I try not to copy to many articles here to the blog, but I felt this was a very important one to put out there. It should be posted every where and shared as many times as it can be. Anyone who knows me for even a short time knows how much I love my pit bulls. They are wonderful, fantastic, loving, loyal little characters who get such a bad wrap.
The Myth of the “Dangerous” Pit Bull
It is one of the enduring myths that only the most contemptible and boasting toughs strut around with these “dangerous” dogs or, more often, keep them as chained up, captive prisoners. And yet, like Bumper and Willis, millions of pit bulls live happily and peacefully every day with their families. They are dogs, like all other dogs, enjoying life.
According to the American Temperament Testing Society, Inc., which tests dogs for stability, aggressiveness, and friendliness, the American Pit Bull Terrier achieved a passing rate of 86.8 percent, which is better than collies, golden retrievers, and beagles, ranking pit bulls fourth in highest passing grades of the 122 breeds tested. Pit bulls have been bred for companionship and have always been admired for their rock-solid and even temperaments.
Cindy Marabito, founder of Reunion Rescue, a nonprofit that saves as many pit bulls as it possibly can, says, “Pits were bred to be human-friendly. The goal was to be able to reach into the pit (for fighting) and grab the dog without getting bitten…. They bond to their humans and make crummy watch dogs because they are so people-friendly.”
And with their legendary desire to please, pit bulls are often the dog of choice for the depraved— dope dealers, thugs, and illegal dogfighters, with their horrific mistreatment and jackboot tactics, making a living abusing, torturing, starving, and trying to make vicious these magnificent and highly sensitive dogs. Often, the most loyal are the most victimized, done in by those whom they love the most (it is well-documented that in the ring, dogs will fight to the death to please the one cheering him on). Such abusers create deadly situations, and what may provoke a dog bite is more about environment than genetics.
Pit Bull InjusticeAs Karen Delise writes in The Pit Bull Placebo, pit bulls are the targets of “every type of positive or negative emotional and physical circumstance humans are capable of imposing on dogs,” thus the emergence of “canine profiling,” or breed-specific legislation (BSL), also known as breed-discriminatory legislation (BDL), with its sudden seizures and killings of dogs in many towns and cities around the country, whether innocent or not, friendly or not, pit bulls or not.
Bans don’t differentiate among the various individuals labeled as pit-bull types, belonging to the bully breed. (A pit bull is not a breed but a commonly used term to describe an athletic-looking class of terrier that includes the American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and mixes of those breeds. There are over 25 breeds of dogs who are routinely mistaken for pit bulls).
As John Adams famously said, “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
According to the National Canine Research Council (NCRC), based on a study from the Center for Disease Control, there is no scientific evidence that one kind of dog is more likely than any other to cause harm to a human being.
South Dakota’s Sen. Dan Lederman, who introduced the bill that will create equality among all breeds in the eyes of the law in his state, said, “The fact is, a dog’s breed has nothing to do with how the dog behaves. Dog bites are not a breed problem.”
Indeed, they are a negligent or reckless guardian’s problem. Many have long recognized that it is the humans behind the dogs who must be held responsible. As Sen. Lederman concluded, “This legislation takes the focus off Petey [the beloved pit bull from “The Little Rascals”], and puts it where it belongs”—on the guardians of animal companions. “It’s part of being a good steward for the animals in our care, and part of being a good neighbor.”
Bad Guardians, Good Dogs
It was dogfighter Michael Vick, who awoke the world to the horrifying physical and psychological ravages pit bulls endured. With the signing of Vick, to the New York Jets, in March, Tessa Stuart in the Village Voice, wrote, “In addition to plunking down $34,000 to buy the Smithfield, Virginia, property where dozens of dogs were chained to car axles buried in the ground while they fought, sometimes to the death, in front of betting spectators, Vick and his co-defendants admitted to killing at least six (but perhaps as many as eight) dogs who did not display sufficiently aggressive traits during the ‘testing’ process. Several of those dogs were shot; at least two were hosed down, then electrocuted.”
In the backyard, there were graves of pit bulls Vick fought or had been torn apart serving as bait dogs during practice. Those who managed to survive were found beaten, starved, tortured, and chained to concrete slabs. After much public debate, they were not euthanized, because, as Malcolm Gladwell, wrote, “The betrayal of loyalty requires an act of social reparation.”
Here is the other side of the equation: the history of pit bulls is crowded with beloved companions — the iconic Petey, war heroes, poster dogs — pit bulls were so revered that the U.S. Military used an image of a pit bull on war posters — television stars, savers of lives, companions to such celebrated personages as Helen Keller, Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacall, among innumerable others.
Let me enumerate all the ways in which pit bulls contribute to society: heroic and life-saving work with autistic children, law enforcement, animal-assisted therapy, search-and-rescue, nursing homes and hospital visits, drug detection, to name but a few. Mary Tyler Moore’s life depends upon her pit bull Spanky letting her know when her blood sugar gets perilously low. “He helps me with my diabetes—he can sense when something’s not right… He will come and sit and stare at me until I do something about it.”
In an act of great courage, a pit bill called Weela saved her human brother’s life as he was about to be ambushed by a huge rattlesnake, who then sunk his fangs into Weela’s face. A few years later, Weela saved the lives of 30 people, 29 dogs, 13 horses, and 1 cat. Heavy rains caused a damn to break on the Tijuana River and Weela pulled 30 to 50-pound loads of food across the river to a tiny island to feed the stranded animals the entire month they were there.
And there is Dakota, one of the most highly rated search-and-rescue dogs ever to wear a badge. Her reputation is so glittering that NASA requested Kris Crawford, Dakota’s guardian, and Dakota to assist in the recovery of the astronauts after the 2003 shuttle tragedy. Dakota and her two canine siblings, Cheyenne and Tahoe, are also certified hospital therapy dogs. Kris fiercely believes that the public needs to be enlightened about the real spirit of the pit bull. On her site, ForPitsSake.org., the banner reads: Where Heroes Are The Pits.
I used to take my pit bull, Brownie, with the velvety white tummy, and galactic brown eyes, dappled with flecks of gold, to the local nursing home, where he was greeted by a huge gushing of oohs and aahs and lots of cooing, where elderly hands patted his enormous head and rubbed his belly and treated him like a prince, so enthralled by his lofty status.
These elderly residents became so excited by his visit that now a few remembered their own dogs, sometimes as far back as their own childhood, and were thrilled to tell stories about them, while all the time playing with Brownie, whose tail wagged wildly as he moved slowly from one resident to the other, giving kisses and licks, making everyone feel good and loved.
Brownie was there to please and, for these elderly citizens, this humble pit bull was a divine being, an angel to remind them of blissful reveries. Brownie passed away at the age of 15, in December, and this is my tribute to a perfect companion.
This article really puts it so well. Pit bulls are amazing dogs, they are family dogs and they are forgiving dogs. The dogs that were taken from Michael Vick, many of them found homes afterwards and were much loved members of the family. Many have passed on since then knowing love and peace in their final years. Others are still doing good work and making people aware of how wonderful pibbies as I call them are. One of my favorites is Mr. Handsome Dan of his own Rescue.
photo credit Handsome Dan Rescue
I am proud to be the mom of pibbies and I find it tragic when people walk away scared of my dogs. They are loving and friendly and always wiggling their tails. If I was a PR agent, I would take pibbies on for free because they really do need a better set of press given to them. People need to know they are blaming the wrong end of the leash when they blame the dog. It is people that turn them into weapons.
Of course you will always get the people who claim, but what about the newspaper reports and all of that. Ever notice that when a child is bitten, they were unattended with the dog? A recent story I read about a little girl who was hurt was standing in the dog. Yes standing on the dog. Once again this is the fault of the people, parents in the case of children. Even the sweetest dog on the planet can be reactive. If you pull on their tail, ears, stand on them ect they will react! I have never met a dog that did not give very clear warning signs before they bite. It is very rare that a dog will not tell you they are going to bite, dogs are bottom line as a statement honest. Their body language doesn’t lie. Children for the most part do not know how to read the signs and sadly they get bit, even sadder is because they are little even a mild bite can be terrible. What you don’t read about is how often kids are bitten by many kinds of breeds of dogs. Often times if the bite isn’t a pit they won’t publish or they do and the breed was stated wrong (you want to know how many dogs get called pits that aren’t anything related at all? LOTS). That is not to say pibbie’s don’t bite ever, they do, but 99.9% of the time I would still blame the human.
So next time you see someone trying to avoid a pibbie, try to let them know they are nice dogs and to give them a chance. I know my sweet babies would be more than happy to wave at you, give a dance for you and of course give lots of kisses!!!!!
Tags: dog
