A dog owner from Nashville, Tennessee, was warned by a local rescue against adopting a small pup because of her pit bull. But she adopted him anyway, and his relationship with his big brother has melted hearts among internet users.
In a viral TikTok video shared in December under the username @brodiehurley, the woman picks the small pup up at a local shelter and bonds with him instantly before being warned against taking him home.
“Once we made the decision to adopt him…We ran into a small problem,” she said. “At the meet and greet, the rescue expressed concern that we had a ‘pit-bull’ breed at home. We signed off stating we would take full responsibility…You see we’ve been down this road before.”
The second half of the clip shows the little pup having the best time in his new home, with his now-best friend: the same pit bull that the shelter was concerned about.
Many people fear pit bull breeds because of their unearned reputation for aggression, which often prevents them from finding a family. A study by Arizona State University published in PLOS ONE found that dogs labeled as pit bulls in shelters have three times less chance of getting adopted than other canines because people are afraid of them.
However, when the labels were removed, researchers noticed that the same dogs nobody was interested in before were getting adopted, meaning the practice of labeling dogs in shelters may be inadvertently penalizing those canines.
Contrary to what many people believe, pit bulls don’t naturally have a bad temperament, are not inherently vicious, and are not more dangerous than other dogs.
Georgia-based veterinarian Jess Kirk says in an article published for VetExplainsPets that the behaviors these pups are usually associated with have nothing to do with their breed and are often the result of their upbringing and environment.
The video quickly went viral on social media, and it has received over 124,400 views and 6,033 likes on the platform so far.
Stock image of a pit-bull breed dog and a smaller pup playing together.
getty images
One TikTok user CarterMay, commented: “We have a 60lb pit and a 12lb terrier mix. They are best friends and glued to each other all day. They wrestle like you wouldn’t believe and have fun all day long.”
Another user, Renee Catherine, wrote, “We have a pitt that is for real afraid of our cat.”
TikToker Moe commented: “My chihuahua is way scarier than my pitty.. she’s the boss.”
Newsweek reached out to @brodiehurley for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.
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