Cats used as live bait to train ferocious pitbulls in illegal NYC dogfighting ring, group claims
Sick goons in the Bronx are grabbing stray cats and using them as live bait to train ferocious pit bulls for an illegal underground dogfighting ring, a Big Apple animal rescue group tells The Post.
Disturbing video footage shows the helpless felines being mauled by blood-thirsty hounds — part of a stomach-turning training regimen for the vicious dog fights, according to Little Wanderers NYC.
“It has gone on for years and years in the Gun Hill and Parkland [housing] projects, and that’s the reality,” said group co-founder Courtney Chandel. “My question is, where’s the NYPD? Where’s the [New York City Housing Authority]? Where’s the ASPCA? NYCHA needs to start taking action.
“People have called 311 in the past about this issue and nothing happened,” Chandel said. “It would start to get addressed and then, it’d just get dropped.
“It’s public knowledge. It’s no big secret and it’s happening all over.”
A video posted online by Little Wanderers shows a light brown pit bull terrier ripping into a black-and-white cat, with the overmatched kitten trying desperately to fend off the dog’s attack.
Another clip shows a hooded crook snatching a cat from the front door of an apartment, grabbing the feline and shoving it into a bag before simply walking away down the hallway.
Illegal dog fighting has existed underground for decades in the Big Apple, with the four-legged combatants trained to be thirsty for blood before they’re forced to clash with other dogs in sick gambling contests.
Chandel said it has thrived at the two Bronx housing projects.
“The Bronx is an underserved community,” she said. “There’s not animal shelter and little old ladies with shopping carts full of cat food walking around the neighborhood, spending their SSI checks on cat food.
“People don’t have access to low-cost spay and neuter programs in the Bronx,” Chandel said. “We’re the richest city in the country and we put all these statues up and make sure we have flowers out in the parks.
“Everything’s done for humans.
“But there are millions of people in the city who care about animals and see animals suffering, seeing the cats out there every day,” she added. “It’s a quality of life issue. Animals and kids should be first.”
The Post has reached out to the NYPD but didn’t immediately receive a response.
