When he's legitimately NOT a Pit Bull.
PAWS' policy is to call a Pit Bull a Pit Bull. They don't pretend a Pit Bull is anything else; it's not a terrier mix, or a Lab mix (my personal fave); it's a Pit Bull or Pit Bull mix, period. There's no benefit in trying to call a Rottie a Chi, is there? The objective is to be honest with people so a dog finds their forever home and a family or individual finds the love of their lives.
A few years ago, PAWS adopted out a dog named... Anyway, his name isn't important to this story.
He was a mix, but certainly didn't have Pit Bull in him. Rottie/Shepherd yes, Pit Bull no. He looked a lot like Eddie Munster, right down to the Widow's Peak. He was a perfect medium-sized dog who loved to play. And he was a perfect dog for the first-time dog owner. And that's who he was adopted to - a young, married couple who were first-time dog owners.
About a week later, the man came back with little Eddie Munster, the sweetest dog in town. It broke my heart, because this happy little dog just thought he was going for a ride in the car. Well, this guy took his dog to the vet and the vet said Eddie "definitely" had Pit in him. HUH? No one saw the Pit in this dog, and we wouldn't have hidden the fact if we did. We were shocked! This guy LOVED the dog before he "found out" he had Pit in him. Now, the dog was poison. He wouldn't listen to us because his vet was some sort of deity.
It was criminal what this man did. Absolutely criminal.
Well, it was his loss, and Little Eddie Munster's gain.
Little Eddie Munster didn't last long back at PAWS. Shortly thereafter, he went to his forever home with people who appreciated a perfectm,medium-sized dog who just loved to play ball.
