Pit Bull owners are used to facing unfair discrimination and negativity based on society’s misguided belief that their dogs are aggressive fighters. The breed in general battles the “mean dog” stereotype on a daily basis, but one dog owner took to Imgur to send a message about breed discrimination.
Imgur user FreeTimeResults decided to send their neighbor a very public message about the way he viewed their dog. They wrote,
“When you first met my dog, you pretended to be a huge pit bull enthusiast. You said you used to have a pit and that mine was such a sweetheart.”
According to their side of the story, the relationship went downhill from there. The neighbor, identified as Ryan, told the dog owner he was afraid to let his daughter outside of the house because the “vicious pit bulls are going to attack her.” In response, FreeTimeResults proceeded to list all the reasons their dog should be feared. They said,
“You’re totally right, my dog is terrifying. Her death stare gives me the chills too.”
The adorable pictures that go along with the captions speak for themselves. The dog with the “natural drive toward attacking faces” is shown getting cuddly with her favorite kiddo and playing nicely with another dog. She wore an elf costume complete with hat and pointy ears for Christmas, and she proved she also looks good as a ladybug.
But even disguised as a harmless insect, there’s no getting around the fact that the dog is a Pit Bull. And in a society that judges an animal instead of the human responsible for training, that label will always attract negative attention. Dogs that have never seen the inside of a fighting ring are kept at a distance, and dogs that want nothing more than to cuddle and love their humans are banned from entire cities. As FreeTimeResults puts it,
“Damn this breed for existing.”
The Imgur post is pointed and sarcastic, but it describes the real problem with breed discrimination. While dogs sometimes behave differently toward family members than they do toward strangers, that fact is as true for Golden Retrievers as it is for Pit Bulls. The dog owner who made this post sent a message that their dog is more than a misunderstood breed.
Read the whole post and see all the “terrifying” photos at IMGUR.
Featured Image Source: Imgur/FreeTimeResults
Toledo, United States.
