How has the ASPCA combated dogfighting through the years?
Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA, was particularly repulsed by the brutality of the dogfighting he saw in New York and elsewhere. His 1867 revision of the state’s animal cruelty law made all forms of animal fighting illegal for the first time, including bull, bear, dog, and cockfighting. The involvement of regular police in dogfighting activities was one of the reasons Bergh sought and received authority for the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents to have arrest powers in New York.
