Pit Bulls As Service Dogs? Why?

Not the first time I’ve addressed this one, but it comes up again this week because of this article Monday in the Miami Herald:

Patient Luis Medina at Hialeah Hospital gets a visit from Ruby, a pit bull therapy dog. With them, left, is Dr. Reinaldo Carvajal.

“Service or menace? Pit bulls skirt law by being used as service dogs”

Let’s just bypass the “scam” angle and assume for the moment this isn’t being done just to get around the ban and these really are service dogs.

I’ve heard probably all the discussion about using non-traditional breeds as service dogs.  A lotta times that consists of someone saying something like this (and in the snottiest or snarkiest tone you can imagine): “Well, it’s not just Labradors or Golden Retrievers that can be service dogs.”

That’s true. But, beyond the excellent reasons for using Labs or Goldens (here’s a hint: “Retriever”), life is already hard enough for someone who truly needs a service dog – why make it any harder by using a pit bull?

If someone needs a service dog, they generally already have enough to deal with – a serious physical disability, for example. Adding a service dog, as wonderful as they are and as much benefit as they offer, brings on more responsibilities – a service dog team is just that, a team. Why in the world make it any tougher than it is already by using a controversial breed?

Look, I’ve met some nice pit bulls, I’m definitely not a fan of Breed Specific Legislation, and I’m convinced most dog problems are really their human’s problems. Although, that’s easy for me to say – hafta admit if I was the parent of this 6-year-old little girl who just had her face badly torn up by a pit here in Colorado Springs the very same day this article came out, I might not be so calm and rational about it: “Girl maimed by pit bull coming to terms with appearance”

Thing is, though, we can argue all day long about whether pits have an undeserved reputation or not, but the reality is if you use one as a service dog, you are automatically adding to the stuff the human partner has to deal with. Period – no way around it.

Again, there’s nothing that says you can’t do that, BUT it’s like everything else with a service dog, and that’s really the point I want to make here.  The focus has to be on making a life-changing, lifelong improvement for the person receiving the dog, and everything – EVERYTHING – has to be evaluated in that light. And the question you have to ask yourself or an organization is “What’s the priority here?”  Is it rescuing pit bulls, or a crusade to prove they aren’t bad dogs, or (fill in the blank), OR making that truly life-changing improvement in someone’s life?

And the answer is not “both”.  It’s like that old thing about how “you only get one thing in the box – what’s it gonna be?”

Well, what’s it gonna be?