Nashville may be the seat of Southern hospitality, but for many dogs who fall victim to the city’s persistent underground dogfighting channels, the kindness of strangers is out of reach.
But for one lucky pooch—a female pit bull “bait dog,” used to draw other dogs into the fights—the kindness of thousands of Internet strangers may ultimately save her life.
Mama Jade, nameless until she staggered onto a nearby porch Friday night, was battered, bruised, defenseless, and suffering from breast cancer when her rescuer found her. But fortunately for the weakened pit bull, she wandered into the life of a particularly angelic savior.
Not only does her rescuer work at an animal hospital, but she knows how to use Craigslist.
After bringing Mama Jade to the vet and discovering how extensive her injuries were, the rescuer took to Craigslist to attack Mama Jade’s abusers. The post was titled “Your pitbull found me and I won’t give her back,” and featured harrowing images of Mama Jade and her injuries:
Last Friday night, your dog [wandered] up onto our porch. Signs of the abuse she had somehow escaped, riddled her body. The fresh bite marks on her muzzle, the scars that covered her body, the exposed pink and purple flesh around her neck, where she was obviously tied up with ropes that cut their way into her skin, over and over again…..
Upon examining her teeth to gauge her approximate age, I burst into tears. I found that you had pulled the majority of them out and the ones you left, had been filed down. And you did this without anaesthesia, this I am sure of. You did this so she couldn’t fight back. You did this so she couldn’t injure any dogs you had trained to fight, when you threw her in there with them. With each bite of her they took and each yelp she cried, they’d look at you for reassurance. Because all they wanted to do was please you. Loyalty is in their blood. Violence is not.
After realizing that on top of her other injuries, their new pit bull had breast cancer, the staff at the Nashville animal hospital resolved to put Mama Jade to sleep. And her rescuer resolved to fight back:
Tomorrow, Mama will finally feel peace. And when she closes her eyes and takes her last breath, I’ll be there. I’ll hold her big ol head and I’ll tell her how much I love her.
And when her soul has left her battered body and I’ve dried the tears enough to see, I will document every bruise, every bite, every cut, scrape and gash. I’ll photograph her teeth, or rather, where her teeth used to be. I’ll turn in all the evidence and post it where EVERYONE will see it. I’ll use it to educate kids in heavily crime ridden areas, on the horrors of dog fighting.
But she hadn’t counted on the power of the Internet. After her post went up yesterday, thousands of emails from across the country poured in, with many people begging to be allowed to help pay for medical treatment to save Mama Jade’s life.
Overwhelmed, the rescuer updated the Craigslist post and stated that due to the overwhelming numbers of support, plans to euthanize Mama Jade had been put on hold. By popular demand, Mara Jade got a new Facebook page for updates, where thousands of comments poured in with offers to help. By Thursday afternoon, the page had over 40,000 likes. Her grateful benefactor wrote:
Again, words will never be able to express how thankful both I and Mama Jade are. The world has fallen in love with a dog that’s only known love for 6 days.
Although dog fighting has received its share of publicity in recent years, it continues to be a major problem throughout the world. In August, the bust of a major Southern dogfighting ring led to the rescue of nearly 400 captive dogs. A 2007 CNN report estimated that over 100,000 participants and 40,000 professionals were active in the sport in the U.S.
The Humane Society provides tips on how to recognize dogfighting in your area, and offers a reward of up to $5,000 for tips leading to arrests. If you suspect an occurrence of dogfighting, call 1-877-TIP-HSUS.
Do it for Mama Jade, and all the dogs who aren’t lucky enough to grab the attention of the Internet.
Photo via MamaJadeNashville/Facebook