Anecdotal Pit Bull #31

As a brief return to a neglected blog series, have a Dodger:




I can't remember exactly how Dodger came to the shelter, whether he was an owner surrender or a stray dog that was never claimed. Either way, we didn't know his history and had to evaluate the dog we had in front of us. And the dog we have in front of us, folks, is very pitty, and very nice.

Aside from the hysterical (the ones who still use terms like "land shark" with a straight face), and the ignorant (like the woman who came into the shelter last month to view a puppy, and when she saw we had a couple pit bull mixes up for adoption, stormed out in a huff after lecturing a staff member about how irresponsible we were), I hear the same dismissive refrain from anti-pit bull people that it all the good stories in the world won't make them like pit bulls (with the implied addendum "so shut up about your nice dog already").

All I can do is shrug and think, I could give two shits if you like pit bulls, just stop bad mouthing them, you're making my job needlessly harder.

The fundamental difference between an pit bull hater, and someone who is an advocate (or, like myself, neutral) toward them: one group wants dogs that look a certain way to be treated the same (ie, killed if they become homeless) no matter what, the other wants them to be evaluated as individuals, where possible pedigree is only one of many considerations when deciding their future.

So, I've asked this before and never gotten a logical response: tell me, any pit bull haters who happen to read this: why the hell should I kill Dodger? He is great with people and other dogs, and cute and goofy and every bit as deserving of a chunk of shelter resources as any dog. How would having a blanket shelter policy to kill all pit bulls serve the community in any way?