My mom's dog sitter in Maryland has 5 pit bulls. I got the pleasure of meeting her and spending some time with her when I visited in October. She is a widow and cares for her 2 teenagers, her mother and her grandmother along with her 5 beloved rescued pits. They are gorgeous dogs and soooo sweet. Her dream is to some day open her own pit bull rescue in the area. Unfortunately, she lives in a townhouse in a very cookie-cutter neighborhood and the woman who lives next door to her really has it out for her. Though her dogs are quiet and mostly stay inside, her neighbor just doesn't like pit bulls and
really doesn't like living next to 5 of them. She has made several calls to the city, complaining that the dogs are vicious.
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| At a dog festival in October. I think they got more attention than any other dog there. Everyone adored them:) |
Now, I am willing to let go of all my pit bull favoritism and just dish out the facts on these dogs. I went for an evening walk with her one night and she had all 5 dogs in toe. I would have helped her, but I was walking Zoey who is terrible with other dogs. But she easily walked them even with a broken foot in a big cast! I'll also add that one of them is deaf and another is a puppy. So we walked past many yappy lunging small dogs, other big dogs, kids, runners, squirrels...the whole neighborhood experience and her dogs remained unfazed and kindly greeted anyone interested.
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| We also went to Octoberfest! Like the other festival, the dogs got (almost) as much attention as the beer & sausages! |
Beyond them just being awesome dogs in general, Zoey has become best buds with all of them, which is a true testament to their good nature. Zoey can only be trusted around dogs that completely ignore her and give her plenty of space. Until recently, Kaya and Norman were the only dogs Zoey had accepted as friends and not enemies(aka: lunch) in the past 8 years. I think Zoey loves pit bulls!
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| Baloo & Mo with Zoey at the farm where she works |
So when an officer arrived at her house and demanded $1200 in fines for the complaints, she could only tell him she did not have the money. He repeatedly demanded the payment from her and she told him honestly, over and over, "I don't have the money."
The next morning, 6 police cars arrived at her house including a SWAT team prepared with shields, masks and guns and an animal control van. They presented her with a warrant to search the property and moved inside to search the house. As about 15 armed men in full riot gear filled the living room, each of her 5 pit bulls barely lifted their heads from the couch, where they were enjoying a mid-morning nap. As the officers approached them, the dogs offered kisses to their out-stretched hands and then went back to sleep. The officer agreed to drop all the charges and release her from paying any fines. Then she requested that they stop bothering her and her dogs:)
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| Zoey having a sleepover with Angel, Bonnie, Mo, Baloo and Droe. |
Luckily, it all ended well, but I really feel for her living next to someone like that! Obviously, her neighbor has never even tried to meet one of her dogs. And from what I understand, the neighbor owns a small dog. Yes, one of those who has a lot to say about nothing. But I love how unfazed her dogs were in that situation, she must have been such a proud dog-momma:)
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| Zoey finally found some cool dogs she can hang with:) |
