BREED HIGHLIGHT PITBULL I wanted my first of many upcoming breed highlight/informational posts to be about arguably the most misunderstood dog, who is also the most common in shelters. The Pitbull-type group. My Pit mix, Roly, is my service dog. He alerts me to an imminent seizure and helps me out during and after. This is more common that most people think! Helen Keller had Pitbulls as service dogs, Pits were considered heroes (and the mascot of the American troops) throughout the Civil War and WWI, and they are currently used widely as therapy dogs. The breed was so widely considered to be Americas dog that both Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson owned them, as did General George Patton, and even Thomas Edison! If you havent seen a Pitbull smile, you are missing out. There simply is no other breed of dog that gives a larger, or more blissful, full face smile. And they mean every single wet, wrinkled, and squinty inch of it. The Pit loves life when they are loved, and their loyalty is like no other. A lot has changed over the years for the breed and its reputation. I think that this article takes a great look at that evolution. ~~~~~ ***From the Pacific Standard, by Jake Flanagin*** In decades past, the American pit bull was a canine icon. Nicknamed “America’s dog,” and favored for its remarkable loyalty and affability, images of the breed were everywhere. A pit bull named Sergeant Stubby won 13 decorations for his service in the trenches of the First World War. Nipper, the dog from the classic RCA Victor advertisements, was a pit bull. So was Pete the Pup, canine companion to The Little Rascals. Their affinity and gentleness toward children was so widely known and appreciated it inspired a second nickname: “the nanny dog.” That perception profoundly changed in the 1980s. Dogfighting enjoyed a major resurgence in America in that decade, says John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy at the Humane Society of the United States. “In that time there were people who took an interest in romanticizing the horrors of dogfighting … living through the accomplishments of the dog.” The pit bull’s trademark loyalty combined with its muscular physique made it a prime candidate for exploitation. The breed quickly came to represent aggression and a perverse idea of machismo, thus becoming the preferred guard dog cum status symbol for drug dealers and gangsters. Popularity for the breed in low-income, urban areas exploded. Consequently, there were (and still are) a large number of un-spayed and un-neutered pit bulls living in extremely close proximity to one another. It was the perfect recipe for an epic puppy-boom. According to Mid-American Bully Breed Rescue, a non-profit that takes pit bull breeds out of high-kill animal shelters around the Midwest, there are approximately five million registered pit bulls in the United States today: a combination of breeds which includes Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, or any mix thereof. This figure does not include the substantial number of pit bulls circulating the shelter system and living on the streets. The ASPCA reports that 35 percent of American shelters receive at least one pit bull a day. And in Detroit, where the stray problem borders on epidemical, pit bulls and pit mixes compose 90 percent of the homeless dog population. Where pit bulls were once ubiquitous in American pop culture, they are now ubiquitous in actuality. And because the overpopulation centers predominantly on low-income areas, the pit bull is arguably one of the least-responsibly cared for breeds in the country. ~~~~~ Fortunately, there are MANY groups who are dedicated to educating the public about the Pitbull-type dogs true demeanor, advocating for the breed, ending dogfighting, and getting the population under control. You can help by sharing the information about the adoptable Pitbull-type dogs that come through FVHA and other shelters, and telling your friends about the amazing qualities that these dogs can have! Dont forget...there is always a need for volunteers at FVHA and walking the dogs is an especially fun one where you get to really interact with dogs of all different breeds!! Check out these photos of a few very happy Pitbull mixes that have found homes through FVHA!!
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 00:44:19 +0000
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