AN animal-loving Durbanite has high hopes of restoring the misconceived reputation of the pitbull breed with a Pitbull Awareness walk on Durban’s beachfront promenade this Saturday, 23 April.
Nicole Linden, organiser of the Pitbull Awareness Walk KZN, said the breed has received a bad reputation for far too long. “Just because pitbulls have an apparent mean look, people buy them for the wrong reasons. Any breed can be aggressive if they are not properly socialised.
Nicole’s four-year-old pitbull Rocky, is the inspiration behind the walk. “I take Rocky everywhere with me; to the beach, parks and I noticed many parents moving their children away or other dog owners pick up their dogs when he is around. I tell them that he is friendly only those that take the chance to trust me see what a lovely dog he is.
“Pitbulls are loving dogs like any other, so we want people to look at them as a dog first before fearing them because of the reputation of the breed. Rocky works as a therapy dog and visits old age homes around Durban. He may be almost 50kg but is very gentle around the elderly who love his visits,” she added.
The walk will start at 8am at Circus Circus walking to uShaka and back. There are strict rules Linden said to ensure safety of the dogs and beach-goers. “I cannot stress enough that every dog must be on a leash at all times. Each owner must carry a packet. If your dog “does his business” somewhere along the walk, please clean it up. Please let’s be clean and considerate of other beach-goers and one another! We want to keep a good reputation and stick with a clean slate for the next walk so dogs are to keep a space and distance between one another,” she added.
Visit the Pitbull Awareness Walk KZN Facebook page for more information and rules.
