It has come to my attention that there are numerous dogs running in Irvington Alabama, with some type sickness, having puppies that are dying and being left where they die, on the property. Someone needs to check this problem out, as these dogs are being severly neglected. Please respond to me by email for the name and address. If you truly care about animals, you will look into this. Thank you.

I had a 3.25 lb Tiny Toy Rat Terrier until a few minutes ago. A neighbor from down the beach Bulldog just killed him in my yard in front of my wife who is distrout. I lost another one earlier this summer but was not sure if his bulldog killed it too but the bite looked the same. I spoke with the owner who was very sorry about the killing but does not what to do. He said he would keep it on a chain which usually makes a dog more agressive I think. What would you recommend I do?

Want to be a ASPCA CSI when I grow up !

thare are so many dogs that are abused that have to fight for thare lives .I was raised in alabama around the dog fights and chiken fights.I have allways hated it i take in dogs and find homes for them . I WISH I COULD DO MORE BUT MONEY IS TIGHT

Any one who is cruel enough to make helpless animals fight for their own entertainment is pure evil. They deserve the maximum sentence. Animals have feelings too. They know happiness and sorrow, they feel pain and danger, they also know when they are being treated wrong. They arn't stupid, they know darn well what these people were doing but, they still are helpless. They can't stop humans by themselves. They need our help.

Where do you go to report cruelty and neglect in a county animal shelter when trying to solve the problem WITHIN the county has failed?

l ooking to adopt german sheppard

Thank you Dr. Merck. These should be Federal Charges - 5 years is crap for these pigs. Dr. Merck and those like her are my hero. We thank you.

You guys are angels. Thank you for all you do for these innocent animals. I do not understand this dog fighting - the people who do this are the worst kind of animals and need to be put down I mean away.I thank the Lord for people like you - Dr. Merck.

God bless all the people involved in these rescue operations. It is so ironic to see the pitbulls tails wagging a mile a minute even though they were forced into the fighting. The owners/handlers should all be shot. The Michael Vick story was my first experience in this and I give to the ASPCA but would like to help out in other ways. Any suggestions on how I could volunteer to help in situations like this? I work for the trial court and am a huge animal advocate.

I am very passionate about animals. I love them all, but dogs are extra special to me because they prove that love is unconditional. For any person to take advantage of a dog's innocent love and betray their trust by hurting or neglecting them is the ultimate crime in my eyes. Pitbulls are such a loyal breed that they will fight to the death if it means being loyal to their master and they see that is what they are being asked to do, like it or not. How disgusting to use a wonderful living, breathing, feeling, animal as this, simply for the enjoyment and profit of barbaric human beings with no heart or soul to know right from wrong!! I really wish that each animal abuser would have done to him exactly what he or she has done to the helpless, defenseless animals they hurt. I have no tolerance for people who know of abuse and dont report it for fear of the person finding out just as I have even less tolerance for the one who breaks the trust between his/her pet by purposely causing the suffering of a living being. Please help by donating to local humane societies, money or your time, and make pet adoption your first option when looking for a furry friend. Please always be aware your animals need food, water, and proper shelter to lead happy, healthy lives every day and also deserve lots and lots of love and affection and playtime! :0) I pledge to keep helping organizations such as ASPCA in making the laws stricter for animal abusers and one day I hope we will see alot less cases of abuse. Remember "We are their Voice" so SPEAK UP!

I believe that if you fight dogs then you truly are not a good person at heart. If your doing it for money then your just planly pathetic. If you ever starve a dog and that dog dies i believe that you should serve a life sentence. I say that because my dog was being watched after by somebody else and was starved to death but we didnt have enough proof and i was very heartbroken about loosing my dog.

I have no compassion for people who are cruel to animals.All they want is to be loved.The teen in New York needs to serve a life sentence.

With regard to the teen in the Bronx who put her "friends" kitten in the oven simply because..."I hate cats"....that story made me sick to my stomach. How cruel and heartless does a person have to be to harm a kitten??? She deserves everything she gets and more!!

so what they are dogs and you know that and i what to say hi to my men shawn:0-

I am so touched by the work Dr. Merck does for animals. In the area of law and justice for these innocent animals, I feel like we are looking at facts (which you have to do) and overlooking the heart of the abuser. What is significant and sort of overlooked is that these are acts of sadism. Sadism is a horrible sickness and can transfer easily. When someone does something cruel to an animal, why do we think that behavior won't transfer? Hate and cruelty are a sickness. Unfortunately, way too often the animal victims of that sickness don't get the justice they deserve. Criminal intent is being overlooked. These are hate crimes. They represent a blatant disregard for life. The people who commit these acts are dangerous. If they have remorse, it is only if because they have been caught and will have to be held accountable in some way.

@willdabeast You sound like a dogfighting apologist. The evidence speaks for itself. She has direct knowledge of the evidence collected and has experience interpreting the evidence, so if the evidence points to dogfighting, I for one believe her. Also, most likely there is additional evidence not mentioned here.

If you want to know what's wrong with this world, just read gg allen's comment: "what a joke the aspca, and law enforcement is. talk about morons...... " and then willabeast's statement: "...but I cannot sit back and say nothing while our justice system is made a mockery by special interest groups." So seeing these dogs tied down with the heaviest chains, limping and injured is not enough? and what "special interest groups" would those be? People who like dogs? People who want to prevent cruelty? The SPCA, perchance? People like these two can't see an inch from their nose, and from their antogonism to authority and true justice gives us a good measure of their Kool-Aid drinking minds. Disgusting!

You are a hero. A hero to animals and animal lovers. I am so proud of your work and only hope more people will be like you! Keep up the great work! We're all rooting for you.

I don't have much - but each time I view something so horrific as dog fighting and all forms of animal abuse - it confirms why I give what I can. Best wishes to all of you and God bless you and the animals.

Dogs will lay down their lives for us if necessary, and yet we have people who keep them in deplorable conditions used only for making black market money. There needs to be a federal law outlawing this and with strict penalties. Putting them on probation is not strong enough. It needs to be jail time and not just a couple of months. I would never do to a dog what these people have done, and now most of those dogs, if not all, will have to be euthanized because they have tasted the blood of other dogs.

lets finally make it a federal offense in all 50 states ,i live in ma. and it is a federal offense here , and i do belive that would make people think twice.

Is it really appropriate for someone who is supposed to be collecting forensic evidence for a criminal trial to be discussing their opinion on the guilt of the people charged before it goes to trial? Can you really expect people to believe that your evidence was collected and is going to be presented in a fair manner when you have obviously already declared these people guilty without the benefit of a trial. Also how can you tell the difference between a dog that has been used for fighting and a dog that accidentally got of it chain and fought with another dog without its owners knowledge, truth is you cannot. Are these people guilty or innocent I don't know as I was not there, but really neither do. Dogs with scars and conditioning equipment in no way prove dog fighting. The sad truth of the matter is this does not matter as it will be impossible for them to receive a fair trial when the people who are supposed to collecting unbiased evidence have already found them guilty and are trying them in the court of public opinion rather than a court of law where it belongs. What happened to this country? I in no way condone cruelty to this noble breed of dogs, but I cannot sit back and say nothing while our justice system is made a mockery by special interest groups.

Thank God for the ASCPA and People like Dr.Merck!People who abuse animals don't have God in their lives. HE gave us animals to love and protect. All they want is to be loved. We our their voice. I've been supporting The ASCPA Guardians since 2006 along with two other organizations. This is where my heart is & This is what I can do at this time in my life. WE DO NEED TOUGHER LAWS

We really should inflict same treatment on these beings as well as other violent criminals before we follow through with the death penalty. Give them a dose of what they did their victims, then let them wallow in a cell, and so on, back and forth, so they are too miserable to plot revenge to their jailers or make other illicit use of their time, then, if desired, death penalty, finally. They should not be allowed a moments peace from the instant they enter jail, and should always wonder what will be done to them next.

Are the dogs going to go up for adoption?

As I read some of the letters here, one recurring theme emerges. We need harsher LAWS! This ghastly business will continue as long as our laws against it are so ineffectual. No-one is afraid any more to break the law, knowing full-well the punishment is so impotent that it's no punishment at all!

im just 12 but i saved 3 strays. fights dogs made me cry cuz the pitbull is my favorite dog and when i get my pit from a shelters he not going to be in a fight with another dog ever.but keep going spca you can do it even if you can't save all fo them but you can try.

what a joke the aspca, and law enforcement is. talk about morons......

Dr. Merck, May God bless you for all of the hard work that you do on be half of animal who ar abused. I will continue to donate to the ASPCA for the very reasons that I am reading here in this newsletter.

I think that things like this are absolutely deplorable.I agree with wayne kahler, leash them and lead them into fights.Actually they should be made to take a long walk off a short pier with cement shoes.

Melinda is such an inspiration, I was privilaged enough to go to her talk in Ireland and shes really opened my eyes

To this day it devastates me whenever I hear about these incidences. I've come to the conclusion that humans are the most cruel race. How can people do this to a poor defenseless animal. Right now I'm petting my Cinnamon, who is part Pitt Bull/Shepherd. When I look at her, she's definitely all Pitt Bull. I hope these people and others like them receive the most severe punishment, because they deserve it for what they do.

What can the average person do to help get rid of this problem? The people doing these horrble things to these beautiful animals is unspeakable. We need stronger legislation to not just prosecute these people but, make it so that no one would even think about dog fighting because of the penalties.

The one thing I couldn't help but notice from the video was how happy these dogs were to see their rescurers. Thank you so much for continuing to track down and prosecute these monsters. Even in the worst of conditions, the true spirit of the American Pit Bull shone through. My only hope is that people will start seeing these magnificent dogs for the loving and magnificent breed they truly are rather than persecuting them because of the illegal actions of their owners.

Very late last night (or very early this AM) while driving on the interstate I saw a disturbing caravan. A sorry collection of trucks and trailers, including a U-haul, were transporting pit bulls. One truck didn't have a tail gate & the caged dogs all stared into the lights. My two dogs, Kaleb and Amani, slept comfortably in the car. It is a strange unjust world. Thank you, Dr. Merck, for doing the work you do. I wish that I could have been the dog fighting police last night and followed them and arrested them all. They were traveling north on I-75. I passed them between Tampa and Ocala. It was hard to tell, but it looked they were going TO a dog fighting location either in North Central Florida or Georgia, but I couldn't get their license plates. It was almost 4AM.

As a pit bull owner this story breaks my heart. If you notice, every one of those dogs allowed the handlers to approach them and care for them without any signs of aggression. These dogs, like all other dogs, just want to be loved and give love. We need STIFFER penalties for the people who abuse these animals!!

Thank you so much for catching these disgusting wrotten pigs, called William Alsabrook and Artis Kyle. I hope they get what they deserve. Personally, I believe an eye for an eye, though I'm not from GA or Around there, I do beleive that they will one day suffer like these beautiful helpless amazing animals have. You two are utterly disgusting, and I hope you rot in Jail, you sick bastards

I just can understand what pleasure people get out of watching animals fight. They obviously DO NOT have God in their hearts. The thought of any animal being forced to fight another to the point of being severely maimed or death makes me want to cry for the pain these animals are feeling. These 2 men along with all abusers of animals should be made to answer for what they have done and are doing. We need much stiffer laws to protect the animals instead of just the slap on the hands for these cruel,heartless abusers. (I fail to call them human beings.) If there were stiffer laws these abusers would think twice before doing it. Statistics linking animal abuse and human violence strongly indicates that someone who commits acts of cruelty against animals can also pose a threat to members of society. If these abusers are so much into the fighting scenerio and causing pain - why don't they just fight each other instead of forcing these helpless animals to get beaten up - and then we'll all stand around, bet money and watch them, then kill the one that doesn't perform well. Let them feel the painful torture - on each other - that they inflicted on these poor animals. I bet the fights wouldn't last long! Let's start with the MAYOR of BESSEMER, ALABAMA (from Joanne's letter). He's a real piece of work - he's either getting some kind of kick-back or he's into that sickening, bloody stuff himself for allowing this to go on. He needs to be removed for his office, and quick - hard telling what he'll force others to overlook next time. Unfortunately, this will never happen, but I know I wouldn't enjoy a minute of it anyway, plus it would make us as low class,uneducated and as worthless as the abusers are.

the sick people who do this kind of stuff to these poor animals should have the thing done to them as they the men who did this horrible things to these poor dogs should have the same done to them.TOO BAD WE CANT!!!!! what should happen is put there butts in jail and throw away the keys this should happen to anyone that miss treats any animal.

I agree with pinkcorgi. They should be prosecuted the same as child abusers. My dogs are my kids. Things have gotten so bad in this world because they let the devil take over their lives. God loving people would not exhibit this kind of behavior!

Please don't kill but rehabilitate these dogs. They deserve it. Otherwise it is not much of a rescue.

I am sickened as always at this disgusting display by spposedly "human beings". They aren't human in any way except biologically or they would never even think of doing anything to harm innocent beings. Those dogs probably have more humanity in them than many people, yet like defensless children they are abused and neglected. We need to get the laws changed that have the same penalty as child abuse. It is the only way to slow this type of criminal down. Stop it altogether? Pray hard everyone. GOD bles the people who help all they can!!

Justice needs to be served and the low-life, disgusting beings that do these horrible crimes need to pay big time. If there is a much more severe punishment more of these creeps would not be so anxious to mistreat these wonderful and precious creatures. These dogs certainly deserve life much more than these horrible slimes from HELL. They need to go back to HELL where they came from.

Come to Bessemer, AL. The dogs being fought are on chains all over the community. The police tell me they know where they are doing it , when they are doing it and who is doing it, but they are not allowed to do anything about it because the Mayor will have them fired, if they do. I found seven dog pitbulls in the driveway of my office out there one Sunday morning, including one poor female that had here whole backend eaten up. It looked like they put her in the fight while she was delivering. These are brutal people that need to be taken out of society.

My heart hurts when I see this. I love my animals. They are a part of me. I took in a lab/pit mix last year due to the fact that I had heard rumors about this dog's previous owner being involved in dog fighting and I love him dearly..he is sweet and loving. My daughter took in two pits whom I consider my granddogs and they are the light of her life. You can see in this video how gentle these poor souls are and all they want is love. Humans can be so cruel and I am totally mystified that anyone can hurt an animal in any way. (children and animals our most defenseless creatures)Thank God for the tireless efforts of organizations such as the ASPCA. Thank God for everyone willing to take that extra step in ending animal cruelty everywhere.

My insides and heart are in such pain to read and hear that ANY dog could be SO abused like this. I have no sympathy and no compassion for ANYONE that would do such a thing to dogs....virtually none. These people shouldn't be allowed to live in society. They are worthless non-humans and don't belong in any human surroundings. How sickening. It makes me cry to look at these innocent babies that were put into such a forceful and ugly surrounding. I can only pray that our God, our Lord and Savior will have some mercy upon them, as I can't imagine even happening. I can't help but think that there are thousands of other low life "un-humans" out there doing this same very ill and demanding acts to normally sweet and helpless dogs. Hmmmmm.....mans best friend and forgiving creatures.....forced to kill. These people should be put to death for what they do and have done. No sympathy.

Please, Please put these sick people in prison for life, it is time to stop this sickness. if they do this they will hurt a child.

Thank you for the work you do. I have a pitt and she is the most loving, caring dog. She shares her home with a boxer, an american bulldog, a doberman and 3 cats. They all live inside with me and I couldn't imagine any of them put through the life these poor dogs have had to live. God gave us these animals to us for us to love and take care of. In return they give us upmost loyalty and unconditional love. Dogs can lead the blind, hear for the deaf, smell cancer out in people, and show their dedication when they are in law enforcement. What other animal would lay their life on the line and die for you without hesitation. ONLY THE DOG! They protect us with everything they have and we should do the same for them.

Dr. Merck - thank you for all you've done to help these animals and many others. Your job must be very tough. I'm glad you are able to stay strong to help them. I hope these guys get the maximum sentence!

I could never do what you do I would love to ba able to but I cry at all the abuse I read about I know we need people like you in the world because as much as i will do anything to protect an animal the abuse makes me cry and so very sad I dont know if I could handle a job like yours Bless you for all you do

Also doctor if God knows every bird and does his to keep up with them why not our best friends?????

These two jerks should go to hell!! Why would any look at the dogs faces and say ok of fight?? What the hell?? You look at their faces and all the want is to be loved and taken care of!! Owners who use their dogs for fighting should serve time and should never be allowed to own a dog ever again. These people are evil. Justice needs to be served!! WE NEED TO COME UP WITH LAWS THAT WILL GET THESE EVIL PEOPLE A REAL SENTENCING!! If there are laws for child, why can't the same laws apply for animals?? The only difference between a child and a animal is the child can talk and say I've been abused. Animals can't do that so they depend on us to speak for them and take care of them. So why can't the same rules apply?? Dogs don't have a voice WE ARE THEIR VOICE just like the ASPCA says.

i have been fighting this m vick for so long i cannot believe he is back on a team!!!!! I f there is anything i can do for you let me know i live in denver but i am willing to be foster mommy!!!!! i also rescue puppy mill babies!!!!

Thank you so much for what you do. My thoughts are that the owners of animals they abuse should endure what they put these innocent creatures through. These people have no soul, heart or empathy for living things.

i have 4 pits and they are all my babies i know what it is like to get an abuse animals because i have done it. i am so glad to be a part of the ASPCA you have done a lot for the abuse they have had to go through thank you so much.

I am a devoted lover of Pitbulls and would love to another one but am not allowed to by my landlady. Where I live the Human Society automatically puts Pitbulls down regardless of age. It tears my heart out to see these type of videos. I wish that the bail and fine money would be used to establish more retreats for Pits that have been trained to fight. I literally pray to get the money somewhere to do exactky that. We need to support the ACPCA and organizations like Bad Rap that recused Michael Vicks dogs and proved the they can be retrained. They are amazing dogs and anyone that does this to them or any animal for that matter should never see the light of day again.

These horrible owners are inflicted with evil. They are/should I hope get the maximum sentence! For which they deserve!

I am continually shocked and heart broken at the fact that people can even think about commiting such cruelties against one of the most loyal breeds in existance, let alone following through. I feel the only way to rehabilitate people who abuse, neglect and torture animals is to have them volunteer at an abused animal facility and see let them see and feel what this does to the victims of animal abuse. AFTER THEY SRE RELEASED FROM PRISON. That's what Michael Vick should be doing now. This will hopefully change the way the abusers feel about and view the training of dogs/pitties to fight, and other animal abuse and torture.......and murder.

Could some of these poor dogs be taken in by Dogtown in Utah? What a wonderful thing the ASPCA does for these animals. I live in Canada but I sure would love to be able to work for the ASPCA as an animal cop in New York/New Jersey. Houston would be nice. Or I would really love to be able to go to Dogtown. I would end up bringing all the dogs home with me!!!

This video broke my heart. Those people are the animals, not the dogs. I honestly feel that I could actually chain those ignorent people to a stake, beat and starve them just as they did those poor helpless dogs. Keep up the great work you are doing.

It is definitely devastating to hear stories like this, and I'm sure it is even harder to witness. It is very unfortunate for pit bulls that there aren't tougher laws and harshers punishments in place. In most animal abuse cases that I read about, the person is fined up to $2,000 or faces a year in jail which is not even close to being comparable to the crime comitted. It's sickening that people can do this to defenselss animals. Absolutly sickening. Even worse, Michael Vick served only like nine months and a couple teams would like to see him still come back! What?! And he claims that he is "going to help animals" now, which is rediculous to even believe that a person could ever have a change of heart after doing something so heinous. That's like a pedophile saying he will "help abused children". BS. Anyways, I love the ASPCA and I love the work they do. The ASPCA has inspired me to study Criminal Justice and hopefully I will help make a difference for animals too somehow. :)

have you heard about bear. and rottie? Anyway the one thing fighting for on earth is LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

i feel just as outraged as everyone else,about these types of cases,people we all need to DONATE,DONATE,DONATE,time,,food,efforts,any and everything we can to the ASPCA and other organizations(locally and nationally if possible. THANK YOU ASPCA FOR ALL YOUR WORK.YOU ARE TRUE ANGELS!!!

When I read these stories I almost get phyically sick. Why and how could anyone commit these horrible acts on innocent dogs? We need stiffer laws on animal cruelty. Enough is enough. How many other dogs are going to be subject to a horrible death sentence before these murderers are stopped? What a sad shame! Dr. Merck, thanks so much for all of your hard work and dedication! I can only say that hopefully one day this will all end.

I am a gentle person until it comes to animal abuse! The whole problem is that the criminals who do this do not get severe punishment for their crimes. I believe in an eye for an eye. Treat them in exacley the same way and see how they would like it!! Shame we can't do that,but we can throw them in prision for a long, long time. Forbidding them from owning any more animals mean nothing!! It is easy for them to find more animals to torture. If only I could get my hands on these people myself. I would have No pity whats-so-ever. When I hear about these terrible sad stories my heart just breaks and I can't stop thinking about the helpless darlings. I hope they rot in hell for the suffering that they cause to helpless animals! We need more of you to report anything suspicious as far as animals in trouble go. Please help in this way!

I myself don't understand how people can do this to a dog / dogs. They give unconditional love and they just want to be a part of your family. All the dogs that I have were in some way abused but I worked with them and brought them back to trusting people and they knew they wouldn't be hurt in any way anymore. The punishment is not harsh enough for these people who fight dogs. Like some say an eye for an eye and these people should be treated the same way they treated the dog. I recently read someone put a dog on fire it was a pit and bystanders just watched until a policewomen saw this and put the dog out. I'm not sure the dog lived but she said the smell and screams from this dog is something she'll never forget. They feel pain as humans do. They are a living creature. I have no sympathy for these kind of people who inflict any kind of pain on a dog and I hope the laws get tougher on people like this.

Thank you for your kindness and compassion Dr. Merck ! You do not have an easy job by any means and your work does provide "justice" of sorts to these innocent animals. Frontier justice is what these people deserve but at least you are out there helping !

I hope some of the rescues around the country will be able to give these dogs another chance for a good life that they have earned. Unfortunately I know that Best Friends has a great number of Pit Bulls now, and not all of them are Vick dogs. I do know that these dogs can be rehabilitated.

thank you for all you are doing I believe with someone like you in our world animals will stand a better chance at life. Sick people that hurt animals will someday pay the price the real price thank you agin for what you do

There's something wrong with a society that continually allows things like this to happen. As long as the criminals get off with a slap on the wrist, it will continue. The punishment does not fit the crime. Torturing them and then burning them at the stake would not be harsh enough in my mind.

Very nice work! My compliments from Portugal. I hope we get to see work like that here soon.

Dr. Merck thank you for all the great work you do you are a saint, I wish there were more people like you. These brutal people who abuse these poor animals should all be put on a chain and tortured.

These people that continuously get away with abusing these helpless animals should be castrated and hung out to dry. The laws don't seem stiff enough to deter their horrendous behaviour to these poor dogs and just a small monetary slap on the wrist is a big joke. They need to have done to them at LEAST what they inflict to those sweet babies.

TO JOANNE IN BESSEMER, AL. - PLEASE contact PETA, or your local State Representative or your Congressman about those who are dog fighting. DON'T LET YOUR MAYOR BULLY YOUR POLICE DEPARTMENT!! Contact the NEWS MEDIA, and local radio stations. If you see a dog mauled like the one you described, TAKE PHOTOS and send them to every media outlet you can think of including national news networks like Fox News. And get the dog to a vet so they can document the abuse!!!Those dogs need you to DO SOMETHING!! Be anonymous if you need to, but TAKE ACTION to save those dogs and whatever other animals they are using to train them!!!! Good LUCK!! People who care about animals from all over the country will back you up!

This is absolutely horrible to do such a thing to defenseless animals. They have a heart and feelings too!

I am an LPN with lis. for the state of AL. If you ever have a need for help from a nurse please contact me. I have 6 airedales that are part of our family and can't stand the idea of someone being crule to such a great animal that loves unconditionally

I am so depressed when I hear these stories and I find it so hard to believe these twisted people exist! I wish I had half the courage and knowledge Dr. Merck does. Thank you for protecting these animals and being their voice!

Is there anything we can do to make the change the laws?

I just saw this video. This breaks my heart. I have two German Shepherds that are loved dearly and could never imagine treating them or any other animal like this. People need to be held accountable for this. Thanks to all the people who are catching these people and prosecuting them.

I was outraged by the story about the dog fighting ring.They get off too easy!When its all said and done,these people probably start over and the cycle goes on.I have no remorse for those morons involved in this.Punishment can't be hard enough. God bless the people who become involved to save these animals

can we put a leash on the owners and lead them into fights?