Free Pit Bulls....
I swore I would never have a pit bull because of all the hype about the fighting, viciousness that you hear, the violence. I have 3 kids and I didn't want to take a chance that something would ever happen to them, or like the zombie apocalypse would eat off their precious little faces. And one afternoon, my dear friend Christie told me about an event that she was helping to host at the animal society here, in Charleston SC. Christie was taking vet. tech school and they were having a fund raiser for CAS. To support my friend, I took my son and we went. Free food and wine? Who wouldn't love to go and see the little kitties and pups? All for a good cause? I was in!
I grew up with animals my whole life. We always had easy access to all different types of "critters", growing up in Kentucky. I guess, it's kind of like the misconceived notion of everyone from KY being a hillbilly and wearing no shoes (I still like to go barefoot!) that pit bulls are like criminals that need to be quarantined. Walking around with my glass of white wine and pointing out all the different personalities of the dogs that were being kept on display that night and laughing with my son at some of their antics, I saw Honey.
Honey is a brown dog with white feet and white on her chest. She had one of those "cones" around her head because she had to have surgery when she arrived at the pound. She had to have part of her foot removed due to infection from the conditions she had lived in. She was still producing milk from over breading that had been done with her. She was the "free pit bull puppies mascot" from the looks of it. Honey was heart worm positive and had been going through treatment. Honey had been through hell and back, only to be saved. Honey, is a pit bull. I climbed into the cage she was in (nothing like a glass or two of wine to give me courage). Honey gingerly climbed into my lap and managed to get close enough to me, even with that ridiculous collar cone on her head, to give me a lick on the cheek. I was won over and took her home that night.

Honey is still living with us. She is actually the best dog we've ever had and I like to think, we are her best "fur"ever home. She still has a pink area on her paw. She doesn't have heart worm anymore. She never leaves our yard. She isn't scared to go into the bathroom (we believe that's where they kept her for extended periods) and still doesn't like thunderstorms. She loves to go for car rides. She understands "Crate" and "sit" and selectively hears other basic commands (pits are definitely cursed with selective hearing). She plays well with others, and I don't foresee her ever chewing off anyones' face, zombie apocalypse or not. Honey is our rescue but I think of countless ways, every day, where she rescues me. We need to free them - take out all the negative hype about these awesome, loyal, pets and family members. I was afraid of them, too. I realize that now. But I didn't understand. Now, I'm free to love the best dog I've ever had the pleasure of adding to my household.
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