animal abuse

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“Pit Bull” Awareness Month

Yep, I’m sliding into the wan

ing days of the month with this post but bear with me, I have my reasons.  Every October for the past several years I’ve embraced the concept of Pit Bull Awareness Month and celebrated all things Ray and Julius while working towards broad acceptance of seeing my boys and all other Pit Bull types of dogs as individuals, not as lumped sums of their breed, or breeds as the case may be.  My boys are both Pit Bulls in the broadest sense of the word and yet they share absolutely no similar breed DNA.  They are individuals.

 

Sugar, Julius, and Ray

 
In light of all of the ballyhoo with PeTa joining forces with the vitriolic group that I won’t link to here I was planning to sit out this round.  I was asked by a friend and fellow Pit Bull Coalition member to help find an avenue to help spread awareness to the right people.  Here’s the thing: in person I’m pretty confrontational and blunt.  If you threaten or malign my dogs (or anyone I care about) I could very easily try to pull your eyeballs out with my fingernails while trying to figure out ways to really hurt you but when it comes to mudslinging and manufactured “statistics” from zealots, I try not to give credence in the form of attention.  Much like when you are training a dog in a positive manner, you ignore the unwanted behavior and reward the desired behavior.

  
PeTa contends that it would be best to kill all Pit Bull types for their own good to save them from the criminal element who want to adopt them. There aren’t many words in that sentence that I don’t take issue with but many people more reasonable and more informed than I have addressed such lunacy, so I won’t bother other than to point out that of course, I don’t want to see Pit Bulls abused, but I don’t want to see any animal abused.  I just don’t think that killing them all will solve the issue.

  
In the vein of positive reinforcement, I also want to take this moment to write a bit more about what you might and might not see here.  Get it?  Same message but different delivery.  I have a pretty dry and sarcastic sense of humor but you won’t see me engaging in the tongue in cheek “pit bull attack” pictures of dogs licking babies.  Here at Peaceabull we don’t “do” the words vicious, monster, attack, or aggressive even if we are describing how heartily we show love and affection and we don’t assume (well maybe we do, but we don’t verbalize it) that you are working from a point of prejudice about our dogs.  You don’t like my dog?  I’m not going to assume it is because they are pit bulls, and by that assumption I am giving you the benefit of a doubt that you are not an asshole.  (Oops!  There’s the eyeball pluckers coming out!)

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What Would You Do?

Last night a person who volunteers with another rescue called me and wanted an opinion on the Desmond Hague dog abuse matter. Since then I have been polling co-workers for opinions and Googling for as much information as I can find in the matter so that I wouldn’t spew my knee jerk reaction but rather make well informed opinion.

 

I have a terrible curse of being able to see many sides of an issue in many cases (my husband would disagree-I just thought I’d put that one out there) and can drive myself crazy with “What ifs.”

By working just six football games, this group generally makes around $5000 for their rescue, and that constitutes their number one fundraising avenue for the entire year. I have no idea what the operating budget is for this group, but my impression is that this is a significant portion of it. Do they work and take the money and help countless other animals, or boycott because of the treatment of one animal?

 

Naturally, like anyone who has been caught, Desmond Hague is sorry. His apology is pitiful and seems full of lies. He states that he was frustrated with a friend’s dog and that this behavior is out of character but the dog in the video has been proven to be his. This dog exhibits behaviors to make one think this was not a one-time incident, so is Desmond Hague a liar and a habitual animal abuser? Who’s to know?

 

For the employees of Centerplate and those many groups who stand to gain financially, where does moral ground end and practical matters begin? How easy would it be to find another job, another large fundraiser? Many people have expressed the desire to boycott buying concessions at a Centerplate venue, of which I believe there are 13, including Notre Dame, the Superdome, 49er’s new stadium, Fedex Field, Qualcomm Stadium, and Belmont Park just to name a few. Some of these places are issuing statements which will allow for individuals to bring in food, acknowledging that both the team and Centerplate may lose money.

 

The dog in question has been taken into custody and awaits adoption to a better life, Hague, if convicted faces up to two years in jail and a $75,000 fine and a ban on animal ownership.

 

So, what are your thoughts on the matter?