Going Pit Bull: How We Can End Prejudice Through Education

Regardless of how you feel about Cesar Milan and his techniques, there is some great positive information about pit bulls on his website: http://www.cesarsway.com/newsletter/sent/2012/Feb1PitBulls.html

Here is an article he wrote:

As I was browsing the news this week, a headline caught my eye: “Romney Takes Pit Bull Approach in Florida.” I looked at Junior and wondered if the journalist meant that Romney was going to become a calm-submissive presence, devoted to the American people. But of course, that was not they meant. They meant that Romney was going to fiercely attack his opponents, or in the journalist’s eyes, act like a pit bull.

Seeing pit bulls being referred to in this manner upset me of course, but didn’t surprise me. If any of the candidates running for office think they have image problems, they have nothing on a pit bull. There has been so much bad information spread about this wonderful breed, it’s no wonder that people get nervous when they see a pit bull on the street—people have been trained to think of these dogs as scary and dangerous.

If you watched Dog Whisperer this week, you saw me visit some of the reformed gang members in South Central Los Angeles, who work for Homeboy Industries. I greatly enjoyed meeting them and working with their dogs, many of whom were pit bulls. Now when people see a big guy, covered in tattoos, walking his pit bull down the street, they respond with fear or anxiety. They’re afraid something bad is going to happen. What they don’t know is that the guy and the pit bull are really sweet and loving and not threatening at all. It’s like I said on the show—a breed is like a suit of clothes, it doesn’t tell you anything about the dog inside.

It’s hard to blame people for being afraid of pit bulls, when all they see on the news are stories about dog fighting rings and people being attacked. They usually leave out that it’s the owner who made the dog violent, not the breed. And the news usually doesn’t report all of the amazing stories of the pit bulls making a difference as service dogs, therapy dogs, and search and rescue dogs. Did you know that Helen Keller’s pet dog was a pit bull? Or that Mary Tyler Moore’s pit bull helps her control her diabetes, by alerting her when he can sense her blood sugar is low? These are the stories that rarely get reported.

I’ve been very blessed to be able to travel the world and appear on television with Daddy and Junior and show the true nature of pit bulls. I say that I rehabilitate dogs and I train people, and I want to help educate people about pit bulls, because ending prejudice begins with education. And it’s not just pit bulls, there are prejudices about every breed. So, here at CesarsWay.com, we want to do more to help educate.

We want to spotlight a different breed every month. In February, we’re going to learn more about pit bulls. All month long, you’ll see stories about pit bulls as pets and working dogs, stories about pit bull heroes, funny and touching pit bull videos, and we’ll explore why pit bulls have such a bad reputation which they don’t deserve.

February is always a sad time for me, as it marks the anniversary of when we lost Daddy. But we hope to honor his memory by building on all the goodwill he created during his life. We hope that you will enjoy the stories and hopefully learn something, and pass them along to friends and family, so everyone will see pit bulls for the great animals they truly are.

Who knows? Maybe the next time you hear about “someone going pit bull” they’ll mean being kind, loving, and protective. I’d vote for that.

Stay calm and assertive,

Cesar Milan