It's hard to believe that dogfighting even exists.

But what's even harder to believe is that being a spectator at a dog fight is totally and completely legal in Hawai'i, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

In fact, we're the only state where watching a dog fight is legal.

What's up with that?

Dogfighting and cockfighting are illegal everywhere, but state animal fighting laws differ from state to state. Some states don't ban keeping or selling fighting animals. (In Nevada it's actually legal to own or possess dogs for fighting purposes.) And in other states, watching or attending dog fights is considered a misdemeanor, not a felony.

It's hard to believe that dogfighting — or any kind of animal-fighting, really — still exists, even if these illegal activities are held in basements and fallow fields across the country.

The Chicago Tribune ran a story yesterday about dogfighting in its city, painting a picture of what it's like at these fights:

The Englewood basement was cramped, chaotic. Fifty people — parents, kids, a pregnant woman — huddled around a bloody 10-foot-by-10-foot ring, cheering two pit bulls trained to kill.

Barbaric to most, this medieval blood sport remains a routine source of shameless entertainment in large swaths of the city.

"It's pretty much like going to see a Muhammad Ali or a Mike Tyson fight," said Sean Moore, a former dog fighter from Chicago. "That's what people think when they see pit bulls in our neighborhood. That's why people are willing to pay and come see it."

Cook County sheriff's police busted a South Side dogfight over the weekend, and news of the 50-person crowd and descriptions of the brutalized animals shook many Chicagoans. But most don't realize that dogfighting remains commonplace in the city, seemingly resistant to the laws that prohibit it, a culturally ingrained phenomenon that refuses to go away.

I can't imagine why anyone would think dogfighting is OK. The brutality, the cruelty, the inhumane treatment of animals — how can this go on?