Pit bulls have a bad reputation, but is it deserved? A group of pit bull owners and advocates in Vancouver, Canada, says the breed has been misrepresented.

HugABull Advocacy & Rescue Society works to help not only individual dogs, but the entire breed’s image. It also strives to build a community of responsible owners for dogs who often attract the wrong kind.

Many of us have the idea that pit bulls have been bred to be aggressive – and, though they can’t help it, they’re not the kind of dog you’d want to have around. News reports and breed-specific legislation, like Ontario’s restrictions on bull breeds, certainly reinforce that.

It’s true that pit bulls were originally bred to fight bulls, bears, and other dogs as a spectator sport. However, to work with their handlers, they had to be free of aggression toward humans. This resulted in dogs that need close association with their owners. HugABull’s website says:

. . . they are not a good choice if you want a very independent dog. Your pit bull can snooze away the day while you’re at work, but will definitely claim your attention – and your lap – the minute you get home.

Unfortunately, as it also says:

The pit bull’s tough reputation often draws the “wrong” kind of owners. Not surprisingly, these are the same individuals who beat, starve and neglect their animals, eventually abandoning them altogether.

Homeless pit bulls often have trouble getting adopted, not only because of their reputation, but because they’re not at their best in a shelter. Without an owner, a pit bull can grow depressed – or hyperactive.

HugABull helps out by placing pit bulls in foster homes and helping them find permanent homes. It also works to spread accurate information about the breed. To find out more, visit HugABull.com.

People who foster homeless animals have their own reasons for doing it, but why do the animals end up in foster care? We tend to think of them as strays or unwanted pets who turned up at a shelter that didn’t have room for them. And this is very common. However, there are lots of different reasons a pet may need a foster home:

• Some animal rescue groups don’t have shelters anymore, or may never have had them. With enough foster homes, it isn’t always necessary to go to the trouble and expense of maintaining a shelter.
• Some pets are considered unadoptable, due to old age or medical problems. It’s better for them to live out their lives in a foster home rather than a shelter.
• Feral cats, especially younger ones, can settle down and make good pets – but they usually need individual attention first.
• Pets tend to make a better impression on potential owners when they’re in a home setting. Some animals are not at their best in the noise and confusion of a shelter. Some people also may find these places overwhelming.
• A female may need a quiet, private place to give birth. If you want to give your children a biology lesson, this is a much more responsible way than letting your female pet get pregnant.
• Owners may be servicemembers sent overseas, who want to keep the pet for the long term but can’t take it along. Several humane societies have started programs to support the troops in this way.
• A pet owner may need to go into treatment for addiction. He or she actually may be using the pet as an excuse not to go – after all, who’d take in a strange animal for a month? Well, the humane society probably knows someone who will.

Maybe you’re not financially prepared to adopt a pet. But if that’s the only thing holding you back – if you have a love of animals, a sense of responsibility, enough room in your home, and enough time and energy — maybe you’re ready to foster a pet.

As Kim Croom, Director of the Pet Foster Network, said in an interview with RedPlum: “[Fostering] doesn’t cost the foster home anything at all. Most people just don’t know that.”

Fostering is giving a pet a temporary home as an alternative to an animal shelter. This can last anywhere from a few days to the rest of the animal’s life. Many humane societies and animal rescue organizations run foster programs, and they’re often looking for volunteer families. The organization (or, in some cases, the original owner) keeps ownership of the animal and pays major expenses like vet bills and prescriptions. Some will buy the food and litter, or provide it from in-kind donations they get. Our fostering organization even sent a volunteer to our house to feed the cat while we were away.

Meanwhile, you as a foster “parent” get all the happiness of having a pet. Of course, you have responsibilities, too, on top of its daily care. You’re usually the one who has to get the animal to the vet. You also may have to show it to potential new owners, transport it to adoption events, take phone calls, and do paperwork. And it can be hard saying goodbye. But if you decide you want, and can afford, to adopt your foster pet, you’re usually given preference. The organization may even waive your adoption fee.

Fostering pets means giving your time and love, not your money.

What happens to a pet whose owner gets sent to war or is deployed overseas? One thing’s for sure, the animal is not going to be welcomed onto a military transport or allowed to run around in a combat zone, and that’s probably just as well.

If a servicemember doesn’t have family or friends willing to take care of the pet for a year or so, re-homing is often the only option. This ensures a good future for the pet, but when the owner comes home (we hope), a part of his or her earlier life will be missing.

The Hawaiian Humane Society has stepped in to take care of this problem, the Army News Service says. It’s started the Pets of Patriots Program, open to active duty servicemembers who need temporary care for their pets. Volunteers, both servicemembers and civilians, take the animals into their homes. The owner goes on paying for the pet’s support, and the foster family may keep in touch and send photos.

So far, this is the only program of its kind. It’d be good to see it spread to other states, maybe even other countries. (Yes, Canada has soldiers in Afghanistan, too.)

Pets go into foster homes for lots of different reasons – we’ve fostered a few belonging to people who were in treatment for addictions. (Those cats were a handful, but I was glad to think we just might have removed someone’s last excuse not to go into treatment.) If humane societies can help recovering addicts in this way, they can help servicemembers, too. This isn’t about supporting or not supporting war. It’s about helping an animal and its owner, and making a contribution to the peaceful society we all want to see.