Jun 28, 2008 5:21 pm US/Central
South Side March Focuses On Animal Cruelty
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
People in the Gresham neighborhood are taking a stand against gun violence and animal cruelty. One murder prompted this push for change, as CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
People have come together to "Walk for Peace" and honor the memory of Julius Birdine.
"It's really emotional, it's really sad because now it's coming back," said Birdine's mother Joyce Hunter.
Two years ago this month, a gang member insisted, Birdine fight his two pitbulls. When he refused, the gang member shot him dead on the same block where the march started.
"He had a passion for his dogs and I couldn't imagine losing his life over the dogs, but he did," Hunter said.
As Hunter waits for her son's killer to be sentenced this year, the Humane Society of the United States is bringing attention to the issue of dog fighting in Chicago neighborhoods, at the march. They're offering a $5,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of a dog fighter.
"These dogs are being treated in barbaric ways, they're totally being exploited," said Tio Hardiman of the Humane Society of the United States.
Also on the minds of marchers, is the recent Supreme Court ruling, lifting the ban on handguns in Washington, D.C.
"We have to take our communities back – house by house, block by block, community by community," said Barbara McKee of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The people taking part in the march say, ending gun violence really has to start at home, with parents taking an active role in their children's lives. The message being sent through the event is not being lost on the young.
"The youth has to get involved with stopping the violence also, because it's the youth that's dying and it's the youth that's killing the other youth and it's pointless," said marcher Ja Maya Austin.
Joyce Hunter says her son Julius, didn't die in vain – especially if a difference can be made in the lives of those left behind, like Birdine's 10-year-old daughter.
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