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Kathleen Ramos
Professor Vana DerOhannesian
E114A
12 November 2014
Power of an Image
An image is such a powerful way to express many emotions that can be positive or
negative. Whether it is about a person, an item, or an animal that is being presented in a happy,
sad, frustrated, excited way not everyone feels the same emotion as others. Id like to elaborate
on how Pit-bulls are seen as an aggressive breed of a dog on the streets but presented as who
they truly are in Sophie Gammands photograph (1). Not everyone in the world knows the
history of Pit-bulls and exactly what their role was in society. They were not created to fight.
Over the course of this semester, we were assigned a blog about visual rhetoric. The
image I chose was about a female Pit-bull that looked like an angel and behaved like one too. In
the picture, we see a fresh, white Pit-bull crowned with a crown of vibrant flowers, an ear to ear
smile, and the different eye colors that emanate friendliness, joy, and love. This doesnt sound
like a typical Pit-bull that many of us hear about daily; thats because people stereotyped them on
their negative actions that they perform due to how they have been raised. The public not
realizing that pit-bulls were not a breed that destroyed anything that was in their way. When they
were actually babysitter/nannies for kids, but now we cannot trust them with kids. A family dog
that was never created for such violent acts towards anyone. Why have they changed? What has
happened to these beautiful animals that make them snap and attack?
Pit-bulls were bred for affection, they use to be animals that would be known as a family
dog not a vicious monster everyone portrays them as now. Bad dogs are reflections of bad

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owners mistreating their dogs creating a twisted mind set in the dog. All dogs, any animal is a
good animal before man they all coexisted with each other they didn't wage wars or fight each
other for money nor they fought for their livelihood and never took more than they needed. Lions
kill for food but don't massacre for no reason, they kill out of necessity not boredom or greed.
The only time an animal loses its good nature is when us humans get a hold of them and twist
them into something their not. No dog is bad so why are they the ones being banned and put
down? They aren't the ones doing wrong, us, the "owner" are the ones creating these monsters,
the animals you hear about, mauling little kids and killing other dogs. We are the monsters to
blame here not the breed.
Many pit-bulls are trained to fight so the owner will gain money out of it. Nicholas Zara
talks about an occasion when a dogfighting ring was discovered and what happened to the ones
involved (2). Ive seen images of pit-bulls chained up, beaten up, blood and scars everywhere,
and the sadness seen from their face and it just crushes my heart to see such cruelty. They arent
living the life they want to live, we dont know that because they cant speak up like we can. Ive
seen the ASPCA rescue Pit-bulls from houses that have multiple of them locked up in cages, and
remove dogs from houses where they leave the dog chained up in the back yard with no food or
water for days at a time. A lot of us people tend to get cranky and grumpy when we are hungry
or thirsty after only a few hours now imagine being chained up inside your room for days with
no food or water how do you think you'd act if those chains broke? You'd be crazy too; well that
is what these poor animals go through all the time; yet, they love us and love us until the days
comes where the lack of food, water, and the heat burning down on them and they snap and those
are the only dogs you hear about, the bad ones that do something heinous. I'd like the news better
if it told us the events that led to the dog attacking someone it'd sound like this "malnourished,

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dehydrated, and mistreated dog unfortunately attacks child today". We wouldn't be so quick to
judge the breed than would we?
Some of us find refuge in the ASPCA because we know they are doing the right thing in
rescuing the dogs that have been mistreated for a long period of time. However, some of us do
not know that they also euthanize them due to overcrowding or budget constraints that just don't
allow them to keep the dog for a long time. Even by the looks or just knowing that they are Pitbulls is what determines their future (3).I personally, do not think it is right to euthanize them for
reasons like that. I believe that they can change, but those who want to go through the journey
with them, you need to have a lot of patience and love. To show them the love that they probably
had never received in their life.
Any type of animal from cats to dogs to fish to lions if treated correctly and in a loving
environment will be a good animal dogs and cats are an everyday example through everything
we do to our house pets day by day there they are comforting us and making sure we are safe.
All they do is love. However here is another example, there are plenty of videos and pictures on
Instagram showing how people have created bonds with lions and lionesses. They show
themselves caring for the animal when it's young and then the next scene is them getting jumped
on by a full size lion because this lion remembers the love and compassion the human showed it
and just wants to play and cuddle and just spend time with its parent pretty much (4). If this lion
was treated the way half of us treat our house pets I bet they'd get mauled before the animal is
even fully grown.
For these dog breeds to be put on a ban list because of the mistakes of us humans is the
true heinous act Rottweilers and Pit-bulls have become the poster children for uncontrollable
animals when we are the ones to blame, we create the monsters and release them on the world

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when we get tired of caring for them. We should be put on a ban list from getting that breed of
animal if we can't care for them right. We think it is okay to put heavy, spiked collars just so they
look like a tough dog, when no one truly knows what the dog goes through on a daily life. Being
stereotyped that only gangsters or black people have them because they are the only rough ones
that can have them. If you have that idea, you are completely wrong. My uncle and his family
have two Pit-bulls: a female and a male. They are the most sweetest and playful dogs you could
find. Yes they guard the house, but once you get to know them and interact with them you can
see how energetic they are and just want to feel loved. My uncle isnt black or a cholo, hes an
average hispanic that would not look like he owned a Pit-bull. So why do we stereotype? Is it
really necessary?
If you ask anyone that owns a pit-bull and actually cares about the animal they will tell
you their dog is the sweetest, friendliest dog you would ever know. They take the time to walk,
feed, and play with their dogs. As well as the chores that come along with the dog like bathing
and picking up after them. I would compare a dog to a child because those are all things you
would do for a human also. Just like kids dogs need to be taught right from wrong, with actions
come consequences, and to play nice with others. Just like children if these things aren't taught to
them and constantly drilled into their minds they tend to act out and misbehave, people tend to
call it destructive behavior when it comes to dogs but it's really the same as children acting out.
If we teach them right they will behave right we just have to be responsible and take the time to
work with them because they aren't just some pet to be ignored and played with when we want,
they are another meaningful life on this earth. If we choose to take them into our homes we are
accepting the responsibility of that life.

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Works Cited
1. Gammand, Sophie. Captured picture of pit-bull with flower crown. Instagram.
2. Nicholson, Zara. Anonymous Source Reveals Cruel Underbelly of Pit-bull Fighting
Fraternity (17 May 2011): n. pag. LexiNexis Academic. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
3. Hoffman, Christy L., et al. "Is That Dog A Pit Bull? A Cross-Country Comparison Of
Perceptions Of Shelter Workers Regarding Breed Identification." Journal Of Applied
Animal Welfare Science 17.4 (2014): 322-339. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26
Nov. 2014.
4. Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation. Post of rescued Jaguars, Tigers, and interactions.
Instagram.