[Purple]

Pit bull health-training clinic proposed for former school
by Kathy Chaney


Take a walk down any residential block in the Chicago area and you will see a pedestrian quickly stop in his or her tracks or walk to the opposite side of the street when a pit bull is in sight.

The image of the pit, a combination of bulldog and terrier, is not pretty; they are seen as vicious. One community outreach coordinator is striving to change the stigma attached to the animal.

Tio Hardimon, director of gang mediation and community organizing for CeaseFire, wants to turn the closed Richard Wright Elementary School in West Humboldt Park into a charity-based animal hospital and shelter for abandoned pits and other dogs in the area.

"We need an animal hospital in the community that everyone could go to without worrying about having to come up with money to pay for it. For many, it's hard to pay a vet's bill for routine shots or if the animal gets sick," Hardimon told the Defender.

Hardimon is in talks with the Chicago Public Schools about using the site and has obtained funding from a Utah-based animal organization. Young boys and men from the area will be trained by the group to care for and train the pits.

"Pits are the number one dog in shelters across the nation and the number one dog euthanized," Paul Berry of Best Friends animal organization told the Defender. "They are animal aggressive by nature, not human aggressive."

If approved by CPS, the "Best Friends Charity Animal Hospital" hopes to open in early 2008.

"We've been working with Tio for nearly a year trying to identify a site to train and care for the dogs. We want to start investing more in urban communities and correct the image of the pit bull," Berry said.

Berry and Hardimon said the problem with difficult pits lies with the owners, not the dogs and recommends professional training when the dogs are young.

Four area brothers -- Kione Ford, 15; Kewon Young, 15; Quentin Wilson, 14 and Robert Truell, 12 -- accepted the challenge to learn to properly train their pit bulls and help educate others in the neighborhood.

"We want to help the ones that have been abandoned. We want them to be treated right," Wilson told the Defender.

Hardimon also hopes to erase the dog fighting culture on the West Side, where he said it is still prevalent. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick dog fighting conviction., he said, is a blessing in disguise.

Vick pled guilty to dog fighting charges and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was also suspended indefinitely from the NFL and must pay for the long-term care or humane euthanasia to the dogs named in the suit.

"There are three stages of dog fighting: fighting for mere amusement; wagers that are placed between $500 and $5,000 and traveling dog fighting rings where wagers are between $5,000 and $50,000," Hardimon said.

Right now, he said only the first stage is happening on the West Side.

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