Meet Lily! Less than a week ago, I had the great privilege to meet Lily and her people for the first time. Lily is a sweet, loving dog, probably a pitbull/bulldog mix, who shows the physical scars of past abuse on her face. Lily was found in a dumpster, emaciated and battered, but in spite of all of this, she has never been anything but friendly towards people. She was taken to the Montgomery County Humane Society, where she quickly became a favorite among the staff. After living the challenging life of a shelter dog for quite a while, Lily was transferred to a loving foster home. Enter Jennifer, John, and their two children who adopted her about three months ago. Lily now finds herself in a wonderful forever home!
When I first met Lily, I was greeted with great affection and very slobbery kisses. This week I began working with her to help her people find ways to minimize Lily's squirrel chasing, jumping on people, and other typical challenges that come along with a friendly and exuberant dog. But Lily is anything but typical. Based on her physical appearance and the behaviors she displayed in the shelter and in the foster home, the predominant view is that Lily came from a dog-fighting ring. She was probably a breeding dog, a bait dog, or perhaps both. How does an animal who has been treated so poorly and discarded in a dumpster like a piece of trash maintain such a friendly disposition towards people? Each time I work with her, I find myself amazed by her resilience and her capacity to love and trust. This beautiful dog's problem right now is that she is so friendly that she excitedly jumps on people, greeting them with absolute abandon. How is this even possible?
Until recently, dogs rescued from dog-fighting rings were viewed as impossible to rehabilitate. Many in the animal welfare field actually believed that the only option was to destroy these dogs. The very heavily publicized discovery of Michael Vick's dogs and the laudable efforts made by Best Friends Animal Society and other rescue organizations to rehabilitate these abused dogs ultimately changed the minds of many. I wouldn't dare suggest that all dogs from this background are as easy-going as Lily, but even some of the most fearful and aggressive dogs have been successfully rehabbed and adopted into forever homes. Finally, something good has come from the bad and many people are beginning to understand that these dogs aren't permanently damaged. They aren't demonic. They aren't inherently bad dogs. They can be rehabilitated and we owe it to them to do everything in our power to help them. People damaged them, so people need to step up and heal them. Not only can they be helped, but also I truly believe that they can help us.
Not everyone has come around to understand the truth about these beautiful animals. Thanks to hype in the media, entire cities have banned pitbulls. Many apartment and condo complexes also ban them. The people who make these decisions are acting out of ignorance and unfounded fears. It's not the pitbull that we should fear, but rather the people who abuse them.
We have a long way to go in doing right by these dogs, but at least we're starting to move in the right direction. I am honored to be working with Lily and the wonderful people who adopted her. She is an inspiration and I expect that she will have a lot to teach me.
When I first met Lily, I was greeted with great affection and very slobbery kisses. This week I began working with her to help her people find ways to minimize Lily's squirrel chasing, jumping on people, and other typical challenges that come along with a friendly and exuberant dog. But Lily is anything but typical. Based on her physical appearance and the behaviors she displayed in the shelter and in the foster home, the predominant view is that Lily came from a dog-fighting ring. She was probably a breeding dog, a bait dog, or perhaps both. How does an animal who has been treated so poorly and discarded in a dumpster like a piece of trash maintain such a friendly disposition towards people? Each time I work with her, I find myself amazed by her resilience and her capacity to love and trust. This beautiful dog's problem right now is that she is so friendly that she excitedly jumps on people, greeting them with absolute abandon. How is this even possible?
Until recently, dogs rescued from dog-fighting rings were viewed as impossible to rehabilitate. Many in the animal welfare field actually believed that the only option was to destroy these dogs. The very heavily publicized discovery of Michael Vick's dogs and the laudable efforts made by Best Friends Animal Society and other rescue organizations to rehabilitate these abused dogs ultimately changed the minds of many. I wouldn't dare suggest that all dogs from this background are as easy-going as Lily, but even some of the most fearful and aggressive dogs have been successfully rehabbed and adopted into forever homes. Finally, something good has come from the bad and many people are beginning to understand that these dogs aren't permanently damaged. They aren't demonic. They aren't inherently bad dogs. They can be rehabilitated and we owe it to them to do everything in our power to help them. People damaged them, so people need to step up and heal them. Not only can they be helped, but also I truly believe that they can help us.
Not everyone has come around to understand the truth about these beautiful animals. Thanks to hype in the media, entire cities have banned pitbulls. Many apartment and condo complexes also ban them. The people who make these decisions are acting out of ignorance and unfounded fears. It's not the pitbull that we should fear, but rather the people who abuse them.
We have a long way to go in doing right by these dogs, but at least we're starting to move in the right direction. I am honored to be working with Lily and the wonderful people who adopted her. She is an inspiration and I expect that she will have a lot to teach me.
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