There’s never a dull day at Samantha Porter’s home.

From the moment she wakes up, theJacksonvilleresident has the responsibility of walking, feeding and nurturing a family of pit bulls, Doberman pinschers,Chihuahuasand a parrot at her home.

“this is a full time job for me. I walk 10 miles a day with the dogs,” she said.

For Porter, it has become more than just a job. each day her mission grows to help erase the fear and misconceptions that the public often holds about Dobermans, pit bulls and other large breeds.

“When I take them for walks, people move to the other side of the street and it shouldn’t be that way,” Porter said. “I want people to see that they’re not as bad as portrayed.”

Porter has five years of experience as a dog psychologist and trainer. she opened her home to rehabilitate and provide love and support to dogs without families.

Through months of patience and determination, Porter has transformed her clan of “misfits” into mild mannered and loving animals through her rehabilitation and rescue organization, Manageable Misfits.

“it is primarily dedicated to pit bulls and Dobermans but I work with German Shepherds, mastiffs and other breeds that get a bad name,” Porter said.

Many of the dogs who come to her home have suffered from abuse and neglect, while others found themselves homeless due to owners moving or surrendering responsibility. with the help of volunteers, Porter evaluates each dog to determine temperament and compatibility with people and other animals before they are available for adoption. Porter says that although many pit bulls and other large breeds are perceived as aggressive, she feels dogs behave according to how they are trained by their owners.

“they get along great with people and kids, but if you put them in the wrong hands they will do whatever you train them to do,” she said. “because of the breed and stigma they are still trying to ban the dogs inOnslowCounty. there should be more laws in place to protect the dogs but I don’t think they should be banned.”

Originally fromMichigan, Porter grew up with a love for dogs, cats, reptiles and other creatures. she first started dog rescuing after moving toColumbus,Ohio, where she says dog fighting was a growing issue. it was also where she got her first Doberman and began providing professional and private training to other dog owners.

“Pit bulls and Dobermans have been my favorite for a long time,” Porter said. “I was never allowed to have big dogs growing up so when I got my first Doberman I was really excited.”

After moving toJacksonvillein 2008, she began networking with local rescue organizations and visiting animal shelters to train animals with behavioral issues and increase their adoption success.

“usually as far getting dogs, a lot of Dobermans come as surrenders and people can’t keep them because we live in a military town and they are not accepted as much,” Porter said. “Now I’m striving more to get dogs from shelters because around here a lot of the dogs don’t really get a chance.”

There are currently 12 dogs available for adoption. Potential owners must apply and agree to in home evaluations and recommendations from a vet if they have other animals. each dog receives required medical treatment from Manageable Misfits, including dhlpp, rabies and bordatella vaccines and are spayed, neutered and receive microchip implants.

“they can contact me on the website and I take them out to the park every Sunday so people can see them,” Porter said.

Porter says that like any other breed, Dobermans and pit bulls need love, attention and respect from owners during training.

They can also become excellent service dogs, detecting depression, anxiety, balance issues, symptoms of epilepsy and diabetes related illnesses. Onyx, a gentle 2- year-old Doberman is just one of her successful service dogs.

“We’ve had really good success as far as rehabilitation,” Porter said. “Our main goal is to look forward to providing more certified service dogs so that can be at apartments and deal with things like depression.”

In addition to training the dogs, Porter provides food, grooming and veterinary services for the dogs out of her own pocket and through donations until Manageable Misfits receives its 501 (c)(3) tax exempt status. Foster homes are also needed for the animals, and potential foster parents can apply and go through a home evaluation process to qualify.

“the thing I need most help with is foster homes if you can’t adopt a dog or you are thinking of adopting a dog but not sure one kind and that gives them an opportunity to test the dogs out without issues,” she said. “if anyone wants to come and take the dogs for a walk or bring their kids to play with them if they can’t have a dog, they are welcome to come anytime.”

To help raise funds for the rescue, she also provides services as a photographer and plans to host several fundraising events to keep the rescue in operation. she also compiled photos of her favorite dogs over the years to write her book titled “Manageable Misfits.” all proceeds from the book go directly to the rescue. Porter said she is willing to do what it takes to provide for the dogs and encourage the community to help give pit bulls, Dobermans and other rescued dogs another chance at life.

“I do as much as I can to help and now I need help from other people,” Porter said. “I don’t want people to have to cross the street when they see them anymore.”

WANT TO HELP? Manageable Misfits is in need of volunteers and foster homes for dogs. there are currently 12 dogs available for adoption. Monetary donations as well as food, toys and other supplies are always accepted. For more information, visit manageablemisfits.com, call 517-294-0366 or email sask9nc@gmail.com.

DOG bites are on the rise but should we crack down on specific breeds or target careless owners?

IN the early 1800s the dog breeders of Britain faced a dilemma. Parliament had banned the old blood sports of bull and bear baiting to end the cruelty of letting dogs rip into trapped animals. yet watching dogs fight – each other, or rats in a pit – was still immensely popular.

So breeders developed another fighting dog, one that was tough, determined, well-muscled but designed to be submissive to humans in case its handlers had to step in. it became known as the pit bull terrier.

Fast forward to 2011 and the submissive qualities seem to have been forgotten. Today, "pit bull" is shorthand for an aggressive, dangerous dog. In a horrific attack in August, four- year-old Ayen Chol was mauled to death in her

Melbourne home by a pit bull cross, and this week a man was charged over the attack.

Ayen’s death provoked outrage and prompted the Victorian government to immediately strengthen laws which will require unregistered pit bulls to be destroyed. There were even calls to ban the breed entirely. here, the Weatherill Government is also considering tougher laws – but has yet to reveal its plans.

A solution may not be so easy to find. Is the problem the breed of dog, or the way the owners treat them? around the world, countries have different approaches. Italy and Holland in recent times have lifted bans on restricted breeds because the laws have been ineffective. instead, they are concentrating on punishing owners who mistreat animals.

In Australia, despite steps taken to control so-called dangerous dogs, the number of dog bite injuries is on the rise, and most attacks are by family pets. In the wrong hands and the wrong circumstances any dog can be a weapon.

AT the Hahndorf Animal Shelter kennel manager Robyn Page sees first-hand what humans can do to dogs. She has taken in dogs that have been badly beaten, starved, encouraged to be aggressive and dogs that have just been abandoned. Dogs such as Alexis and Shyloh. both are around 12 months old although it’s hard to be precise because they were dumped and left to fend for themselves. both are lucky. they ended up at the Page’s shelter, a kind of nirvana for discarded, neglected and abused dogs who need a second chance in life. If they had ended up in a council pound they would be dead by now.

The shelter rehoused a record 245 animals last year. Dogs can be big, boisterous and expensive to keep and Page says some people simply choose to abandon their pets when they lose that puppy cuteness. "People love the cute," she says. "but they don’t love it when they become like teenagers and act all gangly and disobedient."

But there may be something else happening as well.Alexis and Shyloh are part of a trend. As many as 40 per cent of the dogs at the shelter are, like them, staffy crosses – a mix of staffordshire bull terrier and something else. Alexis has some mastiff thrown in. No one is sure about Shyloh. the numbers are not unique to this particular shelter. the RSPCA reports staffies and kelpies are the two breeds most often dumped by uncaring owners.

One theory as to why so many dogs end up on the streets is that staffies are being lumped in with perceived dangerous dogs such as the demonised American pit bull terrier. the staffy shares certain breeding characteristics and history with the pit bull and there is a physical resemblance to the untrained eye.

Like all dogs, Page says, staffies can be the product of their environment. If they are mistreated and abused the dogs will likely have "baggage". the key is love and respect. "the problem with some of the dogs that come here is they have not been socialised," Page says. "If you lock them up in the backyard, don’t take them for walks, they don’t see much of the world."

Both Shyloh and Alexis turned up at the shelter in July. when they arrived they displayed many of the symptoms of the unloved dog. they were aggressive, suspicious and jumpy. they didn’t like one another, they would fight. Three months later it seems a

personality transplant has taken place. At first glance, there is no doubt that there is something scary about these dogs. they are powerful, with muscular shoulders, triangular heads and strong jaws. If they wanted to, they could inflict severe damage.

And yet Alexis and Shyloh today carry all the threat of an angry goldfish. they play with each other, come and sniff and seek affection, and generally gambol about. Page hopes they will find good homes soon.

The reputation of dogs like these is also undermined by the human company they keep. Dogs such as pit bulls and staffies are popular breeds among gangs like the bikies. the pit bull in particular has acquired a reputation as a menace to society.

ONE staffy terrier owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, says attitudes to her dog hardened considerably after the Victorian tragedy. "Since the attack people have been abusing me on the street, picking up their dogs and children, muttering horrible things about me and my dog under their breath and crossing to the other side of the road," she says.

"Usually people have a giggle at her when we are walking as she is such a sook she lies on her back in submission to even small fluffy dogs. but now the owners of these small fluffy dogs think she is going to attack and kill their dogs."

Sue Swalling, a fierce advocate for her staffies, lives in Callington. She has owned the breed since 1966 after seeing one in the pet shop at Harrods department store in London. She has let her children play with them and now lets the grand kids do the same.

It’s a true and enduring love. "In all the years I have had one, I have not had a dog in any way be aggressive to me," she says. "I have not had one with a mean bone in its body."

The State Government is considering whether it needs to follow Victoria’s example and change the law on dangerous dogs. Environment Minister Paul Caica has received advice from the Dog and Cat Management Board but would offer no comment on the government’s likely position. the issue of uniform national laws for dangerous dogs is also on the agenda for a meeting of the state and federal attorneys-general later this month in Launceston.

There are currently five restricted breeds of dog in South Australia. this means severe limitations are placed on them. they must be desexed, microchipped and must wear a muzzle and be restrained in public. the dogs cannot be bought, sold, or given away. There is a $2500 fine for any breach.

The restricted breeds are the American pit bull terrier, the Brazilian fighting dog fila brasileiro, the Argentine dogo, Japanese tosa and the perro de presa canario, another fighting dog. According to official records the only restricted breed currently in South Australia is the pit bull, of which there are 103 registered. several years ago an Argentine dogo was found in the Riverland but it had been imported from new Zealand and the owner believed it was something else.

All dogs, regardless of their breed, can be dangerous to some extent. the SA Dog and Cat Management Board says there were 535 recorded dog attacks in the 2000-01 year. By 2009-10 that had almost doubled to 994 out of a registered dog population of around 295,000. That was a slight dip on the previous year’s figure of 1058 attacks. What isn’t collated in SA is the breed of dog involved.

The board also tracks the number of hospitalisations. In the 2009-10 year 220 people visited hospital because of dog bite injuries. around a quarter of them were to children under 10, which suggests the family pet, rather than wandering dogs, were responsible. There has not been a fatal dog attack in South Australia since 1987 when four bull terriers killed a 17-month old boy.

A NSW government report published in may pinpointed staffordshire bull terriers and german shepherds as the dogs most likely to be responsible. However, these are two of the most popular breeds in NSW and if the attacks are viewed as a proportion of the overall dog population they fall to 9th and 12th.

Looked at that way, the dogs most likely to attack are pit bulls. According to the NSW statistics, 1 in 76 pit bulls will attack. other popular breeds in the top five are the mastiff, the American staffordshire terrier and the bull mastiff.

But the value of these numbers has been questioned. Ben Luxton, executive officer of the SA Dog and Cat Management Board, says his body does not collect these figures because identifying dog breeds, especially when relying on a person who has being attacked, is unreliable. "If there is a lot of emotion involved you don’t necessarily have a positive identification of the dog," Luxton says. "Do I question the stats coming out of new South Wales? yes, I do."

The identification of American pit bull terriers is highly complicated. Luxton says pit bulls are not recognised as a breed, they are a type. this means it is left in the hands of dog inspectors who judge temperament, muscle formation, physical appearance and jaw power to decide if a dog is a pit bull. it is then up to the dog’s owner to prove that it is not a restricted dog.

The question of what is and what is not a pit bull is causing a great deal of angst in Victoria since the laws were changed after the death of Ayen Chol. Council officers can now seize and destroy any dog they believe to be an unregistered pit bull or cross.

Vets are now being asked by owners to verify that their dogs are not pit bulls and the president of the Victorian division of the Australian Veterinary Association Susan Maastricht says many in the profession are worried about issues of legal liability when it comes to identifying dangerous dogs.

"We are all a bit twitchy about this at the moment," she says. the biggest concern is what happens if a vet declares a dog is not a restricted breed but subsequently attacks someone and is found to be a pit bull. DNA tests are unreliable because no genetic profile of the pit bull has been built because the dog is a product of so many different breeds. In the case of cross breeds the problem becomes even more murky. "At information sessions for vets we have all been saying, ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do about this?’," she says.

The usefulness of breed specific laws is now being questioned in the United Kingdom and the United States. the Netherlands recently repealed its legislation after 15 years as did Italy. Holland has moved to enforce stricter laws on leashing dogs and increased education for dog owners. It’s an approach that judges dogs by their behaviour rather than their breed.

Simon Hallsworth, Chair in Social Research in the Department of Applied Social Science at London Metropolitan University, recently published a paper theatrically called Then they came for the dogs, which blames knee-jerk policy making by the government, and media hysteria, for demonising pit bulls.

"Since the late 1980s, when the pit bull first came to public attention, this canine has found itself the object of an official campaign that has as its stated aim the wholesale destruction of the pit bull as a breed," Hallsworth says. "Not to put too fine a point on it, (it’s)

Britain’s very own attempt at a canine genocide."

The UK passed the dangerous Dogs Act in 1991 after a spate of dog attacks by rottweilers and pit bulls. According to Hallsworth, within five years of the Act being passed 1000 pit bulls had been killed. but in the 20 years since the act was brought in, dog bites in Britain have risen. Of nine fatalities caused by dogs in the UK since 2005 two have been attributed to pit bull types. "In all of these cases the dogs had been neglected or abused by their owners, allowed inappropriate, unsupervised access to small children, or left in the control of incompetent adults," he says. "the dog is often the victim of inhumane treatment; yet, the dog is always blamed and killed."

In Australia, Linda Watson, an academic at Monash University in Melbourne, says there have been 33 dog-bite-related deaths in this country since 1979 and only one of those was ascribed to a pit bull-type until the death of Ayen Chol.

Martin McKenna is one of Australia’s best-known commentators on dog behaviour. an Irishman who grew up with a pack of stray dogs, he now lives here and writes best-selling books on canine behaviour. "We sometimes go too far with the kinds of dogs we breed," he says. "American pit bull terriers in my opinion are a dangerous dog because they try to actively work you out, dominate and then take over," he says.

But it’s not just pit bulls that concern McKenna. most dog owners don’t understand the body language of their pet, he says. We are the two top predators yet we can’t communicate, he says. "this is where a lot of the aggression comes from."

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