Why Prohibition of Dogfighting Necessary

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Dogfighting
Despite animal cruelty and abuse and being prohibited, dogfighting is still an ongoing issue that is mostly underground. It still poses challenges to preventing animal abuse. Sometimes, there is the selective breeding of dogs for fighting, and many people bet on the dogfighting “tournaments.” While some may argue that dog fights are harmless entertainment, the practice is a form of animal abuse that leaves some animals severely injured. Furthermore, dog owners are not always keen to maintain animal welfare during breeding, fighting, and after fights. There are places where cockfights and dog fights have been practiced over time, but now, there is recognition that there is a need to protect animals. Dogfighting is an example of speciesism where there is discrimination against nonhuman animals, and animals are considered less important than humans. Dogfighting is illegal and a form of animal cruelty and abuse that often leaves dogs hurt and at times dead and there is a need to prevent dog fighting activities to improve their welfare.
Speciesism
Singer (35) proposed the idea of speciesism, where there is a bias towards one’s species and interests and is most apparent when people provide more consideration to follow humans and not the nonhuman animals. In his defense against animal discrimination, Singer argued that animals should get similar rights to human beings and be treated equally. If there was no prejudice or bias against dogs, then it is unlikely that people would continue promoting and supporting the practice of dogfighting. Speciesism is opposed to the discrimination of nonhuman animals and unfavorable differential treatment.
Human beings have superior cognition than nonhuman animals, but this does not mean that the interests of human beings should be prioritized over that of animals. In a just society, there is an emphasis on equality and not exploiting the vulnerable. Yet, there are dogfighting activities that reflect how people normalize exploitation if they benefit. Speciesism is one of the reasons as to why people may be indifferent to the conditions of dogs in dogfighting activities. Besides animal abuse, being an indicator of violent tendencies, people are unwilling when there is a normalization of animal abuse, so dogfighting activities are likely tolerated. Furthermore, animal abuse reflects a lack of empathy, altruism, and the failure to recognize the need to protect animals against abuse.
Animal abuse dehumanizes human beings and makes nonhuman animals invisible, partlye because humans favor themselves over the non human animals. Yet, animals are worthy of being treated right and need protection from exploitation and abuse. Laws against animal abuse promote animal welfare but only focus on punishing what is considered abusive treatment without addressing the root causes of the practice of animal fighting. For example, dogs show emotions depending on how they are treated, such that if treated aggressively and violently, they tend to show fear in the presence of the perpetrator. The dogs should be treated with respect and care, but the dogfighting practice ignores the need for protecting animal welfare for the selfish gains of human bei...