Yes, we do have a lot of pit bulls. Right now, the vast majority of the dogs available for adoption at our shelter are pits or pit mixes.
If all our kennels were occupied by fluffy golden retrievers or Labradoodles, we actually wouldn’t have any occupied kennels — those dogs would be adopted in a heartbeat.
However, we don’t get to place orders for breeds. And, more important, these pit bulls don’t get to place orders for homes.
They didn’t choose to get discarded by their humans. They didn’t choose to end up in the dog pound. They didn’t realize that some shelters won’t even “deal with pit bulls.”
But our shelter, the Clinton County Humane Society, does deal with pit bulls. We take them in, we feed them and keep them warm, and we show them love and affection. And boy, do pit bulls appreciate love and affection.
Our shelter pulls pits and pit mixes from the local pound, even though those dogs stay far too long waiting on their forever homes, even though their extended stays can drain resources — more food, more medicine, more veterinary care. And wow, the cost of veterinary care has skyrocketed over the past five years.
Pit bulls didn’t make the decisions for cities or municipalities that created breed-specific legislation, nor were they part of insurance companies that place them on banned lists of dogs. No, those decisions were made by humans.
Pit bulls are overbred and oftentimes misunderstood, and their backgrounds are unknown to shelters, limiting appropriate placements to homeowners and folks without small children.
Even with all those roadblocks, we eventually find homes for pits, and we hear from so many folks who cannot imagine their worlds without their adoptive pitties.
All we are asking is for people to keep open minds, do research, and spread the word about all the pit bulls at our shelter and the reasons they’re with us. Consider adopting a pit or a pit mix.
Thank you.
Please share so others can see these gorgeous faces too.
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More about breed-specific legislation: https://www.aspca.org/…/dog…/what-breed-specific-legislation
