InformationCute as a pit bull?
Breed some think of as vicious does have a nice side
By Nathaniel Zimmer
staff writer
ELGIN — It would be difficult, maybe impossible, for opponents of banning pit bulls to find a better symbol for their cause than Joe Remijas' 4-year-old pit bull Taysia, a registered therapy dog who has brightened the days of the sick and elderly on more than 300 visits to a local hospital and a nursing home.
On Tuesday morning at Provena St. Joseph Hospital, Vivian Kruse, 73, lay in a bed in the comprehensive rehabilitation unit, the 47-pound Taysia at her side.
"She's my lover," said Kruse, who, when she's in better health, works the hospital's reception desk.
Looking very much the lady in a lavender sweater and feather boa, with the nails of her front paws painted Pompeii purple, Taysia leaned over and gave Kruse's cheek a good licking.
Just how much devotion pit bulls can inspire became clear Wednesday, when dozens of people, Remijas among them, crowded into the Elgin City Council chambers to oppose a ban on the breed, three weeks after the council first discussed the possibility.
Their passion and their arguments, combined with a deluge of e-mails from ban critics to council members, seem to have had an effect.
Councilman Robert Gilliam, who first proposed a ban after reading recent accounts of a pit bull attack that injured six people last year in Cary, backed away from the idea at the meeting. And on Friday, Councilwoman Brenda Rodgers, whose support for a ban had seemed firm, said her mind was not made up. Both said they would be looking into alternatives, including the possibility of increasing penalties for owners of problem dogs.
Rescued now a rescuer
Their apparent change of heart is sure to be welcome news at Provena St. Joseph and Rosewood Care Center, where Taysia and the talkative, affable Remijas, a 43-year-old postal worker, are regulars.
Remijas adopted Taysia from Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin, not long after she was found abandoned by the side of a road. Just 5 months old, her belly was covered in mange, and her ears had been cut off at her broad skull — either, Remijas guesses, as a result of a botched cropping or because her original owner was preparing her to fight.
On Tuesday, the idea of Taysia as a bloodthirsty killer seemed nothing short of comical, as one patient clapped her hands to her cheeks in delight when she spotted the dog's nails, another cooed, "You're beautiful, yes you are," and a nurse called out to a patient, "Your friend is here."
You could say Taysia took it all in stride, but for much of the visit, she lay draped over Remijas' lap while he rolled on a stool from one wheelchair-bound patient to another. People petted her, scratched her chin, grabbed her tail, leaned down to stare into her mournful eyes.
"I believe in dog therapy," said a patient, Julie, who declined to give her last name, as she reached for Taysia.
Lillie Hancock, 77, was all smiles after a brief visit. Did it brighten her day?
"It did!" she said.
A dog to share
When Remijas played drums on Taysia's side, then on her head for a moment, she hardly seemed to mind. When he or anyone else pushed a finger into one of her stubby ears, she closed her eyes contentedly.
Such docility, Remijas said, was what inspired him to get Taysia registered as a therapy dog. For Taysia, that meant passing the American Kennel Club's canine good citizenship test and a temperament test administered by Therapy Dogs International Inc.
"Once I got her home and saw how sweet she was, I had that thought," he said. "I just figured I might as well share her."
Maybe no one is happier that he decided to do so than Kruse and the other women who work the front desk at Provena. They bring Taysia dog treats every week.
"We all look forward to seeing her," Kruse said. "We just love that dog."
"It would be a shame if they were to ban pit bulls," she added.
Of course, not every dog is a Taysia, and not every owner is as conscientious as Remijas.
Some say action needed
At least in some areas of the city, you don't have to look too hard to find loose pit bulls. On Thursday afternoon, three dogs, at least two of them pit bulls and all of them unleashed, could be seen running up and down the sidewalk on Raymond Street as several men stood by.
Scenes like that have some council members saying that while a ban may not be a good idea, some kind of action is necessary.
"I think it's been clear that we need to make the owners more responsible for the actions of their dogs," Councilman Juan Figueroa said Friday.
City ordinance prohibits allowing a dog to run loose except on its owner's property.
Loose dogs can be impounded. To get them back, owners must pay $50, plus the cost of keeping the animal. In addition, officials can require the removal of a dog from the city if it bites people three times or if it is found running loose other than on its owner's property three times.
Violations of the city's ordinance governing dogs are punishable by fines of at least $50 for the first offense, $75 for the second offense and $100 for the third offense, according to the text of the ordinance.