Happy Pit Bull

The negative comments on this article (at the link) are disappointing, to say the least.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_clinic14.48bbf11.html

Pit bull project under way in Riverside

09:13 AM PST on Thursday, January 14, 2010
By SANDRA STOKLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Photo Gallery: “The Pit Bull Project”

RIVERSIDE – Cool, damp weather didn’t stop pit bull owners from throughout Riverside County from flocking to the county’s Department of Animal Services shelter to get their dogs spayed or neutered for free.

“She’s good enough,” dog owner Kris Carrico said about his 7-month-old pit bull Keystone. “We don’t want eight more of her.”

Carrico and his girlfriend, Brandi Haney, had driven in from the southwest Riverside County community of Anza.

Wednesday’s clinic was the first of three the department has scheduled for its just-launched Pit Bull Project.

Using a grant from the Petco Foundation and a donation from Actors and Others for Animals, the department is offering free spay/neuter services to owners of pit bulls and pit bull-mix dogs.

The project is an effort to stem the flood of pit bulls and pit-bull mixes into Riverside County shelters by attacking the problem at its source: preventing the canines from producing litter after litter.

Thirty-two canines were sterilized Wednesday, said spokesman John Welsh.

A second clinic has been set for Feb. 3, also at the Wilderness Avenue facility in Riverside. Forty-eight dogs are scheduled to be sterilized that day.

On Feb. 25, another 48 dogs are scheduled for surgery at the department’s Banning facility on Charles Street.

Lori Neddermann, the department’s community services operations chief, said there have been more than 400 inquiries since the program was announced last month.

“It just proves that if the service is available, and it’s offered at a reasonable price, people will take advantage of it,” she said.

Riverside resident Roberto Ravelo said a private veterinarian wanted to charge him $200 to get his 3-year-old pit bull Fabio neutered.

“This is a great program. The best,” said Ravelo, who works for Riverside. “It really helps the wallet.”

Fabio, a 70-pounder with a massive head, remained in his owner’s pickup, peering anxiously at Ravelo as he checked in.

Ravelo said he has owned Fabio since he was a pup and has never had a problem. He said he decided to get Fabio neutered because the pit bull has developed dominance issues with the household’s other three dogs.

Ruben Mejangos, of Corona, brought 5-month-old Brownie, a chocolate-colored pit bull/Chihuahua mix. He said he doesn’t agree with getting dogs spayed or neutered but “it’s my wife’s dog and she wanted it.”

The Department of Animal Services announced last month that more than 70 percent of the estimated 4,000 pit bulls or pit-bull-mix dogs that ended up in county shelters in 2008 were euthanized.

In return for the free spay/neuter services, owners are expected to cover the cost of a rabies vaccination, if it is needed, a current dog license and microchipping — which totals about $40.

View a slide show

Reach Sandra Stokley at 951-368-9647 or at sstokley@PE.com