I first met Cyan at a friend’s house in 1999. She was a beautiful, shiny, blue haired, 8 week old puppy born on Halloween. He said, "I’m going to sell her to a friend, but he lives in the 'hood' and I’m afraid he may raise her to be a bad dog, do you want her?" As he said this, Cyan crawled onto my lap and looked up at me with her puppy dog eyes. I instantly fell in love with her. Little did I know how much she would change my life, as well as the lives of other people.
For the next few years, Cyan and I lived happily in a small Denver suburb. I raised her right, knowing that she would be scrutinized for the way she looked. I showered her with love and taught her to never bite. I took her to the dog park everyday, where she happily played with other dogs and taught people that Pit-Bulls are just like any other dog, they just want to have fun and please their owner. Nearly everyone who met her instantly smiled when they saw how happy and beautiful she was. They couldn’t believe she was a 'Pit-Bull'. But some people were scared by her muscular physique and the 'Pit-Bull' label. People would ask, "Is she mean? Does she bite?" I would tell them, "The only thing she will do is lick you to death." And of course, Cyan proceeded to do so!
And so Cyan brought me joy for many years, never harming a human or other animal (she may have scared a few squirrels). She always greeted everyone with a smile and a tail wag, desperate for affection.
In October, 2003, Denver Animal Control came to my door, and said "Your dog is illegal, we are taking her away and she will be killed within a week." You can imagine how shocked and sad I was as there was nothing I could do to stop them from taking her. She willingly jumped into their van to be taken away, her big tongue hanging out of her mouth in a cute smile innocently thinking she was going for a ride to the park.
After the initial shock, anger and sadness subsided, I realized I had to do something to save Cyan. I scoured the internet to find out about Breed Specific Legislation and what I could do to save my precious girl. Luckily, I found the American Canine Foundation, a group devoted to fighting BSL. They taught me about BSL and how wrong it is. I had no idea that the ban in Denver would result in hundreds of innocent dogs killed every month; solely based on the way they look and not on how they act.
To save Cyan, I had to leave my home of seven years and move outside of the Denver City Limits. I found a new home in a small town called Englewood. It was two blocks away from Denver. Two blocks! It's insane to think that my dog would be killed if she were caught just two streets south of an imaginary line.
With the help of the ACF, I started the crusade to not only save my dog from being terminated, but to prevent other innocent dogs all over Denver from suffering the same fate. I created an online petition as well as a physical one, and went to public parks and dog parks to get signatures and spread the word about BSL. Over the next several months, the word spread quickly, and soon Cyan and her story were on the local TV news and in newspapers. From all over Colorado and the rest of the world, people lent their support, including Colorado State Representative, Debbie Stafford and actress Linda Blair.
In 2004, Cyan and I fought the law, and we won! We challenged the Denver breed ban in court. Our lawyer interrogated the Animal Control Officers with facts and questions, and in the end they could not, without a doubt, correctly identify a pit-bull from a boxer or any other breed with a similar physique. After reviewing several hours of facts and testimonials from veterinarians and expert witnesses, the judge realized that families and their innocent dogs’ lives were being ruined and ruled the law unconstitutional. As a result the Governor signed the bill prohibiting BSL in Colorado. It was a joyous occasion! Thousands of dogs’ lives would be spared, saving their owners from the grief and heartache of losing their beloved family member.
Towards the end of 2004, after all this hard work to save my girl, I had to leave her behind. I got a job offer in London, England, that I could not refuse. Apparently American Pit-bull Terriers are illegal in the UK, even though thousands of Staffordshire Terriers, a breed very similar in physique to Pit-Bulls, roam the land. Even if I could bring her with me, I couldn’t bear the thought of her being in a small confinement for the six month quarantine. So I found Mike and Toni Phillips of Mariah’s Promise, an animal rescue facility in the foothills of Colorado Springs, to take care of Cyan while I was abroad for the next few years. As hard as it was to leave her, I was happy to know she was in good hands and would be having the time of her life running around with several other dogs all day long on a farm.
Alas, in May 2005, about a year after we convinced the state to repeal the ban, Denver went back to court to invoke 'Home Rule' and reactivated the breed ban. It is now 2008 and the ban is still in effect. Several groups alongside Mariah’s Promise, including The Pit-bull Band, are continuing the fight against BSL and Denver’s ridiculous law. Thousands of dogs a year are still being killed based on how they look, not how they act. Nothing is being done to stop owners who raise any breed the wrong way. The solution begins with the owners.
On January 14, 2008, Cyan passed away as a result of cardiomyopathy, a heart disease, at eight years old. No one could have seen this coming. I’m heartbroken, to think I can never see her again. I feel for Mike and Toni, who took her in and loved her like their own. As sad as this story ends, it warms my heart to have raised and known such a loving dog, to have learned so much about dogs and people along the way. To know that Cyan helped save thousands of dogs’ lives, and will go down in history as an ambassador for Pit Bulls, makes me very happy. Cyan was my baby and will always have a special place in my heart. I hope some of you got to experience the wonder of Cyan; she really was a special bully.
Please help continue the fight and teach the public the truth about dogs and BSL so one day no dog or family will have to endure the pain that Cyan, I and thousands of others have gone through.
Some videos can be seen at the bottom of the blog or at http://www.youtube.com/user/Cyan2000/videos
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Howard M
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5 comments:
Awwwww! Beautiful!! xxx
Hey Howard! I'm sorry for your loss and I remember you starting your fight so many years ago. It is a real shame this breed of dog is being shamed and slaughtered because of the idiocy of owners. In the end, 'super aggression' is taught, and with a caring home any dog can be raised to not trigger 'super aggression'.
I hope this law is overturned again, it's ridiculous to have be reinstated.
- your friend, Jason
Howard. I am so sorry for your loss of Cyan. She was a beautiful APBT. She reminds me a good bit of my MIA, also a blue APBT.
You left a comment on my BSL hub on HubPages. I accidently deleted it. Would you mind resubmitting the comment.
http://hubpages.com/_dogs/hub/BSL_and_Pit_Bull_Terriers
I, too, have a blog devoted this the wonderful breed- http://bullyspot.blogspot.com/
I am glad that you were able to beat BSL in court. I hope your story brings courage to others who are bullied by this aweful law. Oh, and trust me. I will if it comes down to it.
And, although, I do not wish to move, if it comes to it, I would rather move than give up my dog.
Hi
Beautiful dog
Sorry for your loss.
Having lost my guy last Fall I understand the pain.
We are fighting and slowly but surely winning the fight in Ontario.
The Ontario Challenge goes to the Ontario Superior Court later this year.
I haven`t watched the videos yet but I`ll be back.
She was a beautiful girl and I'm so sorry for your loss. To me, it's one of the hardest things to go through. The loss of something so sweet and so perfect and something that will never leave your heart.
I have four dogs. They're all small, the biggest being a lhasa apso, but once one breed is banned, what is going to stop them from coming for another? Then another? Then another? It's terrifying when you think about it. In ten years I might be running my lhasa up the doggie underground railroad where he'll be safe.
I have a little chihuahua/pug mix, we think [she's a rescue], and people have actually asked me if she's 'got pit bull in her?' I've always kind of laughed it off because she's all of six whole pounds, but I've been asked more than once so someone is seeing something. And that raises a whole other mess of questions.
It always seems like a stupid question to me, but since BSL is a stupid idea brought about by stupid people . . . where does it end? Once the law is passed, how are pits identified? By sight? There are so many other breeds that can give a dog an appearance of being something it's not. Are the states and counties and cities going to pay for DNA tests of every dog they bring in or are they just going to kill them all and hope they're right? We all know the answer to that. But will the owners be given a chance to prove anything? If it gets to that point . . . how could owners save their dogs? Especially if it's not a banned breed? I could afford a DNA test and time in court to fight it, but what makes my love and bond with my girl more important than anyone else's?
And once they start doing that and it becomes acceptable to simply look at a dog and decide it should be killed with no thought given to the actual personality of the dog . . . what's going to stop them from coming after any dog, no matter what size it is, just because it looks like it might have pit in it and, therefore, it might one day do something? Nevermind that the only pit bulls I've ever met have been amazing little guys because they'd still be snatched from their loving and responsible homes just for existing. Dogs that aren't pits or mixed with them in any way will be snatched just because of how they look. And there are people who are completely fine with it. How long before it moves to people. Oh, he looks like a criminal. Lock him up. She looks like she might steal something. Lock her up. That's the logic. You can't do that to the two legged members of my family and I will fight like hell if someone tries to do it to the four legged ones.
I just don't understand why society is so determined to punish all dogs because a few were unfortunate enough to have horrible owners. Why not put this money and effort into putting more animal cruelty teams on the streets? But I guess that just makes too much sense for the BSL advocates. Dogs are not born bad and aggressive. They are taught to be that way.
And once they get their hooks into the bigger breeds, chihuahuas would have to be next, right? That's all people say about chis. They're snappy and cranky and mean. I mean, my girl ran a fully grown male pit behind his owner's legs in PetSmart when she was six months old. She weighed about 4 pounds or so. And she had on a pink dress. I couldn't apologize to the owner enough, who couldn't stop laughing, but it proved a pretty powerful point to everyone who saw it. Who was the aggressive dog in that situation? My little fairy princess. She gave about ten people a much needed lesson in reality that afternoon. The pit was an awesome dog. He was so loving and sweet. He let me pet him and he gave kisses. And this is a dog that should be banned. A big teddy bear who wouldn't even hurt a smarty pants chihuahua in a pink tutu.
So once they get all the bigger breeds then they come for the smaller ones and then we all have to have cats. Oh, but wait. They scratch. Some of them bite and they fight with other cats. Gotta outlaw them too. We could have parrots, but I've been bitten by them too. So they're gone. Hamsters bite. Snakes bite, lizards bite. So anyone who wants a pet is screwed because years ago some moron decided that it made more sense to kill dogs than arrest the people responsible for abusing and neglecting them.
Genius.
I'm sorry this is so long. This is one of the issues I can go on and on about and the more I go, the madder I get. You're doing a good thing. Keep fighting. There are plenty of us out here willing to do whatever you and all the others need.
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