Ambassadors Defeat Pit Bulls’ Bully Breed Image
Description
By Victoria Lim
July 27, 2008
TAMPA, Fla. -- A look and upward paw was all it took to hook Art Fyvolent’s wife and daughter. That’s how Bella the pibull found her forever home.
“We were walking through animal services, and Bella was sitting there as sweet as she can be,” Fyvolent remembered. “Her claw up on the cage… we had her spayed and brought her home.”
But Bella wasn’t any old pitbull up for adoption at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. She is an ambassador for her breed.
In a program modeled after one in the San Francisco area, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County Animal Services are making a big push to change the perception of the bully breed. Since June 2007, two pitbulls at a time have been selected for the “Pitbull Ambassador program.”
Dogs are put through tests called a temperment test, to ensure no level of aggression exists – not towards humans or other dogs. Bella is one of the program’s success stories. As the ambassadors are adopted, more are tested and become “ambassadors.”
“It’s the best of the best,” said Sherry Silk, executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
“Our whole goal is as people see these animals adopted form the Humane Society of Tampa Bay in the community, whether they’re at dog parks, or walking down sidewalks, they think, ‘gosh, that’s not what I thought pitbulls were like. They’re great dogs!’ They’re being ambassadors.”
Since Silk’s shelter is limited admission, she said they hesitated to bring in pitbulls because they are difficult to place. She estimates before the ambassador program, only 2 pitbulls were adopted in the first half of 2007. A year later, she says 23 adult pitbulls have found forever homes – most are “ambassadors.”
New pitbull owners are offered a lifetime of training, which isn’t a feature the Humane Society offers to those who adopt other breeds.
“We want this to be a success, and we’re going the extra mile, paying extra money to have training available to someone because we want to make sure that even tough the dogs passed our evaluations here, we want to make sure that when they’re in the home two weeks, 30 days, and on that owners knows what they’re dealing with and if there are issues, we nip that in the bud so it’s a lifetime of joy,” Silk said.
In addition to finding forever homes for the dogs, another goal is to educate the public about the realities of pitbulls – and dogs in general. According to the American Temperment Test Society, Inc., pitbulls outscored golden retrievers and beagles.
It’s a fact that doesn’t surprise Fyvolent, who now owns two pitbulls – Bella and Brock. Brock was adopted from Pet Paw Rescue.
“They’re just dogs just like any other dog. They needed to be treated as individuals and not as a class because it’s really discriminatory,” Fyvolent said.
July 27, 2008
TAMPA, Fla. -- A look and upward paw was all it took to hook Art Fyvolent’s wife and daughter. That’s how Bella the pibull found her forever home.
“We were walking through animal services, and Bella was sitting there as sweet as she can be,” Fyvolent remembered. “Her claw up on the cage… we had her spayed and brought her home.”
But Bella wasn’t any old pitbull up for adoption at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. She is an ambassador for her breed.
In a program modeled after one in the San Francisco area, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County Animal Services are making a big push to change the perception of the bully breed. Since June 2007, two pitbulls at a time have been selected for the “Pitbull Ambassador program.”
Dogs are put through tests called a temperment test, to ensure no level of aggression exists – not towards humans or other dogs. Bella is one of the program’s success stories. As the ambassadors are adopted, more are tested and become “ambassadors.”
“It’s the best of the best,” said Sherry Silk, executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
“Our whole goal is as people see these animals adopted form the Humane Society of Tampa Bay in the community, whether they’re at dog parks, or walking down sidewalks, they think, ‘gosh, that’s not what I thought pitbulls were like. They’re great dogs!’ They’re being ambassadors.”
Since Silk’s shelter is limited admission, she said they hesitated to bring in pitbulls because they are difficult to place. She estimates before the ambassador program, only 2 pitbulls were adopted in the first half of 2007. A year later, she says 23 adult pitbulls have found forever homes – most are “ambassadors.”
New pitbull owners are offered a lifetime of training, which isn’t a feature the Humane Society offers to those who adopt other breeds.
“We want this to be a success, and we’re going the extra mile, paying extra money to have training available to someone because we want to make sure that even tough the dogs passed our evaluations here, we want to make sure that when they’re in the home two weeks, 30 days, and on that owners knows what they’re dealing with and if there are issues, we nip that in the bud so it’s a lifetime of joy,” Silk said.
In addition to finding forever homes for the dogs, another goal is to educate the public about the realities of pitbulls – and dogs in general. According to the American Temperment Test Society, Inc., pitbulls outscored golden retrievers and beagles.
It’s a fact that doesn’t surprise Fyvolent, who now owns two pitbulls – Bella and Brock. Brock was adopted from Pet Paw Rescue.
“They’re just dogs just like any other dog. They needed to be treated as individuals and not as a class because it’s really discriminatory,” Fyvolent said.
