Sports Betting in the Philippines Moves into Pitbull Fights

Filipinos love to place bets on fights. Whenever these are boxing matches or rooster fights, many of the country’s residents flock to watch and bet. Recent events show that brutal pitbull fighting is taking place in this Asian archipelago. Rightfully, it is banned under Philippine gambling laws.

In a recent sting operation, the police arrested eight South Koreans accused of operating a dogfight ring where vicious pitbull fights took place. The names of the ashamed ones have been publicly disclosed and are: Lee Gwi Woo, Jeong Yeon Hwal, Noh Min Chul, Lee Kyung Won, Kim Young Hwan, Hyun Ho Han, Hong Jeong Oh, and Kim Do Kyung.

In addition to being charged with running an illegal gambling operation, these operators were charged with criminal acts under Animal Welfare Act. Six of these were already arrested before under similar charges.

The ability to quickly open up another dogfight arena after the prior bust indicates the possibility that this monster gang is part of an organized crime network. Overall, 30 lucky pitbulls were recovered.

The online sportsbooks in Philippines are still in an infant stage and, as a result, Filipinos flock to illegal betting rings. Punishing the illegal fights operators as well as bettors is the right way to end this practice.

Many of dogfight punters are mentally deranged and of sadistic tendencies. This has nothing to do with real sports betting. Those seeking fights can bet on boxing, ice hockey or American football. This can easily be done via the Internet or mobile betting sites.