AN APOLOGY TO BREED BAN ENTHUSIASTS

I'm sorry you are frightened of my dogs and are trying to have them killed
because they are pitbulls.

I'm sorry you lack the understanding of this breed's true history,
gentleness with people, wonderful temperament, intelligence and behavioral
conformation. I'm sorry you won't read the ATTS stats regarding our breed's
true temperament, putting it in the top four for temperament, scoring better
than breeds like Golden Retrievers, and cocker spaniels.

I'm sorry that you side with and protect animal abusers by marking the breed
of dog, and not the irresponsibility of the owner. I'm sorry that by your
logic I could steal a car, run some people over with it and then you can
blame the make of car for the accident, as I walk free.

I'm sorry you generalize one breed of dog with one group of people. I'm
sorry you can't see the love and determination that many often highly
educated, non-criminal and "normal" types of people show towards this breed
and the great personal sacrifices that they make to take care of their dog
responsibly.

I'm sorry you cannot go into the shelters and see the hundreds of abandoned
and abused pitbulls, dying only for the inane "crime" of being born the
breed they are. I'm sorry you cannot see the look of disappointment in their
eyes as someone walks by their kennel, and refuses to consider adopting them
based on an ill educated fear mongering reporter. I'm sorry that you cannot
be there when the animal looks at a human for the last time, and in spite of
betrayed by all humans they have met, their tail still wags as someone
approaches with the syringe of Euthinol.

I'm sorry cannot be there when law enforcement shoots one of your dogs dead
inside it's own home in front of the children it mutually loves for simply
getting off the dog bed and walking over to say hello with it's tail
wagging. I'm sorry you cannot be there to rescue pitbull puppies from a
plastic bag in a dumpster, dumped there by someone switching their illegal,
and inhumane activities to another, more lucrative breed.

I'm sorry you cannot understand the difference between canine and human
aggression, in the way that this breed can. Yes, I'm saying my pitbull is
smarter then you.

I'm sorry that the medieval witchhunting genetics of intolerance,
generalization, and racism make you feel the need to vilify a breed of dog.
I'm sorry that justice, equality, tolerance, common sense are all things you
hold dear as a fellow Canadian, and expect from others, but do not yourself
offer them towards a pitbull or its caregiver. I'm sorry that you don't take
the constructive time to petition changes in the Canadian animal cruelty
act, and in the criminal code that would deal out serious punishment to the
real animal abusers.

I'm sorry you cannot see the disappointed look on a puppy's face when the
people petting it quickly frown, and walk away when you tell them it is a
pitbull. I'm sorry you feel the need to terrorize my family and my dogs for
crimes we never have and never will commit. I'm sorry you don't have to live
in fear of your dog's safety from hysterical, and mentally unstable people
trying to inflict all manner of evil upon your dogs.

I'm sorry that you cannot see my breed working in some of the best Search
and Rescue groups in the world, saving countless lives each year. I'm sorry
our media censors and refuses to print the breed name "pitbull' when in
connection with a positive act such as saving a person or child from a
burning house, drowning, wild attacking animals, etc. I'm sorry you cannot
see the many pitbulls registered as therapy dogs and bringing so much joy to
another misunderstood, neglected demographic in our society, the senior
citizen.

I am sorry you can't see a pitbull kiss a child, step carefully over a
kitten, or play in a sunbeam. I'm sorry you cannot wake in the morning to
feel a warm pitbull cuddled next to you in bed, and know that you are their
total world, and even if the house caught fire and trapped you, they would
stay with you to the end.
But, now that I really think about it, I'm not at all sorry you don't own a
pitbull--you do not deserve one.

Rob MacBean
The Mongrel Hordes
Lake Cowichan BC
(Permission granted by me the author to crosspost as long as it stays
intact, and with my name on it)

Thank you for posting this. How very heart rendering and true. Those same thoughts could also encompass other breeds that people, in their ignorance, don't understand or care to understand but form their opinions by what they see on TV and in the papers. We can never stop educating the public about our beloved breeds.

I personally own 3 dobies and it's amazing how they have changed the attitudes of some of the people they have met. I keep hearing comments about, "I never realized they were so friendly."

I have had pits, thank you for putting that here.....They love just like all other animals. That had me in tears.