She Hopes to Survive Fall - & Ban
Here's hoping the New Year will be a magical new beginning for one downtrodden pit bull named Miracle.
"She wags her little rear end off because she is so happy to see us,"
said Liz Keller, manager of N.Y.C. Animal Care & Control's Manhattan
shelter, where the ailing dog was treated for an injured leg and is
being held while her case is investigated as animal cruelty.
The day after Christmas, ASPCA agents responded to the scene after Animal Care and Control workers received a call from a mother who said her three teenage daughters found a listless dog lying in fetal position on a Bronx sidewalk.
The witnesses, ages 10 to 16, told ASPCA Special Agent Adam Gankiewicz they heard a man screaming from an apartment window. Seconds later they heard the window slam shut, followed by a loud thump.
The teenagers ran to help the dazed dog. The good Samaritans were so amazed when the reddish-brown and brindle-colored pooch was finally able to stand up on her own, they named her "Miracle."
"This dog loves people, but it seems that she was in the hands of an irresponsible person," said Keller, noting that Miracle may soon be up for adoption depending on the outcome of the investigation.
Keller is one of many shelter workers who went on
the defensive this week over a city lawmaker's proposal to ban pit
bulls.
ouncilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) has introduced a resolution
asking the state Legislature to make it easier for the city to implement
a ban on the breed. He said pit bulls are lethal weapons and are bred to
be violent. But Keller and other animal experts say
purebred pit bulls and pit-bull mixes are inherently sweet - and it is
bad owners that create destructive dogs. "We need to educate people so we stop the
abuse, not ban the breed," Keller said. Miracle is hardly alone. Some 50% of all
animals that land in the city's shelters are purebred pit bulls and
pit-bull mixes, said N.Y.C. Animal Care & Control's executive director
Mary Martin. An estimated 50 dogs land at the city-run shelter every
day. Statistically, pit bulls that have bitten a
person or animal are dogs that have been treated as household
"residents" - not pets - and are often found chained up in the house or
in the yard, Martin said. "Many of the dogs don't even have names," she
added. In fact, most pit bulls are bred to be used as fighting dogs and
for profit, without any concern for the welfare of this particular
breed. Martin fears a breed ban would mean death by
euthanasia for even a larger number of dogs characterized as pit bulls,
if the law meant the dogs could no longer be adopted out from the
shelters. The ban also would force new pit-bull owners
scared of losing their pets to go underground, she said, resulting in
fewer dogs being spayed or neutered and fewer dog licenses. nstead of banning the breed, experts say the
city should enforce stricter licensing laws and make spaying and
neutering animals more accessible for dog owners. Still, for many animal
experts the question remains, what is a pit bull? ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo says
an abundance of dogs that are victims of animal cruelty have been
characterized as pit bulls, but are in fact mixes of various types of
dogs, making a breed ban questionable. Pentangelo also argues that profiling dogs as
inherently bad is just as wrong as profiling people. He said, "It's just
prejudice." Anyone with information on Miracle can call
ASPCA's toll-free hotline (877) THE-ASPCA. All calls will be kept
confidential. To make a donation for Miracle's medical care, donate to
AC&C's STAR program at www.nycacc.org or call (212) 788-4000.
Originally published on December 30, 2006