Rachel and Mazzy (by Mary Penxa)

Rachel and Mazzy's visit made me think a lot, both about the Pit Bull breed as well as dogs in general. I have always rescued my dogs, but I to admit that most of them I have gotten rather as quite young dogs or puppies. Our one dog Ted is the only dog who we have rescued at an age older than 2. They assumed that Ted was around 4-5 when we adopted him. But besides Ted, all of the dogs I have rescued have been either puppies or very young.

It reminded me of when I was volunteering at the SPCA and a couple came in looking only for puppies, disregarding all of the other dogs that were there, just because of age. It made me wonder if everyone goes into adopting with the same mentality. I by no means have anything against older dogs, and in fact from now on that is what I hope to adopt, but it made me think of how people view dogs in general.

I feel the majority of people view dogs (and animals in general) as objects, suited to fit their own personal needs, rather than being souls. I feel that this goes even further when you get into the breed of Pit Bulls, that when two dogs are placed in comparison next to each other, most Pit Bulls would get overlooked.

While this isn't AS prevalent in a shelter situation in my experience it definitely still exists. I have seen people come into the SPCA with the mantra of "no pit bulls" and really on a whole it just made me very sad.

Seeing Mazzy so happy gave me hope that one day this can change. I feel if more people could meet a dog like her, with a story like hers, that minds could be changed both on the Pit Bull breed but also on dogs in general.

The more people stop viewing animals as objects, the better our society will be. I feel visits like this really reaffirm this belief in my mind. I really enjoyed Rachel and Mazzy's visit and I know if we all keep working, we are getting closer to a better world for Pit Bulls and dogs alike.

-Mary Penxa