A local man serving five years' probation for fighting dogs apparently didn't learn his lesson.
Last week Jaquavian Jaqwon Jones, 20, had his probation revoked and was sent to state prison to serve three concurrent five-year terms after another dogfighting arrest.
Maybe this time it will sink in.
It's probably hard for most readers to imagine that the cruel and inhumane practice of dogfighting still exists. But it does. Some individuals-it's hard to even call them human beings-get a thrill out of watching pit bulls tear each other apart. And for some it's a moneymaker.
Big money. It costs a lot to breed and train their animals. And both dog owners and spectators bet big bucks on the outcomes of matches.
Dogfighting and its cousin, cockfighting, have been around a long time. The "sport" of fighting roosters was still legal just a few years ago. Oklahoma voters made it illegal in 2002. Louisiana didn't get rid of legal cockfighting until 2008.
But dogfighting fell out of favor much earlier. Most states passed laws against it more than 100 years ago. And if you cross state lines to fight dogs or view the bloody spectacle, then you've committed a federal crime.
We wish we could say those laws put an end to dogfighting. But they just drove it underground. We have seen several cases in our area over the past few years. In the Jones case, animal control officers received a tip from the public. We salute the tipster for taking a stand and doing the right thing. We encourage any citizen who sees something that leads them to think dogfighting might be going on to do their part and call the proper authorities.