Giving Up on "Pit Bulls"

The thought is always going to be there.

Some days I just want to give up on advocating for the Bull breeds that are mislabeled as Pit Bulls. Take what was supposed to be an eye opening reality turned into an argument last night. I was in a group that is supposed to be "helping" to ban fighting and animal cruelty. Well, for starters, dog fighting is illegal in the United States, therefore, it IS banned. Animal cruelty is also illegal in the United States, therefore, it is ALSO banned. So the title of the page is just all wrong to begin with. Maybe "Help Put a Stop to Fighting and Animal Cruelty" would better fit. However, I'm not here to talk about the name of the group. 

How as advocates of animal welfare rights are you not willing to educate yourselves? This was the number one issue with APBT fanciers in the group. People were posting pictures of bulky dogs claiming they're Pit Bulls and blah blah blah. When fanciers tried to educate them, they were immediately banned from the group. 

I have a calm approach to education whereas most educators jump down throats. I simply typed a post stating how mislabeling dogs is animal cruelty in my eyes. Why? For starters, some shelters will euthanize any dog that can be labeled as a Pit Bull. By mislabeling dogs as Pit Bulls, you have just given that dog a death wish. How is that not animal cruelty? We are killing dogs because a POS human mislabeled it! How are you going to fight for a breed that isn't even the breed in question? We should be fighting for ALL breeds that are being mislabeled. 

My education and facts turned into an argument because apparently Dobermans, Rottweilers, Mastiffs, German Shepherds, Chows, etc.  are making their way on the news every day for mauling or killing children and adults. Pit Bulls are the most commonly mislabeled and misidentified breed. Everything I said was being twisted around and my words were being used against me. I personally have never seen a dog fighting organization with Dobermans pop up on the news. Apparently, based off of her facts, other breeds described as aggressive are fought just as much, if not MORE, than Pit Bulls and dogs mislabeled as Pit Bulls. 0.o Bitch what? 

Her invalid argument stated by calling them Bull breed mixes would just put a ban on Bull breeds in general. Well, um, hello!?!? Bull breed mixes and mutts are already being banned because that is what society thinks a Pit Bull is. 

Her little admin friend was attempting to back her up with more false information. I learned yesterday it is a PROVEN fact that when you breed two aggressive dogs together, only ONE puppy out of the whole litter will come out to be aggressive. 0.o Bitch what? Where the hell was I at when this fact was PROVEN (yes she yelled proven at me every time)? I just sat there and stared at my computer screen. I didn't know what to say because that has got to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard somebody say in all of my time fighting for this breed. 

We live in a democracy! Why are we just lying on our backs and letting the government tell us what we can and cannot own? We can't bring knives to a gun fight. Opinions are knives, facts are guns! By stating it is all in how an owner raises a dog is a fucking opinion. It is an opinion that has been debunked thousands upon thousands of times. Amazing owners have dogs who attack. Shitty owners have dogs who would never even so much as growl. It isn't all in how a dog is raised or treated. Refer back to my first blog post and see my comparison. 

The lady and her admin friend both stated it is okay to classify dogs as Pit Bulls because society will always think they are. WHAT IN THE HOLY APPLE BALLS?!?! We are supposed to be fighting to stop dogs from being mislabeled as vicious. So why are you seriously okay with a dog's breed being mislabeled? It makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever. 

I honestly almost gave up on Pit Bulls last night. I kept relaying what they had said. If you are against breed bans, why wouldn't you try anything and everything to stop them? I felt as though my knowledge wouldn't make a difference if that's how other BBM's owners felt. 

By letting the government know they were WRONG for mislabeling dogs and categorizing more than a dozen breeds as one breed, we could help show the government it is the dog itself and not the breed of dog. That is how we can help by properly labeling. If we bring FACTS to the government to prove they have been DEAD WRONG for all of these years about what a Pit Bull is, it would only further prove we need to blame the dog as one rather than the breed as a whole. 

Once we win the fight to rid BSL, we can come together and eventually win the fight for stricter breeding laws. We can fight the UKC, ADBA, ABKC, AKC, CKC, the crappy CKC, APBR etc. to only register a litter of puppies if they have proof of OFA testings as well as documentation from the state stating the dog has passed all forms of temperament testing. We can fight for country wide laws on the spay and neuter of any dog (even cats) that will not be used for show, breeding, or working purposes. They will obviously need to be provided with proof of papers with the dog's registry as well as be able to be given a certain license allowing this. This will help tremendously on accidental litters as well as the over population of dogs in shelters. 

We can fight for mandatory laws that require all breeders to microchip their dogs and puppies. Let the breeders be the responsible ones to register the dog or puppy with the new owner's information on the microchip. Stricter laws mean less abandoned dogs and puppies.

We can help fight stricter laws for shelters. Use some of the billions of dollars Americans pay in taxes each year to provide proper vet care for all shelters run by the county. No shelter dog should leave the shelter until it has been spayed or neutered. 

The small differences we can make will help with unwanted dogs and puppies in shelters. Of course purebred dogs and puppies can end up in shelters. However, as you should know by now, without proof of papers and lineage, a dog is a mutt. 

If we don't at least try and fight, nothing will change. Gay and Lesbians couples can now legally be married and receive the same benefits just as a traditional couple would. It took decades of fighting for those rights. So why should we be discouraged after our first no? We keep at it until we hear a yes!

Fighting for anything takes time. Not once did I say this would happen overnight. However, again, for the millionth time saying it, we will never know if we don't try.

Now, I know some people are against S/N of their pets because studies have went back and forth showing benefits as well as risks. However, wouldn't you be willing to do anything to keep your dog? If S/N a mutt was the only thing I had to sacrifice to stop BSL, I would grab those scissors in a heartbeat. 

As of now, I feel my head is back on straight and I am still willing to continue to educate. I just ask that all of you do the same.