County Official Says Greenbelt Birthday Bash Glorifies Pit Bulls

Smack in the middle of a disagreement between Prince George’s Animal Management and the Greenbelt Animal Shelter, is a dying dog named Big Daddy, who reportedly has done nothing more aggressive than to have been born a pit bull.

This Saturday the Greenbelt Animal Shelter is holding a fundraiser — and a birthday bash for Big Daddy. 

This decision has evoked displeasure from the county, according to Celia Craze, Greenbelt’s Director of Planning and Community Development. Craze said she got a call about Big Daddy's bash from Rodney Taylor, associate director of Prince George’s County Animal Management Division.

“The complaint was that we were glorifying this pit bull when the county law is that pit bulls are illegal,” Craze said.

Although Taylor said he sees nothing wrong with the shelter raising funds for Big Daddy or trying to adopt him out of the county, he is concerned about the message a party for a banned breed would send.

“To parade a pit bull around is like promoting him,” Taylor said. “It’s almost like promoting the adoption of an illegal breed in the county.”

Taylor pointed out that pit bulls have been illegal to own in Prince George’s County since February of 1997.

Big Daddy is not the only disagreement between Greenbelt and the county's animal control officials. According to Craze, Taylor has also expressed problems with the shelter's Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for feral cats.

Craze alleged that as a municipality, Greenbelt has the authority to determine how it handles animal control issues such as its Trap-Neuter-Return policy.

Although Taylor said, "There is no tension between the County and Greenbelt," he does think the shelter's TNR authority has run out. He told Patch that he thought the Greenbelt City Council granted the shelter the authority to run its program for one year, and the shelter has carried the program on for four.

Craze thinks it unfortunate that Big Daddy is caught in the middle of tensions between the county and city over authority.

“It’s kind of sad, the bad rap he is getting,” said shelter volunteer, Teresa Maxwell. Big Daddy has been through a lot, yet he’s never shown aggression toward anyone, she said. “He doesn’t growl. He doesn’t bite.”

When the Greenbelt Animal Shelter found Big Daddy, he was an abandoned old pit bull with tumors — in a county that isn’t keen on his breed. Even after the shelter discovered he had lymphoma, they decided to keep him as long as he had a good quality of life. “He’s a big baby,” said Maxwell of the dog who has a growing fan base in Greenbelt.

At many shelters, any one of his issues might have put him first in line for euthanasia. But the Greenbelt shelter doesn't shy away from the hard cases, according to Craze. 

It euthanized only three animals last year and two cats that came through the shelter died, but they were sick when the shelter got them, Craze said. That is out of the more than 280 animals that have come into the shelter in the past fiscal year, according to Craze.

Some Greenbelters want to adopt Big Daddy, Craze said. Visitors drop by to see him regularly. But Craze said the shelter has honored the county’s code and has tried to find someone outside Prince George’s to adopt him.

Unfortunately, they’ve found no outsiders who want a 10-year old pit bull that is dying.

“Whatever happens to Big Daddy, he has a very short time left to him,” Craze said. And during that time he will have a birthday party. Craze said she’s not calling it off.

“We are not holding a party that glorifies a pit bull,” Craze said, adding that nothing on the shelter’s flyer states that he is a pit bull. She said the fundraiser is accomplishing several purposes, including: honoring Big Daddy; helping the shelter pay for the surgery and medical care of other animals that would likely not be adopted otherwise; and celebrating 1,000 likes on the shelter's Facebook page.

Whether Big Daddy will show up at the party is another matter. People will be disappointed if he doesn’t come, Craze said, but she’s not sure it’s worth the criticism. “I’ll decide on Saturday.”

Although Taylor may not agree with the concept of a party for a banned breed, he wrote Patch the county will take no action against the Greenbelt Animal Shelter if Big Daddy attends the festivities.