Reputations can make or break a person, just ask a pit bull. It is sad when a person hears the word “pit bull” and all he/she can think about is a vicious, violent creature, when in reality the dog is loving and loyal. People need to stop looking at these dogs like killing machines, and instead start looking at how and why these dogs get so violent. The combination of horrible treatment from the owners and harsh living environments can transform these loyal and loving pit bulls into four-legged terminators. Stop blaming the pit bulls, they have no say.

Believe it or not, pit bulls are not born ready to kill everything they see. Pit bull puppies are just like any other puppy, young and innocent. As shown in my first image, there are two pit bull puppies adorably gnawing at the fence. This picture shows how regular pit bull puppies are. There is nothing vicious about these two puppies, they are not fighting each other or attacking something. The image also clearly shows the innocence on the one pit bull’s face with the puppy looking interested and playful at the person taking the picture. That puppy’s face is not give off the facial expressions of a killer. In a deeper sense, this image could represent pit bulls trying to get out of the box that the world has put around them.

All it takes is one person to ruin and break a pit bull. It is ridiculous to think that the owners have nothing to do with the outcome of how a pit bull behaves. The main reason why some pit bulls become aggressive and vicious is because of horrible ownership. In the next image, you can clearly tell that this owner is horrible and may be abusive. The man comes off as aggressive by holding the gun at the dog’s head. Even the man’s facial expression shows that he is trying to be intimidating and scary. Even though the dog looks scared, he is not trying to get away. It is safe to say that the dog was scared because of his/her concerned facial expression with the eyes wide open and the stiffness of his body. The fact that the dog was not trying to get away shows the extreme loyalty pit bulls possess with their owners, though the dog obviously does not know what a gun is, most other kinds of dogs would be frightened and would have tried to get away. When a pit bull is exposed to bad treatment for too long, they begin to get aggressive. The next image shows what would happen if a pit bull is exposed to poor ownership for too long. This picture shows a pit bull with a muzzle and chains all around the dog’s body to show that the dog is aggressive and deadly. It is safe to say that the environment that this dog grew up in was not healthy, and the ownership is clearly bad. In these bad environments, most owners use their pit bulls for dog fighting. What the owners do to these dogs to make them vicious and aggressive is shocking. They even use some pit bulls as “bait dogs”, basically meaning that the dog is guaranteed death. In the next image, there are two pit bulls fighting. Both with their mouths open and teeth out. This picture of the pit bulls can be compared to the beginning image of the two pit bull puppies. The pit bull puppies were sweet and innocent with a good owner. These two pit bulls fighting are mean and aggressive with bad owners. The next image shows the harsh truth of the outcome in these horrible environments. It is a pit bull that is malnourished and beaten all because of a horrible and abusive owner and a poor environment. Any dog, or anything for that matter, would become vicious and mean if they were subjected to what some pit bulls are exposed to every single day of their lives. This pit bull did not ask for this.

These next images show me with my pit bull, Maya. Maya started out her life on the streets in Beaufort, South Carolina, and ended up where a lot of pit bulls end up, in the pound. The first image shows me holding her when I was looking for a dog to get. This picture shows how genuinely loving pit bulls are. That was the first time Maya ever met me, and yet she was so happy, loving, and comfortable around me like she already lived with me for years. I knew she was happy by the energy she had along with the non-stop back and forth motion of her tail. Pet Helpers told my family that they used Maya as a social dog, meaning that since she was so happy and loving to everybody and everything, they used her to play with the other dogs that had a bad history with owners. The next image shows Maya on a walk with happiness written all over her face. This shows how if you treat the dog right with love and a healthy environment, the dog will in turn be happy. The last image of Maya shows her sitting down and looking up at the camera. This picture shows how pit bulls can have the face of innocence and happiness instead of the face of an angry killer. Her gazing eyes and her ear perked-up ear comically show peacefulness and innocence that is not shown in any of the other pit bulls faces besides the first image with the puppies. The nice looking blue collar shows that the owners (my family) want to treat her right with love. In the seventh image, Maya is being walked on a path. This is important to note because it shows the owners giving her physical and mental health. Compare the last picture of Maya with the picture of the pit bull with the muzzle and chains. Both of them are pit bulls, the only difference is the owners.

Breaking a reputation is hard, it is almost impossible. People are ignorant creatures, once a thought has entered their mind, it is there forever. Pit bulls have done nothing to deserve the reputation that they have received. People need to stop pointing the fingers at the dogs, and instead start pointing them at the ownership. These dogs do not choose the owner; the owner chooses the dog. Stop blaming the dogs, they have no say.
