What are the Chances.

prop·a·gan·da

  [prop-uh-gan-duh]

noun

1.

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement,institution, nation, etc.

urban legend

noun

a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously invarying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror: Are there alligators living in the NewYork City sewer system, or is that just an urban legend?

ru·mor

  [roo-mer]

noun

1.

a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts: a rumor ofwar.

Sound familiar? One of the reason's it it so hard to place a Pit in a home is because people are clueless. Not sure of their own formed opinions over the news over using an attack by a Pitbull chained up in someone's back yard with no food or attention. Who is really at fault? Who says they are to blame for their behavior when they were brought up knowing nothing about love and affection. Walking through the humane society knowing that all these amazing dogs are going to have a harder time finding a home just because of all the prejudging. 

It is so sad that no only the dog is being looked down upon, but even I get rude stares and comments just walking my dog. There is no reason to assume any dog is a bad one. Weren't any of these people taught basic rules to seeing any dog? Always ask the owner if it is okay to pet them, never run towards a unfamiliar dog, always put your hand out for the dog to smell you? Pretty positive I learned this at the age of five. 

Take it from me, I honestly could say I was hesitant about getting Amoeba Pit just because I knew I was going to have outside opinions and judgement. But getting to know this dog and just over the months of having her how loyal and affectionate. Maybe we have had our struggles of her aggressive stick and grass eating, I wouldn't trade her the world. Challenge you non-pitbull people who are on the edge, go to a shelter and you'll see that a Pit will be more willing to love five minutes of your time compared to a smaller, loud dog... But really, I love all dogs and can't tell you how much I love to see those animals grow to realize that there is much more to life than being left on the side of the road...  

Finding a Home.

Seems to me that finding a home has become harder and harder with a K-9 friend with all these breed restrictions. Even to be completely honest, I have had to claim my dog is a mixed mutt to my apartment complex because only 'american staffordshire terrier' and other breed that falls under the slang term 'pitbull.' You know the worst part about this, that even certified service animals that happen to be part pit are not even allowed.

Maybe they don't people prejudging their complex? Ironic. 

Being just a college student, even finding myself roommates to be able to afford it. So this is narrowed down, now let alone having a Pitbull in my life. It's getting to that time to find another, much bigger place but I don't know how to get around the breed restriction, let alone trying to find a house to rent. Any dog owner can run into this problem, and if that's the case I have found this link through the humane society for any one that is in this same boat

. Here is the article that seemed uplifting; link.

"Six states are considering bills that would put an end to laws restricting dog ownership by breed. Called "breed-specific legislation" -- or BSL -- these laws most often target pit bull type dogs (which are said to have been called "nanny dogs"), often forcing people to choose between their pets and their homes. And most Americans think they're bad laws. Bad laws!

Opposition to BSL comes from sources as diverse as the American Bar Association, animal rescue groups, the Center for Disease Control and even President Barack Obama, who said in August that the laws are largely ineffective while doing nothing to improve public safety, and are often a "waste of public resources."Best Friends also emphasizes the cost of enforcing anti-pit bull bans; the group commissioned an economist to put together a tool that calculates the costs by city. And here's a sample calculation: In Baltimore, there's an estimated 151,105 dogs, of which 10,918 are assumed pit bull type dogs. The costs associated with enforcing laws against pit bull ownership would be $992,606 per year.

Even though her jurisdiction doesn't have breed restrictions, "people have heard the stories about beloved family dogs being taken from their owners in places where there are full bans on pit bulls. That is every dog owner's worst nightmare," she said. "People don't want to risk it."Getting rid of these laws would not just let people adopt without fear of their animals being taken away, she said, but would also help counter negative stereotypes."

These are the most well put thoughts into uplifting this band on breed restrictions. Just the idea of the city, state and even country with no restrictions could save so much money that we are always complaining about. Maybe this is what we need to get these poor dogs up and out of shelters and into real loving homes. 

Who is the bully now?

Let's take it back to what my original topic, the loving Pitbull breed.

Something amazing I have recently stumbled upon was this article addressing the general idea of what's really going on. Link here. Rose Frosek puts this myth at rest were it should belong. One statement being;

“Pit Bull. Two simple words, but so very charged, the reaction to which varies wildly. There are their fearful detractors, those who would have them demonized, having fallen prey to the dogs’ misrepresentation in the media. And then there are their champions, who are struggling to change the tide of public opinion.”

This is what I have been trying to say since I started talking about this breed, just summed up much nicer. You either love or fear them and this breaks my heart. Visiting the Oregon Humane Society frequently to help volunteer, all you see are these poor dogs who just want a home to be loved and snuggled. This is hard when you are the bully breed. Mostly what I see are these awful people that neglect their dogs, and when it comes to most Pitbulls, their sensitive. Being neglected might alter their way of life. They have no idea what they ever did wrong and just need a family that wants to show them what a good home really is. Unlike other breeds it might be easier for them to adjust and I believe this creates a problem in comparison.

The idea that this dog in the UK is considered the ‘nanny dog’ doesn’t surprise me one bit. Despite their goofy personalities, this dog has the tendency to be insanely loyal to their families and would do anything to protect them. I know my dog senses when I am feeling nervous when walking her and a man approaches us in the dark. She is not being vicious, she just wants to protect me and this is what I love. In the previous week a man tried breaking into our apartment in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure if it was drunken neighbors confusing our apartment from theirs, but once the noises continued and got louder I could tell someone was trying to get in. Amoeba was barking and not her normal, an angry one. Trying to calm her down she finally ran to the door and barked like I have never heard from her. Already calling the police, the man had disappeared. After that she put her 65 pound body over mine and didn’t hesitate to growl whenever she heard a noise outside. Granted I didn’t sleep but there is something so amazing about what she did. I don’t even think my lanky boyfriend could make me feel that safe, (no offence Joshua.)

What I am trying to get at is that there are millions of good and bad articles about this breed. You’ll never know the full truth until you befriend a Pit for yourself. I could never talk a person into believing me about my views and that’s not my plan. Everyone needs to take a moment and go to a local shelter and visit all the dogs that need a home, no matter the breed. All dogs are good dogs.

Who Really Gives a Damn.

I have recently come to realize how awful our health care system is. Being one of the luckier ones, my parents have seem to always have a job providing out family with insurance. So never had I have to worry about paying anymore than a co-op fee and leaving it at that. But some are not all so lucky to be able to even go to get a simple check up from a doctor without having to give up all you savings just for one visit.

My boyfriend of almost five years is one of those strange specious that has never seen a doctor since being a toddler. Since us both moving out of our parents and getting a place of our own, he had lost all insurance privileges through his step mother, being the only care giver he has ever had. We didn't think anything of it until this past year. He has fainted four times this past year out of no where, most damage is done when striking his head upon impact of the fall. Seeing at his job at the time didn't offer him any insurance options, we chose to finally go to an Affordable Health Care Clinic. They did simple test yet found nothing, this place may I remind you didn't even have the equipment to even conduct a simple blood test. Nothing was wrong, he was perfectly healthy just probably dehydrated according to them. This was two months ago.

Just last week in our Health class we have together, it happened again but worse. It was as if a mini seizure as he just dropped in his chair, hitting his head violently on the table and the floor. Thank God the teacher was a doctor and seemed to know what he was doing. As soon as he regained consciousness he was just deadly pale and looked lifeless. Paramedics were called and they ran as many test as they could, nothing was wrong it seemed. Worrying more about how much an ER visit was going to cost, I took him myself to a public health clinic in down town Portland that our teacher recommended being in our situation. We weren't even able to get, waiting hours just to see someone that could tell us if he was safe to come home.

What I'm trying to get at is that just a month ago my boyfriend had plenty of money saved up and quit his job. In which doing so, we found out he was eligible for Cover Oregon because now his income was zero. According to them you need to be making under one thousand dollars to get it for free. Is this what is keeping people from getting jobs? I am so thankful that we are trying to get health care to everyone, but my boyfriend making decent money, working forty plus hours a week and attended school full time couldn't even have a way to see a doctor without paying his life savings out of pocket.

There is a gap here, and I'm not saying that the health care system has bad intentions. I just want to know where these loop holes come into play and how they are affecting out society. It's so sad that it's come down to being afraid to ask for help.

More updates soon on how he is doing and what I dig up on this.      

Lions, Tigers and Bears.

In the last post, I let my emotions get the best of me and took out my anger for people who don't understand. This I know is wrong. 

But the idea of keeping my dog out of apartments and even some cities seems naive to whats really going on behind closed doors. Being an animal freak, I came across this documentary The Elephant in the Living Room. This takes place following people that are keeping wild animals in their homes as pets. In case one, a man is keeping a lion in his backyard since receiving him as a cub. For a few years it's like keeping a large kitten in your home, but once hitting full grown, he's put into a small metal cage just behind the man's home. Shortly after he gets a female lion to join, leaving only the only obvious to come next, she becomes pregnant and forms a pride within this cage. 

At some point they do escape and heading towards the freeway of this small town, scaring locals and only for police to arrive shortly after. Even then, the man refuses to give his 'pets' up. The owner of these lions is disabled mentally after his truck accident years ago, leaving him unemployable and lonely with no close family besides his sister. I can see where some reach is for giving affection and striving for belonging comes into play. Never has a documentary taken me on such a emotional up and down, messing with all sides of feelings a person can have. You want to feel bad for this man, but the director takes you to the other side as well. 

All sorts of exotic are being sold all around the United States and nothing is being done to stop this, mostly because there are not many rules against it. Taking you into exotic and deadly animal expos where people are selling verminous snakes and spiders, not only that but their are children in there carrying around these animals like puppies? How could you do that to your own child. At this point I was angry that this was being allowed to continue to happen. They follow around a trained animal control, specialized in taking house calls to rid of deadly animals (mostly snakes.) These people will have them as pets and usually break loose, I mean how can you keep a hundred pound python controlled? So many cases of them braking out and killing house hold pets and even children.

What mostly happens is when the wild animal becomes too out of control to keep as a 'pet' they are thrown away and more likely just thrown outside. These animals have no idea what they are doing or where they are going because small homes USA aren't where they are from. People in other countries are hiding and fighting off these animals while we bring them into out homes and name them? Is there something about the thrill? Or is it because we shouldn't have them, then we have the desire to do so.      

Thinking about those lions and cubs still gives me the chills. That man is not a horrible person, he is lonely and not in the right mind set. Once his male lion dies in a freak accident, he finally realizes they could be happier in a lion sanctuary. It's not Africa but it's a start. I would like there to be some sort of laws be put into place with the owning of wild animals, until then people are going to be stupid and I hope they will see the wrong in it.   

What to Believe?

Here I am on side of being the owner of a Pit bull mix. Her name is Amoeba (Meeba for short,) and I adopted her about three months ago. Now here is the problem I have run into, people are surely awful. Getting comments that my dog should be muzzled and not allowed into dog parks because of her 'aggression,' which consist of licking and sucking on people's hands. I find this ridiculous because even before owning her, my boyfriend's parents owned a dog rescue, mostly for Pit bull. They all were rescued from neglect and abuse, leaving them to be more timid and scared of people. Just like if you beat a kid to near death and expect them to be completely normal, then maybe you should be the one locked up.

I recently watch a documentary on the myth behind this breed to find out so many things I personally could live without knowing. Making me sick to my stomach as these cities posted a banned on the breed, barging into people's home and taking a family member. Once taken, they were to be killed letting the owners take the lifeless bodies back, but were not allowed to berry them? These people apart of the city council deciding this are ruthless bastards and deserve nothing more than their own kids being taken away. Officers, that are getting paid to be trained in the field of identifying pretty much a broad aspects of characteristics of the American Staffordshire Terrier.

Please someone agree wit me that this is insanely wrong? I feel alone in this. The documentary showed people's views on this breed of dog. Contradicting that every person for this breed to be allowed all owned or previously owned at least a Pitt mix. Unlike the people against ever had even been around one, just knew of them because the head lines in newspapers about devastating dog attack. So there was bi-ism in this debate, does this mean I shouldn't voice my opinion either?

No one wants to hear about a Cocker Spaniel attacking the families five year old? Which did happen. Even searching the internet every site about dog attacks in the U.S. are all different. Not one of them have their resources listed on their page. It's easy to point out and blame a breed. But wasn't years ago the Rottweilers the most vicious dog? or Huskies?

I do believe people have made it surely made it a stereotype, because people like drug users and addicts tend to be attracted to these dogs. This could be for any reason, dog fighting or even just to look tougher. People take these dogs and neglect them, then someone somehow wonders into the backyard of one of these owners and you can guess what happens. It is understandable if you know a loved one or of anyone that was attack and hurt by this breed, my heart goes out to you. But I truly hate being judged for the dog I own, I saved her to bring her to a great home where I tend shower her with love and Petco toys. If someone was to come take my dog, I might get violent. Ever since owning this amazing pup my Anxiety has decreased traumatically. She gets me out of the house, which was difficult for me to do. I am truly a happy person when she is with me and take her everywhere no matter what people have to say.

I have a lot more to research about the history about the breed, there is more than to bread to fight.    
   

This is the hardest choice to make next to what to eat after you just went grocery shopping. One topic for three months to research and blog about, that's some dedication.

Here are some ideas I have come across, and yes some of these are serious topics that I'm considering. Judge me. 

One, ever since I was a kid I have always wanted to go out in the middle of the desert where those crazy people set up UFO stands. Swearing up and down they were abducted and they know the answers to the universe now. Or they have just smoked a lot of weed, man... But I love anything doing with UFO's.

Two, I recently adopted a year old PitBull mix name Amoeba (we call her Meeba.) Since having her I have some got a little bit of negative responses... I was told she should always where a muzzle because she is 'vicious' and unpredictable. She certainly is a bit unpredictable, she has an obsession with sucking on her stuffed toys as if it was an infant with a bottle. But the history of these breeds would be helpful to know. 

Three, I have a huge interest in the original 'Dog Town' boys. They start of the skateboarding scene, when suffers needed something else to do. Breaking into suburb houses with empty pools to skate. I have seen movies and documentaries about them and would love to look into even more. 

So if you have any other ideas, I'm open minded and would love suggestions.