Hog-Dog Rodeo

So-called "hog-dog rodeos" are events at which frenzied dogs, usually pit bulls, are turned loose, one or two at a time, in pens to attack wild pigs as onlookers cheer and judges rate dogs by how quickly they take down their prey. To prevent injury to the dogs, the hogs' tusks are often first snapped off with a steel pipe and hammer or with bolt-cutters, rendering these animals completely defenseless. Hogs often sustain serious injuries during these events, including but not limited to ripped ears and haunches, mangled noses, ruptured scrotums, and other gaping wounds. Sometimes their ears are torn right off. Considered by some to be "good, wholesome fun," children are also often allowed to gang up on the frightened pigs and chase them around the arena.

State Laws Prohibit Hog-Dog Rodeos

Hog-dog rodeos are common in parts of the South and Midwest They are generally held in rural locations and often local authorities are alarmingly permissive of these sadistic events. Increased national scrutiny by animal protection organizations has resulted in event planners exercising greater caution at the gates. For this reason, paying attendees are prohibited from bringing cameras or video equipment. .., including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas, despite the fact that they are, according to state laws, illegal-event organizers generally prohibit cameras for that very reason. -->Five states have recently enacted legislation that explicitly bans these sadistic spectacles: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. Read the laws in ..Alabama, -->Georgia, ..Louisiana, -->Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida (2003->Ch0828->Section 12" target=_blank>cruelty law and 2003->Ch0828->Section 122" target=_blank>animal-fighting law).., and Mississippi (cruelty law and animal-fighting law)-->. Attorneys general in Florida, Mississippi, and Texas have reiterated that these events are in clear violation of state law:
"[I]t appears that these activities would constitute the torture or tormenting of, or cruelty to, animals as proscribed in … Florida Statutes.
-Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth i
"It appears that if the animals are fought, killed, maimed, wounded, injured, tormented or tortured, then the practice would be illegal."
-Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood ii
"'[S]taging' fights between dogs and hogs would constitute an offense under Penal Code section 42.09."
-Texas Assistant Attorney General Rick Gilpin iii

So How Can Hog-Dog Rodeos Take Place?

Despite their illegality, laws are too often loosely interpreted by local authorities and rarely enforced. In Clarke County, Alabama, for example, it was not until a local news team conducted an undercover investigation and obtained video documentation of a local hog-dog rodeo that authorities were finally compelled to arrest the organizer on cruelty-to-animals charges and shut down the event.

Hogs and Dogs Need Your Help!

If you have information about hog-dog rodeos taking place in your community, please e-mail PETA at ReportHogDog@peta.org. Tips will be kept confidential upon request. Write in support of Bill 1244, which, if passed, would officially and explicitly ban hog-dog rodeos in Louisiana. Sign up for PETA Action Alerts E-News to get urgent notices calling for action each week delivered straight to your inbox. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to increase awareness about this cruel "bloodsport." Please stress the importance of authorities' treating hog-dog rodeos as criminal matters-not only do the pigs suffer tremendously, there is also a strong, dangerous association between "bloodsports" and violent crimes. Learn more about the link between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence. Learn more about dog fighting.