Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog

A Best Friends Network Campaign
to achieve a time of No More
Homeless Pets.

The American Pit Bull Terriers and bully breeds, such as rottweilers, and American Staffordshire terriers, are in trouble.  Best Friends Animal Society is working throughout the country to help these dogs, which are battling everything from a media-driven bad reputation to dogfighting to legislation designed to outlaw their very existence. Here are a few facts about pit bulls:

• About half of the dogs killed in shelters today are pit bulls or pit bull mixes.
• There are 20 different species of dogs that are commonly confused with the pit bull, making breed-discriminatory rules very hard to enforce.
• Only one in every 600 pit bulls will find a home.
• Nationwide, 75% of shelters euthanize all pit bulls, regardless of temperament, age, history, etc.
• The biggest risk factors for dog aggression are irresponsible/cruel dog owners and dogs that are not spayed/neutered. No breed is inherently aggressive or vicious.
• Responsibly owned, well trained, and socialized pit bulls are fantastically social and make first-rate family dogs.

How is Best Friends helping pit bulls? 

Leading by example, Best Friends works with local officials to adopt ordinances that protect communities from any dangerous dog instead of breed discriminatory legislation (BDL), which just covers particular breeds.

Best Friends is also working with local organizations in inner-cities like Chicago to create community training centers where young people can learn how to properly care for and relate to their pets. 

Across the country, we are working with local community groups, public servants, and elected officials to see that dogfighting operations are reported and broken up, and participants are prosecuted. We're increasing public awareness in order to prevent new operations from forming and we're helping to place these poor victimized dogs when they are removed from the possession of their abusers.

In 2008, Best Friends took in 22 of the dogs from Michael Vick's dogfighting operation. That same year, Best Friends helped draft legislation in Georgia that resulted in dogfighting laws the state can be proud of.