Let the Dogs Out!

Jake Sinsay David DeVol Kaila Millard Kalista Hayes

April 19, 2016

I-Introduction
Woof!-John T. Bone, Professional Dog

What do you think of when you hear pit bull? Attacks? Locking jaws? Aggressiveness? I
think of a sweet, loyal companion, just like I do when I hear any other dog breed. Actually, the
pit bull isnt technically one single breed. Pit Bull is a term used to generalize certain breeds of
dogs that have similar characteristics. These breeds include American Pit Bull Terriers, American
Staffordshire Terriers, and any dog that is a pit mix.
Pit Bulls have been an American favorite for the majority of the 20th century. Many
families had Pit Bulls that they loved and cherished, and they were quite popular in the media.
However, once the 1980s rolled around, pits started getting exploited in greater numbers. People
in lower class areas began to engage them in dog fights, and soon they became associated with
poverty, crime, and thugs. The media started to capitalize on these fears, making it even more
of a problem. Here we are today, and while many people are trying to restore this dogs image to
its former glory, the stereotype is still seen in many facets of society. This stereotype affects Pit
Bulls greatly because it makes people not want to adopt them. When Pit Bulls dont get adopted,
they fill up the animal shelters to the point that its mostly Pit Bulls there. Since shelters can only
handle a certain amount of dogs at a time, many of them get euthanized. Of the 1.2 million dogs
that get euthanized each year, 40% are Pit Bulls. In order to help this dog get viewed in a better
light, were going to make the best video in the history of mankind. Well help people consider
their options when looking for a dog to adopt. In this proposal, we will highlight the history of
this stereotype, discuss ways we can disprove it, and come up with ideas for our #breakfree
video.
II-Motivation
The stereotype that Pit Bulls are cold blooded killers can be traced back to the late 70s
and early 80s. During this time the dogs became much more popular as guard dogs as many
large breed agile dogs were. Throughout the decade The Pit Bull became increasingly more
popular due to the amount of people breeding them. Due to the horrid breeding and irresponsible
backyard breeders, the dogs have began to get a rather bad reputation. Many of the breeders had
little to no regard for the temperament of the dogs resulting in many aggressive dogs further
contributing to the stereotype of mean Pit Bulls. As the years went on the Pit Bull (and many
other bully breeds) became more popular, and sadly the backyard breeders became more popular.
These breeders are only interested in the money and not interested in who the people that want
the dog are. This problem may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but it is infact a large
problem. Those hurtful thoughts do in fact hurt not only the dogs but the people who own them,
for example a woman was denied residence at a house due to her Emotional Support Dog which
just so happened to be a Pit Bull ( "Woman Said She Was Refused Housing Because Of
Therapy Dogs Breed." Fox17. N.p., 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016). Many people assume that just
because Pit Bulls are large dogs with a bad rep it means theyre going to bite and/or attack
people unprovoked. But as research shows that yes Pit Bulls do bite BUT other dog bites from
smaller dogs often go unreported therefore the statistical data showing that Pit Bulls are
responsible for 64% of the biting and attacks are indeed misguided and misrecorded. The reason
our group has chosen this topic is because we all do really like the Pit Bull breed and due to the

stigma and bad rep they get there are even complete breed bans in cities refusing to give people
homes. Some bans are even so extreme that they even request that if the dogs are found they are
to be eliminated on sight, these bans are currently being put into act in Arkansas, Colorado,
Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Washington, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and District of Columbia ("Breed-Specific Laws State-by-State - DogsBite.org."
DogsBite.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016) . Due to how many states ban these wonderful dogs
that is one of the many reasons weve decided to do this topic. We hope that people will open
their hearts and their minds when it comes to these dogs. There are many organizations that are
trying to help change the Pit Bull stereotypes, including but not limiting to; Its The Pits, Pit
Bulls and Parolees (this is a show on the Animal Planet), the ASPCA, and of course there is also
the help from the general public. Many of the groups mentioned above have videos on the
internet many of the videos are about disproving stereotypes.
III-Project Summary
While trying to come up with ideas for a video for our group we began to search the web
for videos. In the process, we found a few videos that inspired us to make a more cheery video
oppose to some of the sadder videos we found. In one of these videos, Pit Bulls were shown
interacting with adults and children to show how loving they can be. Another one we saw
showed photos of Pit Bulls that received lashings. After those photos were shown, however,
videos of the Pit Bulls living happily and healed in their new homes played. While these videos
were cute and touching, we wanted to try taking a different approach. There are going to be two
main parts of our video. The first part we are going to film is a series of interviews with shelter
volunteers and average Joes on the street. Here are the questions we will ask them:
1. What do you know about Pit Bulls?
2. If you saw a pit bull loose, how would you react?
3. Would you consider adopting a pit bull from a shelter?
After filming the interviews, we plan to go to either the Humane Society or the San Diego
County Animal Shelter so we can film people walking by Pit Bulls. We plan to catch their
negative reactions so we can take them aside after they are filmed and tell them true facts about
Pit Bulls. We will film their Break Free moment and include it in our video as well. Through
this, we want to to change the angle of how people look at pit bulls and take them into
consideration while adopting. We also want to add to the videos out there that apply to the fight
against the pit bull stereotype.
IV-Project Details
Setting up the Environment
We are doing two different things for our video. First, we plan on going out to Liberty
Station to hopefully find people who stereotype Pit Bulls so we can interview them about why
they think what they do. The second thing we are going to try will be at either the Humane
Society or the San Diego County Animal Shelter. We want to film people who react negatively
towards Pit Bulls so that we can teach them about what Pit Bulls are really like. Hopefully, one
of these organizations will allow us to bring out one of their Pit Bulls to prove our points. Our

breakfree component will be showing the people at the shelter who were initially afraid or
against pit bulls, playing with them at the humane society and asking what theyre new thoughts
are. We want to use random people, so we can get real reactions. We may need to do the
experiment multiple times so we can get the reactions we are hoping for. Our expert contacts that
we plan on reaching out to are several volunteers at the El Cajon Animal Shelter, who have lots
of experience with Pit Bulls and their stereotypes. We are trying to reach out to all dog lovers,
specific breed lovers, anyone looking to adopt, and even dog haters - in hopes of changing their
minds. Dog lovers are a good audience for this video, because they will be interested and
hopefully appreciate and care about the topic. We are also reaching out to specific breed lovers
(someone who loves golden retrievers, labs, poodles. etc.) so we can try to encourage people to
understand and care more about other breeds (pit bulls) that may be in more need. This goes for
anyone looking for a new dog as well, because rescues are full of pit bulls and we want people to
know that pit bulls can make a great pet. We especially hoping to reach out to people against
dogs or pit bulls to be specific, and try to change their mind and give them a better
understanding. Our breakfree moment will be showing pit bulls being friendly, playing with kids,
or with other dogs, etc. Basically, showing pit bulls being as naturally cute and friendly as they
truly are. We are going to use a video camera and FinalCut Pro to create our video.
Implementation Issues and Challenges
Some issues we may face while creating these experiments are not getting the reactions
we are looking for. We are hoping to find someone who does not like pit bulls to use in our
video, in order to show the stereotypes against them. This may not work out, because,
fortunately, there are people that are understanding and loving towards pit bulls that we may
accidentally capture in our video. We are going to do the experiments multiple times, until we get
the footage and find the right actors we need. During our videos, we are going to ask
provoking questions in order to get answers we, which would be people talking about their
stereotypical views of pit bulls. I think that because we are going to get real reactions from
normal people towards pit bulls, our experiment will give us good evidence and make our video
unique. I have not seen many videos showing how people react towards pit bulls. Our video is
going to be informational, uplifting, and cute (because of the dogs of course) which will make
our video stand out and enjoyable to watch. We do not plan on making a super depressing video
about pit bulls, like many of the ones out there.
Deliverables
The first deliverable will be proving the contingencies that affect pit bulls and their
owners, by showing how people react when pit bulls are present and by asking people questions
about peoples ideas and opinions on pit bulls. Our second deliverable will be showing the truth
of pit bulls and breaking free from the stereotype that they are aggressive and mean dogs, by
showing them being friendly and enjoyable dogs to be around. The third deliverable will be from
the interview with the shelter volunteers, who will provide factual evidence that pit bulls can be
great dogs. Our project will produce a video spreading more positive ideas about pit bulls that
defy the stereotypes. We are hoping to get all filming done within one day. Our call to action will
be at the end of the video where we will say something like, Dont judge a dogs characteristics
by its breed or how it looks. We will also add something along the lines of If you are looking

for a dog, stop by a local shelter or rescue center first so you can see all your options and
possibly save an animals life. Please encourage anyone looking for a new four-legged friend to
do the same. We chose these calls to action because people need to spread the word of how
great these dogs are, in order for anything to change. We also want all of our pit bull friends in
the shelter to find loving forever homes, so we are encouraging people to consider adopting a pit
bull when looking for a new dog.

Timeline (Outdated)
May 4th-10th: Expert interviews at shelter
May 12th: Interviews
May 17th: Shelter filming
May 4th-23rd: Video Editing

Conclusion
Overall, through this project we are changing the perspective on how we look at the pit
bull breed. We talked about our project plan and how we want to get interviews with shelter
volunteers and people around town, as well as our idea to film what people do when they see Pit
Bulls at a shelter. As we go through we will be looking for all types of people, dog lovers to nondog lovers, and showing them the stereotyping that are against them. We feel that after making
this video it will be a step forward for pit bulls breaking free from their stereotype and being
more accepted in todays world. Years of backyard breeding and dog fights have given Pit Bulls
a very negative reputation, causing them to fill up shelters and get euthanized. What motivates us
is the desire to keep these dogs from dying. While man bickers and complains and fights with
itself, what happens to these guys? Their lives are entirely within our hands. Humans are the
ones that get to decide the fate of these beautiful dogs. We are the only ones that can help change
their situation for the better. We need to speak up for those that cannot speak.

V-Sources:

http://www.badrap.org/breed-history

"Woman Said She Was Refused Housing Because Of Therapy Dogs Breed." Fox17.
N.p., 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

http://www.vrcpitbull.net/dog/training/pit-bull-facts/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kaelintully/17-things-every-pit-bull-owner-is-sick-of-hearing

"Recent U.S. Dog Bite Fatality Statistics, Charts and Maps - Dog Bite Statistics DogsBite.org." DogsBite.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

"Breed-Specific Laws State-by-State - DogsBite.org." DogsBite.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21

Apr. 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75HX57rjM8 (WARNING! SAD!! :C)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvvQOCjFl40 (WARNING! Happy! C:)