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Pit Proud: The History of the Pit-Bull [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [music] [music]
[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Jennifer:
My name is Jennifer McNamara and this is my husband, Clint Miller and our daughter, Casey
Miller and we have 3 rescued American Pit Bull Terriers-- Lady, Ginger and Smokey. I
love my dogs because they love us back. Clint: They seem to have more of a personality than
some of the other breeds. Casey: It's fun to play with and they don't care what we watch
on TV [laughter] Jennifer: That's important. [music] Roo: I'm Roo and this is my wife,
Clara and this is Hector, who we just recently adopted him and he was rescued from Michael
Vick's dog fighting operation. He already past his CGC with us and we're hopefully going
to get him certified as a therapy dog. Narrator: The AKC canine good citizen program is designed
to award dogs with good manners at home and in the community. Many dog owners complete
it as a prerequisite to therapy dog training. Roo: He's pretty much got the mind of a puppy
but he's in a full dog body. 'Cause he didn't really have that enrichment in the puppyhood.
Narrator: In the early 1800's, a vicious sport called bull baiting was very popular in England.
It involved the release of bull dogs on a bull that was sometimes confined in a deep
pit. The object was to see how long it would take the dogs to pin down the bull. Desiring
an improved dog for their cruel sport, English breeders bred the bulldog and the terrier
to create the bull and terrier, a strong, fast, muscular dog that was very friendly
and sociable to humans. This helped ensure the dog would never turn on their owners when
they had to pull it off the bull. As the popularity of this dog spread, it simply became known
as the pit bull. In 1835, the British House of Commons outlawed bull baiting through the
cruelty to animals act. Since fighting bulls was such a visible practice, the sport went
underground and turned into dog on dog fighting. [music] Casey: Good girl. Good girl. Good
girl. Jennifer: There are definitely stereotypes to having a pit bull and there's definitely
people that'll be petting our dog and then go "what kind is it?" Well, she's a pit bull
terrier. Whoom. Those kids are grabbed up and run off. We see that on occasion, don't
we? And it's kind of silly because they've already kinda fallen in love with her for
the moment. You always hear when something happens and it makes the news with the pit
bulls, "well, what kind of family are they anyway to own a pit bull?" Well, the families
that aren't getting on the news are just like us. Roo: When I first saw those scars, obviously
I felt bad for the situation that he was put in to get them. He's got lots of scars on
his chest here. They pretty much go all throughout his chest. They go down his legs. See, he's
missing some canines and has got a notch out of his tongue there. I was a little concerned,
being in that situation, how he would be towards other dogs and considering we have other dogs
in our house, but once I saw his personality and his temperament, all those things just
went out the window. It's just amazing how this dog can come out of that situation and
be just fine. "***, ***." [music] Narrator: In the late 1800's, English and Irish immigrants
brought the pit bull to America where it gained in popularity because of how loving they were
with humans. In fact, they were so good with small children, they were nicknamed "The Nanny
Dog". Their fame grew even higher when the image of the pit bull was used in World War
1 posters to embody the American spirit. And during that same war, a stray pit bull named
Sergeant Stubby became it's most famous dog. For valiantly protecting his fellow soldiers
against German troops and gas attacks, Stubby was nicknamed "The Hero Dog". [music] Post-World
War 1, Madison Avenue made the pit bull center stage in its advertising. From shoes to magazines
to circuses. The pit bull was everywhere. [music] In 1927, the Our Gang series or Little
Rascals, as it's known today, showcased a pit bull named Petey. Americans fell in love
with him and it was during this time that the pit bull became one of the most popular
dogs in America. Jennifer: The things about the breed that good owners love also make
them so moldable for somebody that wants to do something bad with them. Roo: The whole
fighting thing is a very selfish act. They're thinking more of themselves rather than their
dogs. They feel pain, they're going through a horrible situation and they don't have a
choice. Jennifer: Don't be afraid of me when I'm out for a walk with my daughter and my
dog's on a leash. Be afraid of the guy that's keeping his dog shut up in his basement, that's
keeping his dog on a chain, that's underground with his dog. If they are not treating that
animal as part of their family, then, yeah, look at that guy. Roo: Obviously, there's
a lot of people that don't like the breed. What I've actually found is that a lot of
those people have never even met one. I'm not going to sit here and say that every single
pit bull is perfect. But most of them are really good dogs. What's really going to change
people's misperceptions and their prejudices and their opinions is to actually meet them.
Jennifer: They are the greatest, loyalest, loving family dog. Casey reading from book:
You can imagine how dull it would be if every cat everywhere looked exactly the same. Casey:
I'll go in the living room, he'll come up on the couch and I'll read to him. Jennifer:
Casey never really had a dog that picked her. But who picked you? Casey: Smokey. Jennifer:
Smokey. [music] Narrator: In the early 80's, a crack *** epidemic turned America's
inner cities into battle grounds. Gang members, flush with money, adopted status symbols like
expensive cars, gold chains and muscular dogs. Gambling on dog fights became a regular event
and inexperienced breeders began raising pit bulls for toughness and aggression in a fighting
ring. The U.S. media jumped on the story, adding more fuel to the fire with provocative
magazine covers and sensationalized headlines. Though it had never truly disappeared, dog
fighting was experiencing a resurgence. in reaction to media coverage that focused solely
on pit bulls and not their irresponsible owners, counties and states across America began enacting
breed-specific banning legislation, or BSL. Denver, Colorado was one of the first. In
1989, they banned pit bull type dogs, seizing and killing thousands whose only crime was
their breed. Animals wardens were given the power to decide what a pit bull type dog was.
Bull Terriers, Staffordshires, Boxers, Mastiffs, if it was muscular with a square head, they
could seize and kill your dog. In 2007, Atlanta Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick, was arrested
for running an illegal dog fighting ring so barbaric that the losing dogs were frequently
hanged, drowned or electrocuted. In the past, shelters had euthanized all rescued fight
dogs, but this time it was different. The public sided with the dogs, and in a landmark
case, several rescue operations were allowed to evaluate them. Out of 48 rescued pit bulls,
only one displayed aggression toward humans. It seemed the majority only needed time to
heal, both physically and emotionally. As of 2010, they are all either living in their
forever homes or in sanctuary. There hasn't been a single aggressive incident involving
any of them. [music] Roo: We didn't really tell anybody in the neighborhood we were bringing
him home. I knew that coming with the headline, "Vick fighting dog" people might think twice,
or what's going on. And people are actually really welcoming. It's nice to see. Jennifer:
It's most important to be a responsible owner. Regardless of what breed of dog you have,
you need to give it a healthy home. You need to give it shelter, give it love, give it
training. Roo: To see the attitude of this guy coming out of that situation, just being
happy to be alive and just living life, it's really a reminder to me that it's admirable.
Jennifer: If you are the owner of a large breed dog and you hear they might be planning
to ban pit bulls in your town, you need to be on guard. Because if they come after my
dog, they're coming after your dog next. Roo: This guy can go through all this and he's
just a dog and he can come out and have a good time. I think I can do the same thing
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