1) The document discusses breed specific legislation in Floyd County, Georgia that bans pit bulls and pit bull mixes from being adopted. It estimates that 25-30% of dogs in the local animal shelter are pit bulls or mixes. 2) An animal rescue organization called Animal Rescue Foundation rescues around 2,300 dogs per year from the shelter, about 20-25% of which are pit bulls. They work to adopt the dogs out and educate people on pit bull misconceptions. 3) While the shelter director says few dogs are picked up for aggression and pit bulls are not more aggressive than other breeds, the law remains in effect. Rescue groups argue the breed is unfairly targeted

1. Taking a bite out of breed specific legislation
Dog rescuers, owners and Animal Control stress education to battle the crackdown on Pit Bulls
By Kim Riggins
The sign on the door at Floyd County Animal Control in Rome, Ga. reads, “Do Not Put
Hands In Cages.” Beyond that door is akin to a dog detention block, where the inmates gaze
longingly at each visitor with a singular plea in their soulful eyes: “Please, pick me.”
Unfortunately, for many of those dogs parole could be a long way off and in some cases,
impossible. Director of Floyd County Animal Control, Jason Broome estimates that between 25
and 30 percent of the dogs currently held at his facility are American Pit Bull terriers or Pit Bull
mixes – a breed considered vicious by the county and unadoptable simply for being a Pit Bull.
“The ordinance says that a dog is vicious if it bites somebody or if it has any
Staffordshire Pit Bull terrier mix in it,” Broome said. “So, officially it’s not considered vicious
until a vet looks at it.”
The ordinance, deemed by many to be breed specific legislation, has been in effect in
Floyd County since 1993, sparked by what Broome believes to be a single dog attack. While
Floyd County Animal Control has picked up Pit Bulls for biting, Broome said the incidents are
very few and said he saw no pattern of violence in the breed.
“I’ve seen a Great Dane that tried to kill me,” Broome said. “I’ve seen a Chihuahua that
would eat your feet off. I did have one Pit Bull that was actually mean.”
Still Broome acknowledges the difference between fear and fact. “People’s interpretation
of a vicious dog and ours are completely different,” Broome said.
It may be this misinterpretation that could potentially send many dogs to their deaths.
According to Broome, around 10 percent of the Pit Bulls at Floyd County Animal Control are

2. euthanized. “It’s not that bad right now,” Broome said. “But I’ve seen it where it’s 50 percent
of everything we’ve got back there is Pit Bull or has Pit Bull in it.”
The Pit Bulls that make it out of Floyd County Animal Control owe a large portion of
gratitude to rescuers like Dayna Crumley with Animal Rescue Foundation, who have made it
their mission to rescue dogs that would otherwise be euthanized. While Pit Bulls in Floyd
County are not adoptable to private citizens, they are permitted to leave with animal rescue
organizations.
“In the past year, we’ve rescued about 2,300 dogs out of Floyd County,” Crumley said.
“About 20 to 25 percent of those were Pits.” Animal Rescue Foundation, or ARF, rescues about
25 dogs out of the Pit Bull wary county each week even though they are struggling with space.
“Right now we have 68 dogs in foster homes,” Crumley said. “We only have 10 fosters.”
Crumley said she currently has eight dogs in her own home. “We would love to raise enough
money to have a facility,” she said.
ARF foots the veterinary bills for its rescue dogs, including emergency, shots, and spay
and neuter. “Each month we spend over $4,000 in emergency medical bills,” Crumley said.
“Not spay or neuter. Just emergencies.”
Crumley said ARF adopts most of their Pit Bulls outside of Floyd County, not only due
to the strict specifications Pit owners must adhere to, but because it is more difficult to adopt
them out there.
“Adoption rates are lower because of the misconceptions about Pits,” Crumley said. “We
always have to educate people. They will adopt a Rottweiler or German shepherds, but they
won’t adopt a Pit.” ARF requires three personal references as well as a veterinarian reference
from potential adopters.

3. There are Pit Bull loyalists in Floyd County, however. Shirley and Tom Baker, Pit Bull
owners who requested the use of a pseudonym for insurance reasons, adopted their Pit Bull,
Rusty, from their son.
“We inherited him from our son,” Ms. Baker said. “Rusty is very protective of us. He is
Tom’s shadow. When Tom leaves, that dog grieves. He cries. He doesn’t eat.”
Baker admits, however that the stigma against Pit Bulls is prevalent despite the fact that
her dog has never bitten anyone. “When our son first got him, I was afraid of him because of the
reputation,” Baker admitted. “But he was never aggressive to me in any way. People think
they’re bad dogs.”
Although the Bakers have taken careful measures to train their Pit Bull, they find it
difficult to keep up with the stringent regulations for owners of vicious dogs. The $15,000 surety
insurance bond the county requires for the owners of dangerous dogs is one of those regulations
that the Bakers cannot afford in order to enjoy the company of a dog they consider a member of
the family.
Should a Pit Bull escape its enclosure, the consequences are costly. When the Baker’s
dog was lured from their property by the sound of gunshots, Animal Control was called to the
scene. “It cost us $350 to get him out,” Ms. Baker said. “It cost $50 to get him out of the pound
and we had to go to court and they charged us $300 for having a vicious dog at large. But he
didn’t do anything vicious.”
In fact, according to Dayna Crumley very few Pit Bulls in Floyd County are picked up
for vicious behavior. “The problem is ignorance,” Crumley said. “It is not the breed. It is how
you raise it.

4. While Jason Broome has picked up more than just Pit Bulls for aggressive behavior, and
Dayna Crumley asserts that most of the bites she sees come from Chihuahuas, Pit Bulls are the
only breed with extensive regulations in Floyd County. “Pit Bull owners have to have a fence
six feet tall, one foot of that has to be buried in the ground,” Crumley said. “The dog also must
be tethered while inside the fence. I don’t agree with it. With any dog they need to have
regulations on shots and things like that, but to muzzle a dog so you can walk it in the park just
because it’s a Pit is wrong.”
Even though Jason Broome said he has picked up a German shepherd in Floyd County
for biting a child and another that was considered potentially dangerous, Pit Bulls remain the
only breed at his facility that are not adoptable to private citizens. However, Broome and the
staff at the Floyd County Animal Control are committed to ensuring that the Pit Bulls that come
and go through their doors are properly adapted and possess the disposition to make them
adoptable once they are rescued.
“We work with them as much as we can,” Broome said. “The inmates like project dogs.
They’ll pick a dog or two and they will take it under their wing and we’ll give them a couple of
weeks, months, whatever they need to acclimate them to human contact.” Broome admitted that
some Pit Bulls turn out to be too aggressive, but those cases are rare. He said that since coming
to the Floyd County facility 15 years ago he has only seen about five Pit Bulls that were truly
aggressive.
Four years after the dog fighting conviction of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback,
Michael Vick, Jason Broome has his own opinion about the reasons behind the number of Pit
Bulls he sees come through his facility. “Typically it’s not so much about the breed but the
stigmatism that goes along with it and the fact that the majority of people who own these kinds

5. of animals are not the most responsible people in the world,” Broome said. “It’s my reasoning,
my opinion, as to why we see a ton of Pit Bulls and not a ton of Poodles or Shih Tzus. It breaks
your heart that there’s a breed out there that’s been beat up so bad just for the sake of looking
cooler or being cooler. They’re one of the most loyal breeds on the planet.”