It boils my blood when I see the accusations that these lovable creatures receive. The hate that’s thrown their way is out of mere confusion with no solid evidence or reason as to why it’s there. Everyone seems to be doing it, so why not tag along? They're just animals. It’s not like they have feelings or anything. Let’s have them fight in our place. As long as we don’t get caught then everything should be fine. And then they get caught. And although the deed doesn’t go unpunished, the breed is put to rest, permanently. Allow me to enlighten the public on the hardships that these american bred creatures receive. Maybe after you’ll see that a pit bull is nothing close to a natural fighting machine.

Dogfighting is no secret. Seen as one of the most heinous forms of animal cruelty, dogs are pinned against each other for the sake of sport or for the purpose of a couple extra bucks by the end of the day. It’s also known that dogfighting is illegal across the nation. An infamous example of such actions comes from football player Michael Vick. He and three other associates operated what was known as “Bad Newz Kennels.” They purchased dogs from all over the country, manipulating them to make them into the killing machines that the public is all too familiar with. “In or about April 2007,” Vick’s federal indictment states, “PEACE, PHILLIPS, and VICK executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in ‘testing’ sessions … by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.” These men found it enjoyable to watch their trained killing machines obliterate other dogs they deemed weak. If their machine was beaten however, it was deemed dysfunctional and you can probably imagine the rest, unless they died in the pit where they fought in their master’s place.

Vick was eventually found guilty when his cousin was arrested for drug charges. His cousin, Davon Boddie, passed Vick’s property as his own address. According to a case analysis done by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, approximately 54 dogs, mostly pit bulls were found. Some had scars and other injuries and most were underfed. They also found a blood stained pit where the dogs battled for their lives, “animal training and breeding equipment, including a “rape stand”, a device in which a female dog who is too aggressive to submit to males for breeding is strapped down with her head in a restraint,” treadmills and “slat mills” for conditioning the dogs and “performance-enhancing drugs commonly used to increase the fighting potential in dogs, as well as to keep injured dogs fighting longer.”

Let’s talk about one of the dogs they found: caramel-colored, ear cropped and brown eyes full of lost soul pit bull mix, Georgia. The following is a physical examination of her from the Animal Legal Defense Fund:

“Her tongue [jutted] from the left side of her mouth because her jaw, once broken, healed at an awkward angle. Her tail [zigzaged]. Scars from puncture wounds on her face, legs and torso reveal that she was a fighter. Her misshapen, dangling teats [showed] that she might have been such a successful, vicious competitor that she was forcibly bred….Georgia [had] no teeth. All 42 of them were pried from her mouth, most likely to make certain she could not harm male dogs during forced breeding.”

You would think that after all that had happened to these dogs that they would receive sympathy from states who have placed what’s called breed-specific legislation on them. Nope, not at all.

According to dogsbite.org, “Over 700 U.S. cities [across 42 states] have enacted breed-specific legislation.” One of those 42 states includes my home state Georgia. Pit bulls are restricted permanently in three counties including Hogansville and Lawrenceville and in five counties pit bulls, along with other breeds such as german shepherds, rottweilers and dobermans, are deemed “potentially dangerous” and “vicious.” I’m all about safety and everything, but I’m sure there are other ways that are more efficient. Let’s go back in time for a little bit, show you the heroic deeds of a pit bull.

Pit bulls were used during WWI and saved countless lives. The most famous of these was Sergeant Stubby. On stubbydog.org, it is revealed that “Stubby had learned how to stay low in the trenches during firefights and had learned how to identify injured but living soldiers and alert medics to their location. The wounded men would call to Stubby, who would seek them out during the night and help bring them back to safety. Stubby’s previous injury even gave him yet another way to protect his comrades: he could smell mustard gas before it was lethal.” But a pit bull is a killing machine! It can’t do that! There’s a little something called human influence which, for a dog, can change their life.

Do you think a dog wakes up one day and decides,

you know what, I wanna be a fighting dog! No, that’s preposterous. Dogs don’t think like that. Pit bulls are mostly used in fights due to their sturdy bodies. That’s simply how their breed is built. If a pit bull is allowed to fall into the wrong hands then disaster will ensue. If a pit bull is in the hands of someone with a good and kind heart and someone with a brain, then the pit bull will look after its owner.This doesn’t apply to just dogs though. To parents, know that your kids look after you as well. Whatever you influence them to in your home, outside your home, anywhere you go and anything you do your kids will take into account. For pit bull owners such as myself it’s the exact same thing. These dogs are like my own little babies, and all I want to do is shower them with love and affection and tell them everything is gonna be okay. I want what’s best for them, but I know not everyone thinks the same way I do. That’s why we still have all the crime we do. That’s why pit bulls are still abandoned, mistreated, kicked, shot, violently bred, the list goes on and on. Does the breed have anything to do with this though? Should the dog's breed decide their fate? Why should what they are born as decide whether they are permitted in an area or not? Does this sound familiar? Think of it this way. Dog is to breed as people are to skin color. I’m gonna leave it at that but feel free to get creative. To me, dogs are like people, and pit bulls are no exception. There is no logical reason as to why all pit bulls should be discriminated against because of man’s mistakes. Does every person from one specific group turn out the same? Does some factor of yours from the outside determine where you’ll end up or who you are? Why should these dogs be treated like vermin when those cruel people were the vermin to begin with? Think before you make your accusations and actually experience a pit bull, let alone a dog! They are not the vicious creatures you think they are. The viciousness is not born inside them. That vicious sin is fed into them by people who wish to bring more evil into our world. As many organizations and people have said before: “Punish the deed, not the breed.”