http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/features/83529/jeff-jenkins-and-the-pit-bull-training-team

On Saturdays in Austin on the West Side and Wednesdays in Englewood on the South Side—neighborhoods where street-level dogfighting is rampant—Jenkins and his Pit Bull Training Team (PBTT) offer free obedience classes to pit-bull owners, mostly young black men and boys. Some used to fight their dogs in basement and backyard rings. Others are at risk of becoming engaged in the underground blood sport. Several PBTT members also serve as Anti-Dogfighting Advocates (ADAs), whose job it is to recruit new students, break up dog fights in their communities and visit area elementary schools to educate about animal cruelty. In three years, more than 100 Chicagoans and their dogs have completed Jenkins’s ten-week obedience class.

Essentially, Jenkins has incubated a new approach to combating dogfighting that involves reaching out to afflicted communities and showing them the joys of responsible pet ownership. He has spread the End Dogfighting program to Atlanta and Milwaukee, and is planning expansion to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, as well as Chicago’s Humboldt Park and Little Village neighborhoods.

Read more: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/features/83529/jeff-jenkins-and-the-pit-bull-training-team

Contact Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services for more info:
2020 Forest St., Jacksonville, FL 32204
Phone: (904) 255-7387 (PETS)
E-mail: jaxpets@coj.net

http://www.news4jax.com/news/22660200/detail.html

Grant Allows Free Neutering For Pit Bulls

City To Offer Service To Residents In 2 Local Zip Codes

POSTED: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s not uncommon in Jacksonville to find pit bulls in cages or chained up. Now Animal Care and Protective Services said it wants to change the perception of pit bulls through a state grant it just received.

“If they are raised properly, then they can be the kindest animals on the planet,” said Keshia Williams, who has two pit bulls.

Williams lives in the zip code 32254, and soon, all of her neighbors there, along with residents who live in the zip code 32204, will have a chance to get their pit bulls neutered for free.

Scott Trebatoski, the chief of Animal Care and Protective Services, said the free neutering will be part of a pilot program created to not only improve the image of pit bulls, but to also help dog owners financially.

“People who might be making ends meet but don’t have an extra couple hundred dollars to get their dogs sterilized, and the result is they’re having puppies they don’t want and they end up in our shelter,” Trebatoski said.

Trebatoski said the money to cover the services is coming from a $20,000 state grant. Once the money is distributed, people will be able to take their pit bulls to participating vets.

They must prove where they live via a driver license or utility bill.

“All they have to do is prove they live in a 54 or 04 zip code,” Trebatoski said. “Income, nothing else matters.”

The city is still working on finalizing the grant distribution, and it should be completed soon.

Several local pit bull lovers said they’re looking forward to the opportunity to get their dogs neutered.

“We all know if you spay or neuter an animal it prolongs their life,” resident Jimmie Youmans said.

“For people who ain’t got money, it’s a great idea,” resident Wade Day said.

Trebatoski said once the grant is completed, Animal Care and Protective Services will make a formal announcement. The program will be offered until September or until the money runs out.

Pits and Perception
paintings by Cyrus Mejía
Artology 101 Gallery, 3108 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
February 20 – March 18, 2010

Please join us for an Opening Reception Saturday February 20, 4 – 7pm.
Meet Canine Movie Star, Lucy, the 3-legged Pit, from Jackass 2 & Hotel for Dogs And our Canine Pit Ambassadors Including, Indy, Pit Bull Therapy Dog Winner, 2009

Cyrus Mejía, contemporary artist, is co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society. In this series of paintings Mejía challenges current-day perceptions of Pit Bulls by depicting them close-up, and invites viewers to question how they see and perceive these dogs.

Pits and Perception was made possible by a grant from the Culture & Animals Foundation.

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11am – 5pm 323-644-0101

‘Pits and Perception’ Opens in Los Angeles

Artist Hopes to Change Way People View Pit Bulls

Best Friends co-founder and resident artist Cyrus Mejia says that when he was growing up, pit bulls were considered the ultimate family dog. One look at Mejia’s “Pits and Perception” art exhibit, and it’s easy to see why so many people through the years have revered the breed.

The show opens:

Saturday, Feb. 20 at Artology 101, 3108 Glendale Blvd. in Los Angeles, with a reception from 4 to 7 p.m.

The gallery will be open that evening until 10 p.m.

The show will be on display until March 18. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“For me, pit bulls have always been ‘Petey on the ‘The Little Rascals’ rather than the dogs that have become associated with dog fighting and gangs,” says Mejia, who was part of a group of nearly two dozen individuals who founded Best Friends Animal Society in 1984. The organization is well known as the largest companion animal sanctuary in the United States, as well as home to a number of the pit bulls seized from the Michael Vick dog fighting case. Best Friends’ work with dogs is chronicled on the National Geographic Television series, “DogTown,” which entered its fourth season in January.

After watching the reputation of the pit bull change in a very short period of time, Mejia reasons: “If perceptions can change once, can’t they change back? That’s what I’m trying to do with this exhibit,” he says.

The 12 larger-than-life (49-inch by 56-inch) canvasses, completed in the last two years, portray Mejia’s vision of pit bulls—beautiful, strong, loyal, affectionate and regal. The collection also includes six full-sized charcoal drawings that served as studies for the project.

“With this exhibition I’m challenging commonly held public perceptions about pit bulls,” Mejia said. “Georgia O’Keefe made large paintings of flowers so that people would stop and look at the flowers. With these large paintings of pit bulls I’m hoping people will stop and look at the dogs!”

In preparation for this series, Mejia did color portraits of all 22 of the Michael Vick dogs that came to the sanctuary in January 2008. Those portraits of the “Vicktory Dogs” are on wine bottles in the Vicktory Dog Wine Collection, which commemorates Best Friends’ work with some of the most famous pit bulls rescued from dog fighting.

Funded in part from a grant from the Culture and Animals Foundation, Mejia also raised money through Kickstarter.com to build the crates necessary for transporting the paintings.

Boxing Champion Wants To Knock Out Dog Fighting

Andre Ward’s charity work and causes
February 17, 2010

The award-winning Knock Out Dog Fighting program today unveiled a new public service announcement (PSA) called “It IS Your Fight”.

The PSA stars WBA Super Middleweight Boxing Champion Andre Ward and aims to raise awareness about the fight to knock out dog fighting and the link between animal cruelty and domestic abuse. The PSA can be viewed here.

The Knock Out Dog Fighting program partners with schools, juvenile detention facilities, community centers, law enforcement agencies and gang prevention task forces with the goal of stopping cruelty and abuse by providing alternative activities and interests for young people. Team members include professional athletes, dog trainers, dancers, musicians, artists, and scientists who present information and involve under-served and gang-impacted youth in intriguing alternative activities to get them to stop fighting dogs, away from the gang life and to help them succeed in life.

Ward holds an undefeated record of 21-0 with 13 KOs as a professional boxer and has won more than 90 matches as an amateur, including the Gold Medal at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. As the only American boxer to claim Olympic gold in the past decade, Ward joined the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya.

With more and more kids looking to professional athletes and celebrities as role models, Ward takes the responsibility of being a role model very seriously. He knows that because he is a professional athlete there is a child somewhere watching what he says and what he does. Ward knows his actions can impact lives.

“Because of my accomplishments, I have a platform, whether I like it or not, and there are young and older people looking at me saying, ‘Ok, you’ve accomplished these great things but what are you going to do with your platform?’” said Ward. “I plan to make a difference in the lives of others and bring awareness and knowledge to all who will listen about the cruelties of dog fighting and the link between those who abuse animals and those who abuse people.”

Dog fighting, and all the acts that go along with it – the brutality towards the dogs, the use of weaker animals as bait, the agony inflicted in the fighting pit, the execution-style killing of dogs – cannot be described by any reasonable person as anything less than horrific abuse.

“Unfortunately, many people don’t get involved in stopping dog fighting because they think ’it’s just a dog issue, why should I care?’”, said Knock Out Dog Fighting founder, Kris Crawford. “The mentality that it is just a dog issue and there are more important crimes to worry about – than stopping dog fighting – loses much credibility when such abuse is proven to be linked to serious and deadly criminal behavior towards humans.”

Cruel acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of a dangerous psychopathy that often claims more than animal victims. The FBI has recognized the connection since the 1970s, when its analysis of serial killers found that most had killed or tortured animals as children. “Murderers … very often start out by killing and torturing animals,” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals don’t stop there—many of them move on to their fellow humans. The American Psychiatric Association considers cruelty to animals one of the diagnostic criteria of conduct disorder.

In fact, in a home where there is an animal abuser, more often than not there is also elder, spousal or child abuse going on. That’s why the Knock Out Dog Fighting program is so important – it helps stop the cycle of violence.

Andre Ward and the Knock Out Dog Fighting program are not only saving dogs, they are also helping our children and our communities. For more information about how you can join Andre Ward and his fight to stop cruelty and abuse, click here.

The University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences is holding their 9th Humane Education Seminar on Saturday, February 20, and we are very fortunate to be able to bring these live sessions to you via webinar.

Please keep in mind that because this is a presentation in front of a live audience, it will not be as interactive as our regular webinars, and the opportunity for q & a will be very limited. You will, however, have this opportunity to listen in during the live presentations.

There are four sessions being held on February 20 and details regarding each session are listed below. You must register separately for each session you are interested in attending. You can register at http://petsmartcharities.webex.com

The Pit Bull Placebo

Presented by: Don Cleary, National Canine Research Council

Saturday, February 20: 5:10-6:20 a.m. Hawaii; 7:10-8:20 a.m. pacific; 8:10-9:20 a.m. mountain; 9:10-10:20 a.m. central; 10:10-11:20 a.m. eastern

In her groundbreaking book The Pitbull Placebo: The Media Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression, Karen Delise, Founder of the National Canine Research Council, showed how bloodhounds, German Shepherds, and Dobermans, were vilified in our history. The dynamics Delise identified now operate against the vaguely defined group of dogs called pit bulls. The Pit Bull Placebo presentation shows how we have fearfully stripped these dogs of all the traits that we value in dogs, leaving only monster myths and urban legend in their place. The presentation also shows how changing our attitudes toward animal abuse, including toward criminals who fight dogs, and recognition of the difference between a resident dog and a family dog, can preserve and deepen the human-canine bond.

Building a Safe and Humane Community

Presented by: Cynthia Bathurst, Ph.D., Safe Humane Chicago

Saturday February 20: 6:50-8:00 a.m. Hawaii; 8:50-10:00 a.m. pacific; 9:50-11:00 a.m. mountain; 10:50-12:00 p.m. central; 11:50-1:00 p.m. eastern

This presentation will discuss how Safe Humane Chicago programs work in concert to save lives and create safer, more humane communities, particularly in those challenged by a poor economy and lack of resources. The dogs in these communities are most often identified as pit-bull type dogs and face special challenges. This presentation will introduce you to Safe Humane programming, the Chicago participants, the outcomes and the measures of success. The focus will be on the most successful and proven programs, which help mentor and support neighborhood ambassadors of the human and animal kind:

• “Lifetime Bonds” Pittie Classes and Ambassador Training
• Youth Leaders for Safe Humane Communities and their work with ambassador dogs
• Animal Court Advocacy and Enrichment Programs for the Animal Victims

We will discuss steps to take toward empowering communities beyond traditional animal welfare alliances and leveraging our mutual goals of treating each dog as an individual and facilitating good “forever homes” against the needs and perception of communities where animals are most at risk.

Facilitating Successful Adoptions

Presented by: Bernice Clifford, CPDT, Behavior and Training Coordinator for Animal Farm Foundation, Inc

Saturday, February 20: 9:15-10:25 a.m. Hawaii; 11:15-12:25 p.m. pacific; 12:15-1:25 p.m. mountain; 1:15-2:25 p.m. central; 2:15-3:15 p.m. eastern

Bernice Clifford, CPDT will be discussing and providing information on how to facilitate better adoptions. Adoption is much more then sending a dog to a home. It is important to never assume breed or character based on how a dog looks, but instead get to know each dog as an individual. Clifford will also discuss kennel enrichment and the role it plays in promoting adoptions and preparing dogs to go home. She will talk about how socialization and training will better prepare dogs to leave shelters and set them up for successful adoptions. Finally, Clifford will explain that partnering with other organizations within your community is a valuable tool in promoting adoptions and creating networks that will benefit the dogs in your care.

We’ve Got Game—From Confrontation to Collaboration—Dealing with Decisionmakers on Animal Welfare Issues

Presented by: Ledy VanKavage, Esq., Senior Legislative Analyst for Best Friends Animal Society

Saturday February 20: 10:55-12:05 p.m. Hawaii; 12:55-2:05 p.m. pacific; 1:55-3:05 p.m. mountain; 2:55-4:05 p.m. central; 3:55-5:05 p.m. eastern

This presentation will stress effective tools to use when lobbying for animals on a local or state level for animal issues. Successful case studies of local and state campaigns will be discussed in addition to advocacy tips.

If you aren’t familiar with webinars and would like to make sure your computer is set up and ready to go, please feel free to contact Suzy Hayton at shayton@petsmartcharities.org.

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 20th, 7 PM – Midnight

WHERE: The Red Star Tavern at Bar Louie, located at 240 Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

WHAT: An evening to benefit pit bull rescue, speuter, and education! With special guest speakers. Find out more at www.hellobully.com.

WHERE: North Central Animal Shelter, 3201 Lacy St., Los Angeles, CA. 90031

Registration for current classes are now closed. Please Click here to register for next class starting in Apr/May

“FOR PIT BULLS ONLY” Training Classes
(in partnership with L.A. City Animal Service)

Our “free to the public” 8 week training course is conducted at the North Central Animal Shelter near downtown Los Angeles. There we are privileged to be able to use their state of the art training facility, complete with two huge grassy training fields. These classes are open to the public and anyone owning a Pit Bull or Pit Bull mix. We have been conducting these classes since March of 1999 with GREAT success! Besides going through the basic training of sit, down, stay, come, etc, we also deal specifically with dog to dog aggression issues and how to “manage” your dog in these situations. We also have fun in dealing with every day life scenarios set up by your training instructors. For a fun time, you and your dog will be introduced to the agility course and some fun “movie tricks” training given by one of Hollywood’s most well known movie dog trainers. Have we gotten your attention yet? Well then click on the star up top and we’ll get you signed up!

COST : Free! To sign up, email us for a registration form.

http://vrcpitbull.com/training.htm

An excerpt:

Yes, you can save all your healthy and treatable cats and dogs – including pit bulls. Even if your kennel runs are full of them.

Just ask the members of the Berkeley Alliance for Homeless Animals Coalition (BAHAC), which last year received a Maddie’s^® Lifesaving Award in the amount of $474,200 for saving all the community’s healthy and treatable dogs and cats.

They didn’t get there because they had it easy, and they certainly didn’t get there because they have no pit bulls coming into the shelters. “Between 70 and 80 percent of our dogs on a given day are pit bulls or pit bull mixes,” said Kate O’Connor, director of BAHAC member organization Berkeley Animal Care Services, the animal control agency for the City of Berkeley, California.

Same thing at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, the other shelter that is part of the Alliance. “People remark on the number of pit bulls we have,” said program director Sara Kersey. “Our organization is committed to taking in what’s out there in our community, and what’s out there is pit bulls.”

So how exactly are they saving them all, and are their methods something other communities could adopt?

http://www.star-telegram.com/arlington_news/story/1933965.html

Pit bulls will be spayed, neutered for free

ARLINGTON — Pit bulls will be spayed or neutered for free Feb. 21 at an event sponsored by the city and the Fix A Bull Clinic. The event also includes free rabies vaccinations, microchipping and licensing for the first 50 pit bulls registered. Dog owners must attend a one-hour class on “positive pit bull ownership” at 4 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Arlington Animal Services Center. To learn more or to sign up for the clinic, call 817-487-2226 or go to www.respectabull.com. — Susan Schrock

She’s a six-month-old mixed breed. It’s hard to know what she really looks like, because she has severe mange.

In addition to the mange, this poor girl has fluid in her lungs and a funny crouched walk. And she’s extremely timid. I have to carry her everywhere, and she’s pretty darn heavy.

[Poll closed]

And if you live in the Austin area and you’re thinking of getting a dog, or you know someone who’s looking for a dog–please keep this girl in mind. She will be available through Austin Pets Alive! as soon as she’s feeling a bit better. Or you can always email me at happypb at gmail.com for more info.