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Shelter pit bull walks straight into a new family
Jul 03, 2010
By JOE D’AQUILA
Staff Writer
TRENTON – For the past few years, a group of state workers has volunteered their time during their lunch breaks to come and walk the dogs at the Trenton Animal Shelter.
The Trentonian is located a block or so over from the shelter, so we often see the workers out strolling with the pups.
A few weeks ago, Trentonian photographer Jackie Schear spotted one of the workers, not only walking one of the dogs, but rolling around on the ground with a 1-year-old female pit bull mix named Lilo. The scene was just too adorable to resist and she snapped off a few shots.
The picture of Lilo and the volunteer ran the next day in the paper as what we call a standalone — just the photo and a brief caption. The caption mentioned that Lilo was up for adoption.
A day later, Lilo had a new family.
“I fell instantly in love with her,” said Christina Olaff of Florence, who knew she wanted Lilo as part of her family soon after seeing the picture.
“We used to have a dog that looked just like her, so it brought back memories,” Olaff said.
Interviewed about a week after the adoption, and Olaff said things were going smoothly.
“It’s been wonderful,” she said. “She fits right in with the family. It’s like she’s been here since she was a pup.”
Lilo’s lookalike was Christina’s sister’s dog. The family had come to love the pet when they were taking care of it.
The Olaff’s have two children, Hannah, 8, and Ryan, 4, but Lilo being a pit bull breed was never an issue.
“A dog is just like a kid,” said Christina’s husband Dennis Olaff.
“You have to pay attention to it, that’s all. And you take care of it and show it the right way.
He said he wasn’t concerned about the new dog around the kids, and felt dog’s are only products of their training.
“You put the time in, and the dog’s going to listen,” he said. “You just have to show it love. That’s all you have to do.”
Sarah Ritchie, President of Shelter Animal Project, a nonprofit that supports the Trenton Animal Shelter, agreed with the Olaff’s assessment of the breed.
Trenton sees its fair share of bully breeds, and because of hesitancy on the part of potential adoptive families, they tend to get adopted out at a slower rate, leaving the shelter, at any given time, almost always filled with a predomination of pits.
Ritchie has a pit bull, and a lab, and she believes one is not any more predisposed to bite than the other. She said certain myths about pit bulls, like the idea that they have “locking jaws” that won’t let go, are simply untrue, but said that because of their strength, when they do bite, they tend to do more damage.
Her organization, along with running the dog walking volunteers, also administers the adoption program, where pets are taken each Sunday to the PetSmart in Fairless Hills, Pa.
She said some people are reluctant to bring home pit bulls, but they’ve had a fairly successful record of finding them homes because of their extensive temperament testing of the dogs before they’re adopted out. In the end though, she said it’s important for both the dog and the new owner to feel comfortable with one another.
As a side note: Since being interviewed for this article, Sarah Ritchie has signed on to be a “citizen journalist” working with The Trentonian. She came in for a session in our Media Lab (www.trentonian.com/medialab), where she learned how to set up a blog. The blog she created, The Shelter Animal Project, provides her organization with another means for disbursing information regarding pet adoptions, donation drives and other events, and it’s now included as part of our blog center www.trentonian.com/blogs
Also, for more on pit bull issues, check out editor Joey Kulkin’s package of stories HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.
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