When I was young, my father took me to my first dog fighting ring. All kinds of men and women holding their howling and frothing dogs on chain leashes as they barked and howled at each other. Some people say dogs are man's best friend, a caring, affectionate, loyal and trusted companion. I never saw that side of them. To me dogs were akin to any wild animal. The way they fought in those rings taught me that.

That day my father had brought our own dog, a gigantic Rottweiler that we had named Hannibal. I never knew our dog fought until that day. It would be the last day I ever saw him.

I...