Katie Bray has opened her heart to some special canines, and hopes to help others do the same.
In 2005, dog lover Katie Bray traveled to New Orleans with a rescue group to help at the city’s animal shelters, which were overrun with abandoned dogs after Hurricane Katrina. “I noticed that there were pit bulls everywhere,” she says. They were the most common breed among the unclaimed dogs. Katie ended up falling in love with a docile, well-behaved female, and brought the dog (whom she named Katrina) back home with her to Kansas City, Missouri.
Unaware that Kansas City is one of the areas that prohibit ownership of certain breeds, Katie was stunned when officials told her she would have to give up her dog. “I explained that she was rehabilitated and well-trained, and they let me keep her,” says Katie. Still, the injustice nagged at her. She decided to fight for banned breeds and their owners, and started volunteering with Mid-America Bully Breed Rescue.
The group rescues abused and neglected animals, and is known for taking in dogs used in illegal fighting rings. “Pit bulls tend to get a bad reputation because they were originally bred for fighting,” explains Katie. “What most people don’t realize is that with training and kind treatment, these dogs can be as gentle as any other breed.”
Katie and the other volunteers visit their neighborhood shelters on a regular basis in search of pit bulls, hoping to rehabilitate them and place them in foster or permanent homes, rather than letting them be put down.
When she’s not rescuing dogs or counseling new owners, Katie, who plans to start law school this year, works with lawyers on anti-ban legislation. “It’s unconstitutional, and it’s a form of discrimination to tell people what kinds of dogs they can’t have,” she says.
Katie points out that the majority of the dogs placed by MABBR become loving household companions, while others are certified as Canine Good Citizens and cleared to work as therapy or service dogs. “It’s amazing to see a dog’s life change,” she says. With Katie’s dedication and effort, perhaps we’ll see attitudes toward dogs like pit bulls, Rottweilers, and Dobermans change for the better too.
By Jen MacNeil, New York, New York
Photo courtesy of Guideposts
