MPR Current Events

MPR adoptions for July include Ivory Angel, Peaches, Fiesta, Diamond, Mr. Bojangles, Athena, Charna, Polka Dot, Oreo, Blueberry, and Darth! Thank you all for making this one of our most successful adoption months on record!!!

Besides all of the wonderful adoptions, July was another busy month for MPR volunteers who worked hard to find additional venues for adoption events. Our first event at the Brookside Barkery and Bath was a success and we look forward to returning! We also held a "leftover" yard sale and adoption event July 30th and 31st.

Newcomers to the program this month include Ivory Angel, a deaf pup from Wichita who was already adopted, and Petey Rascal, a transfer from Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter in Parkville, MO. We were able to accept Petey into our program because of our high adoption rate for the month!

MPR celebrates! Peaches, a MPR rescue dog who has been waiting for 1.5 years for her very own home, has finally had her dreams come true and has found the home of a lifetime! We were so upset thinking of our little girl being overlooked for another year, thankfully she worked her charm when interviewing prospective parents and she found her forever match!

As always, if you are interested in volunteering, sponsoring and adoption event, or have any other suggestions, feel free to send them our way. Just drop us a line at email@mprgroup.net

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Tricked ya! Okay, maybe you knew, but we doubt it, we were tricked initially, too! The truth of the matter is that Mr. Cosmos is in fact probably not a pit bull, but instead an exotic new breed known as a Catahoula Bulldog. We went ahead and bailed him out of the shelter anyway -his good looks and goofy personality worked in his favor, and heck, he sure looks like a pit bull at times!

This boy is so stunning he's been described as a "piece of art". We've just never seen another like him. From head to toe he is unique and amazing.

Cosmos is fully housebroken, crate-trained, and is comfortable around adults and older children alike. He is too smart for his own good, and is very athletic. Strict outdoor supervision and a 6 ft. privacy fence will be a must for this curious boy!

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A:Jennifer Dorr

Q: You used to work at the (Kansas) City (Missouri) animal control facility. Were pit bulls frequently brought into the shelter? Do you feel there were more pit bulls in the shelter than any other single breed usually?

A:Pit Bulls were frequently brought into the shelter by officers but seldom owner relinquished. Pit Bulls were probably the second most popular breed in the shelter, the most common dogs were mixed-breed dogs, like Chow and Shepherd mixes.

Q: What do you believe is the reason behind the overwhelming popularity of pit bulls in the inner-city today?

A:I believe that people in the city own them for image because they are seen as "tough" or "cool" dogs. They are also dogs that can put up with a lot of abuse and still remain friendly to people.

Q: Were most pits that came to your shelter picked up as strays, dumped, or confiscated?

A:Either picked up as strays or taken on cruelty or neglect cases.

Q: Of the confiscated dogs, were any seized for dogfighting? What were other reasons they were seized? Are charges ever brought against the accused, and if so, what is the penalty?

A:Not many were taken for dog fighting but many had very obvious injuries from dog fighting. Many were removed from their homes because of lack of shelter, water, food, veterinary care, and many were picked up running loose. It was impossible to prosecute for dog fighting because in order to prosecute, one must witness the fight. Either I did not witness it or in one case where I did witness it, the involved parties were underage.

It was our policy at the time to euthanize anything that had fighting injuries. This prevented the owner from getting the dog back and fighting it again. It really bothered me at first to put dogs to sleep that were essentially the victims. Then we had two fighting dogs in
terrible shape that were picked up because the owner's mother could not separate them.

Their bodies were covered in old and new wounds and their heads were so swollen that they didn't even look like dogs. The officer that picked them up did not euthanize them because she wanted to pursue dog fighting charges. She was forced to return the dogs to the owner and was never able to prosecute. After this case, I decided that I would much rather euthanize all of the fighting dogs than put them back into that environment. At KCMO shelter, I learned that there are things that are much worse than death, which is sometimes the kindest option.

Q: Would it be safe to say pit bulls were generally in worse shape than other strays that were brought in to the city shelter?

A:I wouldn't say that pit bulls were in any worse shape that the other strays. There was a much larger percentage with fighting injuries but we saw so many other grossly neglected dogs in the shelter. Some of the pits were actually in great shape because their owners took so much pride in them.

Q: What was the temperament of most of the pits brought in? Were the ones that were obviously abused (fought, starved, neglected, etc.) human aggressive?

A:I would say that 90% of the pits that I dealt with in the shelter and on the streets as an officer were extremely friendly. Most of the fought and neglected ones were super sweet to people. It was very sad.

Q: Do you believe there is a dogfighting problem in the metro?

A:Absolutely.

Q: Does any particular pit bull stand out in your mind that you remember from your time working at the shelter? What was their story? What became of the dog?

A:There are so many of them that really touched me. There was one that was brought to the shelter by his owner because his owner had shot him. The dog stood there as happy and friendly as could be. He had a bullet wound in his neck and a huge exit wound on the other side of his neck. He was a huge mess and was still licking me and wagging. The owner stood there and told me how he had owned the dog for several years and then last night the dog had "turned" on him and he had to shoot it.

Well, I am not a believer in dogs "turning" on their owners without any provocation or previous behavioral problems but the dog couldn't talk. I put the dog to sleep because I could not work miracles and heal him and then find a home for an adult male pit that "supposedly" attacked its owner.

Later a police officer followed up with me and it turns out that the dog owner was fighting with his girlfriend and when he was trying to shoot her the dog got between him and prevented him from killing the girlfriend. I always think of this when I hear people say that pit bulls "turn" on people.

Q: You work at a suburban police department now. Do you ever take in pit bulls in Lenexa?

A:We only have a few in the City of Lenexa. I think that we receive calls from concerned citizens every time these dogs go outside to use the bathroom. We have probably impounded three or four in the past year. We also have one who is able to pop his front door open and he runs around his neighborhood trying to make friends every couple of months.

Q: Have you noticed that people in Lenexa feel differently about pit bulls than people in the city? What do you think is the best way to improve the breed's reputation?

A:The majority of the calls that I receive here on pit bulls are people who are concerned that their neighbor has one and Animal Control needs to come and pick it up because they think pit bulls are illegal. There is no breed-specific legislation in Lenexa so we explain to these callers that we do not have a problem with the dogs, just with irresponsible owners. I think that the best way to improve the breed's reputation is through education. Many of the people I talk to about pit bulls have never even seen one and have only heard about them on TV. When they actually see one, they cannot believe how friendly they are.

Q: Do you believe in breed-specific legislation? If not, do you have any other solutions to prevent the breed from falling into the wrong hands?

A:I strongly believe that breed specific legislation unfairly punishes responsible owners. I feel that if a City bans pit bulls, they are encouraging people who use pits for status to get other dogs such as Presa Canary dogs, Cane Corsos, Fila Brasilarios, etc., which may be even more dangerous due to size and breed characteristics.

I don't have the answer on how to prevent the wrong people from acquiring pit bulls. I do think that strict enforcement for irresponsible dog owners, more pressure on the judicial system to take animal cases seriously, and increased public education about pit bulls may help to remove some of these dogs from the wrong hands. Then we are faced with the problem of having to determine what should be done with these damaged dogs.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

A:I would just like to give pit bull rescuers a pat on the back. Pit bulls are a wonderful breed but trying to find homes for them has got to be one of the most difficult things to do. Keep up the good work.

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By: Casey Martinez, Animal Resource Fund*

After coming home from a stroll with their newly rescued dog, the Bishop family was surprised when an animal control officer was standing at their door. It seemed there had been a complaint about their dog by a neighbor. The family insisted that this must be a mistake: their dog was current on his vaccinations, was never allowed to run off leash, and had been responsibly neutered. The animal control officer quickly explained that although their dog had caused no “problems," the issue was that their 35-pound dog which had been identified by a veterinarian as a French Bulldog/Boxer mix, “looked” like a Pit Bull. Since Pit Bulls are banned in the city, they were ordered to remove the dog from city limits within 72 hours. Does this sound unfair, irrational, and possibly even crazy? Unfortunately, this scenario happens daily in the Kansas City metro area where breed-specific legislation (BSL) is running rampant.

Many proponents of BSL will use the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) statistics regarding dog bites to have specific breeds banned from their cities. What these BSL advocates do not tell you is that the CDC does not support BSL. In fact, in a special report titled “Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998”, the CDC indicates, “data may be biased…” Among the reasons they cite are the following, “to the extent that attacks by 1 breed are more newsworthy than those by other breeds, our methods may have resulted in differential ascertainment of fatalities by breed” and “because identification of a dog’s breed may be subjective (even experts may disagree on the breed of a particular dog), DBRF [dog bite related fatalities] may be differentially ascribed to breeds with a reputation for aggression.” In their conclusion they acknowledge the following:

Although fatal attacks on humans appear to be a breed-specific problem… other breeds may bite and cause fatalities at higher rates. Because of difficulties inherent in determining a dog’s breed with certainty, enforcement of breed-specific ordinances raises constitutional and practical issues.

Breed misidentification is only one of the many reasons why BSL is not the best alternative for our community. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) asserts that, “many of the factors that affect a dog’s propensity to bite are no more specific to a pit bull than they are to a poodle.” In a May-June 2001 article called “Blame the Breed?” the HSUS cites the following statistics:

• Since 1975, dogs belonging to more than 30 breeds have been responsible for fatal attacks on people.
• Sexually intact dogs are 2.6 times more likely to bite than sterilized dogs
• Chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite than unchained dogs

Nearly all reputable organizations that know anything about dogs, including the CDC, HSUS and many others such as the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Kennel Club (AKC), the National Animal Control Association, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, oppose BSL in favor of enforcing responsible pet ownership. Alternatives suggested by these organizations are as follows:

• Lobby for non-breed specific laws such as a dangerous dog law that would punish owners that allow their dogs to run off leash or deliberately train their dog to be a danger to others. A new law that is gaining momentum and that has recently been passed in Lawrence is an anti-tethering law. According to an article in the Lawrence Journal World titled City decision goes to the dogs, the law will “prohibit people from keeping a dog chained for more than one hour at a time, for a maximum of three hours a day, with required three-hour breaks between chaining.”
• Enforce existing laws. Many cities already have dangerous dog laws and leash laws that are not enforced. It is essential that the public insist that these laws are enforced.
• Educate the public on responsible dog ownership by providing responsible dog ownership seminars and canine safety education. Education should include the importance of spaying and neutering and the dangers of allowing their dog to run at large.

Another statistic fallacy that the CDC explains on their website is the fact that they have no data regarding how many dogs there are of one breed in the United States and therefore the numbers gathered have absolutely no meaning. In other words, the numbers would have more significance if they could compare the number of bites per breed versus the number of dogs of that breed that exist in our country. According to the American Temperament Test Society, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to “uniform temperament evaluation of purebred and spayed/neutered mixed-breed dogs," over 83.9% of the American Pit Bull Terriers and 82.2% of Rottweilers tested, have passed their temperament test. This is compared to 79.2% of Border Collies, 76.2% of Australian Shepherds, and 80.9% of breeds on average. These figures seem to indicate that our view of certain breeds have been skewed by positive or negative media attention, depending on the breed.

The bottom line is that BSL is not a community’s answer to dog bite prevention. In addition to the reasons mentioned before, the AKC has this to say about BSL:

Breed-specific laws are not the best way to protect communities. An owner intent on using his or her dogs for malicious purposes will simply be able to switch to another type of dog and continue to jeopardize public safety. The list of regulated breeds or types could grow every year without ever addressing responsible dog ownership. Deeds, not breeds, should be addressed.

For additional information regarding this unfair epidemic you may visit the following websites:

• Center for Disease Control
• Humane Society of the United States
• The American Veterinary Medical Association
• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• American Kennel Club
• Missouri Pit Bull Rescue
• Pit Bull Rescue Central
• American Temperament Test Society, Inc.
  
  *Works cited available upon request

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Ways To Help MPR
If you love pit bulls and want to make a difference for them you can help MPR in many ways. We hope you can join our team of volunteers and supporters!

Volunteer Support
Donate your time helping MPR by fostering homeless pit bulls, helping care for dogs in boarding, assist with adoption events, printing materials, etc. If you would like to volunteer, please fill out our form HERE.

Financial Support
Donate cash or supplies for saving more pit bulls, assisting with medical expenses and veterinary treatment, boarding costs for dogs without foster homes, food and toys, crates and kennels, adoption events and printed materials, all donations are tax deductible!

*You may donate via PayPal on MPR’s website or checks can be sent to:
Missouri Pit Bull Rescue
PO Box 520043
Independence, MO 64052

Community Support
Educate your neighbors, friends and family on the plight of pit bulls. Encourage responsible pet ownership, spay/neuter your pets, and contact your local representatives to voice your opinions about BSL in your area. Report abuse, neglect or abandonment of animals to local authorities, including any suspected dog-fighting!

Sponsorship Programs
Our Sponsorship programs offer several different ways you can help each dog. If you are interested sponsoring one of our dogs, please go HERE.

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Volunteer of the Month

With MPR since 2003, Nick is a valuable member of our kennel team and does a great job with the MPR dogs awaiting their forever homes. Kennel duties include cleaning runs, grooming, feeding, playing with, and running the dogs, and just sitting with them and giving them cuddles, kisses, and pets.

Nick is also an active foster home and has fostered MPR alum Waylon most recently, whom he had a big hand in rescuing, among others. Nick helps out at most MPR adoption events and we don't know what we'd do without him!

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