Pit bulls 'victims of ignorance', says dog rescue centre

You can teach an old dog new tricks. That is the message the Phoenix Animal Care and Treatment Centre sought to spread on Saturday during the annu al Christmas Extravaganza at the Lions Club in Durban North.

“(This is the) first big event since Covid-19. Each and every year we host a Christmas Extravaganza to raise funds for our animals in the communities and townships we work with and help to home our dogs,” said co-founder Neeri Naidoo.

Besides raising funds, the centre uses the event to showcase the dogs in the hope they will be adopted.

The Phoenix Animal Care and Treatment Centre is a rescue organisation that deals with adult dogs. Naidoo said they focus on adult dogs because they are sometimes misunderstood and overlooked as people tend to choose puppies.

“We aim to home the adult dogs and we prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks,” she said.

Naidoo said they were unable to accommodate more dogs at the moment due to the scare concerning power breeds and pit bulls which had led to owners “dumping” dogs at the centre.

“Our theme for this adoption is ‘home one, help one’ which means if we home one animal, we are in a position to help another animal. We feed about 600 animals on a daily basis and we hope that people will come along with food,” she said.

Pit bulls have been a subject of a countrywide debate on whether they should be banned after numerous attacks on people, mostly children.

Naidoo said pit bulls are actually good with children but owners often do not educate themselves enough about the breed which leads to terrible outcomes. 

“The issue is that throughout ages and centuries people have always created violence through ignorance and fear and fearmongering. If people actually choose to educate themselves about the breed and about the actual statistics in this world they understand that there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of,” she said.

“ Any dog can be dangerous if not raised correctly and not socialised well.”

She said pit bulls were victims of their owners' ignorance and the owners should be held accountable for the actions of their dogs. 

“I advise owners out there to sterilise their pets especially if you own power breeds. Vaccinate them and socialise them and if you don’t know anything about the breed don’t get one.”

The centre is “pro-life”.

“We have animals that live with amputees. We have animals who’ve had their eyes removed because of illnesses, we have animals with cancer and they are getting chemotherapy. The only time we put an animal down is when their quality of life is affected,” she said.

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