Police Departments Needed Cheaper K9s, So They Started Adopting Pit Bulls

According to The Independent, the average cost can range between $10,000 to $15,000 for a German Shepherd or a Belgian Malinois.

And police departments, some of whom are facing budget restrictions, are starting to feel the pinch. So what's the solution?

And it concerns a breed of dog that has been both continually been picked on and vilified in the media over the years and tends to cost less than your average shepherd.

"Police Departments are finally getting it," explained Protect Pit Bulls from BSL.

"Instead of spending $10,000 to $15,000 for a trained Belgian or GSD, they are now taking pit bulls from shelters and training them, and they are proving themselves to be amazing police and military K9s."

Despite being an excellent potential police K9 breed, pit bulls are often looked over because of the unfair bias as them being breeds of uncontrollable rage.

This is a stigma Protect Pit Bulls from BSL wants to end. "BSL" stands for "breed-specific legislation" that notoriously picks on pit bulls and other strong breeds of dogs.

"Any dog that has the drive, confidence, and desire to work can do it! Breed does not dictate a dog’s ability to work," explained Universal K9 founder Brad Croft.

As The Independent reported, these include the Washougal Police Department in Washington, the Chattahoochee Hills department in Georgia, and the Poughkeepsie Police Department in New York, which have all brought on pit bulls.

As Esquire magazine reported back in 2014, about 1.2 million dogs were euthanized each year in American shelters. Of that number, an estimated 800,000 to 1 million of them were pit bulls.

This translated to between 2,000 and 3,000 pit bulls being euthanized each day.

A study from Arizona State University showed that in a shelter where breed labels were eliminated, the adoption rate for pit bulls went up, their euthanasia rate went down 12% and their length of stay at the shelter was reduced.

"Universal K9 trains dogs for narcotics, explosives, cadaver, and arson detection. We also train dogs to track for criminal apprehension and have trained dogs for vapor detection as well," said Brad Croft of Universal K9.

And dog experts know this.

"Any dog that has the drive, confidence, and desire to work can do it! Breed does not dictate a dog’s ability to work. I personally have a mutt – I have no idea what breed mix she is – but she is the best working dog I have ever come across! She can find narcotics and track people better than any 'typical' police dog I’ve ever seen."

Tell us about a pit bull in your life, post pictures, and let us know what you think about this initiative to get pit bulls into the police force!

h/t: The Independent