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Thursday, May 24, 2012

PIT BULL INCIDENT IN PHOENIX

It's time to talk about Pit Bulls or 'Pitties' as I refer to them. MSN had a heartbreaking picture of a pit bull holding a vigil by the body of his dead companion. The story touches many themes, loyalty the first and foremost to come to mind and unconditional love.

What of the other dynamics at work here?  Why were these two beautiful dogs roaming loose?  Owner responsibility - another theme. Owners need to be held accountable for not caring for their pets and should be fined if their pet is continually found loose and unattended with increasing penalties and removal of the pet from the owner after a designated number of incidents. I've know of at least one instance where a dog found repeatedly wandering the streets loose only to be eventually reclaimed by the owners was found a new home before the owners decided they wanted the dog back yet again.

Second theme - driver responsibility. I'm not saying the dog was deliberately hit by a motorist (although it is a distinct possibility) but if the dogs were on the street for hours after the incident, the motorist responsible did not stop!  Did that motorist place a call to the police? The ASPCA? A rescue group?

Let's think about another theme that comes to mind reading this article - the dog and his dead companion were on the street after the companion's death for 14+ hours! Why did it take so long for authorities to respond to this situation? What of the members of the public who saw this and did nothing? And I do mean nothing - it is a good gesture to leave food for the surviving animal but that is not enough. City agencies should have been bombarded with phone calls to help both dogs.  Shelter/rescue groups should have been alerted. This might have been done but the pressure should have been kept on city officials and the local ASPCA to get the situation resolved.  Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA, would be appalled by this story. I am.

Was another theme driving this story the fact that the dogs involved were Pit Bulls? Quite possibly. I adore pitties but at the same time I am cautious around any dogs I do not know well. This is not because of the breed it is because of irresponsible owners who do not train their animals and because of those who abuse them turning them into fighters and aggressive protectors. Two of my family members have Pit Bulls. Both are the sweetest dogs imaginable. Not only do I pet, hug, play with and give them treats, I've caught myself looking at them and suddenly saying to myself  "This is a Pit Bull." In my personal experience, I've found both dogs to be more even tempered, sweet and better with children than most other breeds I have experience with.

The final theme?  Good Samaritans - kudos to the business that put out food, to those who did call the authorities and everyone that got this out on Facebook and the internet. There are those of us who do what is right and what they can.



1 comment:

  1. Hi, Nick, congratulations to you, too! Thanks for following me and adding me to your blogroll. I've visited your site; it's VERY impressive. A lot of varied information covering all kinds of animals. I'm following you as well and added A Blog for Pets to my list of blogs I follow.

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