A few weeks ago, a family fell in love with a dog.
She was a little black runt named Petry — like the flying, panicky Pteranodon in “The Land Before Time” — and one of a new litter of five cheerful, even-tempered puppies at Gainesville nonprofit Plenty of Pit Bulls.
After Petry’s adoption, the family followed up with the organization, writing to say they loved their new puppy. But when Petry’s DNA tests came in, everything changed.
The puppy was 50-percent pit bull, according to the test, even though pit bull is not a breed, but a classification of dogs with a certain body type.
“And they said, ‘We don’t want her anymore,’” said Plenty of Pit Bulls volunteer JoAnna Platzer. “It was the same puppy they always had, and they returned her.”
Petry was one of seven dogs who were returned to Plenty of Pit Bulls in recent weeks, reaching one of the organization’s highest saturation points since opening in 2010.
The nonprofit cooperates with local shelters to place pit bulls into foster homes until they are adopted. The organization doesn’t have a central shelter so instead heavily relies on full-time foster volunteers and adoption ambassadors, who take the dogs out for walks and introduce them to people in hopes of finding permanent homes.
Plenty of Pit Bulls now has 30 dogs looking for homes at a time when fosters go out of town for the holidays. With so many dogs and so little space, the organization is in desperate need of foster volunteers and viable adoptees before its members will be forced to take on multiple dogs or send some to kennels.
Anna Peterson, a member of the organization’s board of directors and a religion professor at UF, said the two biggest problems Plenty of Pit Bulls faces are misconceptions about pit bulls and landlord breed restrictions.
“If you’re going to restrict someone, pit bulls are on the list,” Peterson said. “We think all dogs should be treated as individuals. We don’t think breed is a very accurate guide to behavior.”
Although pit bulls face a certain stigma, Peterson said the one common thread she’s found while working with the dogs is that they are all very people-oriented.
“They tend to be really affectionate, attached and loyal to their people,” she said.
Still, longtime Plenty of Pit Bulls volunteer and UF political science professor Amie Kreppel said the pit bull label turns families off from otherwise lovable dogs.
“Black dogs don’t get adopted as much,” said Kreppel, who started as a foster and then adopted her black pit bull, Poppy. “There’s racism in the animal world.”
Platzer also said people don’t have the patience oftentimes to go through Plenty of Pit Bull’s adoption process, which arranges a weeklong trial period for families to ensure the dog is its best fit.
“A lot of people don’t understand taking a dog as a responsibility,” Platzer said.
Currently she takes care of 4-year-old Stella, a light brown pit bull who was returned to shelter by her adoptees.
She is a walking, jumping, licking example of the juxtaposition of the pit bull stereotype. Wednesday afternoon, she walked around the College Manor Apartments’ pool lapping the water and trying to eat gum off the sidewalk.
She enjoys wearing clothes — her Led Zeppelin shirt is her favorite — and sleeps cuddled up to Platzer.
“Stella is not happy unless she is touching you, preferably sitting on you,” said Platzer as Stella leapt over to 21-year-old UF public relations senior Chantelle McHugh, who was reading a book by the pool, and started licking her face.
As Stella climbed on her beach chair and plopped on her lap, McHugh laughed — a reaction Platzer is not used to.
“A lot of people, I walk her, and they cross the street,” Platzer said.
Like all the organization’s dogs, Stella is microchipped, spayed — or neutered — and vaccinated. She has been awaiting adoption since May without any takers.
“It’s frustrating because we understand how good the dogs are,” Platzer said.
She wants others to see it, too, and hopefully before she gets too attached to seeing Stella’s face poking out from under her covers.
“I just want her to get adopted before I can’t stand it,” Platzer said.
Those interested in volunteering, donating or adopting can reach Plenty of Pit Bulls at gainesvillepitbulls@gmail.com.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 11/13/2014]
Four-year-old pit bull Stella plays with her foster owner, Plenty of Pit Bulls volunteer JoAnna Platzer, by the College Manor Apartments pool Wednesday afternoon. The organization is struggling to find pit bulls like Stella a home before their foster owners go out of town for the holidays.
