Courtney O’Connell – Adoption Counselor
 |
 |
 |
I rescued my first Pit Bull, Tyson, right after college. I went to school in Florida and played soccer for four years. After graduating, I wasn’t ready to move back to Massachusetts, so I decided to stay in Florida for at least a year. Well, that got cut short when I got Tyson.
I came across these people giving away Pit Bull puppies and when I saw them, I knew I would be leaving with one. It was a sad reality because I could only take one and I knew the chances the others had weren’t great ☹. They did not care who was taking this puppy. Tyson was only about 6 weeks old and so skinny. After a lot of vet visits, Tyson was finally a healthy, happy puppy.
I have always loved Pit Bulls and was aware of their undeserving bad reputation, but it wasn’t until I experienced the extreme bias myself, that I actually understood it.
I had seen Pit Bulls/mixes around my apartment complex and I had also seen many other misbehaving dogs (but that never matters). Every one of my neighbors loved Tyson and there was never an issue. After living there for 7 months, I came home to find a letter from the apartment complex office taped to my door. So, I called and brought Tyson down there to meet the administration. Tyson greeted them with kisses and a wagging tail. In fact, they said he was a “great” dog. They told me they needed to take a picture of Tyson and send it to the corporate office and that they would call me. Well, they called that same day and told me I had 3 days to get Tyson out of my apartment. To me that meant, I have 3 days to break my lease, pack up my entire apartment, get a moving truck and start the drive back to Massachusetts to move back in with my parents. That’s how my passion for Pit Bulls really started. It takes time and effort to find a place to live with a Pit Bull, but it’s not impossible.
After living back in Massachusetts for a while, I wanted to get more involved so that’s when I filled out an app to foster for PittieLove Rescue. This is also how I adopted my second Pitt Bull, Madison. I was a foster failure. ☺
Although it was stressful and I gave up a lot with what I went through with Tyson, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I gained so much more, I couldn’t ask for a better dog and the entire situation brought me to PittieLove and Madison. It’s very frustrating to see how many owners just surrender their dogs when times get a little tough.
Volunteering for PittieLove has introduced me to an amazing group of people that work extremely hard to help this deserving breed. I am more than thrilled to be apart of this!