One of the last times I was at the Humane Society, I overheard I man tell his daughter that they would not be getting a dog today because there were only pit bulls available. Too many times I hear this and it really makes me sad. Good dogs with a lot of love to give go without homes and (all too often) are put down simply because of the breed of dog they are. It is said that, Much of Fear Is Based On Ignorance. While I dont claim to be an expert on pit bulls or (ANY breed for that matter), I do have a story that just might hopefully change the way you see them and hopefully save a few of these wonderful dogs lives in the process. My niece was 2 1/2 years old when she and my sister were in a park feeding some birds peanuts. Another lady with her daughter and her dog (Chow Chow) joined them. My niece shared her nuts with the dog and, when she ran out of nuts, the chow jumped on her and grabbed her by the throat! It proceeded to shake her back and forth by her throat and it then threw her little body to the ground and went to jump on her again when my sister was able to distract it away and grab my niece and run for help. The owner of the dog stood shocked at first and could not intervene at all and, when she DID intervene, the dog bit HER!!! Her own dog bit her! My niece was to undergo 6 hours of neurosurgery to correct a severed nerve to her lower lip and lower eyelid. Doctors also had to close numerous holes in her throat and the back of her neck. She spent 9 days in the hospital and 2 of them were in ICU to stave off the infection that was setting in. She still has scarring on her neck and her lip and eyelid will droop when she is really tired. This will stay with her for the rest of her life. When she was released from the hospital, she came to stay with me for a change of scenery. At the time, I had a 200 pound Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull) named Max. Unlike the Pit Bulls you hear about, Max was never trained to fight. He ate out of my nieces hand, he slept next to her, she slept on him, he watched over her. He growled if anyone even came near her while she was sleeping on him! He would even take pieces of food right from her lips as a trick! Max restored their faith in dogs!!!!! She put hats on him and t shirts and did all kinds of crazy things to him and he just smiled and dealt with it! You had to see the two of them!!!! My family spoiled him with people food and he stayed with them in their room as much as he could. When my niece had a febrile seizure and had to be rushed to the hospital, Max tried to keep the paramedic away from her thinking he would hurt her. He guarded her without being trained to do so. He did it out of love for her. When he was diagnosed with cancer and died, my ENTIRE family mourned his loss. But this was a 200 pound killer??? I know for a fact that pit bulls are often fed gunpowder to make them mean enough to fight. This burns up their stomachs and causes them to be in extreme pain. They are beaten or killed if they do not win their fights. Many are starved so badly that they will fight just to be given food. This is NO way to live!!! These dogs were NOT born mean!!!! NO dog is!!!! You can no more determine that a pit bull puppy will grow up to be a killer than you can predict that a human baby will grow up to be one!!! Pit Bulls were called nanny dogs because of their disposition and their gentleness with children. Now I cannot put a hard word on ANY breed of dog (regardless of what happened with my niece). There are good and bad with every breed BUT dont breed profile!!! Go by what you, yourself see and NOT by what you hear because you stand to possibly miss out on a Max.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 22:01:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015