I need to begin this blog with a strong warning.
What you are about to see is a tragedy. Worse, it was a preventable tragedy. It is a story that puts a face on dogfighting. It is a story about one dog named Stallone.
This video will break your heart, and that doesn't really say enough. Proceed carefully, but please proceed if you can -- because from this achingly sad story it's possible to do some good for untold thousands of dogs caught in the cruel teeth of dogfighting.
Stallone was one of hundreds of dogs rescued in July 2009 in the largest simultaneous raid of multiple dogfighting operations in the history of the United States. Following a lengthy investigation spurred by evidence collected by The Humane Society of Missouri, The Humane Society of the United States joined with officers from multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies in raids in Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Because of pending legal cases, this video only now can be made public.
You can see the video here.
You can help achieve something out of this achingly sad story with just the click of a mouse. We've entered the Pepsi Refresh project, and we could earn $250,000 to further our work on behalf of suffering animals like Stallone. Now through Nov. 30, we are asking for your votes to help put The HSUS in first place. You can vote twice a day -- through the Pepsi Refresh website and via text message.
After voting, please also consider donating your Twitter or Facebook status to the project, sharing it on your Facebook wall, and forwarding it to friends via email. And to help keep the contest top of mind, we've created a daily email reminder to cast your votes, which you can sign up to receive here.
I conclude this blog the same way I started -- with another warning: To dogfighters wherever you are. We will not rest until justice is served for the likes of Stallone and all his brother and sisters. He deserved better in life.
This post originally appeared on Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation.