Seized pit bulls up for adoption

MUNCIE -- The majority of the pit bulls seized in drug raids Dec. 20 will be available for adoption, Muncie Animal Shelter Supt. Karen Gibson said.

The shelter is working with the Unconditional Love Foundation, a local rescue group, to make sure euthanization is a last resort for the animals, Gibson said.

Only two or three of the 25 pit bulls are showing signs of aggression and will likely have to be put down because of their temperament, Gibson said.

Because pit bulls require dedicated owners, anyone wanting to adopt the dogs will have to fill out an application, pass a background check, submit to a home inspection and have a vet's reference.

Unconditional Love is performing the inspections and background checks on behalf of the animal shelter because the shelter does not have the time or resources to do so itself.

Adoption fees are $75 for females and $65 for males, and the dogs will be spayed or neutered before they leave the shelter, Gibson said.

The shelter adopts out more than 100 animals each month, Gibson said.

News stories about dogfighting and how some of those dogs are euthanized have led the general public to believe the shelter euthanizes more dogs than it actually does, Gibson said.

"We're here to save as many as we can," she said.

Nonetheless, placing aggressive dogs in homes would be irresponsible, Unconditional Love director Jill Dolon said.

Dolon also said it was more humane to euthanize a dog than to place it with neglectful owners.

When animals are euthanized, the responsibility falls on owners who do not spay and neuter their animals, not on the animal shelters themselves, Dolon said.

"You have to love them enough to know you can't save them all," she said.