Facebook Shouldn't Condone Dog Fighting

Update 10/16/10: After leaving the "Legalize Dog Fighting" fan page up for days, despite numerous abuse reports, Facebook finally took it down within a day of Change.org community members telling the company not to condone dog fighting. More than 450 people sent the message that animal abuse cannot be tolerated, and must be taken as seriously as other violent crimes. Thanks to everyone who spoke out on behalf of animals and who continues to keep a watchful eye out for animal cruelty being promoting on the internet.

Animal welfare advocates are a vigilant bunch, and as soon as depictions of animal cruelty appear on Facebook, word gets around and people start reporting it. So, when a page was created a couple days ago with the title Legalize Dog Fighting, people started reporting it.

Almost two days later, it's still up, and it's been gaining fans. I can only imagine that Facebook hasn't taken it down because it's not technically breaking the law. Unlike other pages we've seen in the past, there aren't any photos or admissions of anything illegal.

However, I'd argue that, in addition to being in poor, sadistic taste, it is breaking Facebook's terms of service.

There's not much on the page, except for a photo of a chained pit bull and this description:

"Legalize dog fighting. Pets are not people. They are your pet. Something you own. If I'm not mistaken, when you own something you can do what you want with it."

The page creator is, in fact, mistaken. Although pets are largely considered property in the eyes of the law, there are laws in every state (and many other countries) that recognize the difference between harming a dog and harming an inanimate object. You're free to inflict whatever violence you want on your couch, but get caught doing the same to your dog, and you're going to face animal cruelty charges.

Dog fighting is a felony across all fifty states. So, telling people that dog fighting is okay, and they can do whatever they want with their pets, is encouraging violence and violation of the law.

Advocating for legalization of an activity and admitting to practicing said crime are two different things. But let's be honest — we're not talking about marijuana here. We're talking about violent crime. Does Facebook allow pages in favor of legalizing child pornography or the right to stab people?

Even if Facebook abides by the page creator's philosophy that "Pets are not people," they must be aware by now of the link between animal abuse and violence toward humans. The recognition that animal abusers are not only likely to repeat their crimes, but pose a threat to people, too, is why Suffolk County, N.Y., just passed the nation's first animal abuser registry. Similar registries in other counties and states won't be far behind. A history of animal cruelty is a common factor among violent criminals ranging from those convicted of domestic violence, to serial killing. When dogfighting rings are busted, investigators typically find narcotics and illegal weapons, too.

Facebook needs to take this page just as seriously as they would any page promoting the "right" to violence. Ask Facebook not to condone animal cruelty, and to immediately remove the pro-dogfighting fan page.

Photo credit: greenkozi