This morning Angel, my board member, police officer in question and his superior sat down and discussed the incident. The officer in question listened as well as presented a list of bad experiences he’s had with Pit Bull Terriers. He was afraid to touch Angel and refused to be photographed with her. The officer in the photo is his sergeant who immediately fell of love with the velvet hippo (duh). My board member explained to him how she felt victimized by his yelling “get that Pit Bull outta here” and hand on gun technique and expressed just exactly how unnecessary it was. We explained how many Pits are shot needlessly by law enforcement every day out of fear and ignorance and that it’s not okay.
I have and will never expect people/law enforcement to love Pit Bulls or even dogs at all but what I will expect is, when faced with one, to treat it with fairness, kindness and respect. To not discriminate and immediately react with violence. I believe discrimination is wrong. Wether the discriminated has two legs or four legs, it is wrong. As a tax paying member of my community who follows the rules I also believe it’s our right to hold others accountable (especially the ones who have chosen to protect us) for unacceptable behavior.
This officer never apologized but he heard what we said and in the end, he did touch Angel’s head for one second. I’m sure that was very hard for him and I commend him for doing for facing his fear, even if for just one second. My hope is that from now on when faced with a Pibble, he will see that Pibble and moment for what it is and handle it appropriately and not from a place of fear based ignorance. We provided him with some literature in hopes he’ll take a moment to educate himself. #betheirvoice