I got this concerned email from Marsha, who is involved with the Long Island rescue Mixed Breeds in Need, to whom I have donated copies of The Dog Bible for their raffle.
Hello Tracie, I just finished listening to your radio talk show very early since I just returned from France. I looked up Camp Bow-Wow thinking it might be interesting to pursue information on a franchise. I have been contemplating opening a business that could help continue to raise funds for our animal rescue organization Mixed Breeds In Need. I thought this organization could be a potential candidate to invest in. Unfortunately when I went to the site with the camp rules I found ” Camp Bow-Wow doesn’t accept Pit Bulls” in rather large lettering in a paragraph that went on to explain why. I find any breed-restrictive rules very upsetting and this can only serve to continue all the misinformation (as you know) about the pit-bull breed that already exists. This is a growing franchise and has the potential to do more harm in sending bad messages to the public about the pit-bull breed. Since we are working directly out of the shelters of Nassau County we are dealing with the pit-bull situation on a daily basis. We have concentrated our last six months on getting pit bulls adopted through our organization and are now working on our fourth pit-bull adoption. We have been very successful with our campaign. I am worried about all bad press this included! Please help us stop all the bad press and let’s get some good stories out there.
P.S. They also require the Bordatella vaccine which you mentioned was potentially harmful.
Thanks for all your past help and for being an inspirational, gutsy and classy lady
I passed this question along to my friend Aimee Sadler, the Training and Behavior Director of the Longmont, Colorado Humane Society. She has done extensive work with pit bulls (one of which is her own beloved pit). She is also doing innovative work in shelter situations teaching how to allow groups of dogs loose to play together. She wrote:
We are all in agreement that Breed Specific Legislation and/or breed specific policies are not sound behaviorally, which is the expertise from where I speak. This issue is really not about pit bulls as dogs. This is a PR problem for a maligned type of dog in our society today and I applaud your sensitivity to their plight.
In my personal and professional experience, dealing with this issue is tough, to say the least. Many times I have seen well-intentioned folks make a huge mess for the dogs in the name of helping them. I’ve bungled this stuff, myself. It is a tight line to walk… to protect the dogs while trying to change public perception. There is no doubt that terrier drive is something to contend with, but to exclude any one breed for any one trait is off the mark in solving a problem. This much I have learned and now know unequivocally.
You’ve already experienced some tough criticism from those who attend to the issue too emotionally. It is important to remain focused on well-thought and meticulous solutions that can (and should) bring opposing minds together through sound behavioral information to societal reform. The latter is truly the only viable solution and it is a tall order.
Helping to guide successful businesses, such as Camp Bow Wow, towards language that does not accuse the dogs but acknowledges the societal issue might be a better start for the dogs. This is something I need to remain mindful of in my own work as I continue to teach shelters how to allow dogs to play in groups. While I am comfortable and able to work through many dog-dog social issues (no matter the breed), I need to remain cognizant. The LAST thing I would want, in the name of increasing the quality of life for shelter dogs, would be for an unintended consequence to occur for any one breed of dog due to a fight. This is the sad reality of today… why we advise adoring and responsible pit owners to keep their dogs away from public dog parks. If a fight ensues, no matter who started it, if a pit is involved it will become headline news. The media is not the friend of pit-bull-type dogs in this day and age. Addressing this issue in the media makes me extremely uncomfortable — which is no offense to you as media — just trying to answer to your questions and concerns thoughtfully and honestly.
So then I passed the original letter from Martha on to Heidi Flammang, the CEO of Camp Bow Wow who had just been my radio guest. Her reply was in depth, thoughtful and caring that I wanted to include it in its entirety.
I finally have some quiet time tonight to respond to your email. First of all, please know that I am completely committed to the safety, health and happiness of every kind of dog. I built my business and my Foundation on improving the lives of our furry friends worldwide, just as you did. I greatly appreciate your passion and commitment to animals as well, and believe we are both focused on all the right things in the world of pups!
When considering policies for our Camps, the company has to consider first and foremost the safety and health of our Campers, second the wishes of our human clients, third the wishes of our 200 franchise owners and finally, the public opinion of our our well respected and highly regarded brand.
On the canine cough issue and bordatella vaccinations I have attached the AAHA Vaccine Guidelines. While I am sure there are veterinarians that do not recommend the vaccination, or any vaccinations for that matter, the attached document is considered standard of practice among the majority of veterinarians in our country. While we all agree the vaccination is outdated and lacks coverage of a portion of the bacteria (there are over 12 strains of bacterial and viral sources) causing respiratory illness in dogs, it’s far better than not vaccinating in preventing outbreaks in group housing environments. We do, however, require that Campers receive the vaccination at least 5 days before coming to Camp due partly to the vaccine induced canine cough symptoms that occur in a very small number of dogs.
Dr. Michael Lappin at CSU is one of the top infectious disease specialists in the animal world. He recommends Bordetella vaccination for dogs housed in group environments like shelters, day care, and boarding facilities. I trust him and his world-renowned staff to help guide us at Camp Bow Wow in treating and preventing canine cough at our Camps. His team is leading our effort to improve the current vaccination and look at preventative measures for canine cough in our Camps and kennels nationwide. Dr. Lappin said he is happy to discuss the issues with you via phone if you would like me to arrange an introduction.
On the pit bull issue, I respect your opinion — and the opinion of your readers. This is a policy that has been carefully considered and evaluated since we opened our first Camp 8 years ago. We have a very stringent application and interview process for our Campers — all dogs must pass this before entering our group play environments — and about 10% don’t make it due to excessive possessiveness, territorial and fear aggression. I would be glad to walk you through that process and our policies for monitoring our Camps — and have you come to Colorado so I could walk you through a Camp live. Our Camps have an incredible safety record and we hold our franchisees to the highest standards in caring for our Campers (including recording all play yard activity on our live web cams for review at a later time). Our strict policies are a key reason customers are so loyal to our brand.
From a PR perspective, I think it would be a tragedy if there were a fight involving a Pit Bull at our Camps that resulted in a serious injury — guess who gets the blame and bad press, regardless of who started it? The Pit — regardless of whether it’s the right reaction or not by the media and the public. It could do more harm than good to impact public opinion for the plight of the Pit Bull. We do have a reference list at each Camp of local competing facilities that are better equipped to accept the breeds as they do not utilize an open play concept.
Our franchisees have made the decision, due to pressure from clients nationwide that (right or wrong) they don’t feel comfortable having their dog play in a group that includes certain breeds. It may be all perception, but unfortunately our clients perceptions are our reality at the Camp level. We can certainly work to change that — and revisit the language on our web site to be less politically volatile. There is a lot of misinformation about the breed, but based on our actual experience in the play yards at the Camps for 3 years before we made this decision, we decided it was best not to risk it further. We had many incidents with Pits at the Camps. Not ALL Pits had issues in a group play environment, but it became enough of an issue, and we lost enough clients due to their fears for their own dogs, that we opted to go with our current policy. I think you understand based on the section regarding Pits on your web site:
The potential for danger in a Pit Bull can be higher than other types of dog because:
* Pits have a strong drive to chase things
* They have an intolerance towards other dogs (or smaller animals like cats)
* Pits can be unable to control their excitement level, “losing” themselves if they get too wound up — even when playing
* If a Pit Bull decides he is going to attack something, there is nothing that can stop him once he gets going.
All that being said, Aimee Sadler has worked with us on many occasions here at Camp Bow Wow — specifically with the 26 Greek street dogs we brought over from Greece. I highly respect her and know Aimee has done a tremendous job dealing with the pit bull issue. We also have a relationship with Cesar Millan and his team — he recently spoke at our annual franchisee meeting — and are working on some initiatives with his foundation around rehabbing of shelter dogs to make them more adoptable and social — specifically pit bulls. If there is a way we can integrate the breed into our brand while protecting the interests I’ve mentioned above we are certainly open to it, but not without long careful consideration, updated training for our Camp staff and a comfort level among our 100,000 clients nationwide. We answer to them first and foremost. So this is less of an issue about how we feel about Pit Bulls — it’s more of a business issue related to managing our human and furry clients needs and wishes about how we operate our Camps. We have over 100,000 clients nationwide that support our policies and come to our Camps because of them, and unfortunately in order to test the theory that it’s not about the Pit Bull breed, we’d have to use our Camps as the test ground for that — with clients that have strong opinions about the policy. Our policy is based on actual experience allowing all breeds in the first 3 years we ran the business. It didn’t fare too well.
Aimee Sadler continued her comments:
So…with regards to Camp Bow Wow, I think offline conversations about language should be the starting point. From the letter you wrote, I would assume Heidi will be responsive and open to some options. Although, from a business standpoint, I can understand her dilemma (even though the policy is not behaviorally sound). Their website needs work, no doubt. She needs to explain that her corporate policies are to protect maligned breeds as much as to attend to client’s needs. She could certainly come from the standpoint that you described… that she wouldn’t “want a pit to be the fall guy for a dog-dog issue.” Public perception is a current reality we must sadly acknowledge and face. Better language should help bridge the initial gap. Bottom line — and there is plenty of statistical back — up for this position: the dogs are not the problem. After we pass this dilemma there will be another one down the line for another breed, and history proves it. Again, hope this helps.
And Heidi had the last word — and it was quite gracious:
Tracie I’m happy to review our policy with our franchisee advisory council, and reach out to some behavioral experts (including Aimee) we work with again to revisit the issue, but ultimately I will follow their wishes. Perhaps there is a middle ground we can come to that will allow us to maintain our industry’s top tier standards without implying anything too prejudicial at the expense of any animals, especially those that already face a tough battle due to public perception. In the meantime, I’ll continue to focus on supporting the Pit Bull breeds through our foundation’s rescue effort and supporting shelter rehab programs like Aimee at Longmont and Nick at Table Mountain in Golden are implementing.
