http://www.gogophotocontest.com/rrescue/entries/14742/

http://www.gogophotocontest.com/rrescue/entries/14742/

http://www.gogophotocontest.com/rrescue/entries/14742/

http://www.gogophotocontest.com/rrescue/entries/14742/

PIT BULLS - TRUTH AND BULL

I am privileged to offer a 'guest' blog today by Ms. Holly Jeffrey who is a student working on her Bachelor's Degree.  Her writing course requires her to publish a blog and I am happy to help her make that goal by allowing her to post her blog here.  Holly has chosen the subject of Pit Bulls - Truth and Bull.  So without further adieu please see her blog below:

Holly Jeffrey

WR122

Culminating Project

Pit Bulls – Truth and Bull

INTRODUCTION

There are a disproportionately high number of pit bulls and pit bull mixed breeds which spend a lot of time in animal shelters, passed over repeatedly by potential adoptive families.  Pit bull dogs are euthanized within animal shelters at a higher rate than any other breed of dog.  The research question I have selected is “Is the pit bulls average stay in an animal shelter longer than other breeds of dogs and what factors impact this discrepancy?”

Pit bulls have a bad reputation but it was not always this way.  The pit bull breed originated when English bull-baiting dogs were bred with smaller terriers to yield the "pit bull terrier" also known as the pit bull.  According to the American Society for Prevention and Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) webpage, these dogs were bred for dog fighting in the 1800's when large animal baiting was no longer permitted.  Pit bulls have enjoyed a long relationship with humans and are known by some as loyal and affectionate family pets.  In fact, Petey from the Lil' Rascal's gang was none other than a pit bull and the breed was once known as “the all-American dog”.   So what changed?

Back in the 80's when I was just a kid, I remember driving through downtown Sacremento with my parents one summer evening and I noticed a bunch of thugs walking down the street.  One of them had a big, muscular dog he was leading around on the end of a chain.  Yes, a chain.  I remember the dog had on a thick, spiked collar and was very big with well-defined muscles and a big block head.  Everything about that group of thugs and the dog looked tough and seemed to scream "get out of my way and don't mess with me."  I can't say for certain what type of dog it was because we all sped past quickly and didn't take the time to look very closely but my belief is that the dog was a pit bull.  My point is, at some point in the recent past, thugs and gang-bangers who wanted to look tough decided that the blocky, muscular pit bull terrier was the perfect breed to bolster their "tough guy" image.  As demand for the breed increased, backyard breeders were only too happy to comply.  Neglect and outright abuse of any breed of dog will lead to bad behaviors and the pit bull is certainly no exception so when ignorant owners provoked their "tough dogs" into aggression, incidence of dog-inflicted injuries on humans increased and the media was only too happy to report and sensationalize and label the pit bull as a demon. 

The negative media portrayal of pit bulls has contributed to widespread bad stigma that surrounds these dogs.  About half of the dogs in the shelter where I volunteer are pit bulls and the ones that aren't recent admissions have been there a while.  I have personally overheard potential adoptive families say "pit bulls are bad dogs, we won't consider adopting a pit bull".  These fears are fueled by a media that delights in one-sided, sensationalized reports of aggressive dog attacks and the blame is often placed on the pit bulls.  Rebecca Pickens summarized it best in her journal article "Michael Vick's Pit Bulls & Dogfighting: Ramifications of Media Coverage" when she stated "a conclusion can be drawn that pit bull-type dogs and the many issues surrounding them, are often only deemed newsworthy if they bite or suffer at the hands of someone famous.  This has contributed to a tragically negative, one-dimensional portrayal of a major demographic of dogs in the United States" (34).  The simple fact is that if people would put aside their media-fueled preconceived notions of shelter pit bulls and simply spend a few minutes with the dog they would discover not a blood-thirsty biting monster but a loyal, loving and slobber-infused licking fanatic who really just wants to be accepted and welcomed into a forever home with a loving family...just like every other dog at the animal shelter.

RESEARCH COLLECTION

Source #1

Tullis, Paul. “The Softer Side of Pit Bulls. A Reviled Breed gets a Makeover.” Time (2013):54. Web. 5 August 2014.

This article describes a brief history of the pit bull and discusses the aggressive reputation of pit bulls and their association with dogfighting.  Pit bulls are the least adopted shelter animal and have the highest euthanasia rate in the United States (Tullis, 55).  The bad reputation of the breed has caused some cities to ban them.  Advocacy groups for pit bulls are trying to change this and improve the overall image and reputation of the pit bull breed.  The pit bull breed has developed a bad reputation which is largely unfounded and because of their bad reputation, pit bulls are often passed over in the animal shelter setting and are euthanized at a higher rate than other breeds of dogs.  It is thought that the negative stigma attached to pit bulls began in the late 70’s when the breed was best known as a vicious dog fighting machine (Tullis, 56).  However, pit bulls were originally bred to be working dogs and had an earlier reputation of being a great family dog.  One-sided and negative media portrayal have contributed to a societal “black listing” of pit bulls that is largely undeserved.

The tide seems to be turning for pit bull dogs and this is thanks to an increasing number of vocal pit bull advocates.  Adoptions at one animal shelter in Chicago are up 600% and a shelter in Los Angeles maintains a waiting list for families that specifically want a pit bull breed  (Tullis, 56). 

Source #2

Enos, Sara K. “The Problem with People, Not Pit Bulls.” Time (2014). Web. 5 August 2014.

Sara Enos is the founder of the American Pit Bull Foundation and is a long time pit bull enthusiast and owner.  She writes this article for Time magazine as a response to an article which ran 6/20/14 titled “The Problem with Pit Bulls”.  Sara states that the pit bull breed is no different than any other dog breed and that problems with dogs can usually be traced back to problems with the humans who raised them.  Sara believes in responsible breed ownership and education and states that “canine aggression is triggered by human behavior.”  She also points out that pit bulls are frequently misidentified and may actually be blamed for bites that are caused by other similar breeds of dogs and this contributes to the disproportionately high number of dog bites that are blamed on pit bulls. 

I was surprised to read that the American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) actually rates pit bulls as very friendly.  I didn’t know what the ATTS was so I looked it up and found their webpage.  The test measures a dogs’ ability to interact with humans, human situations, and the environment.  Frankly, I was shocked and pleased to discover that the pit bull ranked 91.1% which is very good.  To compare, I looked up the Labrador retriever and discovered it was ranked at 92%.  Sara Enos essentially summarized what I, and most other pit bull advocates, already knew: a good dog in the hands of bad people will do bad things and this is true of pit bull dogs and any other breed.

Source #3

Pickens, Rebecca C. “Michael Vick’s Pit Bulls & Dogfighting: Ramifications of Media Coverage.” Journal of Student Research (2013): 29-35. Web. 5 August 2014

Rebecca Pickens article addresses the profound impact the Michael Vick dogfighting case had on the image and reputation of the pit bull breed.  Media can play an important role in enforcing or debunking stereotypes and influencing public opinion on a subject.  Negative media portrayal of pit bulls has played a large part in fueling fear and stereotypes related to this breed of dog.  This sensationalism has a direct impact on the lives and well-being of shelter animals, particularly pit bull breeds, because they are often passed over and left in the shelter for longer periods and are euthanized at a higher rate than other shelter dogs.

The widespread media coverage of the Michael Vick case and pit bull horror had a profound effect on pit bull advocates.  Pickens is quoted as stating “for the first time in decades America rallied for the pit bull. Animal rights advocates saw an opportunity to increase public demand for tougher sentencing on dogfighting and decrease public fear of these misunderstood dogs” (29).  Pickens also reiterates the fact that the term “pit bull” is not an official dog breed and can in fact reflect many very unique and genetically diverse dog breeds such as the American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Pit Bull Terrier (30).  Furthermore, the media is credited with utilizing the term “pit bull” to describe any number of dogs that happen to have certain physical characteristics (Pickens, 30).   Over time it could be accurately stated that the pit bull terrier has been the unfortunate victim of dog profiling and has had a disproportionately high number of incidents pinned on it simply because of the way it happens to look.  All of this negative media publicity and blame has certainly tainted the reputation of a breed that was once known as “the all-American” dog (Pickens, 29).

We Are "Breeder X"

UNITED WE STAND AND CONQUER, DIVIDED WE FAIL

I lost a friend last night.  Well not a ‘real’ friend really but a Facebook friend.  She 'unfriended' me on Facebook because when she posted some pretty hateful stuff toward people who we really need to influence I pointed out to her that judging and hating never influenced anyone to change.  I shared that personally I’m not here to judge or hate anyone but to help dogs and educate people.  I also expressed my personal wish that the people who believe that by judging and hating on people you can influence them to do better or do something different would leave the animal welfare community because it’s not productive, the judging and hating, and it only drags the rest of us down.  So she unfriended me which I am not taking personally in the least and to be perfectly honest isn’t a big deal to me.  I don’t view it as a personal loss but view it as an unfortunate move because one never knows when networking and joining forces will benefit a cause; so the community loses but not me personally.

I understand the need to vent.  I most certainly understand that being exposed to the injustices and abuses day after day after day can become painful and is as frustrating as hell.  I get frustrated.  I get so frustrated I think about giving up sometimes because it seems as if the harder we work the less we accomplish because on some fronts, like cops shooting people’s dogs or people fighting dogs or people abusing dogs or dogs needlessly dying in shelters because there’s no room or they have behavioral issues, it seems like we are losing a whole hell of a lot more ground than we are gaining.  I get pissed.  I get truly aggravated.  I want to slap people, kick asses and cuss people out.  But I don’t.  Why don’t I you ask?  Because although it may vent my anger, my frustration and my feelings of inadequacy, helplessness and hopelessness it doesn’t do anyone but me a damn bit of good.  It doesn’t influence any of those people who carry out the acts that are the source of my aggravation and despair to change.  It doesn’t manifest one bit of change and it sure as hell doesn’t help or save one single dog.  If you think that venting your anger, frustration, judgment and hatred over the things you see that are wrong on social media saves dogs then you are clearly not thinking logically or are under some sort of misguided idea that you have a whole lot more influence by being angry and being judgmental than you could ever have by reaching out to those people who you are hating on. 

In fact all it really does when I vent my anger among my fellow animal welfare friends is to motivate them to join in and vent their own anger.  So the next thing you know, usually on a thread started by a post to help a dog, the thread is filled with judgment, hatred and anger and not many of the comments are constructive in that not many of them are doing anything to help the dog.  So a thread started by a post to help a dog that is in dire need or maybe is in imminent danger of losing its life in a shelter fills up with people fuming about the piece of shit people who caused the dog to be in the shelter in the first place.  If you could I’d like someone out there to explain to me, in laymen’s terms if you will because apparently I’m just too stupid to understand this approach to saving dogs, exactly how hating on the people who caused the dog to be in danger of losing its life or in need of a home is helping the dog get out of the shelter and into a new home.  Yes all of you out there reading this please if you have an explanation of how this helps the dogs please share it with me because I’m just too damned daft to see it apparently.

In the end space on threads to help dogs is being taken up by the judgers and haters while a few of us try to pick through all the comments judging and hating to find the people who, like us, are trying to actually DO something to help the dog.  It’s very frustrating for me to have to pick out the helpful comments from all the judging and hating plus it actually makes me feel a bit ashamed to be a part of the animal welfare community at the same time.   So many say it’s for the dogs but when I see those comments posted on those threads I have to question some people’s motives.  Is it really for the dogs or is it just to fill our own emotional needs to be needed and/or to feel superior to those people who aren’t nearly as perfect as you believe that you are?  I’m far from perfect and have made mistakes with dogs in my lifetime so it’s easy I suppose for me to relate to those who simply don’t know any better and therefore don’t always do the right thing for the dog.  I do know that being judged harshly in a public forum for those mistakes would never in a million years motivate me to do better and I can’t be the only one…

My dear and very wise friend Foster Corder, that I admire immensely for his drive to unite the animal welfare community and help dogs, said something in an interview I watched yesterday that really struck a chord in me.  It was something that I think applies to this whole issue and that is that before we go around judging others we must first clean up our own house.  To me that translates into something very real and critical for us at this juncture in the existence of the animal welfare community.  If we are going to influence the people who abuse dogs, who fight dogs, who are irresponsible dog owners, who abandon dogs, who purchase dogs rather than adopt them out there in the general public then FIRST and FOREMOST we’ve got to get our collective shit together.  We need to STOP, CEASE AND DESIST with the public judging and hating on people on social media who don’t do what we believe they should be doing or who are doing things we don’t believe they should be doing.  If we are going to get them to stop doing what they are doing or begin doing what we want them to do then we MUST, MUST, MUST change our approach and that includes not bashing them or people like them all over social media every time a dog ends up abused or in a shelter.  This is critical to our success in encouraging, inspiring, educating and helping people change so that fewer dogs will end up dead in shelters or at the hands of humans.  That’s just it…we really need to encourage, inspire, educate and help people do better; not believe that we can judge and hate them into doing better.

This animal welfare community has been around a long time before I joined it by becoming a pit bull advocate and it will hopefully be around a long time after I’m dead and gone but our history isn’t the best due to the way a lot of our people operate within this community.  We haven’t done the best job we could do because those who ‘get it’ and can suspend judgment in order to reach people and influence them to do better are outnumbered it seems by those who choose to allow their emotions to rule them and rather than suspend judgment they completely miss the opportunity to help someone change for the better; for the next dog they get and the next.  When we spew our negative feelings all over social media about people it only serves to alienate the very people we need to influence. 

All I know is that by continuing to operate as a community in this manner it is truly a sign of insanity, which is what most ‘outsiders’ think of people in the animal welfare community are, because to continue to do the same thing in the same way again and again and again expecting a different outcome is the very definition of insanity. 

We’ve got to do better at policing our own ranks which means we’ve got to do better at helping those who lose their cool because they are frustrated and angry understand that while we do sympathize and even empathize with them that we must overcome the urge to vent out there on social media, to judge people on social media and to spew hatred out on social media.  We need to encourage those less hardy among us to private message their friends if they feel the need to express their frustration and anger about those people who just abandoned an elderly dog at their shelter or abused a dog or fought a dog.  We’ve got to do a better job of letting our fellow animal welfare advocates get that while we understand their angst we can’t tolerate their negative comments out on social media on the threads following posts to help dogs.  We need to make it perfectly clear to them that in order for us to be as effective as possible that the space, the time, the effort must be focused SOLELY on helping the dog and not wasted on condemning the people who caused the dog to need our help.  In other words those of us who ‘get it’ and who can maintain our cool when we want to bash the hell out of someone on social media need to let others know what kind of community we want to be and what kind of united front we want to show to the general public. It’s passed the time for us to show a united front of people who are focused ONLY on helping dogs, helping owners who need assistance so they don’t have to give up their dogs, helping the general public understand that as a society we need to be more responsible dog owners and if they don’t know what to do that they need to find out what to do; that they need to ask for help because WE are here to HELP, not to judge or condemn. 

There is a Wiccan code that Wiccans and witches, good witches of course, live by that states, ‘An' ye harm none, do what ye will. What ye send forth comes back to thee…’.  It’s a code that we need to adopt and live by in the animal welfare community in order to truly accomplish those things that so many in the community work so tirelessly, selflessly and generously to accomplish.  We must change because if we don’t change then progress will never be made and in generations to come people like us will still be facing the same challenges and obstacles that we face today and will be feeling and saying the same things which only means that our community is indeed insane…

Foster on Tuesdays 4hr shows!

WHEN FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS NOT A GOOD THING

This morning this writer got a real eye opener, as if I needed one, in regard to the bias of the news media and how they use the ‘freedom of the press’ to drive certain ideas or limit others from surfacing.  I was watching, well mostly listening to, a local newscast this morning as I do every morning while putting on my make-up to ready myself for work.  This morning one of our local news stations, the one we watch every morning, had a segment about the Yellow Ribbon Project which is a grassroots movement by dog owners to create a way by which other people can understand that their dog should be approached with care or caution when in public.  If the reader hasn’t heard of this Yellow Ribbon Project the premise is that if ‘everyone’, and it would take EVERYONE knowing about this to work, knew that when they come across a dog sporting a yellow ribbon, a yellow collar, a yellow vest or anything yellow and conspicuous that the dog wasn’t one that was comfortable with being approached and one should ask the owner first and/or approach calmly.  I won’t speak to what this writer thinks of this method of helping one’s dogs feel less threatened by strangers or other dogs in this blog but at a later time I will give my opinion on the program.  Today I want to speak to what one of the news anchors commented during this segment, what the segment guest (who was a veterinarian) said and the stations reaction to the public’s comments on the post on their Facebook page that ensued.

At any rate I was listening to/watching this segment of the newscast and thought I heard the anchor man say something that didn’t sound quite kosher.  I asked my husband to rewind it so I could hear it again to be sure that what I thought he said was actually what he said.  Well yes he did say what I thought he said and that was, “So this yellow ribbon isn’t necessarily just for aggressive breeds like pit bulls right?”  To which the veterinarian replied, “Yes that’s right.”  I don’t know which person this writer was most angry with; the news anchor who suggested that there are aggressive breeds and pit bulls are one or the veterinarian who should know better missing the opportunity to correct the news anchor about his assumption that first of all there are aggressive breeds and secondly pit bulls are one of them.  Either way I wasn’t about to just sit there and listen to it and felt that as a pit bull owner and advocate that I had to do something to let the news station know that ignorance of that magnitude needed to be addressed and corrected.

So when I got to work I immediately penned a message to the news station that I posted on their Facebook page as a comment on the thread that was started by their posting of the information about the segment about the Yellow Ribbon Project.  It was calm.  It was rational.  It was pretty much a request for their anchor reporter to educate himself about aggressive breeds, in that there aren’t any inherently aggressive breeds, and about pit bulls in general.  I also invited the news anchor and any of their news reporters to meet with my advocacy so we can share some valid information with them as well as stating that there was a standing invitation to their news staff to join us on one of our monthly bully walks so they would be able to see that responsible dog owners have safe dogs no matter what kind of dog.  I hoped that through commenting in a rational, calm, non-judgmental manner and inviting them to come and learn from personal experience about pit bulls and what determines that a dog becomes aggressive that they might actually take us up on it.  I invited them to come meet with us or walk with us with or without their cameras in the hope that they might be interested in finding out some information that would actually be a benefit to the public to hear as opposed to misinformation and conjecture based on a news anchors personal opinion or maybe just a lack of knowledge on his part.

We all know the way the news media handles pit bulls when there’s an incident where an alleged pit bull has harmed someone and I suppose we’ve learned that there’s nothing to be done to change this approach by the news media, however suggesting in passing when discussing a totally unrelated issue that pit bulls are one of the ‘aggressive breeds’ is something that we can address and should not allow to stand without public comment.  So in addition to commenting on their Facebook page myself I called out the troops and asked all of our Bully Walks to please comment on the news stations Facebook page as well; on the thread about the Yellow Ribbon Project.  People started posting their comments and as requested by me when I called them to speak out they posted calm, rational and informational comments asking the station to please become more educated about what determines that a dog is aggressive, not the breed, and about pit bulls.  Some people posted photos of their dogs along with their comments.  I was so proud of the pit bull owning community because EVERYONE without exception posted mature, calm, rational and non-judgmental comments on that thread.  In fact so many people were posting that the thread kind of turned into commentary on how the news media presents information about pit bulls in general.  I guess you could say that we took the thread over but in a good way without a single negative comment.

Well I guess the news people decided that they would refuse to hear it so they took the thread off the page.  It started around 8:00 AM and by around noon the whole thread was gone…the original post and all.  People still posted their comments however without the thread being there which was good.

So there you have it.  The news media selects what stories to report and also what details they share when reporting a story.  I guess you might say that they own the information so they can twist it all they want (thanks John Mayer for the words) but if anyone stands up and points out that their information is twisted, inaccurate or incomplete they won’t have it.  Wow.  They have ‘freedom of the press’ and we are all expected to support their right as given by our forefathers so long ago by not trying to censor the press.  But on the other hand when they use their right to report what they want when they want and we stand up and ask them to correct it or withdraw it because it’s simply not true on any level then they feel they can censor us.  I’m not too sure exactly how that works really.  This writer is extremely confused as to why they can say whatever they want, true or not-based on actuality or not, and then when we say we won’t accept that information because we know it’s misinformation they can silence us; well at least when we are posting on social media on their account.  Freedom of speech is supposed to apply to everyone but I guess it doesn’t, not anymore, not in our country.

We Are "Breeder X"

IF IT DOESN'T HELP - THEN DON'T DO IT...PLEASE

There seems to be an assumption being made by a portion, sometimes a large portion, of the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community that publicly vilifying people who surrender their dogs to a shelter or rescue somehow helps aid the dog as it travels through the system.  I can only assume that this assumption exists on the part of a reasonable number of people in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community based on the high volume of extremely critical, judgmental and very often hateful comments made by people when posting in Facebook threads where a dog needs to be rescued, fostered, adopted or has been surrendered and/or is in need of expensive medical care. 

Routinely, as I check my Facebook messages in an ongoing effort to network for dogs in need, there seems to be many people, more than you might think, who’s only comment is to say very nasty, judgmental and hateful things about the person(s) who surrendered a dog to a shelter or rescue.  There is no way to know if these same people also share the post with their friends, contacts and colleagues in addition to their comments about the people who surrendered the dog(s) but the only assumption I can make is that these people truly feel as if their harsh criticism is helpful to the dog.   These comments, that can only be counterproductive to the process of getting the dog(s) what they need from the shelter or rescue they are surrendered to, are often made with minimal knowledge of the details or facts surrounding the situation but yet these people still feel it’s ‘helpful’ in some way to spread their judgment and hatred around Facebook thread after thread after thread.  I assume, because at times it’s what I’m told, that many people who do rescue, who advocate or who work in shelters feel that if a dog owner is not perfect in every way (like they believe they themselves are) that means they are abusers, low life’s, horrible people who don’t care about their dog and should never own a dog…never again.  It is rarely, if ever, taken into account the circumstances that surround the situation and many assumptions are made in the comments on these threads as to what the former owner was feeling, how they felt about the dog and what kind of dog owner they were.  Most often it’s assumed and documented that the former owner didn’t care about the dog, was a poor dog owner to begin with and doesn’t deserve to have had the dog or to ever have another dog.  So often you will see people comment that they would NEVER do that no matter what; however saying one would never do something when one isn’t faced with the situation or circumstances only reflects intention but can’t reflect actuality.  In fact it's possible that the very people who surrender their dog to a shelter may have themselves once exclaimed that they would NEVER surrender their dog to a shelter.

Sure venting personal opinions or aggravations is a part of Facebook, sometimes more than a huge part of it, and sure everyone is entitled to their opinion and entitled to express that opinion.  But when people are working tirelessly, some people 24 hours a day, to help a dog why do so many feel it necessary to take up space on the thread to vent their anger at anyone who would ever surrender a dog to a shelter?  I couldn’t venture a guess as to why they do it but all I can say is that they do it, they do it very often, they do it with much vehemence and they seem to feel as if it somehow is helpful to do it.  Concurrently while these harsh assumptions may be partially or even completely true about the surrendering dog owners how can airing the suspicions in public help the dog?  Can pointing out that the former owner didn’t really care about the dog, like the person commenting believes people should care about their dogs, pay for medical care?  Can it pay for boarding for the dog?  Can it find a foster for the dog?  Can it get the dog adopted?  Based on what I see time and time and time again on these networking threads to save or help a dog apparently there are some, many, people who do believe that their personal opinion about the former dog owner(s) is helpful and will make a difference in the ultimate outcome for the dog.  If people are overpowered by the need to vent about the dog owners who surrender a dog to a shelter then perhaps they should consider beginning a new thread where they can vent to their heart’s delight while leaving the thread posted to help the dog to only that; to help the dog. 

However there are people in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community who choose to suspend judgment and instead help those dog owners who feel that their only option is to surrender their dog to a shelter.  These people operate under the assumption that not everyone is resourceful and therefore when people come to a shelter to surrender their dogs there are a significant number of cases where the people can be provided information or assistance that will allow them to keep their dog and therefore keep the dog out of the shelter.  It surely is considered a radical approach based on my experience with the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community but I am hoping it will become the norm in our community.  I’d like to think that as more and more of us suspend our judgment so that we can help the dog by helping its owner that in time attitudes will change and more of our community will avoid the harsh, judgmental, hateful criticism of anyone who would even remotely consider surrendering their dog to a shelter no matter the reason why.  I feel it prudent to mention here that IF the most horrible, hateful and abusive thing that any dog owner can do is to surrender their dog to a shelter then what does that say about how our shelters are being run?  What does that say about how we choose to operate a shelter and what being in the shelter means to the animals?

There’s an organization who saw a need and filled it; Home Dog L.A.  Their story is one of looking beyond the action of surrendering a dog to a shelter deeper into the varied reasons why the dog owners feel they need to do it.  They decided that perhaps being understanding and compassionate would be a much better way to help the dog(s) than to simply pass judgment on the owner and take the dog.  Through this unfortunately unique program/organization untold numbers of dogs have been helped to stay out of the shelter and to go back home to lead improved lives by helping their owner instead of judging them.  The time has come for the paradigm to shift in the animal welfare/dog rescue/dog advocating community and I hope that this organization will catch on so that once and for all as a community of people who claim to only be interested in helping the dogs we will also learn that by helping the dog’s owner the dog is being helped and room is being made in shelters for dogs that have no owner or have been removed due to abuse.

To find out more about the organization who is helping people keep their dogs in Los Angeles go to Home Dog L.A.

Dojie's Law For A Safer Oregon's Fundraiser video - rejected by kickstar...

ALL FOR THE DOGS

How many times do you hear someone say that what they do to advocate for and rescue dogs is ‘ALL FOR THE DOGS’?  

It’s a common statement made by many and yet how many really do it ‘all for the dogs’?  How many out there honestly and truly set aside ego, the need for recognition and personal feelings about everything from training methods to how a dog is to be kept including all the little differences we may have with others to work solely for the benefit of the dogs?  How many? 

In my experience of three years traveling through the animal welfare/pit bull advocating and rescuing communities I have found many people who share my concerns and goals and who make public claims that everything that they do is ‘all for the dogs’ and yet I have met so few that suspend personal preferences and feelings to do it ‘all for the dogs’.  It’s not that unusual to connect with a new person on social networking that appears on the surface to truly be on the same page as you are when it comes to advocating for or rescuing dogs but who over time finds too many ‘differences’ in opinion and philosophy to continue the association.  Things go along famously, working together for the good of the dogs, until one ventures an opinion on something like let’s say…dog training methodology.  Then you can sense a coldness and a distance all of a sudden and in extreme cases a promise not to associate with you in any way in the future.  You agree to disagree, to continue to work for the dogs together, but they go on to harangue and to admonish you in a not so veiled attempt to convert you around to their way of seeing and/or doing things.  They insist that they are right about whatever issue you are discussing and that because you are not right that you surely can’t be their equal nor can you possibly offer any adequate support for what they are trying to accomplish.  Some gather forces to wage a war of words, and often enough alliances, where it ends up more of an ‘us vs. them’ situation where one side is against the other even though both sides share a common goal and everyone claims that everything that they do is only for the dogs. Yet all the while, while they are fighting against you, they are vehemently claiming that they and only they know the facts, that they are the ones who have it right who can do the best for the dogs and that you will only bring harm to the dogs.

IF it is ALL for the dogs then why allow differences of opinion and philosophy hinder forming an alliance where more can be done for more dogs with less obstacles?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why be so immature as to be unable to look past another person’s opinions and philosophies so that together more can be accomplished?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why shut others out when they reach out to be a part of what you are doing for the benefit of your cause?  IF it is ALL for the dogs then why refuse to join forces with someone else on their project simply because you don't see eye to eye on everything or they might get the lion's share of the credit?

Ego seems to permeate all corners of life but I think it’s a bit more prevalent in the animal welfare/pit bull advocating and/or rescuing world.  So many led purely by their emotions who believe that drama is just a fact of the animal welfare community and who go along with whatever drama seems to be out there being passed around.  So many forming friendships that flourish as long as the other person sees things and believes just exactly as they do and that fall to pieces at the slightest indication that there might be a different view or opinion about things lurking in the other person.

Bottom line as I see it is that when we ignore the help of others so that we and only we will get all the credit, whether we do it consciously or not, some dogs are losing the help that they need.  When we fight amongst ourselves about such things as training methodology, prong collars and the like we are robbing the very dogs we claim to care so much for and to be working so hard to help.  

Helping dogs, regardless of in what capacity, is a highly emotional undertaking at the very best.  There are so many dogs failed every single day by us humans; dogs that we are unable to help simply because there is so much to be done and so few of us to do it.  So doesn’t it make sense to work hard to reduce the emotional aspect of helping dogs as much as possible so that we can accomplish more?  Doesn’t it make sense to STOP CEASE AND DESIST our own personal campaigns about dog training methods, kinds of collars, on or off leash and all of the other things that we so often argue about that takes precious time away from our being productive for the dogs?  Doesn’t it make more sense to bite our tongue, hold our head high and work with others who are different than ourselves for the benefit of the dogs as opposed to separating ourselves into groups of people who prefer this kind of training or that kind of collar or whatever the ‘differences’ are?

I often think of all of the people I see out there on social media who are all working toward the same goals for dogs and yet who work alone as if they fear that if they join forces they might get lost in the shuffle and no one will ever really know what our contributions were.  I often think of all of the people out there who go it alone simply because they are intolerant of other ideas and ways.  I often think of the many, many, many, thousands if not more, people out there who could do so much good and save so many dogs together but yet because of personal opinion and differences in beliefs they remain isolated or at the very least form a small select group of people who often do little else except argue with other people about how it should be done and what needs to be done for the dogs.

Maybe, just maybe, it's time for us in the animal welfare, pit bull advocating and rescuing community to cast our differences aside like mature adults and join together for the good of the dogs we all claim that are the sole purpose that we do what we do.

GUNS AND PIT BULLS...

The tragedy in Santa Barbara this last weekend when a young man killed several people, all innocent of any wrong doing toward him in any way, by both knife and gun was just that; a tragedy.  Trying to wrap one’s mind around what led this person to do what he did and making any sense of any of it seems impossible.  Which is all the more reason why everyone needs to take a step back and take the time to reflect on the ‘true’ source of the problem that ended in these unnecessary and tragic killings is/was.

Right now everyone who thinks guns should not exist or be owned by responsible people is jumping on the ‘ban guns’ bus using this tragedy as a perfect example why guns should be more heavily regulated and even some are suggesting that no one in the general public should have guns at all; not even those responsible people who understand what guns are and the potential for disaster using guns. 

There is a LOT of blame going around at the moment and most, if not all of it, seems to be focusing on guns as if any gun at any time could come to life and begin to kill of its own accord free of any human involvement whatsoever.  Once again we Americans, with our very fine tuned knee jerk reaction reflex, are focusing attention and placing blame on an inanimate object or an object that in and of itself is typically harmless until in the hands of a human being.   Once again we forget that logic exists and run in droves to either condemn or defend an inanimate object with tempers flaring and accusations flying.  Once again there is little or no mention of the human being who executed a detailed plan that had no doubt, according to their own words, been brewing for some time in the mind of the human.

This horrendous act was perpetrated by a human being.  This human being thought it through from every angle, apparently according to his own words, and then executed it with calm resolve as if executing a plan to do something totally normal by most human standards.  The mind of the person who did this with such calm resolve obviously was not a mind that operates like the vast majority of people but was a mind that has focused so much energy and intent on his inability to attract women that it became an obsession with him; an obsession that dictated to him, in his mind, that he had to do something about it, that he had to punish others for it.  The young man wrote a 137 page diatribe for crying out loud.  Extremely few of us would ever go to that length even if we were really, really, really pissed and upset about something.  Could it be that the young man who committed this heinous attack on innocents was nothing like most of the rest of us?  Could it be that he was an example of the extreme's that very few of us would go to when felling rejected or disrespected?  Could it be that we have much more to fear from others like him than from the inanimate objects that are their weapon of choice?

This was something well thought out and executed; something that he more than likely thought about most of his waking hours day after day after day.  Was he insane?  Was he mentally ill?  Or was he simply a privileged young man who perhaps had never been shown that disappointment and rejection happens to us all and that we get over it…we move on…we grow from the experience?  At any rate from the sound of what has been revealed so far from his diatribe and the u-tube video he made just prior to carrying out his plan this person would have formulated a plan with or without guns and would have found some way, any way, to exact his revenge on all beautiful young college girls because a few had not found him attractive or date-worthy.  But no one seems to focus on that or even care about it.  No one seems to be looking any further than one of the tools he utilized, he also stabbed his roommates to death but no one seems to care about that, nor do they seem to care about anything but the gun(s) and the way they feel about guns personally.

The gun issue so reminds me of the pit bull issue.  It doesn’t really matter to most people that there are humans involved that have complete control over the guns or the dogs.  All that matters is that the guns/dogs caused harm, always as if on their own without any involvement whatsoever from human beings, and that something must be done so it never…ever…not ever…happens again.  Many people are of the mind that if the gun/dog didn’t even exist that the injuries and fatalities would never have happened nor could anything like them occur in the future as if guns are the only tools we can use to harm or kill others or as if pit bulls are the only kind of dogs that can harm or kill.  I can’t say that I understand that logic at all.  I don’t understand how so many people can become so blinded by fear that they neglect to consider the involvement of human beings.  Maybe it’s because if one human is held responsible for their actions then we too must be held responsible for all of ours.  Maybe it’s because people don’t understand or like the idea that if one human could do such a heinous thing that another can and therefore we could given the right circumstances and mindset. 

Holding the ‘tool’ responsible for the ‘deed’ is in my estimation one of the least productive and most asinine things we as a society can do.  Take away one tool and humans find another, take that tool away and we will find another and another and another.  The bottom line is that we humans more than likely will never stop hurting and killing one another, we will never stop being irresponsible dog owners that have no control over our dogs, we will never stop allowing rejection and disappointment to drive us to harm or kill others as our revenge on them for hurting our feelings, we will never stop allowing our dogs to roam at large or be around those who can’t defend themselves unsupervised.  These things and many more are things that humanity does and until humanity looks within and fixes the issues that drives these acts and more by using insight, empathy, compassion and help for those who need it these situations will occur AND they will occur long after there are no more guns or pit bulls should those who choose to hold the guns/dogs completely responsible get their way. 

Many people see these mass killings by guns and also people being harmed or killed by pit bull type dogs as a sign that we need to eliminate these things from our midst entirely so we can be a safer society.   What I see these continued horrendous and tragic incidents being a sign of is that it’s high time we humans STOPPED blaming the tool and started blaming ourselves, the society we have created together and the individual human beings that perpetrated the crime or neglect that resulted in injury or death. 

In the end do we need better gun control laws?  Surely we must; although the gun(s) used in Santa Barbara were purchased legally by a person who by all outward appearances was a nice young man, a ‘normal’ person.  Do we need better animal control laws?  Surely we do because humans are not understanding the importance of taking complete and full responsibility for the actions of the dogs or pets they take into their care.

So why am I going on and on about this when a vast majority of the people who read it will balk at the idea of taking focus off of the gun/pit bull issue.  Sure many of you will fume at the very thought of anyone with half a brain thinking/believing that guns are okay to own or that pit bulls are okay to have when both of them have caused so much pain and suffering for so many in the past.  What many won’t see or understand is that it is BECAUSE of where we place our focus when these tragedies occur that we continue to have them with such frequency.  NOT because there are still guns.  NOT because there are still pit bulls.  But because we have yet to place the blame and our focus on the one common denominator in every single incident where people have been harmed or killed since time immemorial and that one common denominator is the human being who used the gun against others or who allowed the dog to be out of control that harmed someone/something.

These incidents are painful and so very tragic but instead of allowing them to bring us together as one solid community that will work on improving things for the future we use them to divide us in ways that don’t really matter because we are all focusing on the wrong end of the gun/leash and that gets us nowhere.  If it did get us somewhere then these incidents would be on the decrease but as anyone who is exposed to the news media anywhere can tell you they are on the increase.  If anything I’ve written sinks into one person’s mind and helps them see where focus needs to be made in order to every truly fix these problems every word will be worth it.  Sure most will be closed off to any idea that guns or pit bulls are acceptable on any level and the rest will think me some sort of gun toting vicious dog raising idiot who has their head in the sand…but I say to those who choose that perspective that if my head is in the sand theirs is right there next to mine deeply embedded in the sand of fear and lack of logic where there is absolutely no real honest idea of how to fix the problem.

BEFORE YOU GET A DOG

Getting a dog is a lot of fun especially for those who love dogs.  

It can be quite an exciting and joyous occasion for most families. However, there are people who do not understand fully the responsibilities of having a dog until they already have one.  Some people will choose to step up to the plate, accept the responsibility and do what needs to be done even if they must do research and seek help from professionals.  Some people unfortunately don’t recognize how involved even the most basic care is required for a dog to be happy, healthy and a safe companion.  When how much work and dedication is involved is realized by some people they either end up returning the dog to where they got it from, re-homing the dog, surrendering the dog to a shelter or worse yet inadvertently through ignorance and/or the unwillingness to do what is needed abuse the dog; sometimes even unto death for the dog.

Breeders, shelters and rescues can only do so much to ensure that someone taking one of their dogs will fully accept the lifelong commitment required to have a dog and so unfortunately some dogs end up in shelters and depending on the condition of the dog physically and/or behaviorally the dog may end up being euthanized.  So perhaps the onus on understanding what is involved with having a dog successfully should begin to fall on the public which logically needs to begin with recognizing what a dog truly needs to be a happy, healthy and well-behaved companion/family member.

Based on what I’ve seen and heard over the past three years as a pit bull advocate through my associations with people in the animal welfare/animal rights community there are some basic but extremely important factors that every person needs to seriously consider prior to taking on the responsibility of having a dog.  I would like to think that if people are considering getting a dog they will be interested in determining first of all what is required to have a dog successfully.

To be clear I am NO expert but based on what I've heard around and seen here’s a list of things to ask oneself and answer honestly BEFORE getting a dog.

1. What is my personal reason for getting a dog?  Am I giving into a spouse or child against my better judgment or is this something that I really want?
2. Do I expect my dog to fulfill all of my emotional needs, to be my sole source of unconditional love, OR do I honestly want to give a dog a wonderful home while getting a great companion?
3.  What kind of dog do I want?  Am I interested in a breed I think is cute or am I looking for a dog that will suit my lifestyle, that will match my own energy level and abilities as a dog owner?
4. Am I prepared to have a dog in that do I have the time, the energy, the finances and place for a dog?  Am I ready, regardless of the size of my home or yard, to take my dog for a walk EVERY day for exercise?
5.  Am I ready and willing to have a dog live inside of my home as a family member?
6. Am I ready and willing to be a proper ‘parent’ to my dog?  Do I realize that a dog requires more than shelter, food, water and vetting to be a safe and happy member of my family?
7. Am I ready and willing to do whatever it takes to assure that my dog is safe around all other living things?  Will I be willing to seek training assistance should my dog’s behavior become a problem?
8. Am I ready and willing to teach all members of my family how to interact with the dog and handle it properly as well as to require them to do so?
9. Am I prepared to keep the dog, no matter what, for the entire length of its life even through old age and the possible medical issues that come with it?
10.  If something happens that I can’t take care of my dog do I have a commitment from friends/family to take over the care of my dog?  Am I committed to making arrangements for the dog in the case that I can no longer care for it? 

If the answer to each and every question above is a firm, resounding and confident YES then you are more than likely ready to get a dog and have taken into consideration some of the more important aspects of having a dog.  If you can’t answer YES with confidence to every question then perhaps it’s time to rethink getting a dog right now and wait until you are better prepared emotionally and are better qualified to have a dog.

The excitement and joy of getting a dog only lasts for a short while but a dog’s life is anywhere from six or seven to fifteen or sixteen years depending on the breed of dog.  So the question is whether or not one is prepared to fully meet that commitment until the end.

Things happen.  Life happens and typically the trauma’s, tribulations and emergencies we are faced with are unplanned so that is understood (well at least it’s understood by me) but the more we think through getting a dog before we get it the less likely that our dog will end up back to the breeder, back to the shelter, surrendered to a shelter, will have to be re-homed or have to be euthanized.

Give A "TWEET" 4 Dogs!