Outrage as pet thrown into dog fight, picture posted online

GURGAON: Anger rippled across social media on Sunday after photos of a wounded and bleeding Indian Mastiff were posted by its owner, ostensibly to proclaim its victory in a dog fight.
The depravity of the act was evident in the picture - it showed multiple lacerations on the dog's furry coat and what looked like a deep gash near its jaws.
But amid calls to track down its owner and efforts to rescue the dog from such savagery, animal activists pointed out this wasn't an isolated case and groups of bloodsport lovers regularly organize dog fights, complete with wagers, in barns of some farmhouses in Gurgaon and Delhi and at other venues in the urbanized villages of the Millennium City.
Dog fights have been sporadically reported in the past in Gurgaon, but they appear to have flourished and become more organized over the years with the police not going after the organizers.
The owner of the injured dog was identified by NGO People for Animal as a Jhajjar-based man (he was named on social media, but TOI is withholding the name as his identity could not be independently verified). The dog apparently won a fight held in Jhajjar city around two months ago.
Though no police complaint has been filed yet, PFA said it had conducted an investigation, gathered details about the dog owner and would smash the racket soon.
PFA president Amit Chaudhery told TOI his team had tracked down the owner. "We have all information about him and three members of the racket. We also have his car's registration number and other details," he said, adding that a dogfighting racket was active in Gurgaon and Delhi.
Chaudhery also said a dog fight had been planned at a farmhouse on the Gurgaon-Farrukhnagar border by the same person a few days ago but he managed to give a joint PFA-police team the slip. "Another person, who lives in Kanhai village in Gurgaon, has been organizing dogfights and betting events," he added.
The cruelty of throwing a dog into a fight apart, the training process itself is unspeakably brutal and involves chopping of ears and sometimes the tail to make the canines aggressive and angry. Normally, 'bully' dogs, sinewy breeds with short muzzles like mastiffs, terriers and pitbulls, are trained for dogfights. The same dogs, when treated with love and care, make gentle and loyal pets.
"Dog fights leads to severe injuries and sometimes death of dogs. The dogs rescued by the PFA in past have had their ears chopped off," Chaudhery said.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, makes use of any animal for fighting a punishable cognizable offence. A dog fight planned in Badshapur area in Gurgaon in January 2012 was stopped before it could be held after the intervention of PFA activists and the police. The organizer was arrested.
Asked what action the police were planning to take, ACP (crime) Rajesh Kumar said no complaint had been received on any dog fight racket so far. "If we get a complaint, we will take necessary action," Kumar said.