Woman befriends much-maligned pit bull

[size=-1]Roanoke Rapids,NC -- [/size]Angela Bolton is a friend of the pit bull and believes if trained right, they can be good pets instead of a menace to society as she says many people view them.

Bolton owns 22 of the dogs and after 11 years of dealing with them, she has found all they need to be well-behaved is some attention and affection.

“Don't judge a book by its cover,” Bolton said Friday as the barking of the animals subsided at presence of new people at her home outside Littleton.

Ordinances are cropping up across the nation that would prohibit that practice, which she says she is against because it jeopardizes the safety of her dogs and those in the neighborhood.

The Roanoke Rapids City Council is considering a proposal that would not allow dogs to be chained in the city limits and would require owners to have $100,000 in liability insurance if they have dangerous animals.

All Bolton's dogs get time for exercise by running on a chain outside their pens. She frequently checks the conditions of the chains, hooks and swivels.

For the most part, she understands the proposed amendments to the city of Roanoke Rapids' ordinance. “In town, everybody is side by side. There are more kids in Roanoke Rapids.”

But Bolton says her animals aren't dangerous. She has found all it takes to keep the dogs content is to give them food and water twice a day, bond with them and show them love.

Only two of her dogs are used for breeding purposes. “I might breed one litter a year,” she said.

She usually ends up keeping the puppies because she is particular about who she sells the dogs to and those are usually to people she knows. “They don't need to be mistreated. They want attention, too. You can mistreat a man before you mistreat my dogs.”

She has seen people with pit bulls who don't feed them for two to three days and when they do feed them, that is pretty much all the bonding they have with them.

Bolton can see how pit bulls get a bad reputation. If someone leaves a 2-year-old child unattended around a dog, the normal tendency for the child is to nag the animal, she said. Attacking, she said, is the only way the animal knows to defend itself, especially if it has a litter of puppies. “You don't do that. A mother's instinct is to protect her babies.”

There is only one dog out of the 22 Bolton doesn't let adults be alone with and that is Pee-Wee, the dog she keeps in the house for protection. Although she doesn't think he would harm anyone, he once grabbed her clothes and she isn't taking any chances. The other dogs, which are kept in pens, calm down once they see a visitor means no harm to Bolton. They lay around and can be petted and played with.

“They are laid back and happy,” she said.

She is particular on who she sells her dogs to, and she is choosy about their environs inside the pens. She prefers to keep them chained in the pens to keep them from getting out.

Bolton envisions a time when she will get out of pit bull breeding, probably when she gets older, but until that time she will continue to keep them.

“Unlike men, they're not going to come home drunk, they're not going to hit you, they're not going to look into your pocketbook to see if you've got another man's number. That's unconditional love. You can't get that from a man or a woman.”
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http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2006/05/21/news/news.txt

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I like this woman me and her have a lot in common.

 

we need more positive press like this. this is why i take my dogs everywhere with me and make sure people know what they are and note that they are the most laid back, friendly and loving dogs. not to mention the most beautiful if we can show people that our dogs are not aggressive or dangerous like most people believe, maybe we can truly start to fight BSL...

 

Nice read!
For sure, NOTHING beats unconditional!!!!

What's that saying? "to error is human, to forgive is
canine"...

 

I have seven dogs I feed about 70 pounds of feed and meat in a week. Plus my livestock. Shots, worming, health checks. Dang she must have a real good day job. I am retired and find it gets tight some times Mostly due to my spending habbits. I should save more because I do make enough to do allot and my pay never changes. Well it does go up every year for cost of living. any rate I wonder what her feed and vet bills look like. I find at seven I am wore out at the end of the day. Today more than usual because one of my sheep had a heat stroke or something. I pray she lives. Got her and a lamb and bottle fed her in my lap. The only tame sheep I have. Usually follows me around the farm when I am feeding so she can get her ears scratched every so often.

 

I also aggree about the training and care for the dogs. Great story.

 

"Today more than usual because one of my sheep had a heat stroke or something. I pray she lives. Got her and a lamb and bottle fed her in my lap. The only tame sheep I have. Usually follows me around the farm when I am feeding so she can get her ears scratched every so often".


{{{{{{{Prayers en route}}}}}}}

 

I like this lady too. I want to be a positive APBT owner as well, and to do so I take my dogs with me every where they are allowed to show ppl. that a properly loved and trained APBT is a wonderful dog. Just the other day there was a boy around 12 playing with my older dog and his mother commented on how well she played with her son. I of course said thank you. She then responded with what kind of dog is she I have been wanting to get my son a dog and that one looks perfect for him. I told her APBT and she said wow really that's so wonderful that she is so well behaved. I told her of a good breeder and gave her his website she thanked me and left.
"I will pray for your sheep Attila sorry to hear she's sick."