Sports By The Numbers MMA: Knock Out Dog Fighting - Part 1- Kris Crawford
http://www.sportsbythenumbersmma.com/2009/05/knock-out-dog-fighting-part-one.html
May 27, 2009
Zac Robinson
My neighbor owned a beautiful golden-brown pit bull. He wasn’t around much and didn’t take care of it. He routinely let it out unleashed and one day I found it on my front porch, just sitting. I didn’t know the dog’s name, but called to it. Reluctantly, it came and I petted her for a while. I headed to work and didn’t think much about it, but upon arriving home, there she was, sitting on the driveway. I sat down on the bench and she jumped on my lap. She just needed a little company.
This became our daily routine, and before long “Pretty” that’s what my wife named her because she was a beautiful dog, started following me to the car in the morning. She’d hop up on the door of my Geo Metro (it’s true I drove a Metro and I looked huge in it) and wait for me to roll down the window. I would, and then spend another minute or so petting her. Eventually, I’d tell her I had to go and she’d follow the car into the street. Every day I’d glance back as I turned the corner, and every day she sat in the street and watched me go.
Now when I’d arrive home she’d be curled up next to her water bowl on the porch and she’d meet me at the car. I’d have to tell her to get down in order to open the door. We’d play for a while and my wife and I talked about asking our neighbor if we could buy her. We already had two big dogs, but this pit bull was so sweet we were willing to make it three.
One day I watched Pretty in my rear view mirror and then turned the corner heading to work. When I returned I expected to see her trot up to my car door, but she wasn’t there. Her rug was vacant and her water bowl full, I called to her, but she didn’t come. I walked across the vacant lot to the neighbor’s house and noticed it had been cleaned out. He’d moved on and Pretty was gone. Of course we never saw her again and I can only hope she didn’t end up in a pit somewhere fighting for her life.
This was in Oklahoma City in 1997. We missed a chance to in essence save a pit bull. A handful of states to the west, California, Kris Crawford was not missing any chances as she founded For Pits’ Sake, a non-profit organization with the worthy goals of providing safety and educational programs for children and adults, assist in emergency situations, to dispel myths about the Pit Bull Terrier breed, and brighten the lives of others.
With her pit bulls at her side, Kris set out to help others and change the public’s perceptions of the breed. The process was slow, but little by little she gained traction. The years passed and Kris and her Pit Bulls, Cheyenne, Dakota, and Tahoe, helped more and more people in a variety of ways.
The search and rescue dog handler and her dogs responded to over 150 search missions, including some very high profile search efforts. In 2003, Kris and Dakota were hand picked by NASA and FEMA to be part of an elite team put together to search for American heroes - the astronauts that lost their lives in the February 1, 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Cheyenne, Dakota & Tahoe also spend time teaching dog bite prevention in schools and work with children who are mentally and physically challenged as well as battered and abused children. Kris’ pit bull’s are true ambassadors for the breed and have shown the public, legislators, public officials and the world that, when given the chance, the pit bull can be productive members of society.The many successes and work with those less privileged has led to numerous awards, including a Jefferson Award (The Nobel Prize for Public Service), the American Red Cross Real Hero Award, the United Animal Nations Animals Choice Award, the NSAL Heroism Award, a Certificate of Appreciation from the FBI, Letters of Appreciation from County Supervisors, State Senators and Assembly members, and a letter from the Governor of California stating that she and her dogs “demonstrate the true strength of California and represent the best of the Golden State.”
While Kris continued to demonstrate time and time again that when cared for properly, pit bulls were not the savage beasts of which they are so often described, she turned and walked the other way when she saw others who were portrayed in much the same light...MMA fighters.
Kris, who with good reason, is even more appalled than most by the cruel act of dog fighting, saw the sport as something similar. She’d begun For Pits’ Sake during the dark days of MMA, the time when Senator John McCain equated it to cock fighting and it was almost universally banned. She said, “I have to admit that not long ago whenever I saw MMA on television I would turn the channel thinking it was just a bunch of crazy monsters fighting in a cage.” She went on to say, "Although I knew nothing about MMA, I was judging it and forming opinions based on the hype on TV." Then I realized I was looking at MMA fighters and judging them the same way people look at and judge my breed of choice!
Fortunately, Kris is open-minded and willing to learn. The Michael Vick case brought a torrent of publicity on the criminal activity of dog fighting and it gave her the idea to further develop her campaign specifically to combat the cruel and inhumane activity.
Soon Knock Out Dog Fighting was formed and Kris realized that she needed the help of another much maligned group, saying, “Since I am waging war against dog fighting I need the best fighters ... that’s why I recruited MMA fighters to help!”
Check out PART TWO to read how Knock Out Dog Fighting and MMA Fighters have teamed up.
Article comments -
SavageScience.com: Kris is absolutely wonderful, as is the work she does with 'Knock Out Dog Fighting'. I'm a dog lover *and* a MMA 'media type' and if you want a good refutation for all of the 'scare tactic' articles about the sport just check out the many fighters that are helping Kris educate the public on the evil of dog fighting. I got hooked on boxing and later MMA due in large part to the toughness and heart of the competitors. Even the baddest MMA fighter has nothing on Kris in the 'toughness and heart' department--we at The Savage Science dot com stand at the ready to help her in any way we can! Kris is just one of the people that generally makes the world a better place--can't say enough good about her!
