SirDrakeOfTheCreek
Posted : 7/8/2008 11:24:31 AM
I am fairly new here and I was not going to get into this for the simple reason that these things always seem to go the same place. The people on the right will not be swayed and neither will those on the left. I understand this issue from multiple levels and I would like to tell you the stories of a few of the "pitbulls" I have known in my life. The first I found on a backroad standing on the center yellow line. I was driving home from work (I lived in the middle of nowhere) when I saw him. He was a young blue intact male and he was covered in blood. Deep gashes and lacerations and punctures covered nearly every inch of him and he was just standing there. Not flinching from the few cars that flew by him. He just stood there, head down, blood dripping on the ground like rivers. I stopped. I knew he had been fought, and could guess that he had somehow been spared death and been dumped instead for 'failing' his masters. I opened the door and crooned to him "Come on, Baby. Come on." and he lifted his head, sniffed the air and came and jumped in the car. Yup, I was nuts. Certifiable. I was hoping he was too tired from the fight he had already been in to come after me. He laid down in the front seat and just stared at me the whole ride home while I told him I'd take care of him and prayed in my head he wouldn't kill me for it. Maybe some of you don't like that comment? Maybe some of you will use it as ammo that they are a dangerous breed. Do what you like. It is how I felt and it is truth, but it did not stop me from helping him. I do NOT believe they are a dangerous breed, but this one had been abused and fought and that made him unpredictable, end of explanation. At that time I lived with a group of friends at the beach and had a couple of dogs already. When I opened the car door I had planned to leave him in the car and go and lock the others up and get a leash for him and clean him up a little, then call the Vet. It didn't happen that way. When I pulled in the driveway one of my friends opened the front door and my female beagle, who did NOT like strange dogs flew out the door at the same time I opened the car door and he jumped out (I tried to keep him in). She went for him, and I mean LIT INTO HIM. He put his head down and shoved her away, she came again, he did the same, over and over until I managed to get a grip on her and give her to my friend so she could be locked up. He did NOT even ATTEMPT to fight back. Just shoved her away with the top of his head. My friends locked the other dogs up as well and we took him in and gave him some water. We cleaned some of his wounds while we waited for the Vet to call back (it was after hours). He never complained. We took him to the Vet that night where he had over 200 stitches to put him back together and he NEVER so much as grumbled at anyone. Multiple times after he healed I would be walking him and people would set their dogs loose on him, while I (ALWAYS) had him on leash, to "see what he could do". I'm talking adult middle class people letting loose labs, goldens, and huskies on my poor pit. He NEVER fought back, not one single time. He ALWAYS put his head down and shoved them away. He eventually got along with my Beagle and my other dogs, or I should say they eventually got along with him, although he was shunned for a while. He was the best dog and I adored him. I had named him "Baby" after he started responding to it. Guess I spent a lot of time saying "Poor baby"
I got to spend just under 2 years with him before he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and our best efforts to save him all failed. We found it late and got only 3 weeks with him after diagnosis before he was in so much pain we had to euthanize. It was the kindest and most difficult thing we could do for him. He had been fought. He had been abused. He had been neglected. He was excellent with other dogs, children, and all people. He was NOT vicious.
Moving on to the next. These next two stories will be from my time working (not volunteering) at the local animal shelter. The first is the story of 2 pit bulls that were brought in by the state police on a Saturday morning. They were state evidence and were to be held on "lockdown" at the shelter until the courts determined their fate. One was a 2-4 year old neutered male Fawn, and the other a 9 month to 1 year old red and white female. They had no names that were known. They were brought in on catch poles and the cops looked nervous. Told us to be careful for they had consumed a man. Yes, eaten him. These dogs were healthy with bright shiny coats and eyes and a bit chunky. They were not fearful, and did not appear aggressive at all. They had NO scars anywhere on their bodies to indicate they had been fought or abused in any way and their appearance certainly indicated that they had not been neglected. We asked whom they had eaten and were told "their owner". Hmmmm. Wow. Never would that of these two. Beautiful dogs. The cop put them in the cage and looked relieved to be rid of the "monsters". I had to go in the cage to give them food and water so I walked in. These dogs were rubbing all over me. The male brought me a toy that had been thrown in to play with him. They both rolled over so I could scratch their bellies. Hmmmm....vicious. So I asked him straight out. I said "listen, I know you're not supposed to give details but we have to know the circumstances so that we can try to figure out what the trigger was so the staff can be safe. It will go no further, but you must tell us." It took some convincing but he did. Those two dogs HAD belonged to a drug dealer. That is a fact, the case was tried long ago. And they HAD eaten their owner. Oh yes, they did, no doubt, absolutely. That too was proven in court and those loveable, wonderful dogs paid for their sins with their lives. You see, the WHOLE story, and the part that failed to make it into the papers of course, was that their owner had driven out to the middle of nowhere for a drug deal and it had gone wrong. He had taken his beloved (there is no doubt he loved them, they were very well cared for and non-aggressive) dogs with him and he had been sitting in the car with the window cracked a bit, like he was talking to someone. They shot him in the head through that crack and walked away. The car was not found until 7 days later. The dogs could not fit through the crack to get out so they were stuck with their dead owner. When it went to court the coroner said the earliest dog bites did not occur until approx. 72 hours after death. They were hungry and they were stuck and he was dead. But did that part make the papers? No it did not. Only the part about them consuming their owners. I'm pretty sure my Golden may very well do the same in a similar situation and I wouldn't hold it against him. That story illustrates the onesidedness of the press.
Next the shelter held 3 pitbulls from a local very high profile dog fighting ring. They were all females and along with the 3 dogs we took tons of horrifying paraphenelia that would make you ill. One of the females was so badly injured that she was ripped wide open from her shoulder blades to her tail and 4 inches across. Even more terrible that wound was positively teeming with maggots. These dogs were scarred all over. They had been fed gunpowder, starved, beaten, and even fed their own puppies in a twisted attempt to make them meaner. They were NEVER vicious to us. They were good girls and they had been hurt so badly. Their owners friends regularly had people coming in to try to steal the dogs (who were also evidence in a court case). They would try to break in at night to steal those dogs. One in particular (the maggot infested one) as she was apparently undefeated and the BEST fighter? She would lay on your lap to have her belly scratched for hours. I knew they would be put down, I knew the public saw them as vicious, dangerous dogs, but when I look at them? All I see are victims.