NEW ORLEANS - Seven children, ages 13 and 14, were arrested Thursday for dog fighting and aggravated cruelty. Neighbors said the teenagers had been skipping school since Mardi Gras, and at about 8:30 a.m. each morning, would head to a house in the 1600 block of Murl Street in Algiers. The teens would spend their days trying to teach dogs to fight. One tactic was to place two dogs in a cage and throw hot water on them to encourage a fight. They would also beat the dogs in hopes of making them mean, according to the SPCA.
One neighbor saw a shepherd-type dog hanged from an iron bar in the back yard. When she came down to take a photo, the dog had been thrown onto a roof. The dog's body could not be found.
The SPCA impounded three young female dogs: two pit bulls with small, fresh scars and one shepherd mix with an old injury to her neck. The injury appears to be from an ingrown collar.
One neighbor spoke to one child's father about the problem, but the father had no interest in discussing the matter.
"It's just like, he don't hear," said Patricia Douglas. "It goes in one ear and out the other. Even another neighbor, she tried talking to the parents, and nothing was done about it."
"It's terrifying that our children can be that cruel to another living being," said SPCA Director Laura Maloney. "It's even worse that parents don't seem to be involved in the lives their children are leading. These children will, no doubt, be abusive to humans as they age."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7089284/
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