Have you ever read the comments on a news report that mentioned pit bulls?
Any news report. Even the ones where a pit bull saves her owner from a burning building… or a young child donates his birthday money to pit bull rescue… or a formerly abused pit bull becomes a therapy dog… It doesn’t matter what the story is. The haters come out. Every. Single. Time.
Years ago, someone wrote a lovely article about Emmett. It was all about his work as a reading partner at the public library. Two of the comments, right off the bat, were people saying that they know people who “these dogs” killed. And, honestly, if you read many of these articles, you realize that those comments were mild compared to the hateful, angry, misinformed, vile stuff that spews from some people. That’s just online stuff, too. The real-life stuff gets worse.
Clearly, pit bull advocates face a huge uphill battle.
Yet…
Last week, a town in Louisiana could have been presented with a piece of BSL at their City Council. The other council members didn’t support the bill, and townspeople spoke out against it. It was withdrawn.
A victory, right?
But then there’s this:
Green said he garnered unwanted attention from pit bull proponents, including an online petition. “I’ve got 14 death threats on me, because of this ordinance. Death threats!” Green told an overflow crowd in the City Council chamber.
That, to me, tarnishes the victory.
This quote appeared all over the place. And I don’t blame the guy for being horrified! Death threats are uncalled for, out of line, and the kind of behavior that gives pit bull advocates everywhere a bad name. It detracts from the importance of the cause, and it paints pit bull owners in a bad light.
There’s a saying that I encounter from time to time: “Those pit bull owners are as rabid as their dogs.”
It makes me crazy. But not as crazy as the behavior of the people causing that statement to be uttered.
We are already fighting a war for the sake of our dogs… now do we have to defend pit bull owners, too? Honestly, I’ll defend your dog, but I won’t defend your bad behavior!
You don’t have to be vicious to be forceful. You don’t have to level threats to sway someone. You don’t need to shout hateful rhetoric to be heard.
In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.
It makes me so mad when articles about proposed BSL focus not on the legislation but on the vicious responses. Yes, I know this behavior comes from both sides and, often, it escalates because the BSL supporters escalate it first. But “our” side has lives at stake. It’s critical that our message is clear, crisp, and not easily dismissed as rabid rumblings.
Have your voice heard. Defend your dogs. But… Don’t let the message get lost or muddled! Don’t give reporters the opportunity to focus on anything BUT the message!
Be polite. Be respectful. Be informative. You can be positive and still be firm.
It’s so important because, you know, I’m not exaggerating when I say that lives depend on it.
Have you encountered this in your advocacy? How do you counter bad behavior – from either side?
OMG, Maggie…I KNOW! It makes me NUTS! I don’t even read the comments on articles anymore because they bother me so much. And seriously, the “advocates” who threaten violence? Do they not have any self-awareness? Do they not realize how it harms the cause and casts a bad light on our dogs? I understand how emotional this is but…come on. Show some sense.
(On the other hand, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if members of db dot org were doing it to make pit bull owners to look bad. I mean, they really ARE that crazy.)
Good point re: those crazies. I think this is a big problem with animal welfare and advocacy in general: separating the heart from the head! We get into this because we’re passionate, but if you don’t use logic, kindness, compassion, etc., the message will get lost. And I’m going to follow your lead and stop reading comments!
To me, militant pit bull people are the other side of the “crazy coin” from militant Animal Rights people.
They defend the cause at ALL costs, the arguments and actions make less and less sense, and they end up poisoning public opinion against the dogs worse than it was to begin with.
I’ve rarely encountered the behavior personally, to my great relief. As an owner of a breed targeted by BSL at times, I try to be very aware of what people say, and the best way to truly advocate for dogs in general and for breeds specifically. Does that mean I’m always successful, when people show prejudice? No. But I really hope they don’t come away with a WORSE opinion than prior to our encounter, be it in person or online.
YES!!! “…they end up poisoning public opinion against the dogs worse than it was to begin with.” Thank you so much for making that point. You summed it up way more articulately than I was able to.
As a pacifist, all the death threats flying around the internet make me particularly nuts.
But I’m not sure if there’s anything to be done except to be a positive advocate yourself and not feed the trolls.
It’s nothing new. People have always used extreme rhetoric to push their cause. What’s different today is that it’s much easier for people to share their nastiness cheaply.
Your comment reminded me of a stand-up comedy clip I saw recently. Have you seen the Jim Gaffigan bit about the things we shout at each other when we’re driving? He makes the point that no one would EVER say things to each other in an elevator that we say to each other from behind the wheel. I know he’s exaggerating to illustrate the point, but I think it’s an excellent rule to follow: If you wouldn’t say it to a person standing next to them in an elevator, don’t say it at all!
This is so sad but it happens all the time. I used to say “Momma’s bite is worse than my pit bulls” and then giggle. However some people took at seriously and not in the context it was meant to be. I became one of “those” crazies based off a statement I made! Some advocates behaviors, including animal advocates, does more harm than the non-advocates. In my state alone, shelters are fighting between other instead of putting the welfare of the animals first. Delaware, in case you didn’t know is a small, 3 county state, and each county fights for their own. Truly sad.
I’m a pit bull advocate first and foremost and I try to educate people about pit bulls. I would never go as far as “death threats” but I have told people, “If you don’t like my dog, I don’t like you.” Imo, it’s a simple as that.
Some people just go to the extreme and it gives us all a bad name including our poor misunderstood pibbles. Great read Maggie!
Thanks for the kind words and shares, Bren. You’re absolutely right: It’s all about education! I’m all for spreading a positive message to anyone and everyone who will listen! It just makes me sad that the negative messages seem to play louder than the positive ones.
Negativity always plays a bigger role in this world than the Positives unfortunately. It’s a sad, sad world we live in. :/ All we can do is educate the best we can.
Hear, hear! Good advice for an advocate of any cause, pit bull or otherwise.
So true! Why give anyone a reason to focus on something other than your message?
This whole issue is very sad. The worst part is I look at your adorable little guys and just want to stick my nose right in theirs for a good sloppy smooch. My sister in law has a Pit and she is just the most adorable dopey dog I know…
They would LOVE that! Cooper in particular is a big old kisser!
Those aren’t real Pit Bull advocates you’re speaking of. Those are extremists, not a true advocate. You can’t blame the actions of idiots on all Pit Bull advocates.
I agree, Liz, and I definitely am not saying “all” – just some, as the headline reads. Unfortunately, the extremists garner the press coverage. They get the attention of city council members. They get shared and retweeted. My point is that these people are muddling up our message. I’m hoping to encourage polite discourse rather than the hatred that’s appearing all over the internet and at these city council meetings.
I know exactly what you mean and I try to be very mindful in my advocacy to NOT use certain buzzwords as well. Too many times negative words plant seeds that might not have already been there.
That’s an excellent point re: buzzwords. It ties into what Bren was saying in her comment above. We get used to saying certain things that give uninformed people the wrong idea. Thanks for the reminder to be conscious!
It seems that nowadays, simply disagreeing with someone gives them license to insult you in every way and also threaten to kill you. What happened to manners??? And a conversation instead of a threat issuing contest??? Blah.
It really seems like people think that sitting behind their computer screen gives them some extra amount of power to say whatever they want in whatever way they want. And AMEN re: a conversation instead of a threat!! Excellent way of putting it!
I have a wonderful pit bull named Nina and before she came to live with us she belonged to an elderly couple who had to give her up because she was a puppy and super active and one of the owners got really sick. When we toon her in we had a house full of people and a couple of the people were little kids and a new born baby what I can tell u is if that baby even whimpered Nina would look at us and bark until we calmed the baby down. Whenever the baby went down for a nap Nina was there looking over her and making sure she was safe. That baby is now almost 6 years old and she and Nina are still super close we all will get down on the ground and rough house with her and get her going crazy but she has NEVER bitten or attacked anyone not have any of us ever had to worry that she would attack any of us or the kids. I think the only “bad” dog is a dog trained that way or abused and then they lash out because they are scared. I wish people would worry about about themselves and leave these beautiful energetic and lovable dogs ALONE!!
I think the humans have lost it. Somehow the word “moderation” has been erased from the vocabulary. You either have to LOVE it or HATE…there’s no middle ground! That’s just nuts.
I think you’re onto something… Combine that with the fact that the extreme sides seem to scream the loudest, and the positive messages are getting drowned out!
I’ve got BadRap sticker on the back of my car that says “resist ignorance, educate and inspire” with a picture of “pitbull type” dog. I had man follow me into a parking lot in his car,in a nice part of town and just went off, screaming that pitbulls “killed” and I was a misinformed idiot. I was so shocked I just waved and and kept going on my way. I was little afraid to even respond to such hate from a stranger. My husband and I are strong advocates for the pitbulls, since our Buddy moved in and never left, but never in a million years would I threaten someone with physical injury. I’ve found that being a good pet parent and having a well behaved (for the most part) “pitbull”type, can go a long way to changing people’s perception about our “scary looking, big, black dog” 🙂
HOLY MOLY. That would’ve scared the pants off of me to have a stranger track me down to yell at me. It sounds like you did the wisest and safest thing. I love the message of your bumper sticker – I think that’s a noble goal that we should all strive for! But guys like the one who chased you down… I don’t think any amount of education or inspiration would make a dent. Glad that worked out safely for you. Sheesh.
I’m lucky that the circles here in my area tend to be very pittie friendly and our local pittie advocacy group keep the arguments very balanced and not crazy as a jaybird.
I do run into this same mentality all the time with the raw feeders though. Holy woof you guys. I’m ONE OF YOU and I can barely stand all the hate that spews forth. Now, I can understand how being under the constant attack of the media and the veterinary community can get to you, but really? Are we furthering anyone’s cause this way?
Our side has real human lives at stake,not dog lives,you pit owners never stop to think bsl does work saving pit bulls and the people they maul,Miami dale still has pits living there,but the owners make sure they dont get loose and attack pets or people.Every year 1000,000 pits are put down from over breeding and from breeding from aggressive parents.Bsl in some city’s just after a few years cut down deaths of shelter pits,some that killed 2800 per year killed just 170 a year after bsl.
All kids (16) were killed last year by one type of dog,pit bull type.Keep it up and sooner or later normal people and not just advocacy group will demand a full ban just like England does now,the only people you really help now are dog fighters/animal hoarders ,they hide within your groups,they work at and run shelters.
Clearly we’re coming at this from different sides. However, I’ve spent a lot of time and effort researching all the facts I cite, and I’ve never encountered the numbers you’ve mentioned. Can you please respond with your sources?
Laura
July 25, 2013 at 11:31 am
I’ve got BadRap sticker on the back of my car that says “resist ignorance, educate and inspire” with a picture of “pitbull type” dog.
Darla Napora has one on her coffin.
Inflammatory comments like that don’t contribute to the debate. The loss of her life was a tragic event, and tossing it out as an “in your face” argument belittles that tragedy.