Please be a responsible owner......

After a quick walk thru the kennels at Hillsborough County Animal Serivces yesterday I was left with a visualization burned in my mind, and a pain in my heart that I have since been unable to get rid of. Seeing all the dogs who so desperately want homes is hard enough, but I entered this one kennel area and was greated by a very sad set of big brown eyes looking up at me. A small little Momma pit bull dog that reminded me so much of my little "Sissy" girl, standing there looking confused with 6-8 little red pit puppies hanging off of her, all suckling at the same time....the suckling sounds so very sweet and precious, little four-legged beings that are so very vulnerable and needy. They couldn't have been over 3 weeks old. Momma in need of being loved on and reassured that she is doing a good job caring for her babies; puppies in need of being snuggled, kissed, cooed over and played with.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I will dig my heels in to fight, and be just as tenacious as our breed when it comes to our personal rights. Our fore-fathers have paid a very high price indeed for all of our freedoms to make choices...including choices regarding our pets. But freedom hasn't been free regardless of the lyrics of "Me and Bobby Magee." With freedom comes tremendous responsibility....including responsibility to, and for our pets.

As hard as the State of Florida has tried over the past several years, thank heavens, the decision to spay or neuter our pets is still our own choice. Please be responsible and make the right choice. Mid Florida APBTA is a dog fanciers organization and we hope to encourage new American Pit Bull Terrier dog fanciers into our passionate hobby. We are committed to educating about proper responsible breeding practices. But, if you are not going to participate in a conformation event or activity that requires your dog to be unaltered, I urge you to give every consideration to spaying or neutering your pit bull at the appropriate age. Spay/neuter voucher programs are available and low cost clinics can be found.

Choosing to have your American Pit Bull Terrier spayed or neutered does in fact eliminate alot of headaches, and heartaches for you the owner. If you own a bitch who comes in season spaying eliminates the mess, it helps to eliminate the need to roam, it helps eliminate the propensity of cancer in the reproductive organs of an aging pet, and it helps to elminate your male dog from "marking." But the most important thing spaying or netuering your American Pit Bull Terrier eliminates is unplanned or unwanted litters of puppies.

The litter of pups I described in the beginning, that I can still see, hear and smell in my minds eye....they didn't ask to be brought into this world; they only ask to be nurtured while they are young so as to provide uncondtional love to you as they mature. The very sad and realistic fact is, most likely they and momma dog will be euthanized within 3-5 days and disiposed of like a plastic bag full of garbage. Can't we be a lttle more responsible when it comes to one of God's creatures?