Monday’s story detailing the arrests of 25 people in Claiborne County on dogfighting charges is sobering. Worse yet is busting these rings in the future will take a Herculean effort not only by law enforcement but from the community.

Mississippi, by geography and population, is a haven for dogfighting. Take a car ride through any county in this state and off the side of the side road likely will be another side road. Finding these rings is a challenge in itself.

In last week’s raid in Claiborne County — in a pasture somewhere off Mississippi 547 near Pattison — deputies were tipped off. When they arrived, a fight had just been concluded; blood filled a makeshift ring. Sheriff Frank Davis said people scattered into nearby woods when deputies arrived. While arrests continued in this one incident, it is not known how many others might have gotten away. He said those arrested were from as far away as Texas and Alabama.

In a civilized society, dogfighting is a barbaric act of placing two animals into a ring in a fight to the death. Bets are placed and money is exchanged. Dead dogs are cast aside like trash. Dogs seized in raids usually are euthanized for the protection of society.

“They’re like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off,” said Debra Boswell, director of the Mississippi Animal Rescue League.

We applaud the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department for breaking up this dogfighting ring. We urge law enforcement in every county to be diligent in ridding society of a practice that is reprehensible.

Breaking up dogfighting rings, especially in rural Mississippi, will take more than dedicated lawmen. Breaking this cycle will require people having the stomach to stand up and say, “No more.”

That is how the Claiborne County arrests were made possible — people and lawmen working in tandem. It’s the only way this scourge on society will ever have a chance at being dismantled in its entirety.