Did you know that your local, self-proclaimed “progressive” shelter out in Wildomar, CA is actually a house of racism and killing? It has a cute name, “Animal Friends of the Valleys,” and through its name recognition actually comes off as more of a rescue than an actual shelter. Well, it’s a shelter, and they kill a lot, and they really make it near impossible for the Pit Bulls. Check out this “Pit Bull adoption policy.”

So anyone interested in a dog that this shelter deems to be in any way a Pit Bull must first be interviewed by the executive director of the shelter, they must then have a home check done, they must introduce their entire family to the shelter representative, they must have liability insurance, they must sign a “release of liability” form (okay, whatever), the dog cannot go into a home where any other animal resides and the dog cannot go into a home where any child under the age of 12 resides. Wow. You guys are unfair as hell.

I took a screen capture of all of the available dogs that are being displayed on their website at the time that I wrote this piece, therefore giving you a visual representation of how this policy plays itself out…

I don’t know about y’all, but just off of this image alone I notice numerous anomalies. Anomalies that don’t bode well when being viewed under a rational and ethical lens. I see dogs that are labeled as Pit Bull-mixes that might not be. I see dogs that are labeled as something else when they might be part Pit Bull. I see dogs looking nearly identical, where 1 is labeled as a Pit Bull-mix and the other is not. I see Rottweilers and Dobermans and German Shepherds and American Bulldogs and big Labradors that have no restrictions on their adoptions, while anything that is called a Pit Bull has tons. I’m certainly not advocating for those other dogs to have restrictions too, but instead for all dogs to be treated fairly and without this prejudicial profiling.

Worst of all, you see a pair of dogs that were surrendered together (row 7, image 1 & 2) where 1 is labeled a Pit Bull and the other is not… Going off of the AFV “Pit Bull adoption policy” alone it shows that there is no way that these 2 dogs could ever be saved from this shelter together, as the shelter’s policy clearly states that “Pit Bulls will not be placed in homes where other animals reside.” This pays no mind to the shelter’s own notes which say that both dogs (Bourbon and Brandie) are “kind” and “excellent” with each other and with kids.

Speaking of kids, this shelter’s policy also clearly states that “Pit Bulls will not be placed in homes with children under 12 years of age,” and yet many of their listed Pit Bulls at the time of this writing have notes saying how good they are with kids. So unfair.

The Animal Friends of the Valleys shelter is clearly neck-deep in unscientific, inconsistent profiling. And this act alone probably gets the majority of these innocent dogs killed. That’s an injustice and I’d argue that this shelter is openly violating state law and the statute that says you cannot discriminate by a breed or type of dog.