Two years ago, I adopted a lovable Pitbull mix named Emma. She's afraid of thunder, loves belly rubs, is sweet with kids and great with other animals. Sadly, a lot of the general public perceive my Emma as a monster, and that's probably why over half a million Pitbulls are put to sleep in the US alone each year. I decided to use my photography to start a positive PR campaign called Not A Bully to help change the way people view Pitbulls.
When my Boxer and best pal, Winston Churchill, died a few years back, I was devastated. I couldn't imagine getting another dog for a long time. In fact, it took about 2 years before I felt ready to adopt a new pup. I went to an adoption event at a Petsmart in the Virginia area with full intention to adopt another Boxer, but fate had a new plan for me. This is where I would meet Emma (formerly known as Midori). Due to her appearance (aka being a Pitbull) and her dark fur, she spent the majority of her life just inches away from being put to sleep on numerous occasions. She would be put in foster care for over 9 months until I finally met and adopted her.
Emma and her Valentines Day card
You can call me a softie, but it made me emotional imagining that people would try and put this sweet little baby to sleep just because of how she looks and negative interpretations of the Pitbull breed. In fact, studies show that Pitbulls are the least aggressive dog breed. Sounds crazy right? Then why all these dog attacks? Well, sadly (in this case) they are very receptive to training, eager to please their masters, and also inherently strong. It has been bad bad bad humans that have trained these dogs to be aggressive. Still skeptical? Read this article about how a majority of Michael Vick's fighting dogs were placed in homes with new families after some love and structured training.
It's funny when you adopt a Pitbull. All of your friends with Pitties will come out of the woodwork to share with you their challenges of being responsible owners of the breed. Not because of the dogs mind you. The issue comes from our communities. For example, to get a lease approved in most properties, you may have to fib about your dog breed. Personally, people have scowled and looked at me as if I was a piece of trash with my loyal pup behaving by my side. Some cities have created breed specific legislation that actually bans Pitbulls from being allowed in city/county limits or you risk having your dog automatically confiscated and put to sleep. It goes on and on because some terrible people have trained these otherwise great dogs to be monsters.
I decided that I wanted to do something positive for dogs like Emma. I started a website called NotABully.org which is dedicated to sharing the positive stories of rescued Pitbulls that have been through the worst (bait dogs, abused dogs, dogs that were kicked/shot/starved) and have every reason to hate humans, but with some love and training they have made positive impacts on our communities. I want to show people that these dogs are not naturally aggressive. That even after facing every hardship possible, these dogs are still fantastic.
Cesar Millan's dog JuniorI've started with a series of dog portraits (examples above), which I will post more examples at the bottom of this post, and articles for a few sites and magazines to raise awareness. Emma and I even visit schools in low income areas to teach about dog adoption and the negatives of dog fighting and dog abuse. I am hoping to expand to other avenues such as short videos sharing inspiring dog stories and arranging dog adoption events. As you can tell, I am very passionate about the subject.
Visiting schools with EmmaI've always told people that ask me advice about how to get more success and fulfillment out of their photo careers that personal work is absolutely KEY. Every time I have pursued something that I'm passionate about for a personal photo series, it has always gone somewhere. Well, this project is no exception. The moment I started the portrait series, I admittedly started blabbing about it to everyone that would listen. Well, that paid off! About 2 months in, the folks from the National Geographic channel reached out to me and asked me to come into their offices in downtown DC to discuss a project...
Little did I know National Geographic Wild and Cesar Millan (aka the Dog Whisperer) were planning out a TV special about trying to change the negative stigmas around Pitbulls, exactly what I was trying to accomplish with my site / positive PR movement Not A Bully. They actually wanted to have Ceasar fly to the east coast and film him coming to visit me in studio as I took Pittie portraits as well as have me share about Not A Bully and how it was inspired by Emma and pups like her. Filming happened late in 2013 and after many months of excitedly waiting, the special "Love My Pitbull" is finally coming out THIS FRIDAY on April 18 at 9pm on National Geographic Wild channel.
At the premiereI went to show's premiere in LA last week and saw the show and it is awesome. They even asked to put some of my Not A Bully portraits up on display! If you were ever curious about how Pitbulls got their bad image and what we can do to make a difference, you have to see the special!
Please follow Not A Bully on Facebook to get updates or get involved in helping save some wonderful dogs!
See more of my photography on my website: www.SondersPhotography.com
This campaign has been awesome and has grown larger than I ever thought possible. I've gotten HUNDREDS of emails from folks wanting to help as well as share their stories. I've loved every moment and so excited to share Not A Bully with the rest of the world!
Remember, personal projects keep your work fresh, your creativity on its toes, and can get folks excited about what interests you most! Consider this a perfect example! Funny though, I'm normally a human and car photographer and I never thought I'd get so much press for dog portraits, but I am happy it is for an excellent cause and will hopefully help make a difference.
Again, please watch the special on Nat Geo Wild channel this Friday April 18 at 9pm!
Emma
BTS photo of my dog portrait setup. Ring light on my Phase One, overhead beauty dish, and two strip lights behind
On set with Cesar Millan, Emma, and Junior. Photo by my shoot assistant Jonathan Taylor
Awesome shout out!
http://foolishfolliestoo.com/?p=407 Since I doubt Karen is your real name..or if it is I'm not sure which Karen you are.. Luscombe? Branson? another. Don't know. But you all do it all the time.
Do *what* all the time? Again, show me where I said I cruis area and put out antifreeze. First, you just admitted you don't even know who I am, yet you're making claims about something I said. Second, on the link you provided, I didn't see anyone, of any name, saying what the DH above attributed to me. But again, you don't address "the issue" of pit bulls killing on an almost weekly basis, you only engage in ad hominem attacks.
There are more pit bulls out there, if you count ALL the breeds that get lumped into the "pit bull" category.
Goldens didn't kill anyone last year. Pit breeds killed 29 people last year. Which breeds are the problem dogs?
a minute ago it was 25. The longer this conversation goes on the more people will be dead by pit bull last year. ugh.
It really doesn't matter, does it?
Chris Balduc actually a golden breed did recently kill. I will admit I don't remember if this was 2013 or 2014. But DBO, and Merritless tried to make it a pit bull too.
http://foolishfolliestoo.com/?p=338
"In 2013 there were a grand total of 32 dog related fatalities in the ENTIRE UNITED STATES. Of Which 25 were by pitbulls."
I guess you still don't get the memo, eh?
memo?
Pitbulls have traditionally been used as fighting dogs because of their power. What do you want to bet that 20 of those pitbulls were either mistreated or trained to fight other dogs?
It's like saying that there are 30 cattle-related deaths every year, 25 of which were caused by bulls. Well no shit, since bulls are trained to be "crazy" in rodeos and that can lead to goring or getting stepped on.
The correlation of pitbulls causing the most dog-related deaths does not mean that it was caused by the innate nature of the dogs. If you believe that then...I don't know what to tell you.
And on that note, I shall leave you with this:
"Your sarcastic response was bad, and you should feel bad."
I'm sure all the parents of dead kids are comforted by your stats
I'm sure they are since more kids die from causes other than Pitbull attacks. Your snarky comment is just as irrelevant as Spy Black's.
PS: If you're going to be snarky without adding much to the discussion, it might be a good idea to be more specific. IE: Not referring to the entirety of dead kids as a generalized group.
Yeah, let's blame everyone except the breed.
Until you come up with evidence to the contrary, you're just blowing smoke out of your ass.
I'm just saying that correlation does not equal causation. I hope that concept isn't too much for you.
Don't worry, like guns, pitbulls aren't going away anutime soon. Inasmuch as, like guns, they should be outlawed, they won't be. So don't worry, no one's going to take your pitbull away from you. At least, not until it may wind up mauling someone.
What memo is that? Do you have a backup for your stats?
Did you know the state of IL is considering banning crib bumpers because there have been approx. 10 deaths associated with them since 2005........if this were a car part or a child's toy that had caused 13 deaths IN ONE YEAR it would have been recalled or banned by now. By the way there are way more crib bumpers than pitbulls!
Sounds to me like the warpath of an angry parent on another statistically irrelevant cause. I imagine poorly tied shoelaces are a bigger killer of children than bumpers but even that is ridiculously low death rate too.
I could see going after these minuscule problems if those were the only cause of deaths we faced but why waste time with these when there are causes that kill people by the thousands.
Driving, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Smoking etc kill more people in a week than Pitt Bulls have killed since the beginning of time and yet we haven't looked to take drastic steps against them.
Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier this really has little to do with the pitt bull breed and more to do with the owners. Right now the Pitt Bull is the most popular breed among people who want powerful dogs that are aggressive. Pitties aren't aggressive by nature, people TRAIN them to be aggressive.
Pitties are popular now because they are easy to train, loyal, and easy to house. 20 years ago the big bad breed was German Shepherds. Eliminate Pitties and all of a sudden the most dangerous breed will be Rotties or Malamutes or Mastiffs. We would have to make it illegal to own any dog over 10lbs to completely remove the potential threat of an aggressively trained dog being aggressive and dangerous.
And also, like I said above, Pitties have also SAVED a lot of lives. There are just as many heroic pittbulls as killer ones.
*applause*
Getting back to the subject of pit breeds, how many pit-related DBRF's per year would be an acceptable number for you to consider them a dangerous liability? 20? WE are on track to lose 50 people to dog attacks the rate we are going this year (one pit killing every 7 days.). Most of those attacks will be pits and most of the victims will be children. Is there still not red light blinking above your head yet?
No, Ryan, you are deluded by the myth that it takes a bad owner to make a bad dog. Pit breeds are PURPOSE BRED to fight and kill other dogs. Yes, they are aggressive by nature and no amount of love and training will remove those traits. It's the dog, not the owner.
Ok, how about when it hits 10,000. That is how many people are killed per year by drunk drivers yet we haven't started installing breathalyzers in all motor vehicles yet.
or maybe 70,000? Thats how many people die of diabetes each year yet we still let public school cafeterias mostly sell only high sugar drinks and junk food.
Or how about 600,000? Thats how many people die of heart disease each year. Yet we haven't taken any major steps to prevent corporations from filling us full of junk food. In fact the US government SUBSIDIZES corn so much that it ensures that unhealthy food will always be much much cheaper than health food.
(stats from the CDC website)
If Pit Breeds were truly as dangerous and violent as you say it wouldn't be 25 dogs of 9,000,000 killing people. Horses kill about the same number of people per year as Pitts, should we start banning equine culture too?
Pit Breeds aren't purpose bred to fight, the vast majority of pit bull breeders breed them because they love them. Just because there are a few irresponsible breeders out there that intentionally breed violent dogs that isn't a negative trait for the breed. If pitties didn't exist, they would just turn to another powerful breed.
(Also, for the record, my dog is NOT a pitty, and he actually has been attacked by several of them due to irresponsible owners. He has also been attacked by Golden Retrievers before. I blame the owners, not the dogs. 99% of dogs I meet, regardless of breed are kind and gentle.)
Your stats on drink driving and diabetes deaths are COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to this discussion.
They are relevant to the point I am making that in the big scheme of things that kill people pitties are no more than a tiny blip. You asked where I draw the line. My line lies where the most harm is being done. If we are going to fight to legislate something to decrease death then we should be fighting against the things actually, consistently, kill people in mass numbers.
1 in ~36,000 pit bulls on average kill humans per year.
1 in ~15,000 humans on average kill humans per year. (manslaughter or murder)
25 deaths caused by 9,000,000 subjects is not a pattern of extreme danger. Especially when any human you meet is more than TWICE as likely to kill you than any pitt bull you meet.
That "tiny blip" in killings included a little girl named Kara who was suddenly and viciously mauled to death by 2 and maybe 3 her own precious pet pit bulls. In her home.
You really don't seem to care much about dog attack victims. That is certainly telling of pit owners, who refuse to get their heads out of the sand and realize how dangerous their dogs are and how much carnage they are causing. You would rather try to draw attention away from the pit attack epidemic by pointing your finger at non-related issues.
25 in 9,000,000 isn't an epidemic. Drawing individual attention to specific events doesn't change that.
The reality is that the vast vast vast majority of pittbulls are kind, gentle, and friendly.
If we were to eliminate every potential danger with a mortality rate as low as pitt bulls from society we wouldn't have society.
Without knowing anything about you (other than the fact that you seem to hate pitt bulls) you are 2-3 more dangerous to me than any random pitt bull of the street.
Yes, it is sad that children are more likely to die than adults from dog attacks but that is merely a reflection of them being smaller and weaker.
It is also why drowning is the number 1 killer of children. Do you think we should also ban swimming?
This is telling and unique to the pit bull group. When other breeds, such as the oft cited "Rottweilers, Dobes, and Shepherds" had problems, they mobilized within the breed to address the issues and eliminate the problems. The owners of other potentially dangerous breeds are very quick to be honest about their breed's shortcomings and being upfront that they are "not the breed for the average owner". When the AKC FB page had their breed face-off for March Madness, the Siberian Husky won its bracket. Almost all the comments from proud owners were almost universal in *discouraging* others from the breed, making such statements as they aren't for everyone, they are a lot of work, you really have to be committed to being a leader, you have to be very diligent with them, etc. I've seen similar with Chow-Chows, Malamutes, Dobermans, etc. They work hard to clean up their own backyards and as a result, it is very rare to read of one of their breeds maiming or killing someone. They aren't whining about "media bias" or conspiracies - they've realized the only way to change the public impression of their breeds is for their breeds to STOP making headlines. The pit bull worshipers on the other hand continue to deny their breed's inherent characteristics, or even that that breed exists, and try to continually push the breed on the general public as great, safe, family dogs for anyone and everyone! They continue taking them to dog parks. They continue to let them run off leash. They continue to leave them in backyards unattended. Instead of tackling the issues of their breed, the attack anyone that mentions the negative characteristics. Any former pit bull owners with a bad experience that dare to speak out become the target of vicious smear campaigns (as one can easily see on here) and flat out threats against them. The "stigma" of pit bulls will NEVER be changed until the day no one can remember the last time they read of a pit bull killing someone, when one can go to the dog park or other dog friendly place and not encounter anyone that has a "pit bull story" to tell, when no neighborhoods are being terrorized by pits, and when people are no longer afraid to walk their small dogs or children down a public sidewalk. Until then they can fund all the PR campaigns they want, but the next day, and a few days after that, and then a couple more days, there will be yet *another* pit bull story, and another, and another... Because at the end of the day, pit bull owners don't give a rat's a-- about "the breed", the only care about themselves as individuals being able to have one.
Defending a breed of dog above the safety of a child is the height of irresponsible dog ownership.
And this is how much the foamers cared about Kara.
http://foolishfolliestoo.com/?p=259
How many people die from falling off ladders each year?
Click to see answer
At least 30000 are hurt each year, and 6000 die
ban work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So are your comments about Pintos, but that hasn't stopped you.
You don't understand the concept of allegory. Go back to English class, idiot!
so your story with a hidden meaning (definition of allegory) is more relevant that his actual statistics on human deaths? Wow. Delusional much?
HOw about when people start holding humans responsible for their actions? That sounds like a good time to me, because when we do that, this crap just might stop. You people still dont' grasp the fact that if you managed to wipe out every single pit bull on the planet, the people that YOU hate, the breeders, the guys trying to be macho, the idiots that can't take care of a dog, will just find another breed. Rottie, German Shepherd, Dobie, they've all gone down the same road. And the people that do this crap will just do it again. You can keep trying to ban every dog in the world, they'll still find another one. Until the PEOPLE who cause these incidents are held accountable it will never stop. But instead you'd rather bother people like me, that has owned these dogs for over 20 years without a SINGLE incident, and let the bad guys keep on doing what they do.
Or the irresponsible parents who don't train their damn dogs and don't supervise their kids with animals.
You seem like you love it when there is a fatality. You don't even see it as a person any more. do you - just something to add to your "statistics" to try to prove your point!
I don't think normal people troll the web for dog attacks .
Those 25 weren't all pit bulls. Many were mixes that simply have pit bull characteristics. The foamers like to lump any large/strong/muscular, short haired, block headed dog into the "pit bull" category. That doesn't make it a pit bull. It doesn't make it ONE BREED. They also count mastiffs and any derivative of mastiffs as pit bulls. The year before they tried to count a golden/lab mix as a pit because "if you shaved off all that hair it would have a block head".
yup, also very true. If you actually broke down the data to specific actual breeds you'd probably find that no individual breed is any more dangerous than any other breed of large dog.
Pits are not one breed. They are a group of breeds that fall into the category of fighting dogs. Cross mixes of pits and other breeds are still pits. A golden is not a pit bull. Duh.
you mean falls into DBO's category of what a pit bull is. no expertise from that blog proving what is or is not a pit bull..a german shepherd Labrador is not a german shepherd..it's a mix...duh back at ya...
There it is. Anything that looks like one to you gets called one. And that's where you get your numbers! Incredible! SO, what if it's a golden pit bull mix? I guess it gets counted as a golden in the general population count and as a pit bull if it bites someone.
Beautiful! Beautiful shots, wonderful personal project, and sincere compassion in action!!
Awesome!! We love our pitbull Cinna - http://christianberens.smugmug.com/Pets/Cinna/082213/i-fbnGdCK/A
She is a licker and great dog! :)
Great campaign and beautiful shots, Douglas!
I've just adopted a Shar Pei mix recently, and your post made me almost want Shar Peis to be a monster breed, so I could shoot a campaign like yours too :D
My German Shepherd IS a Bully :(
Pit Bulls that kill kids also have owners that kill kids. With the wrong owner, any dog could kill.
Great pictures :) They all look like sweet hearts
Spy Black is clueless and caught up in his unbreakable opinion. I've been a mailman for 30 years and I'll tell you the vicious dogs are uniformly SMALL. Of the numerous bites over the years, I've only had 3 from dogs that weigh more than 20 pounds. My last one was by a Daschund which leaped up over 3 feet to grab my wrist and hang. Little ones are high strung and excitable, apparently with something to prove. One of my customers has 12 pit bulls spotted around his house. Everyone stays clear (because of the rep) and I just go up and deliver the mail, usually petting a dog.
With the utmost of respect to your long career as a mailman Bob, Spy Black is on the money. Dogs are dangerous. Period. All dogs are pack animals and will bite or attack in certain circumstances. Obviously the ferocity of the attack and seriousness of the injuries are directly proportional to the size and strength and GENETIC makeup of the BREED not the dog. Pitbulls, sheer strength and strength to weight is penominal which is why, over 100 plus years they have been breed to fight. Saying Pitbulls are 'safe' (if trained well) is irresponsible naivety. But hardly surprising coming from a photographer or a TV host. Try listening to a dog geneticist, vet or dog trainer (professional). There are half a dozen 'dangerous' breeds listed in the world simply because they are dangerous. They are genetically programmed to pack onto a victim (they are not fussy whether canine or human) and will not give up. Gun dogs are not 'trained' to point, they just point. It is in their genes, in much the same way fighting, maiming and attacking is in Pitbulls genes. Cheers Mike
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Feel free to check out the tv segment and see how you feel afterwards
Again, the best animal behaviorists out there disagree with you. You might find a few vets or dog trainers but the vast majority think you are wrong.