6 Part Q&A Series with WHS's Scott Giacoppo on Dog Fighting

Each day Trooper is feeling better and better. As she continues to improve we wanted to take this opportunity to discuss with you the issues of dog fighting in Washington, DC as well as across the country.

Our Chief Programs Officer, Scott Giacoppo, (pictured left) will lend his more than 20+ years of experience in the field to answer questions on this topic. We will post this Q&A in a 6 part series here on our blog over the next 2 weeks.

Dog Fighting Q&A: Part 1

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and experience and expertise in the area of dog fighting?

 The first time I ever even heard of dog fighting was back in the late 1980’s as a volunteer for an animal shelter in Minneapolis. One of the dogs we had there was a victim and I just couldn’t understand why someone would do such a thing… I still haven’t figured that out.

Since then I pretty much dedicated my life to combating it and have been involved in investigating countless cases. Some cases were on the professional level like the case out of New Hampshire where I acted as a consultant in one of the largest cases ever in New England, while most were what is referred to as “street fighters.” 

Over the years I’ve taught classes up and down the East coast to Police Officers and Humane Law Enforcement Officers on how to investigate animal fighting. I still conduct those trainings today; soon I will be teaching in both Connecticut and New York.

Why do you think WHS Humane Law Enforcement Officers have not received any tips, even after offering a $1500 reward,  on who is responsible for throwing Trooper in the Dumpster?

Animal fighting is of this nature and usually committed by people who are more often than not also engaged in other types of crimes such as gang violence and drug dealing.

IF someone saw the horrific things that happened to Trooper happen, they would most likely feel intimidated that the people who did this may retaliate against them if they speak up.  Society today has sayings like “snitches get stitches” and so on, these sayings speak volumes about how people just don’t want to get involved anymore. But, they forget that victims, especially animals can not speak for themselves and need us to do it for them or else the cruelty continues.

If you would like to submit a question related to dog fighting for Scott to answer, please e-mail  your question to WHS@washhumane.org.