Do the right thing and help police arrest those responsible for dog-fighting

THANK you for your latest exposé of the scourge of dog-fighting that continues unabated in our midst (Cape Times March 5).

The great majority of Capetonians seek to live their lives as guided by particular religions or some other form of spirituality. All the world’s major religions abhor cruelty, whether perpetrated against other people or animals.

As Karen Armstrong, initiator of the Charter for Compassion, has pointed out, all religions articulate some version of the “Golden Rule”: “Don’t do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” (See her TED Talk, Let’s Revive the Golden Rule.) As we are all part of the one web of life, “others” very much includes our fellow, non-human living beings.

Those responsible for organising and participating in dog-fighting are members of our communities. Some of us must know who they are. Most of the venues where these horrors take place are within our communities. Some of us must know where they are. Yes, these criminals are well organised and intimidating, but let us remember the words commonly attributed to Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing.”

Please, in the name of all that is good and holy, if you know anything that could assist the police in apprehending those responsible for dog-fighting and removing this terrible blot on humankind’s conscience, do the right thing and report it without further delay to the SAPS: 021 467 8410 or 08600 10111, or the SPCA: 021 700 4140 (office) or 083 326 1604 (after hours). Do this for compassion’s sake.

For further information, see www.nspca.co.za/page/combatdog-fighting