That Fear in Your Stomach

March 24, 2015

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Back in September when I fostered, Ziggy the Piggy, a friend of mine and Priceless Pets volunteer mentioned to me that one day she would get a kiss from a “pit bull”. Lynnette is also on the committee for NKCH! She had expressed to me her fear of the breed and would muster up the courage to get that kiss. Well, when the day came, she leaned over to Ziggy and of course he did nothing. She looked at me, smiled and simply said, “next time”. Fast forward 5 months later and her chance finally came…and I had a chance to sit down with her and her husband, Jim, and talk about their experience.

Everyone meet, Royal. She was a pregnant mom who was dumped with her 5 month old puppies. Yes, you read that right. Dumped and pregnant WITH 5 month old puppies but this story is not about Royal. This is the story of her amazing foster family.

Lynnette and Jim signed up to foster Mama Royal. She saw this is a perfect opportunity to get over her fear. When I asked her where this fear stemmed from she couldn’t really recall an experience she went through it was just something in her head. But it wasn’t just “pit bulls” she just didn’t really like big dogs and the pits fell into that category. Her love for helping animals, however, far exceeded her fear of big dogs and in this case, Royal, the pit bull.

Her first few days with Royal she would walk her around the neighborhood and this was her first time experiencing the looks and the unspoken prejudice that comes when being with these misunderstood dogs. She realized how much different it is on the other side of the leash. Despite the looks, she kept walking Royal and continued to care for this pregnant mom in need and eventually Mama Royal gave birth to 8 healthy (and BIG) puppies.

I’m always preaching 3 things…educate, advocate, and never discriminate. But the key is you can only educate people who want to be educated. Trying to change people’s minds who don’t want to listen is a losing battle but for every 100 close minded people you run across you got one person like Lynnette. She is a person who not only acknowledges her fear but she’s also open minded. While most people run away or ignore that fear in their stomach, she chooses to face it. THAT’S the person you talk to. THAT’S the person you educate. And this is part of how we change the world’s perception on this breed.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the negativity. It’s contagious. Positive or negative, energy is contagious. And we humans LOVE the negative energy. It’s what we love to read about, hear about and see in the world. You don’t believe me? Next time you’re in line at the grocery store pick up the first magazine you see standing in line. Chances are the cover will be full of gossip, tragedy and stories that are probably the furthest from the truth. And as pit bull advocates, it’s easy for us to all get in a big group and fight back with people who downright hate this animal and look at them as killers. I know, I’ve done it and as patient as I try to be, I lose my cool, sometimes more than I want to.

But then I sit down with people like Lynnette and I realize something. They’re not influenced by the things we say. They’re influenced by the things we do. In other words, less preaching and more doing. If you love it, live it. It’s not so much trying to make the world pit bull lovers; it’s trying to make the world see them as “just dogs”.

Lynnette doesn’t LOVE pit bulls but she definitely respects them. She loves Royal and she loves dogs. I can’t tell you she’s going to be the first to raise her hand and foster every pit bull that needs a home but I can’t tell you she won’t. But I can tell you this, she gets it. She gets that BSL is crap and that most people that fear this breed are the same people who have never even spent 1 second with them.

It’s amazing to me how humans are supposed to be the superior species on this Earth but we let fear and ignorance rule our world. I would talk to one person like Lynnette every day instead of debating with 100 people on whether or not pit bulls have “lockjaw” or if they are going to turn on you. There are plenty of people out there that want to learn. So talk to those people. A pat on the back can go so much further than a slap in the face.

By the way, Lynnette named Royal’s puppies Dover, Dalton, Devon, Clifford, Chelsea, Bristol, Kendal, Clare. All British names as a way of showing support to the breed and the discrimination they face in the UK….yeah, she gets it.

Thank you Lynnette and Jim. It’s been a pleasure watching you care for Royal and her puppies. Thank you for having open hearts and an open door for the voiceless. And most of all, for having an open mind. We can all learn something from you!

Mama Royal is currently available for adoption with Priceless Pets and her puppies will be looking for their homes on April 18!