In honor of National Dog Fighting Awareness Day on April 8, we’re teaming up with professional wrestler and animal lover AJ Lee to ask animal advocates across the country to get tough on dog fighting.

"Growing up, my family and I lived in very poor, very dangerous areas and dog fighting was prevalent,” AJ says. “My dad, who has the biggest heart in the world, would open our home to pit bulls that had been rescued from fighting. We fostered four, and kept them until we could find new homes for them."

The fifth dog AJ’s family rescued was a puppy who was being bred for fighting. "We ended up keeping him, named him Mugsy, and he was a part of our family for an amazing 16 years,” she says. Mugsy’s sweet nature inspired AJ’s lifelong commitment to rescue dogs as well as her love of pit bulls. “I've never been more in love with a dog, he was so sweet and kind, loved small dogs, and cuddled like he was Chihuahua."

Alongside passionate animal supporters like AJ, we’re working to eradicate dog fighting by advocating for stronger laws and harsher sentencing for those who fight dogs and by assisting with raids and rescues. But we can’t do it alone.

That’s why we’re calling on you to join our #GetTough campaign. Visit aspca.org/GetTough to get involved in three ways:

1. Take action by signing our petition asking the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to continue to crack down on dog fighting.
2. Download our FREE digital toolkit including, social media shareables, a printable poster and more!
3. Snap a selfie with our printable poster and share it your social media channels using the hashtag #GetTough.

Please visit aspca.org/GetTough to spread the word today and help us eliminate this form of cruelty for good!