To do so, they would need citizen complaints telling them when and where the crime occurs, they say. Dog fighting isn t limited to Russia. The Cincinnati Post reported last December that dog fighting was growing in popularity among gang members, who contest the animals more openly than other, more secretive sponsors. In Russia, the sport began growing in popularity about 1988, when people began importing Western breeds such as pit bulls, one owner says. Oleg Yanchev, president of the Regional Club for Trained Dogs, saw a dog fight in 1992, and he found it barbaric.
Owners sometimes fight sheep dogs and other breeds unequiped for the ring.
And training any dog to fight is irrational, he says. I think it is a sacrilege, and it s wild, and it s not acceptable in modern society, Yanchev says. Owners of fighting dogs bristle at suggestions that their sport is cruel. The dogs, they insist, are simply acting according to their aggressive natures. A veterinarian is standing by at most fights, they say.