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Pit bulls are being freed from their bad reputations and returning as America's top dog

It's a great time to be a pit bull.

pit bull; pit bull awareness; misunderstood breed

Pit bulls may finally be ditching their misinformed reputation.

Believe it or not, pit bulls used to be one of America's favorite dogs, a trusted family pet with a great temperament. People are often shocked to find out that the block-headed pups deemed as aggressive by society actually score really well on the temperament test, landing at 87.4%—only two tenths away from the score of golden retrievers. Yet for the past 50 years or so, they've been in a battle for their lives due to bad press and misinformation. But it looks like their luck is turning around.


Pit bulls have essentially been victims of a half-century-long smear campaign that they didn't sign up for. These extremely affectionate dogs are the product of cross-breeding bulldogs and terriers for the purpose of capturing and restraining livestock. Of course, eventually some not-so-nice humans decided this breed could serve as a money-making endeavor and began to breed them to fight and train them to be aggressive, though those traits are not inherent.

Basically pit bulls are much like any other dog—if you train it to be aggressive, it will do what it's trained to do. If you train it to give you its paw and sit pretty for a treat, it will.

Chocolate pit bull.

Photo Credit: Jacalyn Wetzel

The problem with the information circulating about pit bulls being aggressive is that many dogs who are not pit bulls are labeled as such due to their features, according to the American Pit Bull Foundation.

Recently there has been a counter campaign for the breed and it seems to be showing promise. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who has owned a pit bull, affectionately known by their owners as "pibbles," to say anything bad about the dogs. Aside from some chewed-up shoes and being bombarded with kisses while they snuggle in your lap like a Pomeranian, pit bull owners speak highly of the breed.

Nowadays, the breed has a lot more advocates, from organizations and shelters to soccer moms. Villalobos Rescue Center helped to catapult the dogs back into the spotlight, helping to change the narrative with the docuseries "Pit Bulls and Parolees." The show even documented the stricter laws and misunderstandings around the breed in California, which forced the rescue organization to flee to New Orleans to continue its work.

Photo by Katie Bernotsky on Unsplash

It's thanks to shows like "Pit Bulls and Parolees" as well as shelters and veterinarians combating the negative stereotype that more pit bulls are ending up in homes snuggling on couches than euthanized. Though some states still have strict laws on the books essentially banning the dogs, advocacy groups and pibble owners have been fighting back in court.

Breed discrimination certainly isn't new. Other breeds such as Dobermans, Rottweilers and German shepherds have all done time on the "bad dog" list due to bad press. But the discrimination against the pit bull seems to have taken an exceptionally long time to turn around.

These dogs deserve a chance just like any other dog. All dogs require responsible humans to train and care for them and an entire breed shouldn't get a bad reputation and possible death sentence because a few people decided to be irresponsible. National Pit Bull Awareness Day is October 29.

All images provided by Kat Chao

A photo of Kat and her mom, and a bowl of her mom's famous curry

True

Whether it’s the mac n’ cheese that reminds you of simpler times, or the exotic spiced chicken recipe you acquired from your travels, every meal tells a story.

This rings especially true for people whose families immigrate to different countries to start a new life. Immigrant parents often not only save every penny, but spend most of their time away working in order to build a future for their children. Each comfort meal they manage to provide their kids in the very few spare hours they have tells the story of love and sacrifice.

For Kat Chao, that meal was her mother’s Korean curry.

korean foodA photo of baby Kat and her mom and dad

Growing up, Kat’s mom worked weekends to support her family. But that didn’t stop her from waking up Saturday morning to dice up some beef and fresh veggies and throw them into a large pot so that Kat’s dad could heat it up and serve it with some rice to her and her brothers later.

Curry was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to feed a full house, but it served more than just practical purposes. As Kat would wake up to the enticing aroma, she was reminded that her mom was always taking care of her, even if she couldn’t physically be there.

koran curryYUM

As Kat grew a little older, her attitude towards her mother’s curry shifted. Instead of looking forward to it, she would “roll her eyes at it,” as is customary of the rebellious teen. Those less-than-positive feelings were only exacerbated by the media constantly labeling carbs, therefore rice, as “bad.” As a kid who struggled with weight, her comfort food became a source of discomfort.

But as an adult, and now a mom herself, Kat has reached a full circle moment.

korean recipes, albertsonsKat, all grown up with her own familiy

As she makes her own kids the exact same curry dish (okay, maybe a leaner cut of beef, and organic veggies…but otherwise exactly the same!) Kat finds a whole new appreciation for the recipe, knowing how hard her mom worked to even make it happen.

Kat was lucky to have grown up with a meal to look forward to each night. Other kids aren’t so lucky. 1 in 8 kids currently experience food insecurity in the United States. But there’s an opportunity to decrease those numbers.

For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Is there a dish from your childhood that you’ve longed to rekindle with? You could do like Kat does and give it an O Organic twist. Luckily, the O Organics brand has a wide array of affordable ingredients, so creating healthy swaps is easier than ever. Plus, you can provide nourishment to another family at the same time.

Just think—the next meal you prepare could make all the difference to someone else. If every meal tells a story, that’s certainly a story worth telling.

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As of January, the Ohio family has five children after adopting young Levi, 2. Levi is the son of Wesley’s ex-wife, who passed away four days after the child was born. The ex-wife had the boy prematurely, at 33 weeks, and died soon after from drug addiction and complications of COVID-19.

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And just what was that work? Well, it changed from day to day, but it all had to do with health.

Mostly, Larissa worked for Rwanda’s First 1,000 Days Health project, which aims to improve the conditions that affect the mortality rate of kids within the first 1,000 days of being born (or almost three years old). These conditions include hygiene, nutrition, and prevention of childhood diseases like malaria and acute respiratory infections (ARI). Addressing malnutrition was a particular focus, as it continues to cause stunted growth in 33% of Rwandan children under the age of five.

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