b"The Never-Ending Story.Every year, American shelters have to kill about half a milliondogs. Both pro- and anti-Pit Bull organizations estimate that ofthese,anywherefrom800,000tonearly1millionarePitBulls/PitBullmixes.Thatmeanswe'rekillinganywherefrom2,000 to 3,000 Pit Bulls a day. by Anna CookeGenerically,thetermPit There is no boundary between what genes may orBulldoesnotdescribea may not be in the breed. That is why its not abreed as much as it repre- breed. Its just a general dog and there is no way tosentsaclassification,say predict its behavior from its appearance. HoweverPitBulladvocates. your dog acts, keep it to your dog. Dont extrapo-Therein lies the problem late and think that all Pit Bulls do this or all dogswith the publics confu- from shelters do that, or that all short-haired dogssion. Denver, Colorado, do this. Look at your dog as an individual.wherethebreedis Tom Junod, a writer who lives with his wife,banned, defines a Pit young daughter and their Pit Bull, Dexter, wroteBull as any dog that anintriguingarticle,TheStateOf The Americanisan AmericanPitBull Dog, whichappearedinEsquire magazineinTerrier,AmericanStaffordshire August 2014. There is no other dog that figures asTerrier,StaffordshireBull often in the national narrativeno other dog asTerrier,oranydogdisplaying vilifiedontheeveningnews,nootherdogasthe majority of physical traits defended on television programs, no other dog asof any one or more of these mythologized by both its enemies and its advo-breeds, or any dog exhibiting cates,nootherdogasdiscriminatedagainst,nothosedistinguishingcharac- other dog as wantonly bred, no other dog as fre-teristics.quentlyabused,nootherdogaspromiscuouslyLuisSalgado,theani- abandoned, no other dog as likely to end up in anmalservicesinvestigator animal shelter, no other dog as likely to be rescued,charged with enforcing the no other dog as likely to be killed. In a way, the PitPit Bull ban (known as breed-specific leg- Bull has become the only American dog, becauseislation or BSL) in Miami says, There is no reli- it is the only American dog that has become anTop: Hooch gets sprung able DNA testing for that breed. DNA is useless. If American metaphorand the only American dogfrom Hillsborough you look at where that breed came from, theres thatpeoplebothertoname.WhenaCockerCountys Pet Resource AmericanBulldog,theresTerrier,allwatered Spaniel bites, it does so as a member of its species;Center into his forever down and mixed together to produce the dog we it is never anything but a dog. When a Pit Bullhome. Above: On the1918 cover of The Red now call the Pit Bull.bites, it does so as a member of its breed. A Pit BullCross Magazine is In enforcing the Pit Bull ban, Salgado points is never anything but a Pit Bull, he wrote. Sergeant Stubby, the out that Miami-Dade relies on physical character- We are not a pure country, or one that valuesmost decorated war dog istics. We have a 47-point checklist. Any dog that purity, said Junod. We are a country of adoption,of WWI. substantially conforms to the characteristics of a a country of rescues, a country of mutts. At leastPit Bull is considered a Pit Bull. Furthermore, it thats how we like to think of ourselves. But we aredoesnt have to be purebred to be considered a Pit also a country that likes to create idylls of its ownBull. A Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Pit Bull is a good intentions and then penalize what doesnt fit.Pit Bull. A German Shepherd Dog crossed with a Pit Bulls dont fit. Everything the media and hatersPit Bull is a Pit Bull, said Salgado. conveniently omit when making their point aboutKrisIrizarry,aprofessorofcomparative thisgroupofdogs:PitBulls,whenresponsiblygenomics from the College of Veterinary Medicine owned,areservicedogs,disc-catchingchamps,at WesternUniversityofHealthSciencessaid, companions to children and the elderly, they areLooking at a Pit Bulls DNA, the only thing you comedians, athletes, dinner dates, running partners,can really tell is that its a dog. The tests dont work. and good old-fashioned family dogs.(Continued) g28 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com"