14 Oct 2026
Blood Sports: The Dark History of Dog Fighting
Welcome back to The Breed Files! This Halloween, we’re confronting one of the darkest forms of animal cruelty: dog fighting. In this episode, we explore the history of dog fighting, how this blood sport evolved, and what it looks like today. We’ll examine the realities faced by dogs who are bred, trained, and forced to fight for human entertainment and profit.
Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of animal cruelty, dog fighting, and potentially graphic subject matter. If you would prefer to skip anything graphic or related to animal cruelty, please skip ahead to 37:37. At that point, we shift our focus to the most important part of the conversation: what we can do as individuals and as a community to help end dog fighting. We’ll discuss ways to recognize suspected cruelty, support animal welfare organizations, and help create a culture where this kind of abuse has no place. It’s a difficult subject, but understanding the problem is one of the first steps toward helping stop it.
Sources:
American Kennel Club. “American Staffordshire Terrier History: AmStaff.” *American Kennel Club*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/american-staffordshire-terrier-history-amstaff/]
ASPCA. “A Closer Look at Dogfighting.” *ASPCA*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.aspca.org/investigations-rescue/dogfighting/closer-look-dogfighting]
HowStuffWorks. “Dogfighting.” *HowStuffWorks*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://people.howstuffworks.com/dogfighting4.htm]
Humane World for Animals. “Dogfighting.” *Humane World for Animals*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.humaneworld.org/en/issue/dogfighting]
Kennedy, John, and Cory Booker. “Kennedy, Booker Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Combat Animal Fighting and Trafficking.” *U.S. Senator John Kennedy*, April 2025. [https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/2025/4/kennedy-booker-reintroduce-bipartisan-bill-to-combat-animal-fighting-and-trafficking]
“History of Dog Fighting in the World.” *ResearchGate*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276299811_History_of_Dog_Fighting_In_The_World]
Love-A-Bull. “The History of Pit Bulls.” *Love-A-Bull*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://love-a-bull.org/resources/the-history-of-pit-bulls/]
New Bern Sun Journal. “Dog Fighting: An Informant’s Story.” *New Bern Sun Journal*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.newbernsj.com/features/dog-fighting-an-informants-story/article_c795698f-4268-52cc-b637-a8d3fb15b1b6.html]
New York Post. “Dogfight Capital of the World.” *New York Post*, October 14, 2007. [https://nypost.com/2007/10/14/dogfight-capital-of-the-world/]
NPR. “A History of Dogfighting.” *NPR*, July 19, 2007. [https://www.npr.org/2007/07/19/12108421/a-history-of-dogfighting]
Philadelphia Encyclopedia. “Dogfighting.” *The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/dogfighting/]
“Dogfighting.” *Medium*, “Lessons from History.” Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/a-brief-history-of-dogfighting-56a1c0af0da5]
Wounded Paw Project. “Signs of Dogfighting.” *Wounded Paw Project*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://woundedpawproject.org/dogfighting/signs-of-dogfighting/]
YouTube. “SbQlaQ6V3i4.” *YouTube*. Accessed August 1, 2026. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbQlaQ6V3i4]
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Music: Dark Awakening, malictusmusic, Free Music Archive CC BY
