Pit bull terrier advocate Meetup.com group, Bulls on Parade was in for a big surprise when unbeknownst to the coordinators, another Meetup.com group scheduled a “play-date” at the same time and location.
Every pit bull terrier advocate knows what great family pets pit bull terriers can be, but not every new parent knows the same information.
This is why it was so impressive that so many parents were eager to introduce their children to these dogs when Bulls on Parade, a group of Las Vegas pit bull terrier advocates and their dogs, and a group of new parents and babies showed up at Town Square Park at the same time.
The coalescence of the two groups was a happy accident, according to Bulls on Parade coordinator Heather McClain-Howell.
“We inadvertently scheduled it at the exact same time and place as a baby meet-up.” said Heather. “Much to our surprise, our presence in the park at Town Square was not only accepted, it was embraced!”
Over the course of two-hours, many parents brought their children and babies over to meet the dogs, which provided a fun photo and video opportunity, according to Heather.
“It was a big crowd of pit bulls and babies,” said Heather.
Heather and fellow pit bull terrier advocates Jamie McKay and Peace Love and Pit Bulls’ Tino Sanchez founded Bulls on Parade in the spirit of groups like, BAD RAP and Salt Lake County Pit Crew.
“We really liked the things they were doing to get the dogs out in public,” said Heather.
“We started talking to friends of ours who have pits, but we couldn’t seem to get it together,” continued Heather. “A friend of mine suggested doing it on Meetup, a place where people can come look at the schedule.”
Meetup.com is a website dedicated to helping people organize groups in their communities and making it possible to schedule times for these groups to socialize.
Heather attributes the success of the group to Meetup.com.
“We never would’ve been able to get this together if not for Meetup,” she said.
Setting up the group through Meetup.com was easy and inexpensive, according to Heather.
“I want to encourage people to do this on their own,” said Heather. “If we all did this and in every single city there was a group like this, think of the public perception shift.”
The Bulls on Parade goal is to “get the dogs out in public and to show how great the dogs are and to interact with people, a lot of people, who wouldn’t ordinarily pet a pit bull.”
The group firm in their advocacy of “Saving America’s Dog,” wants all group members to uphold the standards set by the founders, as all dogs must be spayed or neutered, current on all their vaccinations, and well-behaved.
The group meets weekly at different locations all over the Las Vegas Valley.
Most of the meet-ups take place in public locations and are free of charge; educational classes and evaluations are also available through Bulls on Parade for a nominal fee.
Bulls on Parade looks forward to the group growing over time and would like to encourage pit bull terrier lovers outside the Las Vegas area to follow in the footsteps of groups like these.
“Let people see your dogs being ambassadors,” said Heather.
Learn More:
- Watch the YouTube video of the pit bull terriers and babies together at Town Square.
- Start your own pit bull terrier Meetup.com group in your community.
- Join Bulls on Parade on Meetup.
Best Friends Animal Society is working throughout the country to help pit bull terriers, who are battling everything from a media-driven bad reputation to ineffective and expensive legislation. Best Friends hopes to end discrimination against all dogs. Dogs are individuals and should be treated as individuals. Find out how you can help by visiting and becoming a fan of the Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign.
Join Voices for No More Homeless Pets for updates on animal issues important to you!
Learn more about breed bans and dog bite facts at the National Canine Research Council.
Find more resources in our Tools to Use section.
By Lani Baroody, Best Friends Network volunteer
Photos courtesy of Heather McClain-Howell
http://network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/pitbulls/16744/news.aspx
This is such a great video. This shows that pitbulls are lovers and not fighters! My baby girl loves babies and children the most!
ReplyDeleteThat was absolutely adorable. :D
ReplyDeleteThis goes to show you that pitbulls are great animals! My dog LOVES children and she also loves to give kisses!
ReplyDelete