Post by johnr on Nov 5, 2011 19:39:17 GMT -5
Hi! I'm John Richardson. I've been involved in Pit Bull rescue since the earlyish to mid 90s. Some of you may know me. Mary has known me since the mid to late 90s, and even so, invited me to join! 
I have had several Pit Bulls and Bull Mutts over the years, including such late, lamented pals as Silly Hillary, Heather Marie and Baby Beth. My current brood includes 13yo Pit Bull Pablo (aka Juablo or Juabz) and 14yo Pit Bull Mix Miss Winifred Wienerwald. My current pack also includes Roxy and Heidi, both Husky Mixes (Heidi may be a Klee Kai) and Penelope Beagleburger the 2nd, a Beagle Mix and Pumpkin, the Basset Mix from Beyond the Fringe.
Besides volunteer work in rescue and advocacy, I was dog manager at Animal Adoption Center in Lindenwold NJ for over four years and have been animal adoption advocate at the Burlington County Animal Shelter for the past five and a half plus years.
Mary invited me to join the group after I sent her some vent mail about some things at the shelter today. As this is a county facility and I answer ultimately to freeholders who answer to voters and taxpayers, I will have to be coy in a public forum like this about certain sorts of particulars. But the gist of my current heartburn is that on a day that a nice Pit Bull came into the shelter as a bite quarantine when his owner allowed the dog to run with his parents Pit Bull, a fight ensued and the first dog's owner stuck his hand into the middle of it, we had some other adopters come in claiming breed savvy who have other dogs who went berserk on me when I expressed reluctance to adopt a Pit Bull with a known history of dog aggression to them and urged them to consider some that are much lower risks in that sort of environment. Well, not only was I an uncaring monster for saying this, but a breed bigot "stereotyping" the dogs. These people went on to say that they have never ever seen a dog aggressive Pit Bull.
Oh my.
To say that I was becoming increasingly unimpressed with these people's supposed savvy is to put it very, very lightly. Nonetheless, once I thought things had seemed to settle down a bit, I offered to sit down and talk to them about my concerns, their concerns and whether there wasn't some solution we could reach. In response, the guy in the group said he didn't even want to talk to me. But then they called in later to get my name and my bosses name so that they can register a complaint.
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
One of these years this affirmation has just gotta start working, right???????
I have had several Pit Bulls and Bull Mutts over the years, including such late, lamented pals as Silly Hillary, Heather Marie and Baby Beth. My current brood includes 13yo Pit Bull Pablo (aka Juablo or Juabz) and 14yo Pit Bull Mix Miss Winifred Wienerwald. My current pack also includes Roxy and Heidi, both Husky Mixes (Heidi may be a Klee Kai) and Penelope Beagleburger the 2nd, a Beagle Mix and Pumpkin, the Basset Mix from Beyond the Fringe.
Besides volunteer work in rescue and advocacy, I was dog manager at Animal Adoption Center in Lindenwold NJ for over four years and have been animal adoption advocate at the Burlington County Animal Shelter for the past five and a half plus years.
Mary invited me to join the group after I sent her some vent mail about some things at the shelter today. As this is a county facility and I answer ultimately to freeholders who answer to voters and taxpayers, I will have to be coy in a public forum like this about certain sorts of particulars. But the gist of my current heartburn is that on a day that a nice Pit Bull came into the shelter as a bite quarantine when his owner allowed the dog to run with his parents Pit Bull, a fight ensued and the first dog's owner stuck his hand into the middle of it, we had some other adopters come in claiming breed savvy who have other dogs who went berserk on me when I expressed reluctance to adopt a Pit Bull with a known history of dog aggression to them and urged them to consider some that are much lower risks in that sort of environment. Well, not only was I an uncaring monster for saying this, but a breed bigot "stereotyping" the dogs. These people went on to say that they have never ever seen a dog aggressive Pit Bull.
Oh my.
To say that I was becoming increasingly unimpressed with these people's supposed savvy is to put it very, very lightly. Nonetheless, once I thought things had seemed to settle down a bit, I offered to sit down and talk to them about my concerns, their concerns and whether there wasn't some solution we could reach. In response, the guy in the group said he didn't even want to talk to me. But then they called in later to get my name and my bosses name so that they can register a complaint.
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
I love my job and enjoy working with the public ...
One of these years this affirmation has just gotta start working, right???????
(I recently stumbled across hard copies of my long lost e-photos of Pablo fetching in the Delaware. The enormous, speed-boat-esque v-spray he put up charging into the water awed me all over again!)
I look forward to learning much here