Monday, October 18, 2010

Friendly Pitbulls Do Exist

It is my fervent hope that anyone who mistreats a dog comes back in a future life as a dog and gets exactly the same treatment.  Karma.

When I moved here I had some very common misconceptions.  I remember walking to the train home through a rather questionable neighborhood and watched a Pit Bull trot down the street toward the "abandoned area" on the wrong side of the tracks.  She was clearly post-partum, covered with hundreds of ticks, and was getting ready to go back to her pups and nurse them.   Stray dogs in the city have a hard life.   Stray Pit Bulls in Philadelphia are almost immediately "put to sleep".  Needless to say I kept my phone in my pocket.  Whether that was the right thing to do or not, I am not sure.

Every home should be a caring home.  That is true for Dogs, Cats, and People.  Love really does make a family, and if Heather has two mommies, it is clearly none of your business as long as Heather is Happy.  No matter what Heather is.

I moved here and for a while I had heard horror stories.  I no longer consider leaving the dog in the car while I dash in to get a quart of milk.  People hijack your friend and do horrific things.  I was warned never to do something that I rarely did up North.

Here there are people who have pitbulls as a fashion accessory just like they do anywhere else.  Those are the people who should be chained in a yard in my own mind, but I'm sure that won't happen.  There are many of those fashion accessories that escape and end up in another home. 

Anabelle is one of them.  She was lucky enough to have walked past my Godmother and her husband at a festival quite a few years back.   Anabelle had signs of having been a breeder dog and smacked around quite a bit.   This dog is probably one of the sweetest animals I've ever met.  She sees me and tries to climb into my Jeep when I leave, parks next to me on the couch and lays down so I can pet her for as long as SHE wants.   My hand is cropped out of the picture but it was happily employed in making her happy.

After that, across the street moved in Baby Girl.  She's another Red Nose Pit that had clearly been in more than one fight.   There are bite marks that were on her head that are visible to this day.  She was found wandering the street in Hollywood, FL and adopted by Lisa and Billy across the street.  I was ... scared.  A Pit Bull Across The Street (Cue dramatic music!).  I finally allowed my fear to calm and this fat little dog waddled across the driveway and proceeded to fiercely lick my shin, scarily wag her tail, and snort fearful amounts of happy noises at me. 

I was clearly in the throes of another one of those mental adjustment moments that adults with preconceptions go through.

I
Was
Wrong.

To this day, I'm quite happy to have this pink and blond love sponge across the street.   She teaches me about how those who are not human can be humane - or more humane than those who are expected to be.  When I visit Anabelle, I remind my Godmother that she will never have to worry about her dog because if anything happens, Lettie gets a friend.  Lettie won't like that but ... tough.

The hardest part about that particular dog will be teaching Anabelle not to get on the couch.

She's happy and healthy and so are both dog's owners.  I won't have to worry about adopting a second dog for quite a while.

That will keep Lettie, in turn, quite happy herself.

2 comments:

  1. Dogs are made of love. In my world, every bad dog owner would be chained in the yard with no shade, no food and no water. I know several pit bulls and they're just big ole babies. Glad you learned that, too!

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  2. Constance, it took me time. We're lucky here in Wilton Manors, for the most part. Across the river in FTL ... Hmmmm...

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