You might’ve seen this photo circulating again, sometimes with Vick memes. Please remember that the dog in this photo is PIGGY, a dog who was rescued from a dogfighting raid in NYC to be abused again by her “rescuer”.

Piggy and other dogs were kept in this “rescue” founder’s basement, where many dogs had experienced lack of veterinary care resulting in death, lack of food and water, and in misery, being left in their own urine and feces in crates.

Thankfully she was taken away when he was raided in March 2013 although to our disappointment, her abuser got away with barely a slap on the wrist.

Photos of her from her time with that “rescue” was of a crazed, disproportionately overweight dog (taken in 2012).

In October 2013, Piggy went on to stay at Canine Academy, Inc. where she is finally happy and healthy, physically and psychologically. Here’s her latest album.

And she’s doing great with her commands! [VIDEO]. She is welcome to stay there forever, running or walking every day, getting constant hugs and special treats. Life is good finally for Piggy.

“She will be helping out at our obedience classes demonstrating all the commands she knows, and helping to educate the public and change the perception of Pit Bulls. Piggy’s motto is:
Calm Down
Look Up
Move Forward
Don’t Look Back“

So the next time you see this photo, please do us a favor — tell Piggy’s true story, because she went through too much to just be a cute photo someone posted to get “likes”.

Michael Vick admitted that if he had not been caught by the police, he would still be dogfighting to this day.

And to those who kept saying “he’s reformed; he went to prison for the crime so we should let it go”… let us clarify: He pled “not guilty” to animal cruelty charges — which were eventually dropped in a plea bargain — and he was convicted only of bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. And no, he’s shown no sign of regret over the fate of his dogs. (SFGate’s “Michael Vick’s unpaid dues: Why dog advocates aren’t moving on” from 2009 when he signed with Philadelphia Eagles)

From Donna Reynolds of BAD RAP: “It worked out nicely for Vick that he never faced his animal abuse charges in court. That meant football fans were spared the most disturbing details of his tortures and could go back to their Sunday night ritual with barely a hiccup.”

And 7 years later, he is a NY Jets with $5 Million contract regardless of his performance. Read this Chicago Now article by Raining Cats & Dogs of why we shouldn’t let it go.

While you’re at it, we invite you to read the Animal Legal Defense Fund‘s “Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick”  and see what this monster and his cohorts did. We don’t have to break your heart with The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption.

And read about his victims’ struggles and triumphs ~ Lucas, Georgia, Ellen, Handsome Dan, Hector the Pit Bull, Ginger Girl, Little Red, Cherry Garcia…, and those who didn’t make it out alive:

• New York Times’ “Given Reprieve, N.F.L. Star’s Dogs Find Kindness” (from 2008) with the AUDIO SLIDESHOW
• Sports Illustrated’s “What happened to Michael Vick’s dogs…” (please note one of the reasons we do NOT support PETA)

Move on? Umm, no. We won’t let this go.

Download the high-resolution poster

“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.”

—Anthropologist Margaret Mead

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From the bleached pups (by an 8-year-old) to St. Louis’ “Honor” (by teens) to “Miracle” thrown off the bridge (by teens), we need to ensure the abusers don’t get away with a slap on the wrist. Hurting an animal is not funny whether it’s done by a 10 year old or a 30 year old.

Children abusing animals should never be considered “a phase.” Animal abusers will escalate; those who abuse animals rarely stop there. It is an aggressive and antisocial behavior, and a reliable predictor of violence against people after a young abuser grows up.

Here are a few articles we’ve compiled from various sources:

• “The Animal Abuse-Human Violence Connection” — a well-outlined writeup by PAWS
• “Animal Cruelty and Human Violence – A documented connection” — by HSUS
• “The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome” — a 2010 New York Times piece by Charles Siebert which takes a deeper dive into these connection:

The connection between animal abuse and other criminal behaviors was recognized, of course, long before the evolution of the social sciences and institutions with which we now address such behaviors. In his famous series of 1751 engravings, “The Four Stages of Cruelty,” William Hogarth traced the life path of the fictional Tom Nero: Stage 1 depicts Tom as a boy, torturing a dog; Stage 4 shows Tom’s body, fresh from the gallows where he was hanged for murder, being dissected in an anatomical theater. And animal cruelty has long been recognized as a signature pathology of the most serious violent offenders. As a boy, Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of cats and dogs on sticks; Theodore Bundy, implicated in the murders of some three dozen people, told of watching his grandfather torture animals; David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam,” poisoned his mother’s parakeet.

A study by Cynthia Hodges, an attorney with animal law practice, shows link between animal abuse and violence towards people as supported by studies:

• 100% of sexual homicide offenders examined had a history of cruelty towards animals.
• 70% of all animal abusers have committed at least one other criminal offense and almost 40% have committed violent crimes against people.
• 63.3% of men who had committed crimes of aggression admitted to cruelty to animals.
• 48% of rapists and 30% of child molesters reported committing animal abuse during childhood or adolescence.
• 36% of assaultive women reported cruelty to animals while 0% of non-assaultive women did.
• 25% of violent, incarcerated men reported higher rates of “substantial cruelty to animals” in childhood than a comparison group of non-incarcerated men (0%).
• Men who abused animals were five times more likely to have been arrested for violence towards humans, four times more likely to have committed property crimes, and three times more likely to have records for drug and disorderly conduct offenses.

Read Hodges’ Full Study

Download HSUS First Strike: The Violence Connection (PDF)

We need to combat violence toward animals and people. There is no excuse to be cruel. We need to ensure that the punishment fits the crime, regardless of the perpetrator’s age. This is not something that you brush off or let slide.

You can choose to be decent, compassionate human beings, or pay the consequences.

To the punks who abuse animals: Let’s see how tough you are when you’re in prison with bigger, badder punks than you.

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To anonymously report suspected dogfighting, call 1-877-TIP-HSUS and 911.

Each of us can take steps against cruelty. Together, we can make a difference.
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To download the high-resolution poster:

Photo © Jeff Roberson-AP | Pit bull puppies are housed at an emergency shelter that has hundreds of dogs seized as part of the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history in St. Louis.*

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We LOVE cute puppy photos. Puppies are cute, fuzzy, cuddly…all that good stuff. But please don’t confuse that with posting puppies from YOUR LITTER. That is NOT CUTE!

I’m Not a Monster is against breeding, especially of pit bulls when most of them are killed everyday in the shelters across the country. In shelters across the nation, the pit bull population of anywhere from 40% to 60% or more of the total shelter population (national average is 33%) and many shelters needing more space will opt to kill pit bulls before any other type of dog.

The pit bull kill rate in shelters is at approximately 93% on average. That means for every 100 pit bulls surrendered to the shelter, only 7 will survive.

We cannot and will not endorse breeding/breeders on any level — professional, backyard, “accidental” — until shelters stop being filled up with unwanted animals, particularly with our “Monsters”. We’ve had a couple of people this week who posted photos of their pups to get either the cover photo or the “Love is Everything” photo done, and we found that they are breeders — professional, backyard, “accidental”, what have you. Yes, we do look through your profile if we caught something that triggers our red flags. It is something that we learned to do so we don’t unknowingly contribute to the selfish act of breeders.

We’ve seen a gorgeous photo of a pitbull momma and her puppy being made into poster about loving dogs shared thousands of times; we never shared those because we know the owner of those dogs is a breeder (it takes a quick look around his profile to see mating photos as well as whelping puppies). We’ve encountered pages with large following that support breeding, and usually it’s because “we love the breed.”

And that is mostly a lie. Because if you love the breed so much, you should go to the shelters and adopt from the many puppies or pregnant momma dogs that are dumped everyday. There is no need to add to the overpopulation when they are being killed every single day.

Breeders love money more than they love the dogs.

We invite you to read the overpopulation issue the nation faces as well as this article from Australia about the breeding industry.

We choose to support rescue and shelter adoptions. We love these “Monsters” and we will stay true to our mission and do right by them. Next time you want a puppy, go the the shelters or rescues near you. The puppies there are cute, fuzzy and cuddly too.

p.s. Our mission is to change public perception, fight breed discrimination and educate the public about the plight of bully breeds and shelter animals. One of the core components to successfully achieve our mission is to fight overpopulation in shelters by promoting spaying & neutering.

If you need help finding a low-cost or free spay & neuter programs in your area, please let us know.

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*The St. Louis dogfighting undercover raid story **WARNING: This is one of the hardest piece we’ve read.**