Pit Bull Blog

by Lindsay B. (aka bahamutt99)

I wonder if there is a way to turn this upcoming rant into an educational blog.  You know me; I’m all about using my experiences to help others.  But what exactly can you say when someone calls you a dog fighter?

It’s really a blind-side hit.  You end up staring at your screen for a moment, with your mouth hanging open.  Lindsay is a dog fighter.  I needed a moment to be able to react to that.  They might as well have called me a Martian, or told me the grass is purple.  You just don’t know what to say.

Dog fighting is a felony in every state, last time I checked.  Even being present at a dog fight will get you jail time in most cases.  Being accused of being a dog fighter ruins peoples’ lives, and gets good dogs killed, even when the owner is innocent.  (A man in Alva, Florida was recently proven innocent of dog fighting, but animal control had already killed all his dogs.)  When a person accuses a random stranger of being a dog fighter, it is hoped that they would have some kind of evidence to support the theory.  So what is the proof in my case?

I’m selling a used carpet mill.

…

Are you waiting for the rest of it?  That’s it.  I’m selling a carpet mill, and I just so happen to own American Pit Bull Terriers.  I fit the classic criteria for being a dog fighter.

Are you laughing, crying or incredulous?  I assure you, it is true.  My crime was posting up an ad for my carpet mill that I’ve had since January on Craigslist.com.  I took one picture of my dog modeling, for size comparison more than anything.  The reaction over on the Petfinder forum — names changed to protect my accusers – was as follows:

BusyBody:  “There’s a dog treadmill on CL. One pic shows a pit bull on it. There’s only one reason someone would want to own or owns a dog treadmill and that’s for dog fighting which is horrible. I don’t know what to do. …”

Expert #2 replies:  “save the whole ad and report it to the authorities. It is dog fighting paraphinalia (sp). It has the phone number and all on it. Just save it all incase it is flagged or they deleate it.”

There followed some sensible attempts to extol the virtues of keeping your dog exercised in any weather, but BusyBody would not be dissuaded:

BusyBody:  “Noone that lives in Oklahoma that I know has a dog that has a treadmill. Most people around here own plenty of acreage or yards for their dogs to run around in. There is ALOT of dogfighting that goes on in the Tulsa area, I know that for a fact. I still believe this person is trying to sell something that shouldn’t be sold around here.”

Cesar Millan, are you listening?  Or are you too busy fighting dogs?  Because I’ve seen your show, and you run those poor dogs on a treadmill, which makes you a dog fighter.  (That is sarcasm, if you’re not following.  Don’t sue me, Cesar!  I love your show!)

Oh snap!  Maybe I should have caught the name of the Pug handler who was featured on one of those Animal Planet shows recently, shown exercising his charge on a treadmill specially-made for dogs.  Maybe he moonlights as a dog fighter, too.

Yes, I know.  I asked for it.  I was warned against purchasing the treadmill in the first place, but at the time I thought it was a good idea.  It took me less than a year to realize that I really wasn’t using the thing, and I wanted to sell it.  I could always chuck it out for the garbage, but the pragmatic part of my brain wants me to get a portion of what I spent on it back, so I can buy some extra Christmas presents for family and doggies.

That’s what us dog fighters do, you know.  Sell our valuable dog fighting paraphernalia so we can buy sweaters and squeaky toys for the dogs.

To continue on the saga of Lindsay the Dog Fighter, someone dug up my website to share with the group.  (Nobody invited me into the discussion, BTW, even though by then they had my email and phone number.)  There was some debate about whether or not I was a breeder.   (As you know, if I were indeed a breeder, my flogging would have been justified.  All breeders are evil.)

Well, shucks, I don’t qualify for that dunce cap yet since I haven’t bred a litter in my adult life.  So what further dirt would be dug up on me?

Good Housekeeping says:  “I just watched the Loki video…amazing dog!…but I’m distressed by how filthy that house is!”  “That didn’t look like clutter to me. Did you see the floors? And that kitchen? Puh-leeze.”

Are you following?  I’ve gone from a dirty dog fighter, to a dirty breeder, to just a flat-out dirty person.  In less than 24 hours, even!  Perhaps that’s why they haven’t invited me to have my say.  Maybe they think I will bring fleas in.

So what is the lesson to be learned here?  Don’t own a treadmill? Hmm…  I’m not sure that’s it.  Maybe its Don’t post videos filmed in your house if you haven’t cleaned up recently. No, I really don’t think that’s it, either.  I mean after all, some of the best dog people I know can’t keep their house clean for anything.  When you spend all your time with your dogs, mopping your floor seems secondary.

Maybe the lesson is Don’t give people a glimpse into your life at all, because it will be used against you.

The irony here is that the people who were gleefully snarking me behind my back probably all think they are dog lovers.  But they are woefully unable to recognize a good dog owner (even if not a good housekeeper).  When all together in their zone of safety, with me blissfully unaware of the thread’s existence, they were happy to rake me over the coals.  All based on a small glimpse through an ad and a website.

I wonder if any of my detractors were people I’d met on the street who’d offered up praise for my beautiful, well-behaved dogs.  I suppose none of that matters since I have a messy house and a treadmill for sale.

So what is the lesson, the moral of the story?  For me, it is Don’t make snap judgments.  Snap judgments are what get good people in trouble, and good dogs killed.  Just by my being publicly accused of being a dog fighter, my life could be ruined.  And for what?  Because BusyBody saw a picture of my dog on a treadmill that I am selling.

I wonder if this person saw my husband’s Craigslist ad for the car he’s selling, would they assume he is a drunk driver?

Think, people!

Don’t judge someone based on a single-page impression of them.  And THINK before you lob accusations that can ruin somebody’s life, and get their dogs killed.  It is important to be aware of what is going on around you, yes.  But don’t get so enthralled over nothing that you are willing to sacrifice a complete stranger to indulge your overactive imagination.

I wanted to offer a quick thanks to the people who know me by reputation and by my actions, and who jumped to defend me.  I really appreciate the effort.  As of the writing of this blog, I am still waiting on an activation email from the Petfinder forums, at which time I will jump in and defend myself.

***Follow Up***

I’ve since joined the forum, and have accepted apologies from a few people.  The situation has been resolved amicably, which I appreciate.  I will, however, leave the blog up, because it is important that people realize that snap judgements can be dangerous.

by Lindsay B. (Bahamutt99)

Those that know me probably know that I’m a member of 8 different forums, 7 of which are Pit Bull forums. Most of them are excellent boards where folks of different backgrounds can come together and discuss the breed.  I mean, that’s what brings us all together anyway: love of the breed.  Many of us probably would pass each other by without so much as a glance if it weren’t for the dogs.

Anybody who’s been in the breed for a while knows what I’m talking about.  These dogs open as many doors as they close.  Maybe you’re limited in places that you can live, and maybe you now have to deal with unreasonable prejudice, but at the same time, you find yourself wedded to a great group of diverse people who are unified by their love of an awesome animal.  Or at least we should be unified.  But pay attention and it becomes glaringly obvious that the honeymoon between some “factions” is over before its even begun.

Probably the saddest example of of the rift between Pit Bull people is that between the gamedog owner and the “petbull” owner.  I don’t like to use labels, but that is the easiest way to describe the differing halves.  On the gamedog side, you’ve got people whose primary interest in the breed is functionality and gameness.  On the other side, you’ve got a group of pet owners.  At the extreme ends there are people who still match their dogs, and then people who treat their dogs as if they were stuffed animals.

I would never in a million years expect a lazy dog-park “petbull” owner to get in bed with a dog fighter, but to suggest that these are the only two groups out there is naive at best.  There are lots of people — myself and the majority of folks I know included — that fall into this wide grey area somewhere in the middle.  We know and respect the breed’s heritage, and we use that knowledge to help us live sensibly with our dogs.  Some of us dress our dogs up in clothes — I mean face it, for some reason the public responds favorably to dogs in pink tu tus — and some of us are out there on the weekends showing and working our dogs.  Some of us breed, some of us rescue, and some of us do neither.  I think for the majority of us, companionship is the primary factor behind owning the breed, but we still understand what they are.

So say you have a yard of gamedogs and serious outlook on the breed.  It may appear to you that the “petbull” people are ruining the breed.  After all, they are the ones who are keeping these dogs in the house and showing off their good behavior at the park or Petsmart. Or say you are a “petbuller” with a few good pets.  It would most certainly appear that the gamedog people are ruining the breed because they work their dogs hard, honor the game ones, and breed to the old standards.  (If you are detecting sarcasm here, that’s because there is some.)

At any rate, it is absolutely ridiculous to draw a scratch line between “petbull” people and gamedog or working dog people. A yard bust of a serious dogman and a Pit Bull attack caused by a negligient pet owner have the same negative impact on our breed.  And maybe you say “I have never had that happen to me!”  Well the chances are that your counterpart on the other side of the rift has never had it happen either.  The few and far between incidents that happen should not be cause for us to point fingers at each other when we both have the same animal at the end of our leash.  Maybe mine is a pet and weekend worker while yours is a hardcore hog hunter, but do you think in the end its going to matter?  BSL is the great leveler, folks, and it will take your “petbull” or your gamedog just as surely as it will take your weight puller, Schutzhund dog, mixed breed, and so forth.  Instead of suspecting the worst out of each other, maybe we should think for a second about the good that we each do for the breed.

Gamedog people:  In an era of dogs being bred for head size and color, you can usually count on gamedog people to be like a rock standing against the tide.  Their dogs look now much the same way they looked 100 years ago.  They still have the performance ability that the breed was intended to have.  And most of the people in this crowd, whether you agree with their ethics or not, are not peddling off puppies to the public like your typical backyard breeder. Additionally, they seem to have keeping their dogs contained down to a science.

“Petbullers”:  Pink tu tus notwithstanding, most “petbull” people understand the importance of getting their dogs out in the public’s eye to help combat the general ignorance surrounding the breed.  They help to show that these dogs can live safely in society and our homes, in the hands of a knowledgeable owner.  Rescuers usually fall into this category, and they do a great good for the breed by saving good dogs from euthanasia — and thus giving pet seekers another option besides going to a breeder — and also educating about the importance of spay/neuter.

If a line needs to be drawn, it should only be between the responsible and the irresponsible owners.  Because much as either side may wish to dispute it, bad apples fall from both trees.  Maybe if we can learn a little tolerance for each other, cleanup will be easier.  After all, two hands are better than one.