We'll have to wait and see how much force they bring to the task, but we're awarding a preliminary wag of the tail to Frederick H. Bealefeld III, the acting city police commissioner, and city health commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein for creating a task force to investigate dogfighting rings.

 And we won't even ask, "What took you so long?"

While long overdue, the plan to put some teeth into investigating and prosecuting those who engage in dogfighting in Baltimore is a welcome development. Traditionally, it has been a crime that has fallen through the cracks. Police see going after it as a menial pursuit. Animal control officers lack the time and authority to fully investigate.

In announcing the new task force, city officials spoke of the connection between dogfighting and other crime -- like drug dealing and illegal gambling. And Bealefeld was quoted as saying that dogfight investigations can lead to larger busts. As an example, he cited his involvement 15 years ago as a detective in a case that started out as a complaint about dogfighting that led to a "gold mine" of drug arrests.

So we award our wag with a caveat. If you're going to make combatting dogfighting a priority -- make it a priority, not something you may or may not prosecute on your way to looking for something "bigger."

You can read Lynn Anderson's story about the new task force here.