An Artful Blow Against Animal Cruelty

August 8 2011, 11:54am

    Figure 1: Combat d'un ours contre des chiens. Embroidery, private collection. Animal fights for sport have an ugly history that extends back to antiquity. The pastime reached its peak in the 16th century and is documented in numerous artworks such as a 16th century embroidery panel of a bear fighting dogs at the court of Henry II of France (in a private collection) (figure 1), and a pietre dure tabletop depicting  fight between exotic and domestic animals circa 1720, in the Carlton Hobbs collection (figure 2).   Carlton Hobbs LLC. It’s a very sad fact that, even by the 21st century, we’ve hardly progressed and that this barbaric type of dog fighting persists despite the fact that it is one of the more serious forms of animal abuse and considered a felony in all 50 states. And it’s not just the people who operate these animal fights that are doing the wrong thing. Participation in any form–including spectating– is an egregious act. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York City, thinks so too. It was announced on August 4, 2011, that legislation to increase penalties for spectators to these events was signed into law and will become effective in just 30 days. That means it is now a crime to attend a dog fight! “Until now, a person knowingly attending an animal fight was charged only with a violation, punishable by up to a $500 fine. The new law makes it a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine. Repeat offenders face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.” (NYDailyNews.com) And without spectators, there is no sport. We think this is a great step in the continuing fight to protect animals in this country and around the globe, and hope that other states will take up the torch and pass similar laws very soon.