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For a conservative community, I am surprised by how many Freepers buy into the media spin on pit bulls and see them as demonic animals. They are dogs first, and like any dog they are a reflection of their training, management and living conditions.

Dogs of ALL breed bite, attack, and kill humans. But when a lab or poodle is the attacker, it is either: A) NOT reported by the media at all, or B) IF it is reported, the breed name is never mentioned, it is simply called a “dog” attack. “Pit bull attack” is a salacious headline that the media jump on, and as conservatives who have watched so many of our representatives dragged through the media mud, we should all be familiar with (and disgusted by) this biased media tactic.

I could go on and on about this because as an owner of an American Pit Bull Terrier, I often face criticism and discrimination, despite the fact that I am a RESPONSIBLE owner, whose dog is a member of the family and is trained, socialized and always well-mannered and on-leash in public. But I think this letter-to-the-editor, written by a friend who runs a dog rescue, says it better than I am able to articulate:

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In response to the Orlando Sentinel’s opinion-page, titled “Our take on-pit bull attack” regarding an attack on a Mr. McSweeney

by Erica Daniel on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 18:53

My name is Erica Daniel, and I’m the President and founder of Dolly’s Foundation, a non-profit rescue organization in central Florida. The purpose of Dolly’s Foundation is to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome homeless, neglected, and abused American Pit Bull Terriers and other bully breed dogs. As well as preserve, promote, and bring positive awareness to the breed and the negative stereotype bestowed upon them.

While the news of Mr. McSweeney brought sadness to the entire community, we couldn’t help but notice your lack of ability to recognize that all dogs should be judged based on individuality. We certainly aren’t justifying the dog’s actions and agree they should have been humanely euthanized, but we are curious as to what charges will be brought upon the owner. It was stated that this may have not been the only incident the dogs were involved in, why weren’t they properly restrained? Why isn’t the owner being held accountable? We can only assume that the dogs were intact, even though the report fails to mention. You may not see the importance or relevance of the issue but it’s a fact that intact dogs are three time more likely to bite than a spayed or neutered dog. More importantly, it is also a fact that no spayed or neutered pit bull has killed anyone in recorded history. For being such a strong minded organization, I would think one might check up on these types of facts before using such strong statements.

Even more importantly, the average person can only identify about 20 breeds of dogs. While we understand Mr. McSweeney was bitten by neighbors dogs who have been identified by both the owner and witnesses, we can’t help but ask; Do you honestly think while being “attacked” by ANY breed of dog, you’re in the state of mind to properly identify a breed? There was a woman in Orange County who was “viciously attacked by a pit bull.” There were witnesses and everything. When the fire department showed up to the scene, they knocked on the owner’s door who then answered with his purebred German Shepard. Turns out, the dog was a German Shepard, not a pit bull. Simple mistake, right? Wrong. Think about the other hundreds if not thousands of cases of misidentification.

You also touched on “apologists” in the pit bull community that blame the biased media. I often ask if people have heard about the elderly woman mauled to death by her own dogs in Titusville, a yellow Lab mix and an Australian Shepard mix. I have yet to hear anyone respond that they’d heard about the incident. I typically blame it on the fact that the media was too busy running a story on the emaciated, intact “pit bull type dog” that bit a kid while chained to a tree that has had no socialization whatsoever and gets fed every few days. You can read that article here: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_lifestyle_animal/2008/06/dogs-maul-titus.html

You mentioned a 4-day old infant that was killed by the family pit bull. Was the owner held accountable? I do not know any responsible owners that would allow their newborns to have contact with ANY dog without supervision. So I ask, did you hear about the 7 month old child that was mauled to death by the family’s dachshund? I assume you haven’t heard that one. You can read about fatal dog attack statistics in The Pit Bull Placebo by Karen Delise, it touches on the dachshund attack. I did not find an article on the attack I’m speaking of, but I did find one similar: http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/17/nation/na-maul17

I became a homeowner at the age of 23 and I pay my taxes. I have a college degree, I hold a responsible position with a government agency and I’m a small business owner. I have never been arrested, nor have I ever been in any sort of “trouble” with the law in any form. I have never done drugs, nor have I been affiliated with any gang related members or activities. I resent your comment insinuating that pit bulls are the “preferred dog of gang-bangers, drug dealers and dog-fighting enthusiasts.” While this is common and unfortunately can be true, they are also the preferred dog of lawyers, doctors, congressman, families, and responsible dog owners as well.

Dolly’s Foundation was formed after I rescued a “pit bull type dog” from a local shelter. She is believed to have been used in a local dog fighting ring and was dumped at the shelter after obvious life threatening trauma she sustained. I made a YouTube video of her story to show my family the success Dolly had made in the mere months I’d had her. WESH2 got a hold of the story and it spread like wildfire. Dolly is now an AKC certified Canine Good Citizen as well as a certified therapy dog through the SPCA’s Pet Visitation Program where we’re able to visit local retirement homes and hospitals. In November, Dolly will undergo a rigorous test given by the American Temperament Test Society and we’re also currently undergoing training to receive a certification from Delta Society, a therapy program that is nationally recognized. Not only is “Dolly the Pit Bull” a certified therapy dog, she is often asked to represent her breed as an “ambassadog” at our local SPCA’s Pit Bull Education Class where she goes from chair to chair greeting both new and old faces.

In April, Best Friends Animal Society, the largest no-kill shelter in the country, asked Dolly and I to attend a media conference in Tallahassee at the State Capitol regarding SB722 which unannomously passed in May allowing Florida shelters to be given the option to save dogs pulled from dog fighting rings. Up until this point, these dogs were automatically deemed dangerous regardless of indiviual temperaments. Now, shelters may have the option of temperament testing these dogs deeming them either adoptable or unadoptable. Many people fail to recognize that there is a vast difference between human aggression and dog aggression. I think we can all agree on this, especially during the aftermath of the Michael Vick case. The majority of those dogs have all been evaluated and adopted to responsible families with other dogs, with no recorded incidents.

In the 6 months that Dolly’s Foundation has been up and running, we have saved over a dozen pit bull type dogs from certain death, most of which have suffered by the hand of human-kind. We’ve had dogs with imbedded collars, one shot with a shot gun and tied to a fence post, and even one with a limb barely hanging on. The point is, a pit bull is 500,000 times more likely to be killed by the hand of man, than the other way around. So I ask you, who are the real monsters?

I hope that you read my letter in it’s entirety and I hope you allow Dolly and I to visit you and your co-workers, either allowing us to hold a special Pit Bull Education Class to share with you, or just to stop by and visit. Our interest is to educate and advocate when and where we can. Please consider our open invitation.

*Please watch Dolly’s story, already viewed by tens of thousands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZeRKk0Q6o

*You can read about Dolly and I at the Capitol building in Tallahassee here: http://network.bestfriends.org/initiatives/pitbulls/17129/news.aspx

*Please read about the American Temperament Test Society here: http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/ Please note that the American Pit Bull Terrier has an 86.4% passing rate which is higher than the Golden Retriever that has an 84.9% passing rate.

Thanks,
Erica Daniel
President/Founder
Dolly’s Foundation
www.dollysfoundation.org