The blog post “PETA
Joins Forces with Group Working to Kill All ‘Pit Bulls’ Nationwide” by Nathan J
Winograd really saddened me. Before this article, I was under the impression
that the goal of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was to save
all animals from human use. This article by Winograd discusses the opposite.
PETA’s goal is to kill pit bulls. Why? That’s a great question. The article
doesn’t go on to say why PETA is choosing to kill all pit bulls that go through
the shelter door. It shares examples of how PETA carries out this campaign. This
is the opposite of the “No Kill” movement.
We discussed no-kill shelters in lecture on October 20th.
Nathan Winograd who wrote the blog
post about PETA started the “no kill” movement. Our
October 20th lecture discussed the “No Kill Equation” started by
Winograd on the left. These examples demonstrate ways of saving pets in
We also discussed the problems associated with this movement in our
lecture on October 20th. The first issue was warehousing. It is a
problem in many shelters to have room for all the animals that come in. With
the “No Kill Movement”, they do not euthanize animals; therefore, they need
room for all pets. It would take time and money as well to house them. This
also goes along with the hoarding issue. Too many animals in one place can also
lead to neglect and not be able to give each animal its needs. Another issue
according to our lecture is limited admission within the shelter. On what
condition do they accept animals? Who makes those decisions? A lot of these
issues depend on the shelter and their approach to the matter. Another problem
with the “No Kill Equation” by Winograd is the emotional and physical state of
the animal itself. The length of time they are in the shelter is important as
well as their exercise and nutrition. This issue also plays into warehousing. These
are all issues with the “No Kill Equation” by Nathan Winograd. PETA’s goal to
kill pit bulls obviously goes against this movement.
I have a close connect with this blog post. My own dog is
half Labrador and half Pit Bull. We adopted her from the county humane society.
She was cheaper than the other dogs for two reasons. The first was she was a
pit bull. The shelter had many terriers, more than any other breed. They had
her at a lower price so she could get adopted. The second reason Sasha was
cheaper because she was going to get euthanized if no one took her in. The
animal shelter was not a “no-kill” and had limited room. When we met Sasha, she was the sweetest dog.
She was well behaved and not the stereotypical pit bull that everyone thinks
they are. The blog post by Winograd talks about this stereotype. Winograd
explains that there is no such thing as
a pit bull breed. It is just a stereotype for a group of dogs. I went on to
research and found out from that the American Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier,
American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier are what make up
the stereotypical “pit bull” (Dogtime.com). Winograd goes on to write that “not
only do shelters misidentify breeds as much as 75 percent of the time, but as
used by shelters, law enforcement agencies and even courts, ‘Pit Bull’ is not a
breed of dog” (Winograd, 2015). It is an interesting point that Winograd makes.
However, he does not provide a source to his statistic, which makes it
difficult of whether or not it is factual.
Winograd’s blog post
degrades PETA’s anti pit bull campaign. He is for the “no kill” movement and
until now I thought PETA was on the same page or they used to be. I found a
blog post from 2009
from PETA’s website that talked about their stance that there were for
saving pit bulls. They also advocated for spay and neuter of the dogs. A lot
has changed since then. I am confused by PETA’s position, as it seems
inconsistent. In this video from PETA’s YouTube Channel,
it talks about how PETA supports legislation in favor of requiring pit bulls to
be spayed or neutered. This video was posted on October 19, 2015.
The video is titled “100 Pit Bulls in 100 Seconds” that
shows injured and starving dogs and why they need to stop the increasing
population. They do not mention killing the pit bulls but just simply spaying
and neutering them to avoid this problem.
After reading Winograd’s blog and seeing PETA’s blog post
and video, it is difficult to say which side PETA is on. Are they anti-pit bull
or for saving them? I have always known PETA to save animals, not kill them and
their blog post and video support that. We watched a documentary in class about
Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA. In that video, she was shown going to
houses and rescuing dogs that were not cared for. Most of them were terriers. In my opinion, I
think it is important to do our best to save dogs no matter what their breed. I
understand the “no kill” movement and the issues that are associated with it.
It is a complex issue. I think the bottom line is that it is important to spay
and neuter our pets if we don’t have room for them. I think of my own dog,
Sasha, and how she was almost euthanatized. I’m very thankful that my family
came along and saved her but shudder to think if we did not. This is an issue I
take personally and think it is in our best interest to do anything we can to
give pets a great life.
Albert, S.
(Presenter). (2015, October 20). The Emotional Environment of Animal
Sheltering. Lecture presented at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
Urbana, IL.
Dogtime.com.
(n.d.). American Pit Bull Terrier. Retrieved from Dogtime.com website: http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/american-pit-bull-terrier
People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals. (2015, October 19). 100 Pit Bulls in 100 Seconds
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arPB4FHgwHg
Winograd, N. J.
(2015, October 19). PETA Joins Forces with Group Working to Kill All “Pit Bulls”
Nationwide. Retrieved from Nathan J Winograd website:
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=15754
