In February, a 71-year-old woman came to a bad end while trying to do a good thing. A volunteer at a Florida dog “rescue” group, she was in an outdoor play area with Gladys, a 125-pound pit bull mix, when the dog suddenly snapped, mauling her to death. The group had at least some indication that Gladys was unstable: Two weeks earlier, a staff person had commented that she was “not good” with certain people and that her severe fear issues “might be … a little over our heads.” Yet the group was apparently trying to prepare her for adoption anyway.
You might think that this horrific case was an isolated incident, but you would be wrong. Dozens of animal shelter volunteers and staff, as well as people who have adopted dogs — and adopters’ children, animal companions and neighbors — have been severely maimed or killed by dogs with known histories of aggression. Who is to blame for these killings? Ironically, the “no-kill” movement plays a large role.
Under pressure to join the wave of “no-kill” facilities, a growing number of shelters and “rescue” groups have developed tunnel vision. They focus on increasing “save rates” so that their numbers look good and they can maintain their “no-kill” status at any cost, even if it means adopting out dangerous dogs to unsuspecting members of the public — consequences be damned.
Here’s a chilling example: Albuquerque, New Mexico’s shelter admitted that it had allowed 100 dogs who failed a standard behavior test to be adopted. Program analyst Jim Ludwick confessed that “in reducing our euthanasia rate, mistakes have been made .... Our responsibility is not just to the animals staring us in the face as they stand in our cages. We have a responsibility to the animals and children who are out of sight and out of mind … who might pay the price if we unleash the dogs we should euthanize for public safety reasons.”
There’s another fact that few shelters dare to share openly because it’s wildly unpopular even to suggest it: Even if they haven’t previously shown violent tendencies, pit bulls sometimes attack without any warning or provocation.
And they aren’t to blame for doing what humans have bred them to do for centuries. Humans deliberately engineered pit bulls to fight and kill in a highly focused, fearless way and to be strong and tenacious enough to bring down full-sized bulls. Even those who haven’t been abused or trained to fight — dogs who have been loving, gentle companions — sometimes snap, with deadly results. And no one knows what triggers them.
A steady stream of incidents bears this out. In Florida, a pit bull mix named Smokey killed an 87-year-old woman in a wheelchair just two weeks after being adopted. The dog “did not display any aggression toward humans,” according to the shelter. In California, an adopted pit bull named Polo attacked and killed a 3-day-old infant when the baby’s mother “suddenly coughed.” According to the president of the shelter from which the dog had been adopted, “There was not a fragment of aggression seen in this dog before tragedy struck.” In Virginia, a pit bull named Blue fatally mauled his new guardian’s 90-year-old mother the day she adopted him. “He never showed any aggression while at our training facility,” the self-described “rescue” group claimed. And so it goes.
Dogs who bite are often relinquished to shelters and, like boomerangs, repeatedly adopted out and then returned. Some are caged for months, years or the rest of their lives, suffering from severe emotional distress and slowly going insane. This is not only extremely cruel, but, as the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association points out, such “no-kill” practices also lead shelters to turn away other homeless or lost animals because they don’t have any room.
Shelters must be brave and honest. They must stop putting statistics above the welfare and safety of animals and the public. Dangerous animals should never be released to anyone, including self-professed “rescues.” Additionally, shelters should provide anyone seeking to adopt a large, strong dog — especially a pit bull — with training and information about the special precautions needed with such dogs.
And all of us should speak out against reckless “no-kill” shelter policies that ultimately hurt dogs and the people who care about them.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Teresa Chagrin is the manager of animal care and control issues in the Cruelty Investigations Department at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.
