Pit Bulls in shelters

[mrviking]

So on one hand you have a group of people that want pit bulls and they are in heavy demand. They have no problem paying bootleg breeders $100. But this same group for some reason can't bring themselves to go pick up the pits that are waiting to be adopted for cheap or free?

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by mrviking

So on one hand you have a group of people that want pit bulls and they are in heavy demand. They have no problem paying bootleg breeders $100. But this same group for some reason can't bring themselves to go pick up the pits that are waiting to be adopted for cheap or free?

First of all, animals from Animal Services aren’t free. At least in Hillsborough County they’re not. There is an adoption fee and a fee for altering them in some cases. Also understand that there are a number of rescue groups that are often breed specific who have agreements with the shelters to take animals as well, which can skew what you see in the shelters.

Animal Services isn’t picky about what they can farm out to others if it reduces the population of the shelter and the rescue group has been vetted. So it’s likely that more “acceptable” breeds are going to rescue groups.

I could argue that this same group isn’t the brightest bulb in the fixture, too, but I think I made my point.

RM

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by mrviking

So on one hand you have a group of people that want pit bulls and they are in heavy demand. They have no problem paying bootleg breeders $100. But this same group for some reason can't bring themselves to go pick up the pits that are waiting to be adopted for cheap or free?

They wouldn't get approved by the shelter!

I found a dog that I wanted to adopt. The shelter employee pulled up my house on the county property appraiser website (to prove I owned it, wasn't a renter) and then pulled up an aerial photo to prove I had a backyard for the dog. Shelters want to find a forever home for the animals, not a temporary home and when the landlord finds out or the dog runs away then the dog is back in the shelter.

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

They wouldn't get approved by the shelter!

I found a dog that I wanted to adopt. The shelter employee pulled up my house on the county property appraiser website (to prove I owned it, wasn't a renter) and then pulled up an aerial photo to prove I had a backyard for the dog. Shelters want to find a forever home for the animals, not a temporary home and when the landlord finds out or the dog runs away then the dog is back in the shelter.

Understood. That would go for everyone that walks in the doors no matter what dogs they were looking for. That wouldn't explain why pit bull owners are disproportional affected.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by mrviking

Understood. That would go for everyone that walks in the doors no matter what dogs they were looking for. That wouldn't explain why pit bull owners are disproportional affected.

You're making this harder than it is.

Many of these folks are not going to invest the time and effort to go to a shelter for whatever reason when they can get a dog from Bubba in a handshake deal for $100, case of beer, pickup truck topper, spare Chevy short block, whatever. Call it the underground economy, if you like. If your Budweiser muddin' buddy has a couple of dogs he's willing to sell, they're going to the muddin' buddies he hangs with. Word of mouth, etc., and now everyone wants one of Bubba's dogs to protect their home/property/truck/family, so Bubba is going to breed more dogs.

I would also posit that there are more pit bulls in shelters because of voluntary surrenders. Dog gets out of hand, you can't find a house or apartment to rent because of restrictions on the breed of dog, etc. Hillsborough County is a no-kill shelter that will not turn away an animal brought in for surrender, so any Tom/Dick/Bubba can bring a dog for whatever reason and leave it there.

I think there's been a rather good case to show why there's a disparate number of these dogs in shelters. I'm not sure what else could be said or shown to convince you.

RM