When it's A Lab-Pit mix It's STILL a Pit

Recently an acquantance shared a comment from an article several years back.  The comment is describing a former 'Lab-Pit mix' owners opinion of the breed(s) and the admitted problems with considering them as "pets".

I started to respond directly to this acquaintance with a story of personal experience, but decided instead to share it here and allow my friends, new and old alike to hear it all at once.

I'm feeling nostalgic and saddened by the recount of another "Lab-Pit mix" that once trolled my neighborhood...

My neighbor had a beautiful long-haired grey cat, just lovely to spend time with (this coming from a non-cat person).  We would sit on her patio in the evenings on occasion and Sir Silverspoon would entertain us with his antics.  He loved the backyard, his ‘jungle’, where he would crouch and loom while hunting the grasshoppers or butterflies and we would laugh at his clumsy and comical charge as he’d gallop onward in his attack.  Sir Silverspoon was a tad over-weight, grace and agility were not his partners in crime!

Note:  This picture is not the actual Sir Silverspoon.  This pictures merely represents a likeness to the cat described in this story.  The photo belongs to SteamClan.


One late afternoon a young man came through the neigghborhood with his beautiful black lab ‘mix’.  The dog really was stunning, it’s coat very shiny, but what really made you feel either drawn to the dog or petrified to move (depending on who in the community you talked too) were his icy blue eyes.  They could penetrate your very soul. 

On this particular evening, the young man chose to allow the dog to walk obediently next to him, without a leash.  We were accustomed to the man and his dog passing through nearly every evening and really gave little thought to it when he did.  The dog was friendly, well-mannered and appeared happy to mind his own business.  But my friend was in her front yard pulling dead bloom from flowers planted as borders along her walk.   Sir Silverspoon had joined her, lazing and lounging on the warm cement of the walk just feet from Carolyn.  She would toss a dead bloom onto her little tray and Sir Silverspoon would come to inspect the token as if to give his approval the bloom was infact  ‘dead enough’.  Then he would sashay over to rub along Carolyn’s thigh where she knelt so that she would know he did grace her meager effort to appease him! 

Sir Silverspoon and Carolyn both were in their own little world when the man and his Lab ‘mix’ came walking leashless that evening.  In fact, it wasn’t until they heard the man yelling for his dog that they even noticed he was in front of their home.  Carolyn said it all happened so quickly.  Sir Silverspoon leapt to his feet and attempted to scurry for the safety of the backyard, the dog cornered him on the front porch under a patio chair.  Carolyn clambered to her feet and ran in their direction hoping to scare the dog away, as the owner passed her in a full-run bolt.  Before either could reach the porch, the Lab ‘mix’ had Sir Silverspoon in his mouth, shaking him and thrashing him similar to a scene from the movie JAWS. 

Carolyn screamed, she said it was the only way she could drown out the horrific sounds that Sir Silverspoon was making. 

In an instant it was finished.  The man had grabbed the dog by it’s leashless collar and began pulling him back from the porch, telling him to drop the bloodied and limp mess of fur.  Finally the dog owner PRIED the jaws open after the dog was certain there was no longer any “challenge” left from Sir Silverspoon. 

In her shock, Carolyn ran to the cat and scooped him up, running for the car without any hesitation or conversation.   She drove away leaving the dog owner on her front lawn and a few neighbors gawking from distant driveways. 

When they arrived at the Emergency Vets Office, she learned that Sir Silverspoons back was broken, ribs were crushed, one lung collapsed and he suffered extensive internal injuries.  They recommended she allow them to finish what the dog started. 

She held him in her arms while he received a lethal dose of pentobarbital and nodded off for one last time. 
The staff was amazingly supportive.  They helped clean him up, wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in a small box, similar to that of a ladies boot box. 

Carolyn drove home in hysterics, shock and disbelief.  This is when I first learned of what had happened. 

She phoned me on her way home asking that I come over to help her prepare a final resting place for Sir Silverspoon.  I couldn’t believe he was gone.  I had just seen him that morning laying on the chaise on the front porch as I pulled away for a day of volunteer work.  He flipped his tail as I got in the car, and I had giggled at the thought of coming back as a cat in my next life if I could have the life of Sir. 

Now here I was being told he died a violent and horrific death, MURDERED. 

When Animal Control arrived to take Carolyn’s statement, we learned that the man and his Lab “mix” had actually been a Lab-Pit mix.  We also learned the dog was being quarantined because the owner had received an injury to his hand. 

Carolyn’s story didn’t make a single news broadcast and wasn’t reported in any newspapers.  Her day in court awarded her the cost of the Emergency Vet visit. 

There was nothing more, no apology, no explanation, only an empty place on a chaise lounge on the front porch each morning and a multitude of unchallenged grasshoppers in the backyard each evening.

I don’t care what the Pit is mixed with.  It’s a pit and has no place in our communities if the owners are so nonchalant about their own responsibilities. 
My dear grandfather, a wonderful man,
Always believed in me, knew that I can.
Wisdom of life, openly shared,
Comforted me, when I was scared.

~anitapoems.com


I know from lessons learned and time shared with my own grandfathers how special the bond is, the undeniable connection that a child experiences with the man that 'walks on water' and wears a hat as a halo. 

Our next victim's story is from a grandfathers perspective.  It goes without mention that a pit bull attack affects an entire family, often an entire community.  But this story is especially heart wrenching as you read through the brutal description of the injuries, and the innocence of a little girl that believes her grandfather can fix all the problems and make bad monsters disappear!

A Victim's Voice


The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.  ~Socrates

When I started this blog, it was with the intent of focusing primarily on giving victims a platform.  A place to share their stories so that when read, someone else might learn the effects a horrific attack has on the victim, the victim's family, and the victim's life.


Shortly before turning this blog on, I met a wonderful lady that agreed to share her own experience as a mother of an innocent victim.

A special thank you to Anne King and her family for allowing us to trespass into their private lives.  The emotion is raw, the passion is unstoppable. 


Well, I don't know if it's so much the attack on my child that will have people's jaw hitting the floor, perhaps what will though, is the reaction of zealots to my child's attack.  It doesn't surprise any in our camp though, because the aftermath is almost identical in every incident.


Pit Nutter Explains It All


What's worse than an irresponsible dog owner?

A reckless Pit Bull owner!  Nevermind that someone like Ramel Burton probably wouldn't pass a vocabulary test, let alone be qualified to own such a beast!

The Who

Typically a blogger would use the "WHO" to tell about themselves...But me?  I'm not the star of The Pit Bull Show, I'm only a link in a chain that grows stronger every day.

The REAL stars, the who of the blog are the victims and their families.  The first Guest Blog that will be featured on The Pit Bull Show is from a young victim’s mom.  Her account of the events of that fateful evening and the long unforeseen road that was mapped out before them in the days and weeks, even months after the attack will open the door to the realities not aired on television.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!

Ladies and gentlemen please
Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see
An explosion of catastrophe - Lyrics Performed by Saliva