sentence for anyone involved in dog fighting in any capacity and advertise it everywhere in English and Spanish so these monsters get the message loud and clear. These people that treat animals this horrific way will show the same disregard to humans as well at some point in their pathetic lives.

I am so happy for Mona Lisa! She deserves to be loved and cared for and be a part of a forever family. I hate dog fighting, and don't understand how anyone can even do this to an animal. There are some sick people in this world. I really hope the laws get tighter and the punishments get harsher for dog fighters.

All it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing. We need a lot more good people who are brave enough to do the right thing!

As far as I can remember, my wife and I have taken a plunge towards loving dogs. Starting a good 25 years ago, we've adopted all the dogs we had from past to preseant except 2. No, not store bought (those two) but given to us. Right now we have 5 dogs but one, a little Snauzer Poodle named "little ZoZo", originally Zoie, has dimentia from 2 strokes and 2 siesures recently, she's about 14 or 15 now. She wonders around and is half blind but is still loving. She pees on the floor because she doesn't really grab the concept anymore, of going out to do it. People say "you should put her down" and my only reply is "my grandfather had dimentia, and we didn't put him down", because we feel all things should live thier time untill taken by the one and only. We couldn't do this to her and besides, last year I put my 17 year old shep down because he couldn't walk anymore and just today got teary eyed again when I looked at his picture. We recently gained ownership of another Shep, Cody. His previous owner couldn't handle him and was going to have him put to sleep because they couldn't find someone to take him...untill I found out, that is. My wife didn't want another dog and Cody the shep (BEAR??), now 1 1/2 years later, weighs in at 136lbs. He sleeps on my feet every night (ugg!!, but I love it). We had to get a queen sized bed to accomodate the three that insisted on sleeping with us. Why people see dogs as just dogs is beyond me, they chain them to dog houses, some just poles and others live in the mud and snow during bad weather and yet these creatures love their masters (owners...keepers??) with all their blessed little hearts. Fighting dogs? Frankly I'd rather see the owners of those dogs kill themselves. They have no love of life or what it should be, only the screwed up world they created for themselves making people like us have to suffer when they decide to rob us or kill someone on a whim for 10$...if they find it. Save the dogs, they're beyond self survival and need "US" to protect "them". The only thing I regret about having a dog love me is that if an intruder would break into my home, my dog can get shot protecting me (not trained to do so) or if he would go after someone to protect his family (pack) he'd be taken away and be put down because he'd be declaired dangerous to society. Like they always said...dog is "god" spelled backwards. He put them here for a reason, think about it. Why do they love us so much?? Having a bad day? Talk to your dog...he understands everything and won't comment one way or the other to sway your thoughts but!! You feel better afterwards, don't you!! ?? PS, I'm allergic to dogs but wouldn't have it any other way!!