{"id":5356,"date":"2018-10-12T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/?p=5356"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:29:23","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T00:29:23","slug":"when-breed-restrictions-become-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/news\/when-breed-restrictions-become-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"Breed Restrictions: The Misconceptions and How to Overcome Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever met a bulldog or pit bull, then chances are you know how incredibly sweet they are. Even if you haven\u2019t, you\u2019ve probably seen photos of these cute pups plastered everywhere from Instagram\u00a0<\/a>to messages from your bestie. Or is that last one just me?<\/p>\n

The History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly not everyone thinks of these loyal friends as safe. Bulldogs\u00a0<\/a>were originally bred for fights with bulls in the UK. In the fights, the Bulldogs attacked the bull until it was worn out or tired of being injured. The fights were outlawed however in 1835 when the British enacted the Cruelty to Animals Act. Unfortunately, their roles of entertaining the lower classes through violent displays of their skills didn\u2019t end there. The dogs were pitted against rats, which meant they needed to be faster. So the \"breed<\/a>bulldog was mixed with the terrier to create the pit bull.<\/p>\n

The Start Towards a Change<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the pit bull came to America, American\u2019s saw them as the all American dog. The American Pit Bull wasn\u2019t used for fighting in pits; it was a general work dog. It herded cattle and protected the family. All those years fighting meant the pit bull had been bred to be loyal and kind to humans. After all, when they were fighting in pits, the pit bulls\u2019 owners needed assurance they weren\u2019t going to be the ones getting bitten.<\/p>\n

While the stories of pit bulls being nannies\u00a0<\/a>in the pioneer days seem to have been a myth, they were rooted in the pit bull\u2019s gentleness with humans. Since they don\u2019t bite, they won\u2019t attack a baby, and since they were general work dogs, it was an easy exaggeration for someone to make. The truth is that they may not have been watchdogs to babies, but they were once our countries heroes. During WWI and WWII\u00a0pit bulls were used in military combat, one dog even made it to the title of sergeant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That was a long time ago though. Today\u2019s pit bulls and Bulldogs come from random breeding. Breeding that has nothing to do with the best traits for fights. Breeding that doesn\u2019t unload these animals into fighting rings. Breeding like any other dog, to be a new family member or loved one.<\/p>\n

The Common Misconception <\/strong><\/p>\n

If only everyone could realize that it\u2019s been almost 200 years since bulldogs were solely bred for the purpose of fighting. Since then advocates for these beautiful creatures have worked to ensure that the majority of bulldog and pit bull breeding is for adoption and not fighting. It\u2019s true that dogfights haven\u2019t been eradicated. They \"breed<\/a>may never be entirely eradicated, and there may always be people seeking aggressive traits in their dogs. There may always be backyard breeders who see the animals as products instead of family members, but it\u2019s not the pit bull or bulldogs fault. They aren\u2019t the problem.<\/p>\n

The Problem with Breed Restrictions <\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, discriminatory practices against the variety of pit bull and bulldog breeds have lead to overcrowding of these sweet animals in shelters. Apartments have breed restrictions, as do some city ordinances and parents have been scared into thinking that these dogs will hurt their children. Which has lead to pit bull breeds being one of the most common breeds\u00a0<\/a>relinquished to shelters. These shelters are finding themselves overcrowded with innocent little friends, who often take the longest time to be adopted. Overcrowding in shelters isn\u2019t just an issue for the pit bull, it means that dogs are sometimes turned away, kept in subpar conditions, or put down.<\/p>\n

What You Can Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

The good news is there\u2019s something we can do. If adopting one of these noble creatures into your family isn\u2019t currently a possibility don\u2019t fret. Even just spreading truthful information about how wonderful these pets are, can decrease the stigma. As can correcting people when they spread false information. It\u2019s terrible that laws and rental stipulations have lead to the pit bull\u2019s struggle, but with our voices, we can make a change.<\/p>\n

When a friend is ready to adopt, encourage them to choose a pit bull. When someone says they\u2019re scared, remind them there\u2019s nothing to be scared of. If you can, help house pit bulls while they wait for their forever homes. Several organizations\u00a0are seeking foster parents, so check them out and if you\u2019re able, change the life of a pit bull.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever met a bulldog or pit bull, then chances are you know how incredibly sweet they are. Even if you haven\u2019t, you\u2019ve probably seen photos of these cute pups plastered everywhere from Instagram\u00a0to messages from your bestie. Or is that last one just me? The History Sadly not everyone thinks of these loyal friends as safe. Bulldogs\u00a0were originally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":5367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[726,48],"tags":[763,762,567,761],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5356"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5760,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356\/revisions\/5760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}