Pit bull overbreeding reported out of control

CELINA - The head of the Animal Protection League of Mercer County said pit bull overbreeding is out of control, both locally and nationally.

"People think it's the new fad. They're tough. It's a stereotype. Everybody wants one and everyone that has one seems to want to breed it," Katie Moorman told Grand Lake Rotarians this week. "People think it's cool, and it isn't - because there's so many that don't have homes."

Each female pit bull can have five to 10 puppies per litter, twice a year, according to Moorman.

Looking to put a dent in the number of such dogs that end up without homes, Katie Moorman said APLMC is seeking donations to pick up the costs of having pit bulls spayed or neutered.

"The issues that we're seeing now is nine out of 10 dogs that people want to turn into our organization is pit bulls," she said. "If you go to different shelters and pounds you will see the majority of the dogs there are pit bulls."

Nationally, more than a million pit bulls are euthanized annually while many more are without homes, she said.

"They are the No. 1 bred dog in America right now. They are the No. 1 dog being euthanized in the pounds right now," she continued.

Moorman said APLMC decided to confront the problem head-on by raising and setting aside money to cover the cost of pit bull spaying or neutering.

"There's really no other group or organization that is addressing this issue right here locally so as a community we need to be proactive," another APLMC member said.

Some owners have indicated they can't afford to have the procedure done on their pit bulls, Moorman said. For the average 60-pound dog, it typically costs APLMC $166 for spaying and $111 for neutering. It also costs $11 for each dog cone and $11 for rabies shots if the dog doesn't already have them, she noted.

APLMC has started a pit-bull fund through Celina Animal Hospital. The money will be spent on the procedures.

"If you're willing to bring your pit bull in we want to spay and neuter it," she said.

Moorman underscored APLMC members are not disparaging the pit bull breed.

"This is not about a war of 'Are they good or are they bad?' " she said. "We're trying not to make it about that. We're encouraging people with pit bulls to bring them in and have them spayed and neutered, without making them feel like we're coming after them."

APLMC has a proven track record of reducing the population of unwanted dogs by actively promoting spaying and neutering.

When Moorman began running APLMC 15 years ago, it wasn't unusual to see more than 20 dogs in the county pound, she pointed out.

"We worked very hard to get the population down," she said. "We transported dogs out of the community to other rescues in the United States who would spay, neuter and adopt them out to screened home … And now you don't see very many dogs at the pound any more."

APLMC is a nonprofit, non-kill organization founded in 2000. It consists entirely of volunteers and works closely with Celina Animal Hospital.

"We do not have a shelter, and the dogs come in and go to foster care," she said, noting eventually the dogs are adopted to caring homes.

All dogs taken in are spayed, neutered, vaccinated, treated for injuries and fleas and/or heartworms and are microchipped.

APLMC has roughly 12 to 15 foster homes that can care for about 25 dogs at a time. Each foster home is limited to two dogs to ensure adequate care of the animals.

"We don't want them in cages. We want foster homes that are going to really take good care of them, love them, train them, so we stipulate two in each foster home," she said.

APLMC, though, does not accept pit bulls for numerous reasons.

"Any time that you take in one that you do not know their history, you do not know their background, you don't know how they were trained, it is a liability to place them in another home safely," she said.

APLMC, Moorman said, relies exclusively on donations and adoption fees, which range from $175 to $275 per dog. It has annual expenses of $20,000 and generates $11,000 from adoption fees. The difference is made up by fundraisers, such as an auction set for 1 p.m. April 14 at the Celina Eagles lodge and chicken and pork chop dinner sales 11 a.m.-1 p.m. April 28 at the Hopewell Grange within the Mercer County Fairgrounds. Tickets for the dinners are available at Celina Pet Center, Barks & Bubbles and All Tails A Wagging.

The new pit bull operation will be an additional annual expense.

Those interested in learning more or donating can visit aplmercer.com or its Facebook page.