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Meet Zoey

Zoey is one of six pit bulls available for adoption through Love-A-Bull, an organization that advocates for the American Pit Bull Terrier and its associated breeds.

A Love-A-Bull Story

by Chealsea Hunt, Brenna Pollock, Deanna Govea

The American Pit Bull Terrier has had a colorful and unexpected past.

In the 1800s, immigrants from the United Kingdom traveled to the United States with their family pets, which were often mixes between Olde English Bulldogs and terriers. Here, these dogs were trusted with childcare and served as vital helping hands on family farms.

During World War I, the breed served as a model of strength and bravery on posters and advertisements.

But today, shelters across the country are overcrowded with these once so highly regarded dogs. So, what happened?

Love-A-Bull, an Austin non-profit dedicated to advocating for the American Pit Bull Terrier and its associated breeds, aims to educate the public and erase the current stigma surrounding these dogs.

Among its many endeavors, the group claims to fight against Breed-Discriminatory Legislation, provides training and support for “Pit Bull Parents” and dispels negative myths regarding the breed.

Brandy Monnens, vice president of Love-A-Bull’s board of directors and the organization’s dog training team chair, said that the breed is often vilified due to common misconceptions and the perpetuation of false information in the media.

According to Monnens and Emily Sears, a volunteer with love-a-bull, sites like dogsbite.org exist to spread uninformed statistics and incite breed hysteria.

"The lady who runs the dogsbite website completely makes up [her] statistics," Sears said. "She's horrible."

Hannah Horstman said to "take all information with a grain of salt."

Horstman is the events and outreach manager for Austin Pets Alive.

She continued on to say, "People often talk with authority when they are... talking from an opinion formed from a single source. I would encourage people to question all information, research, and then speak intelligently with others about the information they've found."

Micaela Myers of stubbydog.org reports that sites like Dogsbite.org make data claims they cannot factually support.

"Dogsbite.org [claims] that pit bulls only make up 5 percent of the total dog population in the United States and are therefore 'attacking' at a much higher rate than other dogs," Myers said in her article, Pit Bulls by the Numbers.

"But the truth is," Meyers continued, "that there are no accurate statistics kept on the total number of dogs in this country, let alone dogs by type."

Horstman said that there is no real way for shelters or other organizations to know and report on breed percentages.

"We don't actually know the breeds of most of our dogs and many of them are mixed breed," Horstman continued.

She added that they do seem to have a lot of "bully breed dogs" within the APA, referring to the blocky-headed dogs who physically resemble the American Pit Bull Terrier.

According to Brandy Monnens, “pit bull” has become more of an umbrella term than an official breed. Many dogs who are not American Pit Bull Terriers get identified as pit bulls, including American Staffordshire Terriers, Boxers, American Bulldogs, and mixed breeds.

Jess Wilson, a pit bull foster parent and member of love-a-bull's training team, explained that this skews statistics when it comes to dangerous dogs and attacks.

"A lot of times dogs get reported as pit bulls when they are not, so I think that you really have to look at the information with an objective mind instead of just looking at the information like it’s the straight truth," Wilson said.

"I’m not saying that there aren’t any bad pit bulls," Wilson said. "Absolutely there are. But there are some labs that are bad [too]."

According to The American Temperament Test Society, several common household breeds scored below pit bull-passing-dogs on a standard behavior examination.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals states, “Responsible ownership of any dog requires a commitment to proper socialization, humane training and conscientious supervision.”

In regards to the behavior of bully breeds, Brandy Monnens said certain medical issues can make dogs act certain ways.

But beyond that, she said, "It's not necessarily all in how they’re raised. If that were true, then there would be fighting dogs who wouldn’t be able to be rehabilitated. It has more to do with their [current] home environment and if they've been socialized with people or other dogs."

“Most of us, when we go out to get a pit bull, it’s because we love the breed and because we think they’re adorable," Jess Wilson said. "But, there are those in the population who get a pit bull because they want a big, bad dog.”

She continued on to say that if you treat a dog like it's big and bad, the dog will believe it's big and bad and display behavioral traits accordingly.

Pit-Bull-Parent Laurie Mitchell said, “I believe that all dogs are born good. It’s people and experiences that can make them bad.”

Mitchell said she's put a lot of time and energy into working with her pit bull-boxer-mix, Phoebe, who she adopted from an Austin shelter last Christmas.

Dr. Galen Kaufmen of Startzville Veterinary Clinic, who is Phoebe's primary vet, said he's personally more cautious with small dogs like chihuahua's then he is with pit bulls. He based this on his own personal experience, though he stressed that all dogs are individuals and proper care and training are paramount in all animals.

Heart, Olie, and Zoey, three pit bulls featured at Love-A-Bull’s recent adoption event at Bark N’ Purr on July 23, serve as perfect examples of responsible ownership and proper training.

Heart in particular displays impressive training, according to her handler, Emily Sears.

This Dalmatian and pit bull mix was born deaf, but she has learned to communicate via hand signals.

Monnens said that Heart is still timid and gets spooked when you sneak up on her, but that she has made a great deal of progress since joining the love-a-bull program.

This dog responds to various American Sign Language signs like, “sit,” “stay,” and “good job” due to diligent care by Love-A-Bull’s dog training team.

Though she's doing well where she is, Heart has yet to find her forever home. Having been turned over to Love-A-Bull by a homeless couple, she is one of many dogs within the city of Austin affected by animal housing restrictions according to Monnens.

On a larger economic scale, Monnens said, many areas in Austin simply do not provide a means for families to affordably live while also caring for a larger dog. The constant misidentification and breed discrimination held by property management companies and landlords has led to a larger number of “pit passing” dogs, or those who are labeled incorrectly as pit bulls because of their appearance, in shelters.

“For a city, I think Austin has a lot of great housing opportunities for people who have pit bulls. But for as many people that are moving into the city of Austin, no one seems to be moving out. There are quite a lot of places that are more economic for people moving in that have breed restrictions,” Monnens said.

This is just one of many challenges facing the pit bull breed, according to Hannah Horstman, the worst of which she said is the stigma against them.

Horstman said that the stereotype built around them is what really makes pit bulls an at risk breed.

She elaborated still further, saying that if a pit bull becomes aggressive, it's often due to the animal having suffered cruelty or neglect because of the negative stereotypes surrounding these dogs.

"People hear horror stories of a specific dog and generalize that behavior on the breed," Horstman said. "When people come to a shelter to pick out a dog and they see these dogs, they skip over their kennels. [Pit Bulls are left] in shelters longer and therefore [become] at risk because they are taking up space."

Love-A-Bull aids shelters with over-crowding, according to Monnens, and will continue to be increasingly active in the fight against pit bull stigma. It is the organization's hope that one day every dog, regardless of breed or physical appearance, will have an equal chance at a loving, happy home.