Bloodhounds

          The Bloodhound had been bred for generations in Europe to become one of the best trackers of prey of all domesticated animals, possibly in the entire animal kingdom. They could pick up the scent of a person even days after passing and track relentlessly over great distances that could even include streams of water. After being brought to North America, Southern slave owners and bounty hunters would train their Bloodhounds from the time they were pups to track runaway slaves and attack them when found. Unfortunately, from their perspective, Bloodhounds are not vicious animals and instead of attacking found slaves, the dogs would simply bay loudly in order to attract their master. 
          In order to create a more formidable animal, slave-catchers like Theophilis began breeding the Bloodhound with the more aggressive English Mastiff. This mixture combined the tracking ability of the Bloodhound with the fierceness of the larger Mastiff. Once they found their target, these powerful dogs would attempt to hold their victims down by the neck until their owners arrived and called them off. Sometimes during a hunt the owners could fall behind their dogs by as much as a mile or more. By the time the hunting party would arrive to where the dogs had tracked their victims, the poor runaway slave could have already bled to death from numerous lacerations to the face and neck. 

-- The Bloodhound

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 12)

 

 Images from Dog Law Reporter

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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