For many years now, there has been a long standing debate whether the dog’s breed really matters when it comes to choosing which one to adopt for your home. There are many people who believe that ‘fierce breeds’ such as pitbulls and related breeds should never be raised by any home, for whatever reason because these dogs supposedly attack the victim to death.
Frustrated after years of representing clients of families of victims who were severely injured or left dead by pitbull attacks as well as hearing such incidents on news reports, one lawyer in Beverly Hills, California, created an ad that discourages everyone from adopting pitbulls.
“I do this in Florida and all across the nation. I have been doing this for 25 years… I follow all of the major cases and study all the reports of deaths and disfigurements,” Atty. Kenneth Philips explained.
It is unknown whether Philips actually owned another breed of dog but he added, “One of the worst issues is the intentional concealment of the breed of a dog, by official government shelters as well as rescue groups.”
As expected, though, the ad was met with anger by animal lovers. Many felt that ‘fierce’ breeds such as pitbulls are but misunderstood by the people, saying these animals may not be the gentlest of breeds but they won’t attack unless provoked.
Moreover, pitbull owners said that the fierce pitbulls are really just the ones that were abused by their owners. They believe that they are no bad dogs, only bad owners.
SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL THAT SAYS "DO NOT ADOPT A PIT BULL" – Share this to help show that pit bulls are too dangerous to adopt! #DoNotAdopt, #DangerousDogs, #DogBiteLaw, #Dogs, #BSL, #BanTheBreed pic.twitter.com/ybNxkcI5M9
— Kenneth M. Phillips (@DogBiteLaw) January 19, 2018
Jen Dean of Jacksonville-based Pit Sisters Rescue slammed the ad.
“Having a commercial like that, I feel like we take one step forwar and 10 steps back with something like that. I thought it was filled with misinformation. I thought it was very discriminatory and I thought it was extremely unfair,” she said.
Other groups are calling for the ad to be taken down but many also expressed full support, saying there are many other dog breeds out there that animal lovers can care for – and they should choose those over the ‘fierce’ pitbulls.
Do you agree?
