Most Shared

Forget what you've heard: Pit bulls make excellent pets.

When it comes to puppies, pit bulls are pretty perfect.

Forget what you've heard: Pit bulls make excellent pets.

No matter what you've heard, pit bulls are actually a really friendly, loving breed of dog. They just get a bad rap.

Some cities (and even entire countries) have at one point or another tried to deter ownership of pit bulls on the basis that the dogs were vicious, aggressive, or otherwise dangerous. At its peak, more than 700 cities and towns in the U.S. had pit bull bans. For a while there, the outlook wasn't so positive for our four-legged friends.

"You're afraid of me? But I'm so tiny and adorable and I'll love you forever and ever." Photo from iStock.

Over time, though, it became clear that banning pit bulls didn't actually do much to reduce the number of dog bites being reported, and the problem was less with the breed itself and more with how the dogs are cared for and socialized.

The Obama administration even weighed in on breed-specific bans, stating its opposition.

"We don't support breed-specific legislation — research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources," reads the response to a 2013 "We the People" petition.

As we all know, President Obama has a bit of a soft spot for cuddly dogs — but then again, who doesn't? Photo by Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images.

The response concluded that "any breed can become dangerous when they're intentionally or unintentionally raised to be aggressive" and it provided a list of steps put forward by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the risk of dog bites.

But stigma continues to go along with pit bulls. That's why pit bull owners have taken to Twitter to #ShowUsYourPits.

Again, that's "pits" with a "p." If you misread that hashtag, you're probably going to be really disappointed with the rest of this post. Sorry.

Mary shared a photo of her two rescues, Hazel and Brisket.


This goofball is named Chico.


Andre here is a 5-month-old pit bull/Jack Russell mix from Second Chance Rescue. Oh, and also a New York Mets fan, but I can forgive him for that (go Cubs!).


And Roscoe is just too cool for his own good.


The #ShowUsYourPits hashtag was started by Animal Planet to promote the return of its show "Pit Bulls and Parolees."

Pit bulls, somewhat similarly to people recently released from prison, can have a hard time finding a second chance in society — hence the show's name.

The show follows the story of dog trainer and founder of New Orleans' Villalobos Rescue Center Tia Torres. She and a crew made up of people out on parole work to rehabilitate and help find homes for abused and abandoned dogs. The show bills itself as "a chance at redemption for both man and man's best friend."


Do you have a pit bull? Add a photo of your buddy to social media with the hashtag and help fight the stigma!

SO CUTE. SO CUDDLY. SO HAPPY. Photo by iStock

Badge
P&G Good Everyday
P&G Good Everyday
Let's Do More Together

One woman’s quest to unite the diverse Hispanic community is also helping battling COVID-19

Photo courtesy of Claudia Romo Edelman
True

When the novel coronavirus hit the United States, life as we knew it quickly changed. As many people holed up in their homes, some essential workers had to make the impossible choice of going to work or quitting their jobs— a choice they continue to make each day.

Because over 80 percent of working Hispanic adults provide essential services for the U.S. economy, the Hispanic community is disproportionately affected. Hispanic families are also much more likely to live in multigenerational households, carrying the extra risk of infecting the most vulnerable. In fact, Hispanics are 20 times more likely than other patients to test positive for COVID-19.

Claudia Romo Edelman saw a community in desperate need of guidance and support. And she created Hispanic Star, a non-profit designed to help Hispanic people in the U.S. pull together as a proud, unified group and overcome barriers — the most pressing of which is the effects of the pandemic.

Because the Hispanic community is so diverse, unification is, and was, an enormous challenge.

Photo credit: Hispanic Star

Keep Reading Show less
covid-19
Culture

Rhode Islanders vote to change the state's name on Tuesday. Some say it's racist.

via Taber Andrew Bain / Flickr

The tiniest state with the longest name may soon just be the tiniest state after November 3. Rhode Island is voting on whether to change its official name from "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to "The State of Rhode Island."

Lawmakers in the state would like to shorten the name because the term "plantations" has a historical connection to slavery in the United States.

This isn't the first time the state has attempted to remove "plantations" from its name. Rhode Island attempted the change ten years ago and 78% of voters opposed the idea.

Keep Reading Show less
2020 election
Badge
P&G Good Everyday
P&G Good Everyday
Let's Do More Together

One woman’s quest to unite the diverse Hispanic community is also helping battling COVID-19

Photo courtesy of Claudia Romo Edelman
True

When the novel coronavirus hit the United States, life as we knew it quickly changed. As many people holed up in their homes, some essential workers had to make the impossible choice of going to work or quitting their jobs— a choice they continue to make each day.

Because over 80 percent of working Hispanic adults provide essential services for the U.S. economy, the Hispanic community is disproportionately affected. Hispanic families are also much more likely to live in multigenerational households, carrying the extra risk of infecting the most vulnerable. In fact, Hispanics are 20 times more likely than other patients to test positive for COVID-19.

Claudia Romo Edelman saw a community in desperate need of guidance and support. And she created Hispanic Star, a non-profit designed to help Hispanic people in the U.S. pull together as a proud, unified group and overcome barriers — the most pressing of which is the effects of the pandemic.

Because the Hispanic community is so diverse, unification is, and was, an enormous challenge.

Photo credit: Hispanic Star

Keep Reading Show less
covid-19
Family

Daughter exposes MAGA parents' hypocrisy by saying her new boyfriend is 'just like Trump'

Electing Donald Trump to be president of the United States set an incredibly ugly example for the nation's youth.

We know how it's affected the national discourse of regular adults. But there's no denying the conduct of a president impacts how children around the world see the example being set for them. Every day for the past four years, children have been subjected to the behavior of a divisive figure that many of their parents chose to exalt to the most powerful office in the world.

Sure, adults can make excuses for him saying he's an "imperfect messenger" or that they "didn't vote for him to be reverend," but these are all just ways to rationalize voting for a man with zero character. What a message to send to children: Act awful and you'll be handsomely rewarded.

But what if you took away the "Trump" name and examined the character traits of him as an ordinary person? More specifically, what if your daughter came to you and said this was the kind of person she was planning to date? Well, one MAGA family found out and the results are funny, insightful and quite revealing about how we somehow hold our leaders to different and lower standards than we expect from ourselves in our day to day lives.

Keep Reading Show less
2020 election
popular

Delta Airlines has been adding people to the no-fly list for refusing to wear masks

File:Delta Airlines - Boeing 767-300 - N185DN (Quintin Soloviev ...
File:Delta Airlines - Boeing 767-300 - N185DN (Quintin Soloviev ...

Want to land yourself on a no-fly list? Refuse to wear a mask on an airplane. Delta is actually having to ban people from flights for not wearing masks. "As of this week, we've added 460 people to our no-fly list for refusing to comply with our mask requirement," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a message to employees per CNN. The number is up from 270 people in August. It's kinda nuts that people are so against covering their nose and mouth that they're actually willing to get kicked off an airline, but here we are.

We're a good seven months in to the pandemic, so having to wear some kind of protective covering isn't new anymore. Delta flights have been requiring face masks on flights since May 4th, and has been barring rule breakers from traveling since June. Delta is also one of two major U.S. airlines that keeps the middle seat open (at least until the end of 2020).

Keep Reading Show less
Trending Topics
Trending Stories
Sister Sites