Monday, December 3, 2012

FOR THE LOVE OF PIT BULLS

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.

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.

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!

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:)

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:)

Zoey finally found some cool dogs she can hang with:)

11 comments:

  1. Wow, what a story! I hate to say it but it doesn't surprise me that someone who has never made an effort to meet the dogs would report them. People just don't seem to get it, they are dogs just like any other! She just doesn't know what she's missing out on!

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  2. Whoa, what a crazy story! Sometimes I just want to bonk a few people on the head for being so ridiculous. I can't believe that the neighbor complained about the dogs and she hadn't even met them! So glad this story turned out well!

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  3. They sent over a SWAT team? Talk about overkill. I'm glad she and her dogs (and her bank account) are all okay!

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  4. WOW that is insane! I can only wonder about the nature of this "complaint" that they felt they needed to send in SWAT! Some people be crazy.

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  5. I wonder if anything happened to the neighbor for harassment? If they couldn't find anything wrong, how can she make all those complaints (and waste all those resources?).

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    1. It's sounds like it comes down to hearsay. When the officer showed up demanding money from her, he did not even check out the situation or ask to meet her dogs. It sounds like she just called up, calling them dangerous with no direct interaction with them at all. Definitely a waste of resources.

      It sounds like when she was not able to give them $1200 on the spot, they considered her uncooperative, which perhaps mean "hostile threat to the community" in their book??

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  6. I was really worried for a minute there that this story was going to have a very sad ending -- I am so happy that I was wrong about that!

    Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if dogs like us could go outside in some different clothes, but then mom says that being a very good pup in my own clothes is the best way to make things better...

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    1. I agree with your mom, Remy! Today Norman was attacked by a husky:( It should not matter what clothes you wear, a nice dog is a nice dog and a mean dog is a... Besides you are too cute to cover up those good looks!

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  7. Things are tense enough in Maryland with that crazy liability law, I hope the neigbor will just stop, but of course we know they won't. Those dogs are just absolutely beautiful and kudos to the owner for having such a great furmily.

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  8. Wow. That story is ridiculous. Full riot gear for a lady who couldn't pay an unsubstantiated fine?! Sheesh. I would sue if I were her. That is a clear violation of her rights.

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  9. That story really scares me! Can people do that in AZ? God I hope not. I don't know that my pups would be so sweet with a bunch of threatening people walking in like that. I'm not saying my pups aren't friendly but I think that type of situation would scare them!
    What a beautiful pack of dogs!

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