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Health & Fitness

October is Pit Bull Awareness Month

100 years ago, Pits were hailed as "Nanny Dogs." People utilized them as family pets who would guard their children against intruders or wild animals to the death.

Pit Bulls are such a maligned breed and so much ignorance abounds when it comes to the truth about these dogs. Pits as a rule, are the most loving and loyal dogs there are. There are exceptions, dogs who have been abused, fought and trained to be aggressive do exist, but those are the exceptions. 100 years ago, Pits were hailed as "Nanny Dogs." People utilized them as family pets who would guard their children against intruders or wild animals to the death. Pits were once truly America's dog. Before they were sought out for abuse and fighting for blood sport.

Most of the Pits that we see at the DCAC shelter are the discards of a society who either uses them and abuses them, or discards them as a demon breed. We see the emaciated females who have been bred nearly to death, or the smaller dogs who could not be used to fight or the bait dogs, these too more often than not arrive as emaciated skeletons of their real selves.

The bait dogs are the ones so submissive that all they ever wanted was love, yet they are fed to the vicious dogs as a training aid. And then there are the poor little Demodex puppies. The little ones whose only crime was to be born with a parasitic skin infection. They are discarded as if something to be cast aside and destroyed. These little ones can be healed and they are being healed regularly by Pit Rescue organizations. People who know that Demodex is non contagious and that all that it takes is some medicine and TLC to save these dogs lives.

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If anyone wants to know the truth Pit Bulls, come to the shelter one afternoon and see for yourself. Leave your prejudices and unfounded opinions at the door and come with an open mind. Come and talk to those of us who know these dogs and work with them every day or every week. Talk to volunteers like Karen M. or Karen L. or Lisa L. Or ask the shelter staff like Tracy or Ricardo or Phil. Or you can talk to me. I know these dogs too. They are my friends. The shelter staff and volunteers can tell you that Pits are some of the sweetest and most loving dogs at the shelter. Truths you won't hear anywhere else.

All these dogs need is a chance. An opportunity to show someone how special and loving they really are. Thankfully, I have seen a number of converted Pit Bull adopters over the past year. People who came to the shelter to adopt and immediately fell in love with one of these dogs and adotped them. But I also regularly encounter those who make judgements based upon fence post gossip and purposely prejudicial news reports they may have seen. I often hear people make comments to myself or others concerning their personal fear of Pits or "what they have heard about Pits."

Find out what's happening in Douglasvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Be your own person. Make decisions for yourself when it concerns these dogs. Come see these dogs and see that the truth is far more interesting and honest than the fiction and purposeful misrepresentations.

You will be glad that you did.

Β 

~Carl~

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