This Harmless Pit Bull Was Shot Twice, But Now He Helps Educate Others About Breed Stereotypes

This Harmless Pit Bull Was Shot Twice, But Now He Helps Educate Others About Breed Stereotypes

Pit Bulls and their guardians are frequently subjected to unfair treatment due to the stigma’s surrounding the breed. Many people associate these dogs with fighting, but anyone who has known a Pit Bull understands that, just like any other breed, pitties are capable of being wonderful companions when given the proper love and care. Unfortunately, the negative stereotype against Pit Bulls has lead to the creation of Breed Specific Legislation that bars people from adopting them in certain municipalities, and low adoption rates make them one of the highest euthanized dog breeds in the U.S.

Marginalized for the negative stereotypes assigned to their breed, individual dogs are left to suffer. Take Fifty the Pit Bull, for example. Fifty was rescued by a loving family in Chicago when he was a small pup. He was known for being a sweet and happy dog, but in 2007 something terrible happened.

Sweet Fifty lost two of his legs after being shot by a police officer for rooting around in someone’s trash. The person who shot Fifty thought he was dangerous just because of his breed.

Fifty’s family couldn’t afford the expensive treatment he needed after suffering economic hardship, so they had no choice but to leave him in a shelter in Chicago. Unfortunately, it had a staggeringly high kill rate. Fifty was able to avoid euthanasia afterDoberman Rescue Plus heard of his story and took him into their care.

After bouncing around a few foster homes, a Pit Bull lover named Kelly Michael adopted him. The two bonded practically overnight, and Fifty’s doing great in her care! 

Kelly is just the type of guardian that Fifty needs. She has experience working as a holistic and integrative medicine vet, so she was perfectly suited to help Fifty overcome his injuries. Here he is getting water exercise sessions to help manage his injuries.

She even helped Fifty get a prosthetic back leg, so he can run around again!

Fifty has quite the appetite for treats and other goodies. Kelly is sure to keep him well supplied. Yum, doggie doughnuts!

Fifty is kind and especially gentle. Look at him giving smooches to this much tiny dog!

This handsome fellow also travels with Michael to educate people about Pit Bull stereotypes and myths, advocating for the breed.

Kelly says that she knew Fifty was her soul mate from the moment they met. After seeing this picture, who would disagree?

 Fifty’s story inspired Michael to fight until everyone loves and respects Pit Bulls as much as she does. With the help of smiling, wonderful Fifty, we are sure that they’ll be able to change many, many minds and hearts.

Fifty’s story may have started tragically, but we can rest easy in the knowledge that he’s found a loving guardian that will give him everything he could ever want. We can all play our part to help other Pit Bulls like Fifty by dispelling myths about these dogs whenever possible. Sharing this post is a great place to start! The more people who get to know the dogs rather than the stereotypes, the better!

To keep up with Fifty and his awesome mom, follow them on Facebook, here.

All image source: Fifty the 2-Legged Pit Bull/Facebook

Taylor Chambers

onegreenplanet.org

ronnie--pit bull mix

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Cows Kissing Pitbulls--a little bit of heaven right here on Earth

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Latrice HarrisoNovember 21, 2015 

Culture is a funny thing. It dominates how we think and why we do what we do. Culture decides which animals we should eat and which ones we should fear.

Often negative stereotypes are a byproduct of our cultural programming. Stereotypes are misleading and often turn out to be just plain wrong. This is as true for animal stereotypes as well as human. Knowing this, this image of a Pit Bull getting smothered in kisses illustrates two of some of the worst stereotypes that we hold against animals and straight up turns them on their heads.

The idea that it is okay to exploit cows because they are stupid, boring animals that have no idea what is happening to them is actually incorrect. It turns out that cows are very intelligentanimals, with excellent memories. They have shown a unique ability to remember faces and locations and some have even demonstrated an understanding of the mechanical world by using latches to open gates. Being herd animals, they are also quite social, enjoying play and affection on a regular basis. They are very much aware of their surroundings, so there is no excuse for the terrible treatment that they receive in today’s barbaric meat and dairy factories.

Pit Bulls, like cows, also have a lot of negative stereotypes to overcome. Many people wrongfully believe that they are vicious, aggressive animals with locking jaws, unlike any other dog breed, but the reality is that “Pit Bull” isn’t even an official breed of dog. They are bred from many different types of dogs to have certain dominant characteristics, but  physically, there are no locking jaws or innate viciousness. To the contrary, Pit Bulls are highly intelligent dogs, with a love of play that makes them very trainable. During WWII, they were military working dogs, with Petey from the Little Rascals making the Pit Bull America’s nanny dog for many years until a cultural shift in the 1980s (driven by a rise in dogfighting) decided that they were monsters. Today, they are feared animals who are subjected to breed specific legislation and barred from certain cities. Adding to this, Pit Bulls have the highest rate of euthanasia out of all different breeds singled out by the law for euthanasia and other, unfair treatment.

These animals, are both the victims of cultural fixations that say one is to be feared and that one is to be eaten. The fact is that Pit Bulls do not exist to cause fear, any more than cows exist to become meat or milk or both for the masses. They, like every other animal on earth, exist to find happiness and love and understanding, regardless of what role humanity is having them play.

These days, culture dictates that cows and Pit Bulls all over the U.S. should be denied love and affection. Luckily, this picture is proof that they are not denying it to each other! These animal ambassadors make us question all of our cultural notions of food and fear and ask, “But seriously, why can’t we all get along?”

Image source: Imgur


by Latrice Harrison


copied from onegreenplanet.org

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