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Pit Bull Research Paper

Decent Essays

Whether you like it or not, labels matter -- even if you're a dog, especially if that dog is a pit bull. http://www.care2.com/causes/heres-what-pit-bulls-are-really-bred-to-do.html

This breed knows a thing or two about labels; the pit bull went from America's darling dog to one of the most feared http://www.dontbullymybreed.org/index.php/information/resources/pit-bulls-a-history

(and misunderstood) dogs today. And new research from Arizona State University published in PLOS ONE shows just how detrimental the pit bull label can be.

Pit Bulls Wait 3 Times as Long to be Adopted

Their fall from grace is evident in stories like Olive's. Olive the Pit Bull http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pit-bull-who-spent-11-years-in-shelter-finally-has-a-wonderful-home_us_560c1b02e4b0af3706def5c3 …show more content…

(Hint: It sure does.) The researchers found that dogs labeled as "pit bulls" (which is problematic in the first place -- more on that later) could wait three times as long to be adopted from shelters into their forever homes compared to their lookalikes without the label or labelled as another breed. Compared to other breeds like Labradors, pits were perceived as less friendly and more aggressive. They also were considered as less "attractive" than their lookalikes. Weird, right?

Even the researchers were surprised by how much the pit bull label influences perception and, ultimately, adoption. As researcher Lisa Gunter from Arizona State University explains, "We were surprised how very similar looking dogs sometimes get labelled "pit bull" and other times as something completely different. These dogs may look and act the same, but the pit bull label damns them to a much longer wait to adoption," reports Science Daily. …show more content…

animal shelters are labeled as pit bulls

-- 86.7 percent of pit bulls admitted to open admission shelters are euthanized

Do you know what the worst part of this situation is? There's no such thing as a pit bull. As Bark Post http://barkpost.com/pit-bulls-shelters-question/

explains, the pit bull label is just "an umbrella term that most people use to refer to different types of dogs – the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, any mixes thereof, and any dog that vaguely resembles these dogs." So the breed isn't real but the stigma has real consequences. And time and again pit bulls prove that they can be great dogs with the correct guidance and training when they get a second chance. Remember how Jericho the Pit Bull went from death row to being an amazing service dog.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/from-death-row-to-service-dog-the-story-of-a-pit-bull.html

Take Action!

Sign and share this petition urging animal rescuers to lose the stigmatizing pit bull label that unnecessarily penalizes innocent dogs. It's a matter of life and

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