Stray Dogs (you found a pit bull): Top item on your list?  Take a good look at the dog.  Does he look happy and well fed?  Is he friendly and in generally good condition?  If so he may have an owner.  Does he have a collar and tags?  You may be able to track down his owner with a few phone calls. 

Posting notices in the neighborhood and running a "found" add in the local paper are good ways to reunite a missing dog with his or her family.  But remember this is also a great way for people with bad intentions to pick up free dogs.  You found the dog and helped it - you have every right to ask for some assurance that you are retuning the dog to it's rightful owner and are under no obligation to release a dog to anyone simply because they come forward.  A family photo including the dog or current vet records containing the dog's description are both great ways to verify ownership. 

Now comes the hard part - can you help this dog.  Well the answer is yes. 

Plan A would be to foster the dog yourself while you look for a new home. This is an adventure in itself, not something to take on unless you really feel up to the challenge of volunteering your time as an 'individual dog rescuer'. When you take responsibility for a dog you also take on the responsibility of choosing how he will live the rest of his life.  It sounds like an enormous task, and it is, but the rewards of helping a little lost soul find his way to a new permanent and responsible home can be immeasurable.

So if this little found creature is going to stay with you then you own it to him to find out as much about him as possible, right?  How else will you be able to help him find a family of his own?  We suggest you start with reading all the information you can find at Bad Rap and PBRC - these sites both contain lots of excellent information on the bully breeds.  However, you should also remember that like people no two dogs are alike so you will also need to evaluate the dog on his or her own individual merits.

Next, we find that PBRC's website is probably the best way (bar none) to get web exposure for your foster dog. Not only will the dog been seen by prospective adopters nationwide but you can find some excellent tips on responsible pit bull placement.

HHPBR can also create a listing for your found dog once your PBRC listing has been completed but remember that we are a very small site. We can probably be of the most assistance to you when it comes to screening and home checking potential adopters. And we can't stress enough just how important it is to thoroughly screen any potential home.  These dogs can draw incredibly irresponsible people as well as those who would like nothing more than a free (or in their minds DISPOSABLE) dog to chain out back until they get tired of it.  It is so very important to remember that a stranger can represent his or her self to be anyone at all via the telephone and the internet.  Thorough screening is the only way to ensure you are helping your foundling rather than simply making his situation go from bad to worse. You can also visit PBRC for some excellent tips on screening potential adopters. 

We will require that the dog be spayed or neutered before listing - no exceptions.  If you need assistance in obtaining low cost or no cost spay/neuter options in your area please contact us.  Of course the more happy and healthy your foster dog is the quicker he or she will place so consider the vet bills an investment in the dogs future.   The adoption fee can help you recover some or all of the costs.

We'd also recommend that you stock up on patience.  Placing a bully breed can take several weeks or several months.  Remember you don't want A home for your foster dog - you want the RIGHT home.  Why invest so much time and effort on your part only to have your foster dog end up as an another statistic in the list of sad realities that is the life of so many dogs. 

Plan B would be to try and find a shelter who will accept and place the dog.  Animal shelters run the gamut from very bully friendly to absolutely unfriendly. Some shelters will destroy all adoptable bully breeds after only one day of offering that dog to the public for adoption, some will try very hard to give adoptable ones as much time and opportunity to be adopted as space allows, and very few are 'no-kill' to adoptable bully breed dogs.  Most public shelters are very full at all times and up to 65% of the dogs coming through their dogs may be bully breeds.  City run shelters are required by law to accept all strays found within city limits, regardless of the available space . When they're extremely full, chances of your dog being euthanized sooner are much greater. Ask the shelter if they're full before surrendering. They may tell you it would be better to return with the animal after the weekend when adoptions may open up a few cages. Adoption screening procedures vary from good to non-existent and temperament testing of pit bulls in local shelters varies as well.  All these factors may greatly affect your found dog's future.

And, as hard as it is to hear, surrendering the dog to a shelter with an automatic euthanasia policy for bully breeds is far better than surrendering him to shelter who does little to no screening on their potential adopters.  Don't believe us?  Take another trip the Sad Reality page and you will. 

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