Think “Pete the Pup” from “Our Gang.” Pit bulls like Pete are considered “a bully breed” to some, but to others, a victim of abuse.
Properties with policies against “bully breeds” may not rent to you if you bring along your pet pit bull. Miami-Dade County has an ordinance that imposes $500 fines for “keeping or acquiring” pit bulls. Insurance may not cover damages resulting from your pet and a special liability policy might be needed for a pit bull. Major air carriers even place some restrictions on a pit bull pet’s travel based on weight, age and temperature on the day of traveling.
Animal rights organizations and pet rescuers, however, are battling to improve the pit bull’s reputation.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals points to a 2002 study that lists pit bulls and rottweilers in the 82nd percentile of the most family-friendly breeds, as compared with golden retrievers in the 77th percentile, chihuahuas in the 71st and greyhounds in the 81st.
“There are no bully breeds, only humans who have abused the dogs and trained them to fight,” said Julie Royal of Royal Pet Rescue of Sarasota.
Other breeds often are mistaken for pit bulls, according to Royal, and unjustly blamed in attack statistics. “Pit bull” is a term used to describe three different breeds and mixes of the following breeds: American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and the Staffordshire bull terrier.
The ASPCA website states that these breeds like to use their jaws, but if socialized, at an early age with consistent training and lots of exercise, they become loyal, gentle and obedient pets. Some have become search-and-rescue dogs, and registered therapy dogs in hospitals and nursing homes, the website states.
Pit bulls are descendants of an English bull dog bred to bite and hold bulls. When bull-baiting was banned in the 1800s, the dogs were used against each other in a ring, which developed into an illegal sport of dog fighting.
In Manatee County pit bull mixes account for the majority of dogs in need of rescue, Royal said. She added that people are not only fighting them, they chain females to trees to become repeatedly impregnated.
Kris Weiskopf, chief of Manatee County Animal Services said he is not aware of any particular problem with pit bull abuse or an inordinate number of pit bulls in need of rescue in the county which shelters 5,500 animals, including pit bull mixes, each year.
“We’re looking to lead Manatee County to become No Kill and treat all dogs in a humane way,” Weiskopf said. But if a dog is deemed dangerous or as having “vicious tendencies,” the county will euthanize them.
“We want to go the rescue or adoption route, send them out for spay, neuter and vaccination services, but if the time is up, we will put dogs to sleep as a last resort.”