editor’s letter - “Pit Bull Love”
“There was a time when no one ever heard of Pit Bull attacks. Those were the days when the breed was an American favorite found in World War 1 recruitment ads, ‘Hero dogs’ that served proudly in the military and the friendly dogs popularly known as a child’s best friend. Who can forget the dogs of ‘Spanky and Our Gang,’ ‘The Little Rascals (Petey the dog)’ and the corporate Pit Bull Mascot for ‘Buster Brown shoes?’”
The most dangerous “BULLY” is NOT the “Pit Bull” but the animal walking on two feet that trains it (excerpts from www. national pet rescue on Facebook credits to Kelly Reeves and to www.petrescuereport.com). In this issue, Lick features Animal Activist and Actress “Linda Blair” (featured on our cover with her beloved Pit Bull “Sonny Boy”). Linda is the owner of the “WorldHeart Foundation,” a non profit rescue, shelter, rehabilitation and adoption center for “Pit Bulls”located in Acton, California.
Ironically, in the 80’s is when the perception of the breed began to change, but it wasn’t the breed that caused the uproar; it was the drug dealers, gang members and other criminals who trained Pit Bulls as guard dogs. And then the horrid stories picked up a tragic life of their own as these same miscreants trained the dogs to fight, and rather than concentrating on the men who made these dogs aggressive, the entire breed came under attack. Today, the perception of Pit Bulls has started to change and communities are finally realizing that no breed is inherently bad.
We also feature the non profit run by Ms. Jennifer Rosen - “Bullies and Buddies” -an amazing rescue and adoption group that is entrenched in their LA community. In fact, “Oliver,” the beautiful black Pit Bull that graces Lick’s second cover is the beloved pit of Mike Ruiz (celebrity & fashion photographer). Oliver is also our Lick “Mascot” and another “Bullies and Buddies” rescue and success story!! We also feature the non profit of Erin LoveJoy. The name says it all... “The Lovejoy Foundation,” is yet another
amazing rescue group that does wonderful work for the breed and has inspired many of its volunteers to go into the animal rescue field and /or into veterinary practice. And lastly, We feature the wonderful Mr. Michael Dinco who helped create the incredible Animal Planet Show “Pit Bulls & Parolee’s” with Tia Torres. This show took the nation by storm shedding the light of truth on the subject of “Pit Bulls” for us All. Thank you to “All” the Advocates we covered in this latest Lick edition. Thank you for the difficult and challenging work you do everyday. And Thank you to All the other incredible rescue and adoption centers out there that we did not cover. Thank you in your battle to save the innocents who cannot speak for themselves nor defend themselves against the actions of man. We Thank You All for your Good Works. And Most Importantly the Animals Thank You. Xx Barbara
Although it is important to note that the term “Pit Bull” does not actually designate “a breed,” it more or less categorizes “any dog” with a blocky head weighing between 30 and 100 pounds as one of 30 “individual” breeds. Too often there is an uneducated “guess” at identifying the breed based on coat, color, body size, ears and head shape. As to dog bite statistics, how many media reports use Pit Bulls now just to attract readers? The raw news is that society will never live without the risk of a dog biting a woman, man or child as we will never live in a society devoid of all crime and accidents. We should however, stop blaming an entire “breed” or group of dogs and STOP depicting these dogs as BULLIES-- Each year, 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in shelters across the country; approximately 40% of the dogs killed are Pit Bulls which means more than half a million Pit Bull “types” die alone in shelters.” A tragedy. “Judge by the Deed not by the Breed!”
Love
Barbara Barbara@lickmagazine.com
®
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator