"A breed of satin and steel. Pit bulls are a mixture of softness and strength, an uncanny canine combination of fun, foolishness, and serious business, all wrapped up in love."

-D. Caroline Coile




Tuesday, March 27, 2012

"Keep On Dreamin' Even If It Breaks Your Heart..."


"It's the toughest job you'll ever love."


Isn't this the slogan for a branch of the US Military? I have no doubt that is an incredibly difficult job, and I'm so thankful for our Military. But I have to admit, being a dog rescuer ranks right up there with tough jobs. It's no walk in the park. Some days it can really tear a girl up.


This beautiful dog is Bruno. He ended up at the shelter in Manhattan, NY and I met him through the wonderful Bruised Not Broken Facebook page. Late last week, Bruno was placed on the shelter's euthanasia list, as all dogs eventually do if they are not adopted or saved by a rescue group. A post was made on the Bruised Not Broken Facebook page, stating that if Bruno was not adopted, fostered, or rescued by morning, he would most likely be put down.

Now I must say, the followers of BNB's page are amazing. When a dog is added to "the list", the followers pull together and start sharing the dog's picture and story far and wide. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, email. Everyone starts broadcasting the dog's information, spreading the word, hoping that a potential adopter will see it and contact the shelter. This is the exact reason why I created The Lazy Pit Bull Facebook page: to share these wonderful dogs with the world, in hopes of saving lives.

Most of the time, the dog is saved. By posting pictures and stories all over social media, miraculously an adopter is found and arrangements are made, and the dog is rescued from the shelter. It is truly a heartwarming thing when the announcement comes, letting us know that the dog is now safe and sound.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen because, let's be honest, it's just not possible to save every dog. There simply aren't enough homes. There aren't enough adopters, fosters, and rescues to save all of the dogs waiting in shelters. The cold, harsh reality is that sometimes a dog doesn't make it out alive.

Bruno was one of those dogs. He died on Saturday, because no one came to save him.


I like for my blog and Facebook page to be positive and upbeat, a happy place where my followers enjoy hanging out. But it's also of dire importance that I keep my mission in focus, and my mission is to save shelter dogs and educate the world about Pit Bulls.

I don't like reporting that a dog we tried to save didn't make it, but I have to because we have to understand the reality of what we're doing.

We have to find a way to change the reality of Pit Bulls {and other dogs} in shelters.

Every day, 600 Pit Bulls die in shelters across our country. That's 218,400 every year. And that's just Pit Bulls - that doesn't take into account dogs of every other breed that are killed each year because there was no room in the shelter and no one came to take them home.

We must stop the cycle of unwanted animals ending up in shelters, and that starts with spaying and neutering your pets. That's followed by adopting, fostering, and rescuing from shelters, rather than paying hundreds of dollars for "pure bred" animals in pet stores and from backyard breeders. It starts with spreading the word about the thousands of beautiful animals that are waiting in shelters right now for a new home, a new family, and a new life.

You can make a difference right now in the lives of shelter dogs simply by following my Facebook page and helping to network these dogs. Yes, it hurts when one doesn't make it. But man oh man, you can't imagine how rewarding it is when we save one.

I'm doing this for Bruno, and for every other dog that died today because we let them down. My motto, from the Eli Young song, is "keep on dreamin' even if it breaks your heart." I do what I do every day, even when it hurts, because they need me.

Won't you join me? Please follow The Lazy Pit Bull Facebook page today. Do it in memory of Bruno.
By Christina Berry

11 comments:

  1. thats so sad, and yes i will for sure follow your facebook page.! Pitties are the best! I have one and he is the biggest sweetie ever!

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  2. Thank you so much for this post. My pitbull saved my broken heart. I too am part of the community who has decided that i will live my life in vain if i dont get out and help.
    Www.facebook.com/bettiesandbullies

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  3. this is so sad,my heart is hurting for him..RIP Bruno...i sure will follow your fb page..I have a pitbull he is the love of my life he has brought me so much joy and his name happens to be bruno...thank u for sharing this story

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  4. This story like many others are sad and hard to read. Since my husband and I adopted our Pitbull from the pound last year we feel that we are slowly becoming advocates for this breed. I've had many dogs in my life and she is by far the best dog. This breed needs our help to educate more people that there is nothing to fear. We take her every where we can, I feel there are pit lovers everywhere and we need to be contagious and spread this love. So thank you for your blog.

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  5. I was scrolling through Google reader, and all of a sudden I saw my post! :)

    THANK YOU for sharing this! It's so important to get the word out about these dogs, so that we all can work together to save as many as possible!

    Love your blog! :)

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  6. This is so sad.i have my Gator'dad'Babygirl'mom'Paulie-d"son' Punkster 'daughter'.I love my Pit's can't imagine life without them My husband bought me Gator 6 month's after having to put Punk my loyal Lady which was 13 and a half year's old,i have had Pit's for over 30 yr's. there is no loyaler,family loving, just plain fun dog ever.I have you on my page.with 10 kid's and 18 grandkid's all who have are is still Pit owner's.people quit blaming the breed put blame where it belong's.I know Punk greeted Bruno with load's of love.Yes all dog's go to Heaven...

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  7. now this is scary my dog looks just like this one i kid u not

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  8. Looking at brunos picture breaks my heart. it is as if I am looking into my girl megans eyes and if i lived closer to NY boy you better believe I would have snatched him up. I have rescued 2 pit bulls and if I had more room (yard space and house space) I would rescue so many more.

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  9. ok this is crazy this dog looks like my red noise pit Bubby i kid u not. to much a like

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  10. I wish I didn't rent.....I would foster in a heart beat but we barely got our landlord to approve our own pit bull (and only after we insured him up to $300k) This breaks my heart but all I can do is keep donating when I can and volunteer when I can. Poor Bruno....

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