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The Pit Bull Problem
Jul 03, 2010
By JOEY KULKIN
Staff Writer
TRENTON — They were in the attic for days. Chardonnay Evans paid no mind to the ruckus up there because the noise makers were just a couple of dogs barking and scratching and doing whatever else doggies do.
“But I never thought my roof — my ceiling — was going to get bit,” said Evans, the Trenton teenager, whose bedroom was below the attic.
What Evans didn’t know is that the dogs were gnawing on the floor, chewing through the wood planks, satisfying some kind of hunger. The constant abuse created a weak spot in the floor, and the weak spot caved, and then one of the dogs fell through and crashed onto the girl’s head.
“He was just growling and barking,” Evans told The Trentonian a few days after the encounter last July. She said she was cleaning her room the day it rained wood planks and dogs. Presumably frightened and confused, the dog scampered into the hall even though the girl screamed “Mom! Mommy!”
Shouldn’t the dog have smelled her fear and sunk its teeth into the girl’s flesh with 10,000 jaw-locking pounds of pressure and eaten Chardonnay like a Milk Bone?
Why not? It was a stereotypical pit bull, right? Well, yes. But maybe not.
Because no one knows what breed of dog fell onto Chardonnay Evans’ head. It could’ve been a pit bull, or a dog that looked like a pit bull.
And therein lies the rub: There is no clear consensus of what a pit bull is even though you can’t turn around these days without reading massive headlines like “VICIOUS PIT BULL ATTACKS BABY AND CHEWS OFF HER FACE THEN TEARS OUT HER HEART, LUNGS & GUTS!”
* * * * *
PIT BULLS ARE IN THE CROSS-HAIRS OF SOCIETY, and we chose this subject to encourage your participation in the discussion so that we can try to understand the most misunderstood dog on the planet. We asked owners and haters and doctors and lawyers and vets and animal control officers, anyone really, to crowd source us with stories and photos and videos and academic papers and expert analysis and testimonials and victim accounts, anything really, to bring all sides to a discussion and be civil about it.
“I believe you will find that this topic is a very emotional one on all sides,” Ed Fritz said in an e-mail to The Trentonian.
Fritz was one of more than 300 people — from Brick, New Jersey, to British Columbia, Canada — who saturated us with so much information that getting through it feels like we’re trying to empty an ocean-sized bowl of dog food one kibble at a time.
You asked us to explore the issues, from sensationalized media coverage to skewed statistics to the messiest issue of all: breed-specific legislation — or the creation of laws meant to protect people from vicious animals. Because in many cases those two issues go hand-in-hand with BSL. As in “pit bull” rips apart a kid then John Q. Public goes nuts after reading the headline PIT BULL EATS BABY and then John Q. Legislator gets lost in the hysteria of the moment and creates laws that ban pit bulls.
That’s what happened in Denver in May 1989 after 58-year-old Pastor Wilbur Billingsley was bitten 70 times and suffered two broken legs during a pit bull attack. One of Billingsley’s neighbors stopped the attack by blowing the dog to bits with a shotgun. Residents went bonkers, and Denver’s ban on pit bulls is in its 21st year. The ban was revoked in 2004 but reinstated in 2005. A comprehensive look at the Denver situation can be found HERE.
Other Colorado towns and cities with breed bans are Aurora, Castle Rock, Commerce City, Fort Lupton, La Junta, Lone Tree, Louisville and Wellington. Jo Angle Staats of West Virginia pointed us to an update on Denver’s ban. It seems like the tide might be changing there.
China has harsh laws against pit bulls. Three days ago, Denmark added 12 dog breeds on its banned list, including the American Staffordshire Terrier, Brazilian Fila, American bulldog and Dogo Argentino.
Since 1991, Danes have been banned from owning pit bull terriers, tosa inus and several other breeds. Danish owners of dogs on the banned list before March 17 are safe, but they must muzzle their dogs in public and restrain them with a leash. None of the dogs on the banned list are allowed into the country, and violators could have their dogs destroyed.
Pit bulls have been outlaws in Miami-Dade County, Florida, for 20 years but a judge last year ruled that the $3 million-a-year ban is unenforceable.. For a thorough website about pitties within the Miami scene, click HERE.
* * * * *
THE MEDIA IS TO BLAME, you said, time and again. Yes, the media barked up a storm during the Michael Vick incident of 2008, when the $130 million quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons went to prison for financing a massive dogfighting ring. The pro-pit side derides the media for facilitating the perception that pit bulls are demon dogs bred for fighting, and for making them 100-point headlines only after assaults on humans and/or other animals. All you have to do is look at pit bulls throughout American history, they say.
At one point the pit bull was considered the “All American Dog.” Theodore Roosevelt owned a pit bull when he was President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. New Jerseyan Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, and he owned a pit bull. Helen Keller couldn’t see or hear her pit bull, but she loved it all the same. Petey played with Alfalfa and Spanky and Stymie and Buckwheat and the rest of Our Gang from the “Little Rascals” of the 1920s. Petey was a pit. And Sergeant Stubby fought on the front lines during World War I, helping to protect our troops while rooting out German spies. Two presidents are said to have decorated Sergeant Stubby, who is at the Smithsonian Institute.
Pit bulls are service and therapy dogs, too. Therese Weiner is a therapy dog handler at Community Medical Center in Toms River, New Jersey. She has five pit bulls, and all of them work with hospice and cancer patients and with kids in the pediatrics ward. “I’ve worked with people who haven’t talked in years, and they’ll talk to my dogs,” Weiner said. “And kids who don’t like to read will read to my dogs.”
Pitties have been decorated cop dogs, too. Indeed, there are tons of other touchy-feely stories about pit bulls yet many of you complained how we, the media, champion the negative aspects of pit bulls over and over and over.
“I hope that your series will include coverage on the role the media plays in portraying pit bulls. I realize this may be a conflict of interest for you — but I do firmly believe that a series on pit bulls would be incomplete without such a segment,” Mellany Alio, a Rutgers graduate, said in an e-mail. “Pit Bulls sell papers… you know that — that’s why you’re planning a series! And you are very clever in that you’ve asked all of us to weigh in. Since you are a reporter, I’ll go ahead and assume you won’t be put off by a bit of push back. Let’s take a look at the article you wrote (you know, the one I clicked on) — what’s the story? Two dogs get into a fight. The sort of thing that happens on a routine basis at the dog park. No humans are hurt. As can be expected, the senior dog who is already rather ill sustains an injury. No doubt it is unfortunate and the fact that kids witnessed an event is sad but it’s not really a story. Or is it? One of those dogs is a pit bull. Gadzooks — this is a cover story! A cover story? I suppose it is. Your job is to sell papers and the newspaper industry is hurting. Pit Bull stories are to the newspaper what Shark Week is to the Discovery Channel. We all tune in. (But to give credit where credit is due — your story didn’t seem to be as sensational as others I have read and you may have not had anything to do with the headline.) My letter is meant to urge you to consider spilling some ink to cover the media’s role in the perception of these dogs.”
Alio was one of many contributors who provided links to studies citing how show pit bulls pass aggression tests at rates higher than labradors and golden retrievers.
According to the American Temperament Testing Society, the pit bull is no more vicious than the golden retriever or the beagle. The ATTS puts breeds through tests dealing with unexpected situations and strangers. Dogs possessing any signs of unprovoked fear or aggression fail the test. The pit bull passed with a high 85.3%, compared to 81.6% for all breeds.
Anti-BSL’ers point to another temperment test, by Dr. Scot E. Dowd Ph.D, called “Assessment of Canine Temperament in Relation to Breed Group.”
Conclusion of study: Previously published bite statistics when groups are compared to individual breeds are unrepresentative as corroborated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Veterinary Medical Association (CDC, 1997; CDC, 2003; AVMA, 2005). The current study has statistically shown, based on a defined temperament test, that the classification of dog breeds and dog breed types (breed groups), with respect to their aggressiveness toward humans is not supported scientifically. The complex and contributing conditions related to the upbringing of individual dogs are not considered by BSL and such laws unfairly target the vast majority of individual dogs, which are temperamentally stable. The temperaments of animals are fundamentally and universally acknowledged to be influenced by age, sex, early socialization, early nutrition, training, health and genetics, while BSL only takes one of these factors into account.
But the anti-pit bull side can’t be swayed by the science because the pit bull problem is personal.
Lynne Tafaro e-mailed: “I’m so tired of the myths that owners use when defending these dogs. I almost fell for it and adopted a pit 10 years ago until I did some research and was shocked at what I found. Since that time, so many people I know have been impacted in a negative way by pit bulls – its like all the research I have done was proven over the years in real life examples. You should also contact dogsbite.org and do a section on how pro-pit bull organizations and rescues are funding dog fighters, are associated with animal cruelty, and are spreading misinformation in attempt to get more people to adopt these dogs. Also include how in the past there have been bills in the state legislature that would require home insurance companies to cover homes with pit bulls causing all our rates to rise, and another that would place restrictions on pit bull ownership. There is a very organized pro-pit force out there dictating policy, and the general public is tired of it yet has no voice of their own. We are tired of being called dog haters for simply recognizing a serious problem exists.”
Kristy Kirkland e-mailed a story about the day she was attacked in 2008: I truly hope you will take all of this information into account when you are inundated by emotional tales of the “best dogs on earth,” the “most loyal,” the “most loving,” etc. I have seen enough fluff pieces on pit bulls to last me a lifetime, and I’m one of the lucky ones, a survivor of their attacks. Many others have not been so lucky, and the victims will continue to mount as long as well meaning people buy the lies of the breeder and fighter lobby for whom it’s only about the bottom line, profit at any cost. The truth about these dogs is out there, clearly. How many more have to pay with life or limb before something is done at the national level to deal with this human health and safety issue? In Connecticut, a ban was placed on owning chimps and great apes after just one chimpanzee attack on a human. How many people have lost life and limb to pit bulls?
Drayton Michaels (www.pitbullguru.com) has been working on a documentary on pit bulls since 2004. He made an interesting point during a long post on our Facebook wall: The media likes to create fake debates by pitting science against non science-based opinions and emotions. We see this with global warming. On one side we have science and on the other we have people that do not understand the science as it relates to dog behavior. That is not a debate, it is a fake debate. A real debate would have equal opponents using factual and scientific and mathematical evidence to support claims. Anecdotal opinions are not facts. Emotions & feelings are not facts. The math says it all – 300 million humans in the USA — 74 million registered dogs of all breeds — 20 deaths on average yearly by dog bites – 200 or less serious bites – Is that an epidemic by any stretch of the imagination? The full text of Michaels’ missive can be found HERE.
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THE PIT BULL PROBLEM is tantamount to the one America faced in the ‘70s with German shepherds and in the ‘80s with Doberman pinschers and in the ‘90s with Rottweilers — the problem being that some of them caused massive carnage, and society freaked out. In time, the furor over those breeds died down. For the last 20 or so years, the pit bull has been the villain dog.
It’s probably why John Shipe wrote the song “Pit Bull Blues.”
* * * * *
SO, WHAT IS A “PIT BULL”? According to breeder Diane Jessup (www.workingpitbull.com), the “pit bull” has existed since at least the late 1700s. “Pit bull,” she says, is only properly used as the short form of “American Pit Bull Terrier” — the name the breed is registered under by the American Dog Breeders Association and United Kennel Club.
In its history, the breed has seen the influence of both mastiff and terrier blood, but to say that pit bulls are a cross between English bulldog and terrier breeds would overstate the influence. In fact, pit bulls predate the English bulldog as a breed, and English bulldogs are descended from pit bulls instead of the other way around.
For Jessup — whose website features one of the most thorough catalogs of information about pit bulls — the name is not applied correctly when used to describe the American Staffordshire Terrier or the Staffordshire Bull Terrier registered by the American Kennel Club. However, in popular parlance the term “pit bull” is often used to include all three of those breeds, along with the English Bull Terrier, not to mention mixes of those breeds with terriers, mastiffs, and a dozen or more other dogs.
Moreover, to the untrained eye, these breeds can be indistinguishable.
And then there are the myths, and the facts.
MYTH: Pit bulls attack without warning or provocation.
FACT: According to Karen Delise, author of “Fatal Dog Attacks” and “The Pit Bull Placebo,” the classification of an attack as unprovoked is usually based on the declarations of owners who are unable to understand canine behavior, or are too busy to have seen the signals dogs usually display through body language or vocalization. Dogs do this with stares; body stiffening; positioning of ears, tail and head; and growling, to name only a few. Pit bulls give these signals as much as any other breed of dog.
MYTH: Pit bulls have locking jaws.
FACT: Dr. Howard Evans, an author on canine anatomy, Dr. Sandy deLahunta, a dog neurologist, and Dr. Katherine Houpt, a dog behaviorist, signed off on the conclusion that “there is no anatomical structure that could be a locking mechanism in any dog.”
MYTH: Pit bulls bite with more pressure per square inch than any other breed.
FACT: According to Dr. Brady Barr of National Geographic, the domestic dog averages about 320 pounds of pressure per square inch. Dr. Barr conducted a comparative test between a pit bull, a Rottweiler and a German shepherd. The pit bull had the lowest PSI of the three. The highest pressure recorded from the pit bull was 235 pounds PSI. The highest from the German Shepherd was 238 and the highest from the Rott was 328. Dr. Barr said that as far as he knows, the PSI tested in the Rott is the highest on record for any domestic canine.
Pit bull owner Robbin Perry of Brick Township in Ocean County joined our Facebook page and pointed us to those myths and facts.
Donald Cleary of the National Canine Research Council (www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com) e-mailed to offer his expertise on dogs that have been demonized over the years like the pit bull today.
Cleary said: 1. Dogs called bloodhounds because of their association with slave hunting and the dramatization of that function in UNCLE TOM’S CABIN. 2. In 1925, a New York city magistrate advocated banning German shepherds from the city. Australia banned the importation of German shepherds in 1929 and did not lift that ban until 1974. They were bailed out by the popularity of Rin Tin Tin. 3. Dobermans, because of an association in the minds of some with the Nazis.”
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NO DISCUSSION ABOUT PIT BULLS is complete without talking statistics, which look horrific at first glance.
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1979 and 1998 “Pit bull-type” dogs accounted for 66 of 238 dog bite fatalities in the United States. This is the highest total attributed to any breed or mix included in the study.
In a statement, the American Medical Veterinary Association (in whose journal the CDC report was published) said: “In contrast to what has been reported in the news media, the data contained within this report CANNOT be used to infer any breed-specific risk for dog bite fatalities.”
“Data in this report indicate that the number of dogs of a given breed associated with fatal human attacks varies over time, further suggesting that such data should not be used to support the inherent “dangerousness” of any particular breed.”
Merritt Clifton, an environmental reporter, provided a chart of dog bites from 1982 through 2009. Read it and you’d think pit bulls were spawned in the depths of hell. But Clifton admits he culled his statistics from media reports only. Such reports may be skewed because they’re based on what reporters wrote based on what the owner and victim and police said.
At Facebook, Robbin Perry wrote: American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are often referred to by the slang term “pit bull,” but were these the actual breeds responsible for the attacks? Probably not since a slew of other breeds of dog — like Presa Canarios, Cane Corsos, Spanish Alanos, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Bandogs, Dogues Brasileiros, Dogo Argentino, Guatemalan Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs, Boxers, Bull Mastiffs, Bull Terriers, English Bulldogs, and even Labradors, Rottweilers, Akitas, and Chow Chows — have also been labeled “pit bulls.”
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SEVERAL TRENTON RESIDENTS introduced their pit bulls to prove what wonderful, friendly, people-loving dogs they are.
“Seriously strong and athletic” and “very loyal” and “very smart” and “best dog ever owned” are the phrases owners used time and again to describe their dogs.
We went to Bill Owens’ home on Bryn Mawr Avenue to make a video of “Menace” and shared the experience on Facebook.
Built like a middle linebacker and weighing 98 pounds (which made some of you weary, because pit bulls are generally between 25 and 65 pounds), Menace was one of three dogs in a cluttered backyard. It was a hot, humid day. The other two dogs (not pit bull-types), didn’t care about the reporter, but Menace was eager. First, he almost hopped the chain-link fence. Later, he lunged up and was so close that he could’ve eaten the reporter’s face. He broke skin and drew blood from the reporter’s right arm with an act of teething that fell somewhere between “love nibbles” and uncomfortable gnawing — but definitely not biting, because the reporter wouldn’t have his right arm anymore if that was the case.
Pit bull owners at Facebook watched the video and offered critiques in no uncertain terms, blasting both Owens for being a bad owner and the reporter for being “a sally” and having no clue about how to approach a pit bull.
* Sharon Mirabella, a pit bull owner: I just watched the video and honestly that guy didn’t really have any control over his dogs. And you should of ignored the dogs and not put your hands out and invited that behavior from an excited, untrained dog. Ignore, no eye contact and no talking to them. When they calm down you can say hello. Please go visit some better trained dogs.
* Robbin Perry, a pit bull owner: I’m sorry to say this but I think this dog owner is very irresponsible. He should only have to use a command once. One time, and that’s all it should take for an obedient dog to obey. If this man doesn’t have the time to properly train, and exercise his dogs, (even after owning the dog for six years) than he shouldn’t own them, period. Owning a dog is not just a privilege — it’s a responsibility.
* Lindsay Jacobs, a pit bull owner: I am really sorry that this happened to you, but could you have picked a less responsible owner to showcase? I understand the situation, but you really shouldn’t have trusted this guy! He clearly had no control over his dogs. The way he had you approach the dogs was WAY too excited and got “Menace” all riled up. The dog didn’t look like he was doing anything but trying to play. He just needs a more responsible owner that won’t “slack off” in the training process. A good owner would never let their dog jump all over you.
Coincidentally, two teenage boys were walking their pit bulls in front of Owens’ house that day. Several little kids were around them. Pit bulls and children interacted without as much as a growl from the dogs, who loved the attention and played nice.
* * * * *
BREED-SPECIFIC LEGISLATION is the canine issue raging across the country, and the world.
The Trentonian touched on the issue last month in relation to New Jersey’s constitutional law prohibiting local governments from enacting BSL. In a different world, Trenton, which doesn’t have enough money to buy a roll of toilet paper these days, could pay $132,000 a year to enforce BSL, according to a calculation chart at www.bestfriends.org. According to the chart, there are 1,280 pit bulls in the city (the registered ones, anyway, because it seems like there could be about 5,000).
Based on that estimation of 1,280 pitties, Trenton’s BSL costs would be:
* enforcement: $75,330
* kennelizing & vet care: $20,990
* euthanizing & disposal: $22,290
* litigation costs: $1,640
* DNA testing: $11,440
In a poll at Facebook we asked: If your city enacted a ban on “pit bulls”, a la Denver, would you stay or would you move to another city?
Beth Cebra: Move in a heartbeat and file a lawsuit! I won’t even travel to Denver now! They will never get a penny from my travels, and I’m a huge snowboarder!
Amanda Sheldon of Saddle Creek, New Jersey: Sue. BSL is illegal in NJ. Sue and win.
Fran Sullivan of Toronto: I speak with SO many people that have moved out of Ontario for this very reason and many many more that WILL if the ban is not rescinded. The sad ones are the ones who have to give up their dogs to save them. I get contacted at least once a month by people coming back trying to find a way of keeping their family dogs. Breaks my heart when I tell them they are putting the life of the dog at risk if they do.
Jo Angle Staats of West Virginia: Move. Fight it.
Cebra was one of many posters citing what they believe is the healthy alternative to BSL: Calgary’s Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw. It is based on four principles: License and provide permanent identification for pets; spay or neuter pets; provide training, physical care, socialization and medical attention for companion animals; and do not allow pets to become a threat or a nuisance in the community.
How has Calgary’s RPO bylaw fared? Ledy VanKavage wrote at www.animals.change.org that in 1985 the city’s population was 600,000, and the bylaw department received 1,938 complaints of aggressive-dog incidents, including 621 bites. Strong, breed-neutral legislation was enacted, and the city’s bylaw officers embarked on an extensive public education program. In 2009, the population was more than 1 million, and bylaw officers dealt with only 424 aggressive-dog incidents, including 159 bites.
Delise tracked fatal dog attacks that occurred in the United States in 2006 and said they had these commonalities:
• 97 percent of the owners did not neuter or spay their dogs.
• 84 percent of the attacks involved reckless owners—owners who abused or neglected their dogs, failed to contain their dogs or improperly chained their dogs.
• 78 percent of the owners did not maintain their dogs as pets (they were used as guard, breeding or yard dogs).
Like many anti-BSL’ers, Perry sees those stats and thinks that “in lieu of drafting costly breed discriminatory laws, public legislators need to decide if legislation targeting the aforementioned factors would be more effective.”
In other words, it’s the owner, not the dog.
* * * * *
THE PIT BULL remains an enigma. In the public eye the pit bull is a vicious killer. In the view of owners, the dogs are loyal, athletic, and friendly. So who is right? It’s nearly impossible to tell.
Facts about locking jaws, bite pressure and temperament don’t do much to ease the minds of attack victims and concerned neighbors. At the same time, pit bull owners and breeders feel those very same facts vindicate them and their dogs.
When a dog fell through Chardonnay’s ceiling, did she really know what kind of dog it was? There is no way to know at first glance even though it looked like a pit bull-type. Given the controversy surrounding the term, it is unclear whether even a DNA test could provide the answer. (Chardonnay reportedly went to the hospital with an injured neck but was back home a few days later. The dogs’ owner was allowed to keep them without penalty, and the building owner was given summonses for code violations. But no one got bit or mauled or had their face chewed off.)
Still, would the story have ever been reported if the dog had not been a “pit bull”? Is the media biased against pit bulls, out to sensationalize their every misstep?
Are pit bulls more likely to attack than other breeds? Are pit bull attacks potentially more dangerous than those by other breeds?
You asked us to find answers to all of these questions and responded to our call for information by providing it in spades. And here, deep into the process of researching and contemplating pit bulls — in reality and in the public psyche — we have no grand conclusion to offer. The issue has emotional backers on every side, and every side seems to think it holds the answer.
For the rest of the stories in this series, go HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.
(Grantland D’Avino contributed to these reports.)
10 Responses to this article
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Informative, Thorough, Balanced. Very Good!
Joey,
Just wanted to thank you for the time you put into this series. I hope your hard work and the many responsible owners out there with pit bulls living as family pets will see some reward. Most importantly I hope your non-pittie readers will see these wonderful dogs differently now.
“It ain’t easy being a pittie, a pittie owner, or pittie supporter…but it’s worth it!”
Jo Staats
http://www.wvpitbullhaven.com
I can’t but agree.I always wanted to write in my site something like that but I guess you’r faster.
I truly loved this brilliant article. Please continue this awesome work. Regards, Duyq.
Stellar site, would love to see a bit more content though! Then again my nj preschool show site hasn’t much either – Great post anyway, added your XML feed! Love this theme, too!
Hi Joey,
Nicely done! Great series. It seems to me that this points to favor the argument that owner/environment are the biggest, most manageable contributing factors to dog safety. Just look at the credibility of the participants. Victims of dog bites/ fatalities should not be overlooked or under appreciated. Those are frightening and scary events and I don’t blame folks for being angry, scared or motivated to take action. Breed neutral laws, time and again, prove that they are the best way to keep people and dogs safe.
Thank you for taking this issue seriously and taking the time to give all of the voices a fair shake.
I will continue to look forward to your work and will use this as a reference in my continued effort to advocate for safe and humane communities…for dogs and people.
Best wishes,
Ed
I just want to say that I’m happy that you took time to do the research on this subject. There are always going to be people who hate the breed because of an attack that they heard about or witness or even dealt with first hand. That’s just the same if a person had a bad experience at a park, on a boat, at a job, etc. That experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives. But the media doesnt exploit it so dramatically that we stop going to parks, or on boats, etc. Go back to the reality of statistics and research where the “pitbull” breeds scored highest on the temperment test and how the stats that are reported are tainted by their resources and reliabilty. I started a group called Proud Parents of Pitbulls (PPP). I join everyone and anyone to accompany me to advocate for not only this wonderful breed, but for all dogs who are mistreated, mis or untrained, or flat out abused by the people who aquire them. All dogs should be spayed or neutered not just to help with the over population and homelessness but for their own health. They should be trained and socialized just like we would our children. If a parent isn’t doing their job and the children are at risk, they are removed. I work at an animal hospital and see it everyday. If you don’t have the money to properly take care of your pets, then they shouldn’t get them. I understand how cute dogs and cats can be, (I have 1 dog and 3 cats), and I’m sure some people can give them great homes. But it also becomes that person’s responsibility to properly take care of them in all aspects. I would love to show anyone and everyone how great my pitbull is and how my 2 yr old nephew rolls around on the floor with her while she licks him. I would love to bring her to a park to show everyone what a great dog (not just pitbull) she is.
And when I say I would love to…I do all the time, but I would love for everyone to see. Please join my group…http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=134036819941023. Post your pictures, videos, etc. It’s time we stood up for our best friends.
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