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Program Helps Pit Bulls Put Best Paw Forward

Tribune photo by Cliff McBride

"It's all good," Kelly Bigsby, a senior veterinary supervisor, says during the early tests of Big Girl, an abandoned pit bull.

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 2, 2008

BRANDON - She was breezing through the assessment, acing every test.

Passing was the only hope for the 4-year-old American pit bull terrier found abandoned and tied to a stop sign. Doing so would qualify her for an adoption program at Hillsborough County Animal Services especially for pit bulls. Failing would mean she couldn't be adopted and likely would be euthanized.

The 81-pound dog dubbed "Big Girl" was being tested for temperament. She let shelter technicians roughhouse with her, lift her up and dangle her in midair. When they pushed her away from a food bowl, she accepted the disappointment without a single growl or raised lip.

She didn't mind when Brantley, a gray house cat, pranced past her. And she gave a friendly sniff to two kittens sharing a cage on one wall of the assessment room.

"She's happy, wagging her tail, just loving life," said Kelly Bigsby, a senior Animal Services supervisor administering the test to see if Big Girl would qualify for the Pit Bull Ambassador program. "It's all good."

Then a technician brought in Penelope, another female pit bull.

The two dogs approached each other and sniffed noses. The hairs on Big Girl's back started to bristle. Her leash grew taut. She snarled, growled and barked, trying to get at Penelope, who backed away from the confrontation.

The results were the same when Big Girl was introduced to a male of her breed.

"Definitely doesn't like other dogs," Bigsby said. "We can't put her in the community. She's a nice dog, a great dog, but they have to love other dogs. They have to be dogs who can adjust to anything."

Animal services staff hope the ambassador program will rehabilitate the public's perception of pit bulls.

"The aim is to place pit bulls into loving homes and show the community they're great dogs and deserve great homes just like a beagle or any other breed," Bigsby said.

'Any Breed Can Bite'

While Big Girl proved that some pit bulls are too aggressive to adopt, some others can be gentle, devoted canine companions, said Marti Ryan, animal services spokeswoman.

"Any breed can bite. There are so many other factors that lead to aggression," she said.

The key, Bigsby said, is choosing the best candidates for the program from among roughly 15 pit bulls that arrive at the shelter daily. The shelter puts up only two pit bulls for adoption at a time.

"I want them all to pass, but you have to take the good with the bad when you do this," Bigsby said after failing Big Girl, knowing her aggression toward other dogs meant she would be put down. "There are 10 more waiting, and one will be a success story.

"We have fought tooth and nail to get this program working, and I can't risk something happening," she said. "There are too many nice ones out there."

About 15 pit bulls have been adopted since the ambassador program was launched in June 2007, modeled after a similar program in San Francisco.

The goal is to identify pit bulls that would be the best companions, put them in good homes and then let them win over people they meet by wowing them with good behavior.

"It is a chance to change their image, one dog at a time," Bigsby said.

She said a combination of factors has led to pit bulls' bad reputation. Drug dealers and people who fight dogs own them because they are thought to be vicious beasts, then train and breed them to be aggressive, she said.

Many pit bulls suffer from neglect or abuse by owners who lose interest in them.

She also noted that the public, and sometimes the media, misidentify dogs that turn ferocious, presuming they're pit bulls because of their reputation. She said German shepherds, Dobermans and Rottweilers all struggled to shake the same stereotypes.

Pit Bull Won Them Over

Art Fyvolent and his wife, Lisa Presnail, of South Tampa are among the American Pit Bull terrier converts. They own two - Brock and Bella.

Presnail, a photographer, met Brock at a calendar shoot, where he was posing with a model for a calendar to raise money for homeless and abused animals.

"I watched them turning and posing this big goofy, sweet thing," she recalled. "And here he was supposed to be a 70-pound monster who eats people."

Brock made such an impression on her that Presnail and Fyvolent decided to rescue him from the Pet Pal Animal Shelter in Pinellas County.

"We had heard the horror stories and were almost afraid to even think about it," Fyvolent said. "But before you knew it, he was in the car, coming back with us."

Even after they got him home, the couple were still wary. They kept Brock on a leash every minute he was out of his crate.

"Slowly, we learned what a sweetheart he was, and the leash came off," Fyvolent said. "The biggest hurdle was getting over the fear and prejudice associated with pit bulls."

The couple started fostering other pit bulls while they awaited adoption and noticed Brock seemed depressed when they left. Enter Bella, a graduate of the Pit Bull Ambassador program.

"We knew she had been tested for personality, for everything," Fyvolent said. "They won't let a bad one go through the door."

As much as they love pit bulls, the couple agreed with Bigsby that the breed isn't for everyone.

"You need a fairly strong alpha personality," Fyvolent said, meaning the dog must know you're the boss. "They want to be the lead dog in the house."

Presnail said pit bull owners must be willing to work with them.

"You have to have the time and patience. They can be a little more rambunctious" than some other breeds, she said. "And they are strong."

ATTACK DOGS?

American pit bull terriers are more docile than golden retrievers and beagles, according to the American Temperament Test Society Inc. In tests given by the group, pit bulls outscored golden retrievers 84.3 percent to 84.2 percent. Beagles notched 80.3 percent. To learn more about the society, its tests and where other breeds rank, go to www.atts .org.

GOOD DOG

Hillsborough County Animal Services looks for the following traits to consider American pit bull terriers eligible for its adoption program:

•Not aggressive toward people or other animals

•Clownish

•Very social

•Playful

•Sensitive

•Resilient

LEARN MORE

•For information about the Pit Bull Ambassador program, contact Hillsborough County Animal Services at (813) 744-5660 or e-mail the agency at info@hillsboroughcounty.org

•For information about the San Francisco pit bull ambassador program that Animal Services modeled its initiative after, visit www.badrap.org

•South Tampa resident Art Fyvolent is creating a Web site he hopes will be a clearing house for pit bull adoptions and information, pitspositive.com The site is under construction and should be live this month.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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