[ZULU]

Its hard to deny that criminal elements are NOT involved in stealing dogs, using aggresive animals like Pit Bulls to protect their stash and operations.

This has all been documented in other sources - the open window you are seeking.

PETA and the Humane Society are not the same as the A.S.P.C.A. or the local groups. You are right on that point.

But in my state I have spoken to my vet and was told that most of the dogs they receive lately as abandoned are abused pit bulls - bred, raised, trained and mistreated by subhumans with the I.Q.s of rodents.

The woman who was killed some time ago in California by a Cano Brasiliero was the victim of a pair of low lives who bred and trained fighting dogs.

These people are as much a menace to the human public as to the animals they abuse.

[Slings and Arrows]

I do not doubt that anything you say is true, particularly that dogfighters exist and are a menace. The sole point of my skepticism was the numbers coming from HSUS - an unverifiable statistic from an unreliable source. The actual numbers could be less, or could be greater - I'm simply not going to take HSUS's word on it. I'd love to see hard stats from a reliable source.