Aug 10, 2005 8:13 pm US/Pacific
New Effort To Place Pit Bulls In Good Homes
by Ann Notarangelo
(CBS 5)
Animal shelters in the Bay Area are overrun with pit bulls, but there's a new effort to help them find good homes.
A string of pit bull attacks in June -- including the fatal mauling of a 12-year-old boy -- led many people to abandon the canines. Seventy-five percent of dogs coming into shelters are pit bulls and pit bull mixes.
"We are still using euthanaisa as a means of controlling the surplus," said Gary Templin of the East Bay SPCA.
So the East Bay SPCA has teamed up with a group called BAD RAP -- Bay Area Dog Lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls -- to create "Pit Bull Hall," where dogs are specially screened for good temperaments and prospective adopters are screened, too.
"The dogs that deserve to have good homes, that don't deserve to die in our shelters, this is an opportunity to get them adopted into fabulous homes and have them be breed ambassadors out in the community," said Kirsten Park of the East Bay SPCA.
As they run the dogs through their paces, the pit bull handlers make a distinction between adoptable pit bulls and those that are not. They also admit that pit bulls can be a challenging breed, and while dog-to-dog aggression is typical, aggression to humans is not, and in many cases warrants euthanasia. Pit bull supporters contend that dogs that have attacked people have shown warning signs that have been unnoticed or ignored.
Heather Scott adopted the first pit bill out of the program. She wasn't looking for a pit bull initially, but then she found Mikey.
"He's a wonderful companion for me," she said. "I have no reservations at all."
Bernice Mora is fostering another dog, Santi, until she is adopted out. Mora has no problem wtih the dogs around her children, but still takes precautions.
"I do keep them separated when I can't supervise them," she said. "That's advisable for any breed."
The SPCA and BAD RAP caution against adopting from a backyard breeder, as those dogs might have personality traits you don't want and may not know how to handle.
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