The Dog of Choice for the Wrong Reason:
Animal Control Officers say Many Pit Bull Owners Treat These Animals Like Weapons or Tools Rather Than Pets.
www.dailypress.com
BY PATTI ROSENBERG
November 8, 2004, VIRGINIA--A female pit bull is found near death - no food or water, too weak to walk, chained to a tree in the back yard of a James City County house that her owner had moved away from.
An emaciated pit bull is found frozen to death outside a Hampton home.
A pit bull breeder already on probation in Hampton for cropping the dogs' ears without a veterinary license moves to Gloucester, where she is charged with the same crime and with raising pit bulls for illegal dog fighting.
A male pit bull is found in Richmond chained in a yard with little food or water and with feces covering the ground. He dies soon afterward from heartworm infestation and internal parasites.
All happened this year and, according to some local animal control officers, it's no coincidence that all involved the same kind of dog. Despite their fierce reputation - or because of it - pit bulls are especially vulnerable to becoming the victims of humans.
No one keeps statistics by breed, but spokespeople for animal control agencies on most of the Peninsula said the majority of dogs seized last year from their owners for mistreatment or abuse were pit bulls. They represented the "overwhelming majority" seized in Hampton and Newport News, said Gene Falls, former executive director of the Peninsula SPCA.
Isle of Wight Animal Control Officer Waverley Traylor said all six dogs he's seized so far this year - and probably about 50 to 60 percent seized last year - were pit bulls.
"The wrong people get them for the wrong reasons," said Shirley Anderson, supervisor of Animal Control for James City and Williamsburg. Her office seized 43 dogs last year because of abuse or neglect, and she estimates 70 percent of them were pit bulls. Most of the rest were breeds used for hunting, such as hounds and beagles, she said.
At one time, she used to confiscate a lot of Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers and German shepherds, too. But for years, pit bulls seem to have remained the dog of choice for bullies and thugs, she and other animal control officers say. "I think it's kind of a macho thing," said Falls. He said he's seen pit bulls tied up in a back yard and forgotten about, except for when their owners wanted to show them off or put them in a dogfight.
"Some people want them just to brag," Anderson said. "I've been in neighborhoods where people will yell, 'I've got a pit bull.'"
When police go on a drug raid, it's not unusual to find a pit bull at the front door and a pit bull at the back door, she said. Maj. Stan Stout of the James City County police said police have found drugs in pens with pit bulls, where they serve as a deterrent to would-be thieves and an early warning system for police raids, he said.
What really upsets Anderson is how little affection some owners show. "The dog could be living there four or five years, but as soon as there's a complaint, the owner says, 'You can have it.' They'll just watch you take it away," Anderson says.
"Those dogs are just happy for some attention," she said. "They're happy to see a Milk Bone."
Anderson stressed that she doesn't want to make it sound like all pit bull owners are bad. She herself owns a pit bull mix, which she adopted from the pound. Falls also adopted a pit bull his agency seized. "It's the best dog I've ever had. This pit bull loves everything. He loves cats."
Falls said many pit bull owners have them for the wrong reasons and mistreat them. He estimated that eight out of 10 pit bulls are abused.
