The timing on the release of this article is exceptional. If I hadn’t been blocked by Second Chance Rescue NYC for attempting to educate their followers on how municipal facilities operate, it would have been an excellent piece to share. Even though I know they most probably would have deleted it within minutes, I still would have tried. Even if one person reads it and realizes the insanity of it all, it’s progress; changing minds one at a time.

Non profits, sometimes from states away, begging for donations and overcrowding themselves with unadoptable, sometimes downright dangerous dogs, while the friendly pit bulls languish in shelters, feared and discriminated against by the public due to counterparts like the one detailed below. The good ones barely even have a chance, yet rescues fight over pulling the disturbed and “fixing” them. All they see is “may be euthanized”, and they must have it. Glancing over why it is set to be put down is second nature; doesn’t matter, it can always be “fixed”. Dogs are not wooden tables on the side of a road, that you can just load into the back of a truck, throw on a coat of paint, add some screws, and send out the door good as new. When you really care about where each and every animal goes, there is a difference between surviving and thriving. When you push for acceptance and education about the breed, seeing these stories hits you right in the gut; one step forward, eight steps back.

This is an excellent example of why the emotional reactions of rescues to “save them all, especially the broken ones” are more dangerous than ever. True advocates of the breed are absolutely supportive of eliminating the vicious and unbalanced animals, and encourage the butterfly chasers and window lickers we all know and love to shine as true representatives of the breed’s depth, loyalty, and capability to be awesome companions and valuable members of society. The behavior described here is that of a suffering animal. Putting valuable time and resources into dogs like this, quite honestly, ruins it for the rest of us desperately treading upstream against a current of fear and hatred. Not to mention it prolongs the mental strife of a frightened and confused dog. Imagine living life wanting to attack everything around you, daily. This animal was suffering.

But it’s dangerous to say “NO”. It’s career suicide now to say “enough is enough”. Perhaps that’s why this shelter opted to say “Yes”. Maybe they’ve received one too many death threats, maybe they’ve had one to many bomb threats screamed across the internet because they euthanized something that a random person in Ohio or Vermont decided they shouldn’t have. Maybe the last time they said no, the rescue screamed murder, and someone from across the country shared the officer’s home address and where their children go to school so the local angry mob could carry out revenge. What would you do? Would you do what’s right, what’s safe for the public? Or what’s safest for you and your family? This is a decision many of us make every single day.

Ironically, today was a day full of “No”. I’m lucky enough to be in an environment where we will absolutely say no when it’s the right thing to do. I am one of the lucky ones.

http://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/the-la-beat/11154-la-animal-services-pit-bull-with-a-violent-history-attacks-potential-adopter-what-did-we-learn