You don’t have to be an animal lover to feel the pain of dogs being abused for the cruel pleasure of their owners.

The photo in Wednesday’s Journal-World pretty much spoke for itself. Pitbull terriers have a reputation as fighters, but this young female clearly had lost her battle. Scarred and in pain, the dog had been picked up Tuesday in southern Douglas County by Lawrence Humane Society workers. Another pitbull was found already dead.

Despite the best efforts of the caring humane society staff, the dog that was found alive also will be dead soon. Her injuries and her training will make it impossible to place her a home and she will be humanely euthanized.

Although the dogs weren’t found until Tuesday, this story apparently began last weekend, when the humane society received three anonymous telephone calls reporting that an organized dog fight had taken place in that part of the county. Unfortunately, workers at the animal shelter say this is not an unusual occurrence in Lawrence and Douglas County.

The motive for organizing these fights is, to most of us, incomprehensible. Money apparently changes hands, but, in many cases, the people involved also are seeking to prove their own toughness or superiority. In some cases, the cruel streak that drives them to mistreat animals may also be reflected in how they treat other people. It’s no wonder that callers reporting the fights chose to remain anonymous.

You don’t have to be an animal-lover to be outraged by the knowledge that dogs like the one pictured in Wednesday’s Journal-World are being trained for their own destruction. You just have to be a human being. Although pitbull terriers have a reputation for being dangerous, that trait probably is more appropriately assigned to dog owners who train them to be vicious and breed them to fight.

And when they are done with them, after they have put them in a ring and watched and cheered as they are mauled, bitten and critically injured, they dump them by the side of some road to die.

This unspeakable cruelty is here, in Lawrence, and the humane society and law enforcement officials need the help of anyone who may have information about where fights are taking place. An investigator at the humane society says she investigates 15 to 20 animal cruelty cases a week and at least three to five of those involve pitbulls. The shelter has a list of about 100 people it suspects are involved in dog fighting, but unless the suspects can be caught at a fight, little can be done. Calls with information, even anonymous calls, that are timely and specific are the best way to track down and arrest the culprits.

The humane society’s cruelty investigator already has identified the perfect punishment: “The people who do this to dogs, I’d like to see the same thing happen to them.”

Such punishment, of course, would be deemed “cruel and unusual” and therefore against the law, but many people nonetheless would find it justifiable for those who so cruelly mistreat innocent animals.