I recently heard of situation that really alarmed me, and I want to do something about it, but need information first. An acquaintance of mine has a female pit bull in heat. They’ve got it wearing a diaper to avoid messes (she hates it, poor thing). Prior to spaying her, and once she reaches a certain age, they intend to breed this dog with another acquantainces male pit bull, which is not neutered simply because it’s a poor family and they’ve never bothered (the human dad needs neutered first- 9 unplanned kids, no job, this is the kind of people I’m dealing with). All I could say is that I know this is a REALLY bad idea, but I don’t want to shoot my mouth off too much until I can give them facts and good solid reasons not to do this. I know that another MDS friend was considering doing something similar with her dog, but after talking to people on MDS was convinced not to and had the dog spayed (and this wasn’t even a pit bull). I’m not trying to start a discussion about pit bulls and all the controversy that seems to surround the breed, but I do think the breed should be kept in mind in this decision. I don’t know exactly why, but I do know that this situation screams out “BAD IDEA!” So please tell me, what are the reasons to avoid backyard breeding? Once I have a sound argument I intend to let these people know…. and I know that if I go and say because it’s a pit bull, I’d be more likely to get smacked down than listened to, so let’s focus on the “backyard breeding” aspect of the situation.
Thanks!

Here are some good web pages:

One

Two

Three

Four

There are many more, but that’s a start! Best wishes, you have your heart in the right place.

Visit your local shelter or humane society. They will have brochures/info for you to share. THANK you for stepping up to the plate and taking action.

First of all, Olie it is wonderful that you are trying to diplomatically deal with some people that may end up making a very bad decision. I do have a thought. After reading the information you have given about the family, one thing stood out a lot. They need MONEY. If they could somehow see that they will not be able to make any money by selling these pups and may even be stuck with them, they MAY think twice. There are tons of ads on Craigslist and Petfinder everywhere for “pitbull puppy – free to a good home”. Many people have litters not considering that the dam can have a dangerous or even fatal whelping, and they would have to deal with an emergency situation for the Mom that they would not be able to afford. If that happened, the mother may die as a result of no medical intervention, the babies may or may not be saved, and if they were to be saved would need very expensive puppy formula. I don’t see them giving the pups any shots, and by the way, this is how I got Kitsu … and he is not a pitbull. He was a left over backyard breeder runt of the litter that was costing too much to keep and was left caged so that the alpha make in the house would stop attacking him. Again, it is very honorable that you are trying to intervene in a very delicate way … wording is everything, and I think if you went with the money angle it may at least help.

Thanks everyone, for your advice! I’ll probably be seeing these people soon… and Kitsu hit the nail on the head, I just have to find a way to put my words in the right order to get through to them without making them mad… it will be hard though, because I feel SO strongly about this that I’d prefer to just wring their necks. I printed out some stuff for them, and I think that giving it to them may be a mistake, I don’t quite know how to say this and make it make sense, but basically, they just “ain’t the readin’ type.” Unfortunately I’ve always been better at reading and writing than talking, so hopefully I can find a way to verbalize effectively. The new law in L.A. should help, considering the pit bull population down there… so out of control that they had to make it a LAW to spay/ neuter… you’d think that would make some people stop and think! But I was reading the comments from the public posted on an article from the newspaper, the first one was some ignoramous saying there ain’t nobody gonna make him cut off his dogs testicles, go ahead and sue him! He thought this was some creative way of weeding out dogs that aren’t pure bred; a strike against mutts and the humans that can’t afford pure bred dogs… um, DUH! Same mentality as the people I’m dealing with- I know that we all have a right to differing opinions, and some may want to smack me for saying this, but some people are so stupid that THEY should be spayed/neutered to weed out THAT breed! Sorry… but the more I hear about this general topic, the more angry I get… will do what I can and let you know how it goes…

Great news! The dog got spayed! I knew someone in that house must have a brain. This married couple that wanted to breed their pit bull lives in a barn on her mom’s property and the mom put the kabosh on the breeding idea! I subtly gave my 2 cents worth at one point, don’t know if it had any impact or not, doesn’t really matter, the fact is, the end result is exactly what it should be!

Yahoooooooooo! Congrats!

Olie GREAT WORK!! I am sure your 2 cents worth was more like a million dollars. I am glad this situation had a happy outcome, again great job :)

Way to go Olie!!! I am one of those people that agree with spaying/neutering some human “breeds”. I don’t agree with one breed being more vicious than another. I know some breeds have gotten a bad rep but I mean my little peke-a-poo could be vicious if I trained her that way. I know people with pits and they are loving friendly dogs. We had a Chow (boy you should have heard some of the comments on I got when we got Jack) and yes he was protective…you didn’t mess with his momma but he was a big ol Teddy Bear. We did seek advice on raising a Chow from a vet because of the bad rep they have. More people should do that.