Adopt-A-Bull Contest

Nobody loves a story about someone finding their perfect four-legged match as much as we do—except maybe you. Now, we’re putting out a call for adoption success stories featuring pit bulls. What better way to get the word out that pit bulls can indeed make loving and loyal, delightful and devoted companions?

We've launched the Adopt-A-Bull Contest (pretty clever, if we do say so ourselves), sponsored by the New York-based Animal Farm Foundation, Inc, a group dedicated to protecting American pit bull terriers from discrimination and cruelty. We're accepting nominations of successful adoptions of pit bulls made at shelters using the ASPCA’s Meet Your Match™ program. MYM focuses on the individual dog and adopter—making matches based on an individual dog’s behavior and the lifestyle and expectations of the adopter.

The contest will run four times throughout the year, with one winner announced each quarter. The winning shelters will be awarded a $4,000 grant, and the dog-and-pet parent matches from each winning shelter will score a prize pack and automatically be entered into the “Vote for Your Favorite Match” contest, which will take place here, online at ASPCA.org., in February 2009. Yep, we’ll be asking you to cast their vote for your favorite couple, so stay tuned!

The grand-prize shelter winner will be treated to a trip to New York City to participate in the third annual ASPCA Day celebration (that’s April 10, 2009) and a $5,000 grant, and the pet parent-pooch duo who receives the most votes in our online contest will win a photo shoot with a professional photographer and a bronze of their top dog.

And if, over the course of the contest, any of our winning dog-human duos get you thinking that a pit bull might make a perfect match for your family, please visit ASPCA.org for more information…that’s the point of our contest, after all!

Meet Your Match Shelters: Enter the Contest!

Recent Pit Bull/Pit Bull Mix Adopters: Enter the Contest!

Now, since we figure we're entitled to one bad pun per blog post, we'll sign off saying this: If you don't enter this contest and you're eligible, that'll really be the pits.

Good News for Majority of Seized Vick Dogs

A team of certified applied animal behaviorists, led by the ASPCA, evaluated the 49 pit bulls seized in the Michael Vick case and determined that 48 had the potential to be rehabilitated. Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a motion that reflected the evaluation team’s report. Only one of the 49 dogs was deemed unfit for rehabilitation and recommended for euthanasia, which was ordered by Judge Henry E. Hudson.

So what will happen to those 48 dogs? Recommended placement options include
possible re-homing into appropriate foster homes for further observation/evaluation, rehabilitation as law enforcement dogs or placement in sanctuaries (which will need to meet U.S.D.A. facility standards). A federal judge will determine where the dogs end up.

Click here to read the full press release and learn more about the team involved in these evaluations.

ASPCA IN THE NEWS: WHY DOES THE MICHAEL VICK CASE HURT HIP-HOP?

MTV News
Genre's glamorization of dogfights and pit bulls has led critics to associate it with blood sport.

The Michael Vick dogfighting case has created many victims. First, you have the alleged victims: the dogs. There are also the Atlanta Falcons, who are out a quarterback. And there's hip-hop. Yes, hip-hop.

Vick's indictment on federal charges related to a dogfighting ring allegedly run on his Virginia property has brought the brutal blood sport into the public consciousness — and hip-hop is one of the only outlets in America where you'll find references to it. Dogfighting's presence in videos and lyrics led to critical newspaper editorials and columns, along with on-air berating from Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly.

Read the rest of the article and watch a video featuring the ASPCA.

New at the ASPCA Store: "Shelter Dogs" (We love this book!)

Over 50 shelter dog portraits! From the book Shelter Dogs, Merrell Publishers 2006, photo credit (c) Traer Scott 2006.

While volunteering at shelters, photographer Traer Scott was asked to take photos of the dogs she was working with for records and Internet adoption sites. As her files grew, Scott realized that many of the dogs whose photos she had in her archives never made it out of the shelter alive. “I found that no matter what, I couldn’t bring myself to delete their photos, which were in some cases the only record of their existence,” she says. A few months later, Scott began to create the beautiful, honest portraits that make up Shelter Dogs. The 96-page book features 50 dogs, their souls and spirits revealed through Scott’s images. The author included notes explaining how each dog came to the shelter and what eventually happened to him or her. As important as it is beautiful, Shelter Dogs is a must for anyone who cares about animals—and anyone who’s ever been to a shelter. Quite simply, we love this book. Buy it now from the ASPCA Online Store!

NPR's Justice Talking Presents "Protecting People and Their Pets"

NPR host Margot Adler moderates a debate between animal advocates over the total banning of pit bulls. The ASPCA's Ledy VanKavage, Esq., speaks out about the ineffectiveness of breed banning.

Listen to Audio:
- Windows Media
- MP3 version

Visit the NPR's "Protecting People and Their Pets" Page