I was tagged in an article on Facebook recently and it really caught my attention. Musician Dan Tillery uploaded an Instagram photo of him with his newly adopted pup, Diggy. Diggy spent approximately 100 days in the shelter before Tillery brought him home. The photo is adorable and portrays the excitement and happiness that many pet owners and adopted pets experience. Dan and Diggy are both showing big smiles and I can’t help but smile with them!

Image credit: NY Post

Unfortunately four days after the photo went viral, police showed up at Tillery’s front door. Waterford Township, Michigan, where Tillery and Diggy live, has a ban on pit bulls. Although the photo did not specify Diggy’s breed, locals felt that Diggy looked too much like a pit bull and called the cops. The cops told Tillery the dog had to be taken out of town, or else they would put him down. In hopes of avoiding conflict, Tillery sadly agreed to have the dog out of the house within three days.

I agree Diggy appears to look like a pit bull, however, paperwork proves that he is not. Executive director of Detroit Dog Rescue (where Diggy was adopted), Kristina Millman-Rinaldi, confirmed that Diggy had paperwork from a veterinarian that identified Diggy as an American bulldog. And as an extra precaution, the rescue called township officials ahead of time to ask if Diggy would be allowed to stay within town lines. The officials agreed that as long as a veterinarian determined he was not a pit bull, then Diggy would be allowed to stay. Immediately after adoption, Tillery had Diggy licensed with the township as an American bulldog. Regardless of all the paperwork and prior authorization, the town allows police to ban any dog they believe to be a pit bull at their personal discretion. An online petition has collected over 24,000 signatures in hopes of lifting the “dangerous dog” ban.

Millman-Rinaldi said, “Great dogs like Diggy are the ones that are set up to fail.” It is a sad but true reality. Pit bulls have built up such a terrible stereotype that is makes it extremely hard for people to rebuild their reputation. Dogs like Diggy deserve the chance to prove that they are not what stereotypes say they are.

Image credit: Save a Bull MN

So why are pit bulls such a threat? Unfortunately many people raise pit bulls are fighting dogs because of their strength and endurance. But what if someone took in a Golden Retriever and raised it as a fighting dog? What if that dog attacked a little child? I highly doubt America would question if a Golden Retriever were a safety issue. We need to start looking at who owns the dogs, rather than the breed that dog was born as. Dogs can all be trained. They can be taught to attack, or they can be taught to love. Why must I be forced to adopt a Great Pyrenees over an American pit bull? Why is it assumed that all pit bulls are bad? If we continue to fear pit bulls then our future children will have no compassion for this breed and more towns will ban the breed, leaving less homes available for them.

Of the 1.4 million shelter dogs that are euthanized annually, 40 percent are pit bulls. It has gotten to the point where shelters will immediately euthanize a pit bull to leave crate space for “better” breeds. Prospective pet owners won’t even give consider a dog that has “pit bull” written down as their breed. In order to prevent the rate of pit bull euthanasia from rising it is crucial that pet owners begin spaying/neutering their pets and becoming more responsible when it comes to choosing potential pet owners for pit bull puppies.

Image credit: City Lab

I recently adopted a 5-year-old pit bull mix. He was previously abused by his past owner, whom was sent to jail for animal cruelty. He has a split ear, missing fur on his nose from burns, and was malnourished. I cannot even imagine what his life was like and what pain he experienced. He was next to be euthanized at the shelter mainly because of his breed and age. At the shelter he would continuously bark and appear aggressive but how would you react if you were confined to a crate every single day? When you meet him you would never know he was beaten. He can be brought to the park without me worrying if I should let a little girl pet him. He is kind and gentle and I am proud to say I chose to save him from death row. I never thought I would fall in love with pit bulls, but I did. I may get bad looks when I bring him places, but they do not know him and maybe if we started getting to know pit bulls we wouldn’t be so scared to let them share the same world with us.

Image credit: Krystina Sweet