WA: Tri-Cities Animal Shelter overwhelmed with pit bulls

Tri-Cities Animal Shelter overwhelmed with pit bulls
By Kathleen Jacob Published: Nov 14, 2014 at 6:12 PM PST


PASCO, Wash. -- The Tri-Cities Animal Shelter is always home to a lot of pit bulls, but people continue to over breed the dog, to the point that a third of all dogs that come through the shelter, are pit bulls.

Snickers' date with death has already been determined. He'll be put to sleep next Saturday if he isn't adopted by then.

Snickers has been there for months. He's even gone through an obedience class. But he's just one of too many pit bulls that end up at the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter.

"They're just over bred, the Chihuahuas and the pit bulls both are just commonly bred by people thinking that they're gonna make a buck," said Animal Control Director Angela Zilar.

While pit bulls make up the majority of this animal shelter, they're also adopted out the least because they're known as an aggressive breed and require permits in a lot of places.

In both Kennewick and Pasco, a pit bull owner must carry $250,000 in personal liability insurance...and that's in addition to a yearly permit. The fee in Kennewick is $25. In Pasco, it's $250.

"It makes it harder to get them re-homed because people are worried about whether or not their dog will be taken from them, things like that, or whether they can comply," said Angela.

And just because these dogs are labeled as "dangerous," doesn't mean they actually are.

"Yeah they're intimidating, they're big, they're muscley, you get in there though and they're the most loving, sweet, goofy dogs there are, full of personality," said dog lover Tia Mathews.

"Are pit bulls automatically dangerous just because they're pit bulls? No," said Angela.

In fact, the majority of bite cases the shelter deals with are against small dogs. The pit bulls just tend to get the bad reputation.

"They're a great family dog," said Tia.

And that's just what the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter is hoping you'll consider, before more pits suffer a fate like Snickers'.

Over 300 permits for pit bulls have been given out between Pasco and Kennewick. Richland does not require a permit and doesn't plan to in the future.

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