Post by RealPitBull on Jan 10, 2008 10:17:58 GMT -5
Shelters set free Pit Fix for pit bulls
No-cost spay and neuter surgeries offered to stem high numbers of breed in East Bay shelters
By Matthias Gafni
STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 01/09/2008 03:00:06 AM PST
Click photo to enlargeRVT (registered veterinary technician) Brooke Weinstein holds a 3-month-old female pit bull...«1»In the largest attempt yet to curb high numbers of pit bulls finding their way into East Bay animal shelters, regional animal control officials will host a free week of spaying and neutering for that breed later this month.
Bay Area Pit Fix Week will include eight Bay Area shelters, four in the East Bay, offering free spay or neuter surgeries for pit bulls or pit bull mixes during the week of Jan. 21. Although individual shelters offer year-round free surgeries for pit bulls, this month's effort is the largest and longest collaborative effort.
"A lot of people with dogs and pit bulls don't realize the services available," said East Bay SPCA spokeswoman Eliza Fried. "I think a lot of people want to do the right thing, and we want to be here to help."
In 2006, animal shelters reported 29 percent of all dogs (3,521) entered into East Bay shelters were pit bulls or pit bull mixes. That same year, about half of all dogs euthanized from the area were from that breed, Fried said.
"It's pretty upsetting," she said. "It creates a terrible tragedy for the breed."
The pit bull inundation became so great in 2006 that East Bay animal shelters began specifically tracking the breed. Before they tracked only different types of animals, not breeds, Fried said.
East Bay SPCA already provides free spay/neuter surgeries year-round, along with other agencies in Berkeley, Hayward and San Leandro. There are also many organizations throughout the Bay Area that provide low-cost
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surgeries for pit bulls.
Almost 2,000 pit bulls were fixed during the past three years through the free East Bay program, said Donna Reynolds, executive director of Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls, or BAD RAP.
"The fact that East Bay shelters are euthanizing fewer adoptable pit bulls is a good sign and indicates that we're on the right track," Reynolds wrote in an e-mail, adding that some shelters, like Berkeley's, have seen drops in pit bulls.
In addition to lowering the overpopulation, fixed pit bulls are generally healthier, less likely to run away and exhibit less aggression, Fried said.
"Solutions are out there, but a caring community has to come together and work hard to implement them so our animal populations can get out of this spin cycle they've been in," Reynolds wrote.
It's unclear how voluntary fixing of pit bulls will affect East Bay shelter numbers.
However, San Francisco officials say a 2006 San Francisco pit bull sterilization law has led to dramatically fewer pit bulls entering their animal facilities.
"It's been better than anything I ever imagined," said Carl Friedman, San Francisco animal care and control director. In the first 18 months since the law was enacted, his shelter's pit bull euthanasia rate dropped 26 percent and impounds dropped 24 percent.
The only breed-specific sterilization law in the state also has some teeth, with a $500 first-time citation and subsequent misdemeanor charge with up to six months in jail as a punishment.
"I've been in this business for 35 years, and pit bulls and pit bull mixes have been an issue for most of those years, and this is the first time I've seen a significant drop," he said.
Why pit bulls remain the most common breed to enter shelters is a complex issue.
"We see different breeds become popular through different decades. In the '80s and '90s, it was Dobermans and (Rottweilers)," Fried said. "It's been pit bulls over the last 10 years."
And there's always the dangerous reputation.
"I believe that the media plays a significant role in propagating the stereotype of pit bulls, and that in turn causes pit bull owners to have a very difficult time keeping their dogs -- renters especially," Reynolds wrote.
Reynolds and her BAD RAP volunteers recently assisted in evaluating former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's pit bulls in Virginia. After Vick was sentenced to a 23-month federal prison term for his treatment of the animals and participation in a dog-fighting ring, 10 of his dogs made their way to BAD RAP. The dogs are now fostered out to families.
Adopting pit bulls takes longer than other breeds, Fried said, mostly due to a mandatory home visit to ensure the dogs go to responsible owners.
"We know there are many, many wonderful pit bulls that have come through our shelters, and they can make wonderful pets," Fried said.
Reach Matthias Gafni at 925-779-7174 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com.
FREE SPAYING/NEUTERING
These shelters are taking appointments for free spay or neuter surgeries for pit bulls or pit bull mixes during the week of Jan. 21:
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society
Contra Costa Animal Services, Martinez
East Bay SPCA, Oakland and Dublin
Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation, Walnut Creek
Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, San Mateo
San Francisco SPCA
Humane Society and SPCA of Sonoma County
Marin Humane Society, Novato
Appointments must be made in advance. Each shelter has its own intake requirements, number of free surgery slots and surgery dates. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 877-4-PIT-FIX (877-474-8349).
Visit www.badrap.org for more information about other free or low-cost programs.
RePrintPrint Email Return to Top
No-cost spay and neuter surgeries offered to stem high numbers of breed in East Bay shelters
By Matthias Gafni
STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 01/09/2008 03:00:06 AM PST
Click photo to enlargeRVT (registered veterinary technician) Brooke Weinstein holds a 3-month-old female pit bull...«1»In the largest attempt yet to curb high numbers of pit bulls finding their way into East Bay animal shelters, regional animal control officials will host a free week of spaying and neutering for that breed later this month.
Bay Area Pit Fix Week will include eight Bay Area shelters, four in the East Bay, offering free spay or neuter surgeries for pit bulls or pit bull mixes during the week of Jan. 21. Although individual shelters offer year-round free surgeries for pit bulls, this month's effort is the largest and longest collaborative effort.
"A lot of people with dogs and pit bulls don't realize the services available," said East Bay SPCA spokeswoman Eliza Fried. "I think a lot of people want to do the right thing, and we want to be here to help."
In 2006, animal shelters reported 29 percent of all dogs (3,521) entered into East Bay shelters were pit bulls or pit bull mixes. That same year, about half of all dogs euthanized from the area were from that breed, Fried said.
"It's pretty upsetting," she said. "It creates a terrible tragedy for the breed."
The pit bull inundation became so great in 2006 that East Bay animal shelters began specifically tracking the breed. Before they tracked only different types of animals, not breeds, Fried said.
East Bay SPCA already provides free spay/neuter surgeries year-round, along with other agencies in Berkeley, Hayward and San Leandro. There are also many organizations throughout the Bay Area that provide low-cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
surgeries for pit bulls.
Almost 2,000 pit bulls were fixed during the past three years through the free East Bay program, said Donna Reynolds, executive director of Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls, or BAD RAP.
"The fact that East Bay shelters are euthanizing fewer adoptable pit bulls is a good sign and indicates that we're on the right track," Reynolds wrote in an e-mail, adding that some shelters, like Berkeley's, have seen drops in pit bulls.
In addition to lowering the overpopulation, fixed pit bulls are generally healthier, less likely to run away and exhibit less aggression, Fried said.
"Solutions are out there, but a caring community has to come together and work hard to implement them so our animal populations can get out of this spin cycle they've been in," Reynolds wrote.
It's unclear how voluntary fixing of pit bulls will affect East Bay shelter numbers.
However, San Francisco officials say a 2006 San Francisco pit bull sterilization law has led to dramatically fewer pit bulls entering their animal facilities.
"It's been better than anything I ever imagined," said Carl Friedman, San Francisco animal care and control director. In the first 18 months since the law was enacted, his shelter's pit bull euthanasia rate dropped 26 percent and impounds dropped 24 percent.
The only breed-specific sterilization law in the state also has some teeth, with a $500 first-time citation and subsequent misdemeanor charge with up to six months in jail as a punishment.
"I've been in this business for 35 years, and pit bulls and pit bull mixes have been an issue for most of those years, and this is the first time I've seen a significant drop," he said.
Why pit bulls remain the most common breed to enter shelters is a complex issue.
"We see different breeds become popular through different decades. In the '80s and '90s, it was Dobermans and (Rottweilers)," Fried said. "It's been pit bulls over the last 10 years."
And there's always the dangerous reputation.
"I believe that the media plays a significant role in propagating the stereotype of pit bulls, and that in turn causes pit bull owners to have a very difficult time keeping their dogs -- renters especially," Reynolds wrote.
Reynolds and her BAD RAP volunteers recently assisted in evaluating former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's pit bulls in Virginia. After Vick was sentenced to a 23-month federal prison term for his treatment of the animals and participation in a dog-fighting ring, 10 of his dogs made their way to BAD RAP. The dogs are now fostered out to families.
Adopting pit bulls takes longer than other breeds, Fried said, mostly due to a mandatory home visit to ensure the dogs go to responsible owners.
"We know there are many, many wonderful pit bulls that have come through our shelters, and they can make wonderful pets," Fried said.
Reach Matthias Gafni at 925-779-7174 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com.
FREE SPAYING/NEUTERING
These shelters are taking appointments for free spay or neuter surgeries for pit bulls or pit bull mixes during the week of Jan. 21:
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society
Contra Costa Animal Services, Martinez
East Bay SPCA, Oakland and Dublin
Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation, Walnut Creek
Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, San Mateo
San Francisco SPCA
Humane Society and SPCA of Sonoma County
Marin Humane Society, Novato
Appointments must be made in advance. Each shelter has its own intake requirements, number of free surgery slots and surgery dates. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 877-4-PIT-FIX (877-474-8349).
Visit www.badrap.org for more information about other free or low-cost programs.
RePrintPrint Email Return to Top
I look forward to learning much here