Most dog owners can probably say that their four-legged friend has played a big role in their life. As an animal lover myself, I’m definitely no different and can honestly say that my dog is one of the reasons that I still am here today. My dog didn’t rescue me from a burning building or anything, but he did comfort me through some of my darkest days and I could never thank him enough for what he did for me. I love my dog, Sampson, and all the past ones I have had before him.

Sampson is very unique and happens to be a pit bull, but with the stereotypes surrounding these canines, bad policies are being implemented which in return punishes innocent dogs as well as loving owners.

Contrary to what some people may think, there is no such thing as a “purebred pit bull”. This is because a pit bull is not even a breed, it’s an umbrella term for multiple different types of dogs. The term “pit bull” itself refers to different breeds and mixes of dogs that have similar characteristics, such as the signature block-like head, muscular frame and short fur coat. This includes American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs.

These dogs often are portrayed badly in the media and due to the inaccurate perceptions people have, they often get put down at shelters without having a chance to be adopted.

About 75 percent of city shelters euthanize pit bulls immediately upon receiving them and those that are offered for adoption are usually the first chosen for euthanasia when overcrowding forces shelters to make hard decisions, according to Save-A-Bull rescue.
The real epidemic here is that there are too many pit bulls and not enough people willing to adopt them and I believe this has to do with how the public views these dogs. Good, loyal dogs are being killed every day when in reality, people should try to understand that pit bulls are individuals and each dog is different. Just like most stereotypes, they are almost always wrong.

A popular misconception is that pit bulls are inherently aggressive. The problem with this myth— besides it being false— is that it’s not rational to generalize multiple breeds of dogs, just like it’s not rational to generalize different ethnicities or races of people.

American Temperament Test Society, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization that evaluates the temperament of different dog breeds and according to the breed statistics on their website, 913 American Pit Bull Terriers were tested and 87.4 percent passed. The American Staffordshire Terrier had similar results with 85.2 percent passing the test. These results are comparable to Golden Retrievers (85.4 percent) and Standard Poodles (88.1 percent), which are both considered traditional “family dogs”.

It seems like every time someone turns on the news, a pit bull attack is on the headlines and as a student journalist myself, I feel like I have some responsibility to bring some truth to this issue. The seemingly high number of attacks that occur are partially due to the high population of pit bulls in the U.S. and if you look at the frequency in relation to the total number of dogs, it is actually rather low. It is estimated that there are about 3-5 million pit bulls in the U.S. and averaging about 33 percent of shelter intakes nationally and even more in some larger cities, according to Save-A-Bull rescue.

I face breed discrimination every time I go out in public with my dog, having to defend him against other people. He’s 90 pounds of (mostly) muscle, so he’s not a hard dog to notice and I’m constantly getting comments from people saying how nice he is as if they expected anything different. My dog is not perfectly trained, but he’s getting better each and every day.

It really saddens me that the strength and loyalty that the bully breeds are so iconic for is often exploited by bad people and irresponsible owners, so when something tragic happens, the breed takes the hit not the person.

While I love these dogs and could never imagine not having one in my life, they are a lot of work and definitely are not for beginner dog owners. I think this is where mistakes can also happen. A person might have good intentions and adopts a little puppy and yet doesn’t bother training them so they might end up misbehaving in the future. Dogs are similar to kids, you can’t  not teach them right from wrong and expect them to grow up to be perfect. These bully breeds  are not hard dogs to train, the important thing is to just educate yourself and others in order to prevent bad things from happening.

If you have experience with big dogs and want to open up your heart, I challenge you to  rescue a pit bull, because it will be one of the best decisions you will ever make.