Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Frustrating pit bull conversation #7,421.

Because I enjoy beating my head against the wall, I opened my mouth in defense of pitties the other day. You can guess what ensued.

Background: I’m Facebook friends with a young lady whom I used to babysit. (Newsflash, Burnout: You’re old.) Recently, she posted a link to a petition urging Congress to ban pit bulls (because we all know how well Facebook petitions work out). I knew she worked at a doggie daycare, so I was confused and commented to that effect. I don’t have the comment because she deleted it, but it was something like, “How can you want to ban pit bulls if you work at a doggie daycare? Come meet my pittie!”

The following conversation transpired. Because I’m a bitch and firmly believe that the younger generation isn’t being taught to write properly, all typos have been preserved. (No, I don’t capitalize on Facebook. Count yourselves lucky I capitalize here.)

Her: yea and one of the reasons i work there is because pitts are not aloud. no i dont blame the dogs i blame the people who bred them this way in the first place.

Me: yeah i know a lot of people feel that way. we get plenty of looks when we take lucy out. then they meet her and love her! since you love dogs i'd encourage you to check out best friends animal sanctuary (utah), bad rap (cali), and recycled love and bmore dog (both baltimore), all of whom work with abused pitties and advocate responsible dog ownership. after all, pitties aren't the first dogs to be demonized (german shephers, dobermans, rotties) and they won't be the last.

Her: ive met allot of pits, and yes some can be good but everyone has the potential to snap. and i dont like any breeds that are built and bred to protect, dogs are saposed to be mans freind. they shouldent be used for protection at all ever. and no i dont want to check out pit bull rescues.. i will never own a pit or would recomend a pit to any one. and if anyone wants to own one fine, but they should know that they will have to go threw allot. they wont be let into allot of places, certain vets, dogy daycares, apartments, dog parks, and there are allot of countys who have already banned them.
And with that, I went to snuggle my Lucy, possibly detouring to the kitchen for a fortifying glass of wine. Even though it was delivered by a less-than-articulate 20-year-old, the message that came through loud and clear was, “Your dog’s vicious. No one wants her around. She should be outlawed.” Hello, if I wanted this bullshit treatment I’d move to Denver. Red and I were well aware of the hoops we’d be made to jump through by choosing to live with a pit bull, and it has been 100% worth it, whether or not Lucy will be turned away from doggie daycare. I could spend my time dissecting her argument—dogs shouldn’t be bred for protection? Your doggie daycare welcomes German shepherds, doesn’t it?—but it should be obvious to anyone reading this that it’s full of holes and myths. Still, I can’t pretend I wasn’t discouraged to hear such breed discrimination from a so-called dog person.

Oh, and Camp Bow Wow? I’ve searched all over your site—including the local franchise site—and can’t find a single mention of bully breeds not being permitted. So either your employee is talking out of turn, or I call false advertising. The former would seem to be the case, as a link on your News page to Tracie Hotchner’s Dog Talk podcast #148, which aired on October 17, 2009, indicates that an earlier pit bull ban had been dropped and that all dogs would be evaluated as the individuals they are. What gives?

Photoshop says Lucy doesn't have flash-eye. It is wrong.

14 comments:

  1. Lucy is beautiful!

    And, dear Lord, that girl is around 20!?
    She needs a spell-checker and an education! Even facebook puts those little red lines under misspelled words!

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  2. Thanks, Danielle. We do love Lucy more than we ever thought we could. Alas, you and I are spoiled, being word nerds! I'm allergic to misspellings. :)

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  3. I've found that dog people (with the exception of vegan dog people, of course) are some of the worst when it comes to breed & speciest discrimination. It's horrendously frustrating and infuriating.

    One of my co-workers tends to talk this way about pit bulls & he used to have a german sheperd. We have gone through the same conversation several times but he never fails to open his mind to the possibility that these sweet dogs have been demonized. My other co-workers & I always leave those discussions frustrated beyond belief at his responses.

    So, in other words, I feel your frustration. Give that sweet Lucy girl lots of hugs, kisses & belly rubs for me and tell her that she's a very, very good girl. :)

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  4. Camp Bow Wow didn't allow pit bulls at one point and used to be public about it but now they are more on a case by case basis, I believe. In a way I understand their frustration because pit bulls are one of the breeds that can be dog-aggressive (note I said CAN and DOG). Stella and I are going to "reactive dog" classes to work through her issues with this. It can be corrected and even reversed if addressed early. Of course, some other breeds that can be dog-reactive include German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Dobermans, Rottweilers, English Springer Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, and Chihuahuas. All breeds can show this mannerism, really. So the ban on ONE BREED was always ridiculous in my opinion. Glad to see they made that change. Too bad they haven't told their employees!

    We just have to keep fighting the good fight and being good responsible owners who advocate for our dogs. If that means losing a few "friends" so be it. I haven't regretted my choices. The fact that this person can't even spell "supposed" means I value her opinion about as much as she values the English language.

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  5. It took some patience to read her comments with all the errors and what not but I find it disturbing that she thinks/feels the way she does yet works at a doggy day care center.

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  6. You're a model pittie mom, BaltimoreGal! Good for you and Stella for addressing her issues so constructively. My family had a heinously dog-reactive GSD mix, and walking him was a nightmare.

    VDL and B--Thanks for your comments and support!

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  7. Dogs aren't supposed to be used for protection? Ever?

    ... but... but.... bwah?

    For some reason, my work firewall bans Blogspot's image hosting as "sexually explicit" so I cannot see Lucy's picture. :( But I have to say that some of the sweetest, silliest, friendliest dogs I've ever met have been Pits. They're my dog's second-favorite dog to play with.

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  8. I'm also a bitch about spelling and grammar. Lucy is a gorgeous girl. I don't live with a dog, but I do some pet sitting, and I get endlessly tired of the weird shit people say about breeds and types. They'd never get away with talking about people that way!

    BTW, thanks for the love on the Bitch blog. Talk about frustrating sometimes! xx b

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  9. "everyone has the potential to snap."

    Um, I think she just presented an argument for banning all life on earth.

    And pit bulls, like all dogs, ROCK.

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  10. Thanks, b! Keep rocking the boat over at Bitch. :)

    kelly g--Totally! I like to remind people that if a dog has teeth, he/she can bite, just like if you have hands, you can hit me. BTW, you've just reminded me of the X-Files episode where a genie grants Mulder three wishes. He wishes for peace on Earth, and everyone vanishes.

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  11. That X-Files episode = awesome! One of my favorites!

    Speaking of pit bulls, I caught this video @ vegansaurus & thought of you:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FtJWzgh5MQ

    A PIT BULL DOING A HAND STAND! How cute is that!?

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  12. Thanks, Kelly! What a good smart boy he is! I'm totally Facebooking that. :)

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  13. Argh! Lost my comment somehow. Anyway, VB, you are a patient woman, both with the grammar and the prejudice. What a beautiful pittie you have! Good for you for spreading the word... (Oh, and you should find me on Facebook: Marla Rose.)

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  14. Okay, you are a better person than I am to put up with her ridiculous grammar and spelling (not to mention thought process) without pointing it out to her. (I am in fact embroiled currently in a facebook debate where the person has stated that I cannot be considered a trustworthy advocate for veganism because I am such a biased supporter of it. Huh? Oooh, let's be face book friends, Shannon! We can team up!)

    ANYWAY.

    Pit-bulls are awesome. It is their 'owners' that suck. ALL dogs are wonderful, and can grow up to be loving, beautiful members of our families, if they are given the love and respect they ALL deserve.

    And actually, the dogs that technically bite the most people and 'snap' the most are the little dogs, dauschunds being number one. Vicious runts! (I say this with the love of my life and keeper of my heart, Polly the half dauschund right next to me.)

    And we can't forget Jack, the 80lb lap dog that thinks he is a kitten. Somehow, when he is cuddled up next to me or romping like a puppy with his elerly big sister Lobi, the formerly abused and very timid beagle, I forget to be scared of him because he is a pit mix. Oh, and there were all those times when he happily let our friend's year old baby climb all over him, put her hands in his mouth, yank his tail, chew on his toys, poke his eyes, and fall asleep on his tummy.

    Oops.

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