Pit Bull Notes from Seattle

There’s an incremental set of somethings lining up. Some of these things feel like turning points. Some of these things feel like tipping points.

Several walks past La Tigre’s house confirm she’s no longer there. She’s been chained up 24-7 for as long as we’ve lived in South Park and this was the year I was going to do something to change her situation. Here’s the photo I took over Easter weekend.

At first, I was taken by how empty the place looks without her guarding the tree in the front yard. My first thought was she died. But that’s not the case.

The carport that was jammed with who-knows-what is mostly empty. The mattress, the office chair, the odds-and-ends dumped in the front yard are gone. There are two garbage cans neatly packed full. A broom. The broken window is fixed.

Her people have moved. And I fear her people have found another tree to chain her to. My heart sinks, and I want to make something better for her.

I’m resigned to the fact that it won’t be better until she dies. And when she does, I will her to be a phoenix rising. I plan to memorialize her at Angel’s Rest in Best Friends Sanctuary. There she will re-join her tribe and run with the animal spirits. She will bask in the love of the hundreds of people who visit. We will celebrate.

I took this photo the same day I realized La Tigre was gone. Gigi and Buffalo. A girl and her first dog. Warms me to the core. Something to celebrate.

And during an after-work run down Spring Street in Manhattan yesterday, I met this pit bull named Oreo. A rescue dog. A familiar face. A fast friend. Seemingly small, yet a meeting to celebrate.

I added another pit bull to my South Park dog-watch map this week. About 7 months ago, one of my neighbors brought a puppy home and put him in the backyard. Sometimes tied up, sometimes not. It’s a busy family living in a house with dangling rain gutters, peeling paint, sagging fence lines, and a handful of kids under 18. Some days they play with the dog, and some days they forget they have a dog.

The surrounding neighbors are concerned the dog is frustrated, and they’re re-playing newspaper headlines over-and-over in their heads because they have small children.

Last night I strapped on my camera to check out the situation. Poor guy. His dog house is a gazebo that looks like it was once a beautiful place to enjoy the yard. His tie-out cable is wrapped around a gazebo post. My assumption is he got himself into this tangled mess, and I don’t know how long he’s been bound to the post.

I thought about jumping the very short fence to untangle him but I couldn’t see enough of his body to feel like I had a good read on his body language. And a neighbor reported the dog had been aggressive with him.

Not long after snapping these photos, a few boys piled into the backyard. Chatting with them about better ways to take care of their dog is the right thing to do. But I really just want to take the dog away from them because the gap between his current situation and where I want him to be is miles-wide. I reported the situation to Animal Control, and an officer will do a welfare check. Hopefully tomorrow.

Right now it’s pouring rain outside in that dreary, chill-your-bones-Seattle-way, and I think about this poor dog shivering in that gazebo. Gazebos are places of rest, places to gaze upon the garden, decorative architecture that’s a focal point for a beautiful landscape. Seeing him in that gazebo yesterday surrounded by piles of garbage. TV, bed frame, pillow stuffing, newspapers, mattress, beer cans. It’s Faulkner. Absurd.

And today is April Fools’ Day. It’s a day of good humor and practical jokes. It’s also the 12th Anniversary of BadRap. I’ll be making margaritas all weekend long to toast their wonderfulness because they make a difference for pit bulls like these in shelters. These three pit bulls are currently at the Seattle Animal Shelter, and I wonder if Gazebo Dog will be one of the eager-to-please faces I’ll see at the shelter one day soon.

Gigi gave me a few more dashes of optimism today. She drew this picture of a girl with a dog, and the caption reads, “Pit bull puppies snuggle lots. They love to play ball.” And that’s what I want for every dog. Lottsa snuggles and lottsa play.

4/2 Update: Animal Control checked on Gazebo Dog. His name is Brownie, and Animal Control coached the humans who care for him on proper shelter and the best ways to ensure access to water. A neighbor reports the kids starting building Brownie a dog house that same night. I’ll continue to check on him.