Today marks the 6th Annual National Pit Bull Awareness Day (NPBAD), a day of appreciation and education aimed to alter false perceptions and stereotypes about pit bulls and their owners.
The day was established in 2007 by Jodi Preis of the Tennessee pit bull rescue and education group, Bless the Bullys, in an attempt to restore the reputation of the American Pit Bull Terrier.
The NPBAD website states, “The ultimate goal of NPBAD is to promote the truth about pit bulls. Knowledge is power, and with education and advocacy, the truth will save lives in terms of negating fear and bias generated by the media, circumvent knee-jerk reactions such as breed bans, and the truth will result in fewer pit bulls ending up in animal shelters.” And, we all know what happens to them.
There is no question that pit bull discrimination can get ugly. Just last week, a Pennsylvania event organized to educate the public about pit bulls and remove the breed’s stigma took a sad turn when someone poisoned five pit bull puppies. Two of the pups died and other three are currently recovering.
If you’d like to do your part to change these unfortunate stereotypes you can view a list of National Pit Bull Awareness Day events at http://www.nationalpitbullawarenessday.org/.
(BGM Hannah)
