Mention Pit Bulls or Pit Bull mixes and many people cringe.
These dogs get the worst raps, yet 99 percent of them are sweet, loving, smart and so loyal.
“It’s the owner, not the dog” applies to this dog more than any other breed when they are maligned and feared. Their fierce loyalty and bright nature is a flaw when the wrong person teaches them to fight and hate.
Pity the Pit Bull for being the perfect target for many angry young men who fight them and use them as fear mongers. These dogs are lovers, not fighters!
In the past five years, a groundswell of support has swept over this country as pit bulls are being rescued, rehabbed and even turned into therapy dogs. The hit TV show, "The Dog Whisperer", features many pit bulls, including Daddy, the huge sweet Pittie who helps Caesar Milan train all sort of dogs.
Rachel Ray’s dog, Isaboo, is the inspiration for her line of dog food. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah (www.bestfriends.org) rescues dozens of pit bulls, including half of Michael Vick’s dogs. Pit rescues are springing up all across the country.
Watch the YouTube video from a rescue called Big Hearts for Big Dogs. If this doesn’t change your mind about the temperament of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes, nothing will. What you will witness is the astonishing ability of this breed to forgive, trust and still love after horrendous abuse.
Interested in pit bulls a little now? Almost every shelter in the Chicago area has some, while there are also breed rescues that specialize in pits if you Google Pit Bull rescues in the Chicago area.
Around home, you can check out Orphans of the Storm in Riverwoods at www.orphansofthestorm.org. Animal Care and Control of Chicago, the main pound for the city, is also full of them and they are a kill shelter, and, sadly, you can always find this breed there.
Do not be afraid of Pit Bulls! You are denying yourself the true pleasure of knowing an incredible breed if you automatically walk away from them at a shelter or rescue group. I worked with many of them at Save-a-Pet as a volunteer animal massage therapist, and they are amazingly sweet!
- information compiled by Barbara Cooke
You also cite to the Vick pit bulls, many of whom are too dangerous to go to normal home EVEN AFTER YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL REHABILTATION. In fact, one of the Vick pit bulls at Best Friends (mentioned in your article) broke out of his enclosure, broke into the enclosure of another dog, killed that dog then broke into the enclosure of yet another dog and seriously injured him.
Uh, no. Pit bulls are a mixture of bulldogs (the dogs who were bred to bait bulls) and terriers. They were bred specifically for dog fighting in the pit (hence their name). But whatever their long ago history in a "still developing nation," there is absolutely no doubt that for more than 100 years, they were (and are) bred by dog fighters for dangerousness toward other dogs. Pit bulls were (and are) specifically bred for "gameness," which the the quality of never stopping an attack until their opponant is dead. In fact, when two pit bulls killed ex-marine Jerry Yates in California last year, they kept up the attack even AFTER he was dead, inflicting significant post mortum injuries. Pit bull owners are told (by responsible pit bull authorities, not people who spread the lie of "it's all in how you raise 'em") to carry a "break stick" because if an aroused pit bull gets a grip on another dog, it is almost impossible to get him to let go. The break stick is used to pry open his jaws, hopefully before he kills the other dog. This is a dog that should be RARE. Breed specific laws need to be passed requiring the spay/neuter of all pit bulls and pit bull mixes except AKC and UKC-PR registered show dogs.