Why We Care

I grew up in Naples, Florida. Naples is an affluent city of about twenty thousand people and boasts the highest concentration of millionaires per capita outside of Hollywood. Naples has been described by some of my friends as a bubble. There is almost no poverty, the beach is close and clean, and overall it is a very pleasant place to live. My sense of beliefs and values I believe has been very much influenced by the private school I attended, The Community School of Naples, which covered grades K- 12. I started there in fourth grade and was with the same basic group of kids until I graduated. I’ve known people who treated their dogs as toys or as property, and it has taught me that dogs do not care how much money you have, they will react badly to bad treatment in any circumstances. When kids grow tired of the novelty of puppies and parents are too busy to teach their children responsibility, the pet is the victim. I knew a particular family that had a golden retriever and were too busy to train or exercise him and used to play roughly with him, and they made this dog become scared and aggressive. He would bite often and was uncontrollable on a leash. This experience showed me that the people make the dog, not the breed.

Anyway, I have always been an animal person and that is the primary reason I chose this topic.

Because I know there are plenty of people who have Pitt Bulls and who have absolutely nothing to do with the stereotypes of inner city drug dealers or dog fighters. Also, I have grown up in a privileged setting, but we were always encouraged to stand up for those that are unable help themselves. Because many of the students at my high school would grow up to be powerful people, at least based on their family’s record, the school really tried to get us to experience the world around us and feel as if we could make a difference with whatever injustice we saw. The “Community” School really did focus on the community. In nearby Immokalee, there was a high population of migrant workers who picked tomatoes all day and we would sponsor a family and help them with basic supplies. Also we would have two or three Service days where we would volunteer in Immokalee. These experiences helped me to learn that I can and should take action against injustice, especially injustice against those who can not speak for themselves.

-Katie Abbott

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Growing up, I never had pets—except for fish. Living in a pet lover’s paradise like Colorado, I endured a lot of teasing and criticism for not having “real” pets. Yet, I could not stand cats and still cannot to this day; I was scared of dogs even though several of my friends had dogs that were friendly; and do not even get me started on lizards and snakes. But as I got older and had more encounters with dogs, I realized what great companions they are. However, it was not until my oldest brother got his first dog, a pit-bull terrier, that I truly became comfortable around dogs.

As a kid, I remember all the negative connotations surrounding pit-bulls. So I always imagined the breed as huge, muscular, menacing, rabid dogs. This is not the case. La-la, my brother’s first dog, was smart, playful, caring and anything but aggressive. Thus, I realized all the hype I heard growing up was nothing but stereotypes. When my brother moved back to Colorado from college, he was living in downtown Denver. His girlfriend got him an adorable pit-bull puppy. Unfortunately, one of their neighbors alerted the authorities about their dog and Denver police seized the puppy for euthanasia despite the fact it had no history of aggression. This event dramatically shaped my view on Denver’s pit-bull ban. How is it right to exterminate an animal based on stereotypes? How is that any different from the Holocaust or genocide in Sudan? I was baffled that the government could enact such ignorant and biased legislation.

Now, I have several dogs in my life that I consider part of my family: a chocolate lab at my parents, my roommate’s two pit-bull terriers, and a puppy Rottweiler that I recently rescued from an animal shelter. Ironically, the chocolate lab is the most aggressive out of all these dogs. Yet, Colorado law would suggest that the other dogs are dangerous and need to be banned. In all my experiences with any breed of dog, the key factor to whether a dog is aggressive or not is the owner. Any person could grow up to be dangerous if they are not raised with the parental guidance to show them right from wrong. And the same goes for dogs. Any breed can be dangerous if they are not trained properly. Thus, I believe the focus should be on making owners more responsible instead of dehumanizing certain breeds and singling them out.

-Kyl Randolph

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I grew up in Littleton, Colorado.  It’s located about 15 minutes southwest of Denver. I lived in a neighborhood called Bow Mar South. It was a wonderful place to grow up. The community was very tightly knit, there were many other families with children to interact with, and the neighborhood included a community pool and lake where many social events would take place. I attended a public elementary school called Wilder, then Switch to the private school setting of Saint Mary’s Academy, and continued my private school pilgrimage at Regis Jesuit High School. This issue influences myself and others because growing up around Denver, we have been directly affected by this pit bull ban.

My number one value stems from something my mom taught me – do the right thing. Those word echo in my ear every time I make a decision. I also believe that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover and that second chances should be given when deserved.  The one person I looked to in order to define my sense of right and wrong was my mother. She was saint  like in a sense and, although I’m not perfect, I try to behave according to her values. These values affect my moral stance on the topic because I believe that pit bulls simply get a bad rap. People judge them based on a negative stereotype which is unfair.

As stated above, my mother has been my most important role model. She has changed the way that I view an arguments’ context. My university has had a hand in that as well because of the further education I am receiving. CSU has influenced the way I critically analyze written and verbal arguments.

Honestly, I can say that I had a very negative feeling towards pit bulls because of a strong personal bias.  A member in my fraternity owned a pit bull mix and during a homecoming brunch we had put together for our parents, it nearly attacked my younger brother.  If the dog was not chained up, it would have locked its’ jaws around my brothers’ upper biceps.  I hated all pit bulls after that day until I researched the dogs’ background. It turns out, my friend had adopted this dog from a shelter. Its’ previous owners constantly beat it and nearly starved it. This is the moment when I dropped my bias and realized that the dog is not at fault. What I will gain out of this group is a continued respect for the breed.

A significant portion of my education experience has been within the private/religious school sector. I do not believe that my feeling towards this issue is based on what kind of education I have received. My position stems from and experience that could have taken place with or without private school education.

-Andrew Dibala

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I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I went to a public high school with about 2000 other students, so it was a very large community. As a child my neighborhood didn’t have many dogs, probably because they aren’t known as being “family dogs.”

Growing up my parents didn’t like animals and because of this I never had a pet, besides fish.  Unlike the rest of my family, I have always loved animals, mostly dogs, and now that I am away from my parents I have a dog of my own. A lot of my friends have dogs as well, and we go to dog parks and have play dates all the time.

I didn’t really know anything about pit bulls being ban in Denver until a few years ago when I had a roommate with a pit bull. There is no way I could ever imagine that dog being put down because of his breed. He was the sweetest dog and the biggest baby ever. Because I lived with a pit bull, I might have a biased toward the love for the breed, but the reasons behind the law do not change my mind. Since I got my dog, over two years ago, I have gone to dog parks many times and seen many pit bulls interacting with all the other dogs. In my experience it seems that the pits are not the instigators at all. My parents always taught me to stick up for what is right, and this law is definitely not right.

–       Jillian Smith

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Growing up I always had a dog; but never owned a Pit Bull until two years ago.  Believe it or not, I used to be scared of Pit Bulls because of their negative reputation and always hearing stories of them biting someone.  My fear changed when I met my boyfriend’s cousin’s Pit Bull, Jack.  Jack was friendly, loving, and a funny dog.  He had dog aggression but never expressed aggression towards a person.  After getting to know Jack, my boyfriend and I decided to buy our own Pit Bull puppy, Tripp.  Tripp is a blue nose Pit Bull, who is by far the best dog I have ever owned.  He is constantly making me laugh.  He shows no signs of aggression towards dogs or people.  In fact, when we take him to the dog park he is always the best-behaved dog.  He will run up and play with every dog, and we have never had a problem with growling or showing his teeth to any dog.  He is great around children, others dogs, and even cats.  At the dog park there are a variety of breeds of dogs, two German Sheppard mixes, and a lab have bitten Tripp.  This goes to show you that any dog is capable of biting someone or even another dog.

There are some Pit Bulls that are aggressive.  More often then not, these dogs were neglected, abused, or raised to fight.  Some dogs simply have irresponsible owners.

The ban in Denver is ridiculous.  I could never imagine putting my dog down because he is a Pit Bull, especially because he is such a sweetheart and loves nothing more than to play with his toys.  I think each dog should be evaluated individually.  This ban is unfair because some Pit Bulls are friendly and show no aggression, but there is no ban against other dogs that are aggressive.  I believe it is because of ignorant people that think all Pit Bulls are mean.  This ban especially angers me because of the thousands of Pit Bulls that were euthanized because of their breed; it is heartbreaking to see pictures of these dogs thrown out like trash after being put down.  I hope that every person that meets my dog Tripp and any other friendly Pit Bull changes their point of view on Pit Bulls.

–  Kim Durocher