Hello Celebritys

Pit bull message boards lit up with news of Floyd Boudreaux's acquittal from state dog fighting charges this week when prosecutors failed to present enough evidence to convict. *News* Floyd admitted to pitting his dogs back when dog fighting was still legal in Louisiana, but maintained a reputation as a breeder until 2005, when state troopers, aided by the HSUS, stormed onto his property and seized his dogs. We'll let Floyd's Maker sort out his life choices, but we can't let this go without highlighting the archaic Louisiana State Animal Law that gave investigators the green light to destroy some 57 dogs within 3 days of Boudreaux's arrest ---and all for naught.

(2) The legislature finds and declares that fighting dogs used or employed in violation of R.S. 14:102.5 are dangerous, vicious, and a threat to the health and safety of the public. Therefore, fighting dogs seized in accordance with this Section are declared to be contraband and, notwithstanding R.S. 14:102.1, officer may cause them to be humanely euthanized as soon as possible by a licensed veterinarian or a qualified technician and shall not be civilly or criminally liable for so doing. Fighting dogs not destroyed immediately shall be disposed of in accordance with R.S. 14:102.2. - LA State Animal Law

When we first learned of Floyd's arrest, we got on the phone to plead for the lives of his dogs, but they were already dead. The news was personally devastating to many of us - Not only were the dogs lost, they were branded as killers, and without any evidence or trial. That case subsequently lead to our fire to help the Vick dogs, before they fell to the same ugly fate.

LA-SPCA's then-director Laura Maloney received death threats for her shelter's role in destroying the dogs. But Laura was fed the same line that the rest of the country had heard: Bad dogs, too dog aggressive to save. If only we'd heard a different tune in place of the chest pounding braggery that surfaced.

The. Dogs. Deserve. Better. And yes, three years in a shelter would've been a cruelty of its own kind - Which is exactly why authorities need to consider the victims' fate, and take their potential suffering into account when weighing out the consequences of any raid. As we've said in the past: It's about the DOGS, people. Not the coup or the glory of the bust.

So, many breed fanciers are celebrating the Boudreaux acquittal tonight as a major victory for pit bull owners, especially during a time when owning a treadmill or breakstick can cause homes to lose their pets. That's got to be difficult for investigators to hear (and no doubt someone will follow here shortly to accuse me of supporting dog fighters). But victory or not, Louisiana's pit bulls are still the losers....

As long as LA is willing to keep an inhumane law on the books that excludes due process and condemns pit bulls to death based on an outdated, unproven premise, the authorities will continue to be in the wrong in these situations, and even the most responsibly owned pets will be in certain danger.

Photo Above: Bust survivor Hector has lessons for us all. Shown here with his adopter, Roo Yori.