
More than 2,000 people from across the United States and Canada gathered at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 3, for the One Million Pibble March, a rally to speak out against Pit Bull discrimination and abuse.
Supporters carrying signs and banners with messages like “Educate Don’t Discriminate,” “Keep Calm and Love Pit Bulls” and “Ban Ignorance, Not Our Dogs” marched from five locations in D.C. and converged at the Capitol to lend their voices to the cause.
Guest speakers included Leah Brewer, owner of Elle, the American Humane Association's American Hero Dog of 2013; Jamie Buehrle, wife of Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, whose family was forced to live apart because of a Toronto breed ban; Roo Yori, the owner of Hector, one of Michael Vicks’ rehabilitated dogs, and the late Wallace, whom he wrote about in the New York Times best-sellerWallace; and Officer Kelly Steinhorn of the Baltimore Police Department, who rescued her Pit Bull, Pretzel, from a violent and abusive life in the streets.
Noticeably absent from the march were Pit Bulls themselves. Actress and comedian Rebecca Corry, the organizer and creator of the march and founder of Stand Up for Pits, made the controversial decision to not allow participants to bring Pit Bulls for practical, safety and moral reasons.
“Simply put, dogs cannot change laws, the U.S. Capitol is not a dog park and this is not an opportunity to make it one,” she wrote on The Huffington Post. “This is an opportunity for humans to be their voice.”
The Inspiration Behind the Event
The momentous event wouldn’t have been possible without Corry, who created and organized the march in honor of her rescue Pit Bull, Angel. Angel was horribly abused and was saved from the streets of Los Angeles, where she was used as a breeding and bait dog. Corry adopted Angel from a rescue and says the dog has changed her life.
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