Petfinder.com Brings Attention Back to Pit Bulls

Silver Spring, MD (August 17, 2009) – With the highly controversial reinstatement of Michael Vick to the NFL, the media has focused almost exclusively on his future in football. While Vick has forever ruined his status as a role model, far greater repercussions are being felt in the animal welfare world. Vick’s widely publicized involvement with dog-fighting has perpetuated a fallacious stereotype about Pit Bulls, thousands of which are languishing in shelters, hoping to find a home. In fact, there are nearly 12,000 Pit Bull and Pit Bull mixes available for adoption on Petfinder.com right now.

As a network of more than 12,600 shelters and rescue groups across North America, Petfinder.com is providing a voice for these animals by clarifying the long-standing misperceptions about the breed in the hopes of eradicating its undeserved reputation:

• Myth: All Pit Bulls are violent and aggressive.
• Reality: Pit Bulls are typically docile and playful. As is the case with any breed of dog, if handled and socialized properly, they can make friendly, loyal and loving family companions

• Myth: Pit Bulls have locking jaws and a higher biting power than other breeds.
• Reality: There are no unique mechanisms in the jaws of Pit Bulls, and these dogs cannot lock their jaws. Additionally, in a test of biting pressure that included a German Shepherd, a Rottweiler and a Pit Bull, the Pit Bull had the least amount of bite pressure.

• Myth: Pit Bulls are vicious to people or more dangerous than other dogs.
• Reality: There is no room for human aggression in a behaviorally sound Pit Bull, and the reality is that most Pit Bulls are not aggressive toward people; many are extremely sociable and adore children. A Pit Bull who passes a behavioral evaluation poses no more of a threat to people than any other large dog.

• Myth: Adopting a Pit Bull is the same as adding any other type of dog to your family.
• Reality: While behaviorally sound Pit Bulls make excellent family companions, the reality is that adopting a Pit Bull does require some extra effort like additional socialization and willingness to educate friends and neighbors about the breed and your dog in particular.

If you would like to explore this further and bring the focus back to where it belongs--on the thousands of loving Pit Bulls who are unjustly vilified because of people like Michael Vick--Petfinder.com can offer the following assets for a story:

• Interviews with shelters and rescue groups about their experiences with Pit Bulls for adoption
• Interview with Kim Saunders, the VP of Shelter Outreach for Petfinder.com, about this issue from a national perspective

For more information or to speak with the co-founder of Petfinder.com, Betsy Saul, please contact Katy Layton at 917-595-3057 or klayton@cooperkatz.com.