One of two pieces of my art work I donated for the Dog Art for Old Friends event. Marshall, the Dog Fighting Survivor “Marshall” was rescued by the artist, Scotlund Haisley, and his team at Animal Rescue Corps in 2014 during the Operation Delta Dogs dog fighting case in the Mississippi Delta. This piece represents the tens of thousands of dogs in the U.S. and beyond who are bred, trained, and conditioned to fight other dogs to the death in one of the most sadistic and barbaric forms of entertainment and gambling. During fights, dogs suffer ripped flesh, broken bones, and punctured lungs. Death from blood loss, shock, dehydration, infection, and exhaustion is common and can even happen days after a fight. If the losing dog does not die in the fight, the dog fighter is likely to kill him by shooting, beating, hanging, drowning, or electrocution. The dog fighter’s motto is: “Breed the best and bury the rest.” The victimization these dogs endure is not limited to the fighting ring. They suffer in every aspect of their tortured existence, never intended to live as a member of a family. When not in the fighting ring, they are staked to the ground on thick, heavy logging chains, typically 8-feet long. Their basic needs of food, water, shelter, and veterinary care are far from adequate and companionship is nonexistent. In “Marshall, the Dog Fighting Survivor”, Haisley creates a visual representation of the brutal suffering and raw hopelessness of a dog used for fighting with the application of an oxidized effect. Haisley uses a rich, blended color palette of oranges, reds, and browns to capture the dog and his encompassing, seemingly inescapable environment becoming one, offering the viewer a portal into the dog’s desperate world of decay and despair.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 23:04:07 +0000
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