Mabel the Rescue Dog

3 min read (Articles narrated by Mabel)

I’m sure everyone is familiar with Pit Bulls. They’re sweet dogs that are often misjudged due to ridiculous stereotypes. However, they might not be exactly what you think because ‘Pit Bull’ doesn’t just refer to one breed.

What is a Pit Bull?

A ‘Pit Bull’ really isn’t a breed at all. Instead, it’s more of a classification of multiple breeds. Pit Bull is a common name associated with dogs with a muscular build, often descended from bulldogs and terriers.

Essentially, humans came up with the term ‘Pit Bull’ to cover all these large, muscular breeds that people label as “dangerous”. But these dogs aren’t dangerous at all. They’re just dogs!

The name Pit Bull isn’t necessarily a bad name, it’s just that humans often don’t understand what it really means. Oftentimes, humans who own Pit Bulls don’t even realize that ‘Pit Bull’ isn’t the official breed name. And sometimes, humans have dogs that could be labeled as a Pit Bull, but they don’t even know it!

Which Breeds Fall Under This Category?

The American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier are two independent breeds, but they’re both simply called Pit Bulls. The two breeds look very similar, but they are recognized as individual breeds.

However, there are many times when other dogs are also classified as these “bully breeds”. American Bulldogs, Cane Corsos, Alapaha Blue Bloods, and Dogo Argentinos are all labeled as Pit Bulls from time to time as well.

If you look closely at all these different breeds, it’s clear to see that they’re not the same dog. In fact, many of them don’t even look like what you’d picture a Pit Bull to be. For example, a Cane Corso is actually closely related to a Mastiff, but for whatever reason, humans still like to label them as Pit Bulls. Again, it’s not a bad label, but it’s not necessarily the most correct terminology.

Ending Breed Discrimination

My point is that dogs should not be judged by their breed. Many places will ban dogs simply because of the breed they are. However, if they’re banning ‘Pit Bulls’, who’s to say what that even means? Since ‘Pit Bull’ could cover at least 6 different breeds, how can they be banned just based on one simple term?

Since ‘Pit Bull’ really is such a broad category, dogs that simply look like a Pit Bull could be banned as well. If a dog is a mixed breed, they could possibly be banned simply because they look like a “bully breed”.

The real problem is that none of these breeds should be banned! Pit Bulls of any kind should not be banned because they’re just dogs. What’s worse is that there are tons of Pit Bull breeds sitting in shelters yet there are still plenty of people breeding them too! We need to rescue more Pit Bulls and put an end to this horrible breed discrimination.

It’s true that Pit Bulls are not just one breed, but when it comes down to it, that’s not the main issue. Sure, more people need to be aware of what ‘Pit Bull’ really means, but they also need to be more accepting of what a Pit Bull is. They’re a dog. That’s it. Humans need to stop judging dogs based on their breeds and appearance. Instead, pay attention to our personalities. Any dog can be sweet if they’re given a chance…

So, please adopt and spread the word.

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