GREELEY — The macho image that comes with pit-bull ownership could be one of the reasons a massive sterilization program for the breed in Weld County is faltering.
Since the Humane Society of Weld County was awarded a $19,385 grant from PetSmart Charities in March to spay or neuter 500 pit bulls, only 80 have undergone the procedure.
“We’ve got 424 to go,” said Elaine Hicks, executive director of the Humane Society.
Hicks said many pit-bull owners are reluctant to have them fixed because puppies sell for about $800. The breed attracts owners who want a formidable-looking animal, she said.
“It’s just that mentality of having something around that will be a protector, a beware-of-dog thing, a status symbol,” Hicks said.
The PetSmart grant is part of a nationwide effort to stop the overbreeding of pit bulls and prevent them from being abandoned by their owners, officials say.
Weld County was targeted because it has an overabundance of pit bulls. As many as one-third of the dogs at the Weld County shelter are pit bulls, Hicks said.
Some are strays, and others were picked up by animal-control officers, she said.
The grant offers subsidized spay/neuter services for pit-bull owners in seven communities in Weld County, including Greeley and Evans. Pit-bull owners in those places can have their dogs altered and get a microchip with registration and a rabies vaccination for only $15. Surgeries are by appointment only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
But many owners are reluctant to fix their pit bulls because that will hurt their marketability, Hicks said.
“We had one man at our vaccination clinic and he said he could make $800 on his puppy, and he had no intention of sterilizing that guy,” she said.
Still, 80 is a start and is by no means a sign the program will fail, said Jeff Davis, chief spokesman for PetSmart Charities.
“They just started with this, and we find that a lot of publicity helps programs like these,” Davis said. “A lot of public education has to occur.”
PetSmart Charities has given out $134 million since 1994 to various animal-welfare organizations, with much of the funding aimed at spaying and neutering pets, Davis said.
Pit bulls are especially targeted because they are perceived to be a violent breed, he said. The problem, he said, is the people who don’t properly care for or train pit bulls.
Many pit bulls who come into the Weld County shelter show signs they have been forced to fight, said Hicks. “They come in here, scarred up and with cropped ears,” she said. “It’s pretty obvious they’ve been involved in that type of activity.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
For more information
Want to have your pit bull fixed? For more about the spay/neuter program administered by the Humane Society of Weld County, call 970-506-9550 or visit .
