The PBFSA is aware of the tragic mauling and killing of an 8yr old child in Bloemfontein. We are now urging every pit bull owner who claims to love the breed to become your dogs voice by standing in solidarity with the victim. We urge you to put pressure on the media to start questioning the justice system, we urge you to not post photos of your dog and sing its praises. Where you see “what did the victim do?” Politely speak out against victim shaming. No child deserves to die. Where you see “it is how you raise them” speak out in your numbers about how it is not only how you raise them and speak about temperament being genetic. Your voices matter now!

Racial profiling and why your allegations and insinuations are not only unfair and dangerous but they also have no place in society: On a regular basis we are sent screenshots of facebook posts where a member of the public has taken photos of a person of colour walking a pit bull and allegations are made against the person walking the dog. Folks, pit bulls are not only for white people, there are fantastic pit bull owners of all races. Just because a person is not white does not mean they stole the dog or are dog fighters. These posts could incite the wrong person to take the law into their own hands and assault an innocent person and illegally remove a loved family member. There is no place for this thinly veiled racism. We should not be having these conversations in 2022.

Why your “heroes” actions will get the breed banned, and why your silence will cost you your dog. Recognise these? These are by far some of the most dangerous actions and words for the pit bull. It is now no longer a secret we have a problem and a call for our dogs to be banned has been called. Your silence on the topics above will cost you your dog. We have explained why many times. It is now up to you as owners to rise up against those threatening your dogs safety.

Before you donate ask for proof. A badly bitten badly scarred dog is picked up, the dog is raced to the vet and taken in by a shelter, and the words“ Bait dog” echo across all social media platform, the funds pour in, offers for homes flood the shelters inbox and society is outraged, but nobody questions the validity of the story. As with the stray scarred pit bull, many times dogs who escape, especially intact male dogs get into fights with other stray dogs. These injured animals often wander far from home and are found days later. When they are found their wounds are septic and they are in bad shape. There are very disturbed individuals who do set their pit bulls onto other dogs, there are documented cases of this, but most badly beaten up dogs are not bait dogs. Bait dogs was a term coined by the pit bull lobby machine to draw sympathy. Unless you witnessed an owner setting his pit bull on the dog you have, claiming the dog was a bait dog is once again misleading the public.

Not every Pit Bull with scars was used as a fighting dog, and this should not be used to guilt the public for donations. If ANY rescuer claims to be raiding and saving fighting dogs ask for proof. Do not fall for the hero line. If they are raiding fights there will be proof of court cases. A very common theme within the rescue community is to lable a scarred dog who has either been picked up as a stray or surrendered as a fighting dog. This then becomes an emotionally charged social media post used to encourage the well meaning public into donating. These dogs often rake in huge sums of money and most times they have never seen a fighting pit. Unless you have concrete proof that the dog was used for dog fighting, unless you have opened a criminal case at the SAPS or have provided the relevant authorities with proof of the dog fighting, you are misleading the public. Most stray pit bulls end up fence fighting or getting into fights with other stray dogs that they meet along the way. Dog fighting scars are very distinctive. It is dishonest and unethical to mislead the public, and it blunts the public to the plight of the genuine fighting dog.

The Pit Bull Federation of South Africa would like to extend our thanks to Siza Izilwane for their invitation to speak to their members on the evening of 9 November 2022. Siza Izilwane is a collaboration of hard working, ethical and honest rescue organisations who are focussed on helping animals in communities. And host weekly informative talks. Last night we spoke about the Pit Bull in society and the challenges these dogs face as well as the challenges society is facing at the hands of those risking lives and exploiting these dogs for self gain by misinforming society about the Pit Bull. It was very encouraging to speak to organisations many of whom are not even focussed on the Pit Bull but who are encountering Pit Bulls in their daily work. It was eye opening for us to hear the problems they face and we are committed to assisting them to help find solutions for these problems. We have made notes of these problems and will add them to our behind the scenes work to sort the “Pit Bull Problem” out. We rely on this kind of information from honest “on the ground” organisations to assist us with a way forward. Facebook post.

The PBFSA is in possession of a voice note claiming we allowed the showing and breeding of unregistered dogs. And so we would like to set the record straight, because the speaker in the voice note is very misinformed. The PBFSA noticed the growing number of unregistered dogs in South Africa, and realised that these owners were in limbo. Their dogs had no pedigrees and there wasn’t much for them to do other than breed them which was not good. And so the open class was born. We brought this class in so owners could show. Their dogs had to be sterilised to become “champions”, they had to be on our database, and there were certain criteria these dogs were judged on. ~their overall condition ~their temperaments ~how their owners handled them. By encouraging sterilisation and inclusion in our community and rewarding good ownership not only was education possible, but many unwanted litters were avoided.. The PBFSA never encouraged unregistered breeding but instead provided a platform for these owners to be taught and do something else other than breed. Those who had and have an issue with the open dogs have an issue because owners now kept their dogs and never dumped them to buy registered dogs. Perhaps those who spread this rumour should realise not all owners live through their dogs achievements or the financial gain their dogs bring.

If PBFSA has been warning pit bull owners about the dangers of their actions and reckless breeding why did we not stop it? We ended the sports because it was time to move with the times. Human and animal lives and well being had to trump human ego. We have held record of everything and when the time is right we will open this up to the right people. We are going to fight for the pit bull, we are very busy in the background, but we will be exposing where it has gone wrong and those who got us here can then explain to mauling victims, good pit bull owners and society as to why they cared only for their ego.

“MY PIT BULL IS GREAT WITH ALL OTHER DOGS” A line every Pit Bull owner comments over and over while callously posting photos of their dogs on media articles. However did you know, firstly pit bulls are dogs? Their basic behaviour is that of a canine, where they differ vastly is their breed specific behaviour. Some dogs loose their tolerance of other dogs as they mature and when this happens with a pit bull, and his or her breed specific behaviour kicks in the results are brutal. Folks don’t set your dog up to be the next newsworthy statistic. Don’t risk someone else’s beloved pet, keep your dog leashed. Don’t walk through the suburbs. Stay away from play dates and dog parks. Remember, there is no time frame on this, sometimes one day they decide they no longer want to tolerate other dogs. AND THAT IS OK.. what is important is what you do next. Keep your dog and other dogs safe. Plan for this day from the day you bring your pit bull home, so that you can keep your other pets safe. And be vigilant and supervise all the time. Split pets when you are not home. ** Credit SpiritDog Training for the picture* Facebook post.

What it is. What it is not. Facebook post.