Agressive Breed? More Like, Stupid People.

Today I was told I could not adopt a dog because she is an "aggressive breed". I met her at the Oregon Humane Society, where she has been since Christmas eve. Her description states that she has lived with cats and children, and I found out the only reason she was brought in was that the family couldn't afford her "medical" expenses, which were a simple flea/skin irritation. I met her, and she was hilarious and friendly. I was told that since she is a "power breed" they would have to verify that I could take her home. Sadly, I found out, my property has a policy against "aggressive breeds".

I will admit, I was once nervous about pit-bulls. Furthermore, I was nervous about any big dog. Nothing has ever happened to me, these are just big, strong, animals. However, over the past few years, I have met several pit-bulls, and have come to realize that they are really sweet and loving dogs.

It breaks my heart that these dogs are being discriminated against. The discrimination comes from a fear-powered media and a misinformed public.  Breed discrimination is linked to dog popularity, hence the more dogs of a certain breed are owned, the more incidents occur. Think about it, "In the 1970's Dobermans were very popular, hence a higher number of attacks by Dobermans in the '70's. Pit Bulls started rising in popularity in the 80's, Rottweiler;s in the the 90's" All these dogs have been thought to be "aggressive". But here is a surprising discovery I made today, google a breed of dog with "kill" or something similar, and you will find a story linked to that breed of dog.

Example (warning: these may be hard to read)
Golden Retriever
Labrador
Pomeranian


"A study performed by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the CDC, and the Humane Society of the United States, analyzed dog bite statistics from the last 20 years and found that the statistics don’t show that any breeds are inherently more dangerous than others."

People are the problem here. If you spay/neuter, train, love, and exercise your animal, you'll have a happy loving and loyal companion. Sure, accidents and tragic things will happen in life, however, linking these tragic events to a specific breed of animal is not only cruel, but wrong. Please, if you are still afraid of pit-bulls, read a bit about how they are loving and loyal. Find a friend with one and go play. I hope your heart will be changed. I am super bummed that I didn't get to take a home a new friend today, but hopefully I can start being a small voice of change.