Saturday, January 30, 2010

Pitbulls and the struggle to keep them as pets

Ohhhhh my wonderful dog Cheeba. It seems like it was only yesterday when I walked out of my home and there she was; a beaten up puppy confused and scared, rolled over on her back looking for a belly rub. At that moment my wife and I looked at each other and knew instantly we had our first dog. Cheeba turned out to be a very well obedient dog who is a natural caretaker and protector of our home. But her wonderful life does not overshadow the stigma that Pitbulls have in our communities. With all of the bad press pitbulls receive it's to no wonder how people formulate opinions. And rightfully so, because this dog is a machine which was bred to keep going and have amazing intensity. Cheeba looks menacing but this girl jumps from crickets and will probably turn our whole family over for a slice of ham. We know this about her goofey butt. Nonetheless, it was a big surprise to me when I recieved a call from animal control telling me that my pitbull escaped the yard and was attacking people in the neighborhood. "HUH!!" My PitBull!!! CHEEBA!! ATTACKING PEOPLE!! I gave the Animal control officer a resounding "HELL NO! NOT MY DOG!! There is no way Cheeba my Pitbull will attack anybody. But as I suspect because she was a pitbull running the streets, of course she was attacking people, ripping legs off and tearing throats out. Yup, thats them pitbulls. Pleasssssse!! Responsible people who own pitbulls will tell you that pitbulls are the best dogs ever to own. As with any dog trained to do a certain things like Fighting for example, they will do what there good at. But what about when your dog is not trained to fight. What if your dog actually loves animals and people? Why have city bans been put in place with fees and fines for owning pitbulls and apartments banning any pitbulls on the premises? I understand there reasoning and fear from the bad press that pitbulls have following them. But wouldn't it be fair to institute a a test on everydog before imposing such fines and fees of ownership. I think all dogs should be put through some sort of testing phase to see how aggressive they are and if they pose threats to society. Im willing to bet most responsible pitbull owners would pass those test with flying colors. Chebba has been beaten up by huskies, labs and every other toy dog that could qualify as snake food and in every case. im left looking at an embarrassed pet owner who can't control their dog. Cheeba on the other hand, when she sees other dogs, runs towards them and rolls on her back to play. She does this to puppies all the way up to people. So it was to no wonder that when I herd my Dog Cheeba was attacking people on the streets I was furious about the accusation. But this is one struggle that will always be around as long as there are these little want-to-be-gangstas and idiots who choose to use this breed as there outlet for criminal activity. The future of pitbulls are left in the hands of people who advocate everything that is right about them and so the struggle continues

5 comments:

Kenneth Moore said...

On my mom's last day in Prince George's County, Maryland, (where pitbulls are illegal) literally as she put the last thing in her truck to move to Virginia, a cop came by because a neighbour had called saying there was a "menacing dog harassing children" in the street. But he was only following my mom back and forth from the truck to the house. The police officer stopped by to let us know Animal Control was on its way. You know where Puppy (yeah, that's his name) was? He had climbed into the passenger seat of the Suburban, because he knew he was leaving. She had had Puppy for five years in PG without incident, until that last day, because she was always careful to walk him only at night and only let him out in the backyard during the daytime. After the police stopped by, she promised that he would be gone shortly, and she jetted out of there with Puppy before Animal Control could come and euthanize him. Look how cute he is on Flickr album. He plays with my 4-year-old niece so gently, she slaps him in the face and he just sits there. He is gentle, hyper, playful, and crazily obedient and intelligent (he even knows the difference between "left paw" and "right paw")!

ATW, pitbulls are awesome. You're leading by example. People will figure it out.

Ruth Trowbridge said...

proud owner of 3 lovable passive pitbulls, i understand where you are coming from, thanks for sharing your story . . . peace for all

ATW said...

Kenneth- Wow!! Puppy and Cheeba look like Brother and Sister. Those pics are awesome and they show the TRUE nature of pitbulls. What a horrible experience your mom had living in PG county. Reading that just got me so angry. I have to watch it because I will start cussin all over the place. I can't take anything away from people who have actually come in the sights of a real pitbull bred to attack people, I know that could be terrible situation for any victim. I just hate when people formulate opinions from negative press and then in turn make these bias opinions the gospel. Even with me being a big black burley guy. I remember getting into a elevator with a an older white female and she was scared to death!! I was thinking WTF!! is this Hollywood!! She started grabbing her purse tight. I couldn't hold it anymore. I said, "Mam I have so much respect for older people, you have nothing to worry about." She looked at me and blushed with embarrassment. So I get it, people are very emotional and words do a better job of expressing what our intentions are. It's hard to tell whether a muscle bound pit who is running towards you wants to play or attack. But isn't that the case with every dog. I can go on forever with this. Im glad your mom had the courage to move some place else where puppy could be happy.

and

Rural Rose- I will take three pitbulls over three chiuauas any day

The Beneficial Bee said...

Thank you for that ATW. Pumpkin is the best dog I have ever had. He is the sweetest guy and would never hurt a human or dog. We should start euthanizing the idiots that treat these dogs badly to make them mean.

Dirty Girl Gardening said...

She looks adorable... what a sweety.