One woman\'s fight to save the pit bulls

Tag : woman t-shirt

He was once branded the 'dog of death' by a British tabloid. Thesedays Raymond, a pit bull terrier, jumps and frolics playfullyoutside an Irish cottage that is offering a safe haven for dogsunder death sentences in the UK.
The pup gained national notoriety this year when he was boughtonline by a British Sunday newspaper from underground dealers infighting dogs. Like others, Raymond is illegal in Great Britain andcould be put down at any time because of the Dangerous Dogs Act of1991, which banned the breeding, sale or exchange of pit bullterriers and some other breeds.
The hyperactive ginger pit bull has now been 'rescued' andrelocated to an isolated corner of Co Galway, where pit bulls andother dogs in danger live in exile. His saviour is German-borndog-lover Sara Gunther, who has turned her rented cottage into arefuge for breeds that are banned in Britain as well as dogs thatIrish owners have either neglected, starved or exploited. Onarrival, Gunther nervously asks for ID cards to verify who thestrangers at her door are.
'I have to check you out because of the Farmers' Boys,' she said,referring to a notorious gang running illegal dog-fighting rings inIreland. The Ulster Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animalslabelled the group the 'Manchester United of the dog-fightingworld'.
'They know that I have pit bulls here, some of whom come fromfighting stock,' added Gunther. 'I have received threats on mobilephones that these gangsters want my dogs and will take them fromme.' She pleads that The Observer does not print the preciselocation of where she lives with 22 rescued dogs and herfour-year-old son. 'I have to protect myself and my family,' sheadds.
Gunther says that she grew up with pit bulls in Frankfurt. She saysthis is why she has no problem allowing her son to play with dogsthat have such a fearsome reputation on the other side of the IrishSea.
'The only dog that ever attacked me in my entire life was a goldenlabrador, but no one in the media will ever do a report aboutsomeone being attacked by an Andrex puppy lookalike,' she added, asRaymond leaped around with a fellow rescued pit bull named Bowie,after the rock star.
Gunther revealed that her cottage is home to yet another pit bullmedia star. Nipper was sold to Panorama, the BBC's investigativecurrent affairs show, during a programme on dog-fighting rings. Anundercover reporter bought Nipper from European pit bull dealerPaul Dunkel in Helsinki. Nipper was described on the programme as alethal dog descended from a legendary Texan fighting dog calledLittle Killer. He was subsequently sold to the documentary makersbut has ended up, Gunther claimed, at her sanctuary to avoid beingput down.
'My son is four and he plays with Nipper,' she said. 'I am evenable to foster him out part-time. Nipper has more scars andinjuries than any of the other dogs we look after, but he sits andwatches cartoons with my son.'
Asked if she was prepared to take in more pit bulls and otherillegal breeds that face being destroyed in the UK, Guntherreplied: 'I have to be very clear about this. I will not break thelaw in Britain, so I won't go over and take a dog there. But ifsomeone comes to Ireland with a dog and hands it over here to me inthe Republic, then that is different.'
The organisation that speaks for rank-and-file Irish policeofficers, the Garda Representative Association, is currentlycampaigning for an Irish version of the UK's Dangerous Dogs Actbrought in by John Major's government in 1991. The GRA highlightedthe lack of legislation after one of its members was subjected to aferocious attack by a pit bull terrier in Galway earlier this year.The officer had to receive more than 100 stitches during a raid ona house in the city when he was savaged by the dog belonging to asuspected drug dealer.
The prospect of an Irish Dangerous Dogs Act which would outlawcertain breeds like pit bulls horrifies Gunther. She pointed to herT-shirt, which reads 'Deed Not Breed', referring to a campaign thatfights against 'breed-specific legislation'. Gunther argued thatlegislation would only drive the problem underground and result indogs such as Nipper and Raymond being put down 'just because oftheir looks'.