I read the article about the dog fighting ring busts in your last edition. I wanted to clarify one point. The problem is with most fighting ring busts, the police department doesn't have a resource to release the dogs to, so they end up at county or city shelters. The problem with that is that county and city shelters' hands are tied because they cannot deny any person who walks in from adopting any dog or cat, unlike adoption organizations like Project Pet and Pets Inc. So, city and county shelters have a strict rule of not adopting out Pit Bulls, not only because of liability, but because they could end up in the hands of more dog fighters.

At the Humane Society we have a program called "Recycl- a- bull" in which we work with police who bust dog fighting rings and take the dogs off of their hands. We have them behavior tested and then we begin a rehabilitation process that includes obedience training that is tailored to the Pit Bull breed.

The goal is to get them ready to be adopted to a family home. The adoption process is also handled by the Humane Society, making sure we find the right home for the right dog. The Richland County Sheriff's department has been great about involving us so that we can salvage Pit Bulls who are able to be "recycled."

Kelly Graham

Director of Public Relations, Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
121 Humane Lane
Columbia, SC 29209
803.783.1267 p
866.383.1493 f
www.humanesc.org