If there’s anything this incredible story proves, it’s that you can’t a judge a dog by its breed. Back in 2016, this gentle pit bull, Wildflower, was roaming the streets of South Carolina as a homeless stray. By chance, she was spotted by Carol Skaziak, the founder of the Throw Away Dogs Project.
Lucky for Wildflower, this is an organization that helps dogs like her reach their fullest potential as working police dogs.
Throw Away Dogs Project, created in 2014, takes rescued dogs and trains them to become K9 police officers. Depending on the dogs’ qualities, instincts and nerves, they could end up being trained to detect explosives or narcotics, or they could fulfill patrolling needs such as tracking or protection.
In the case of Wildflower, Skaziak immediately saw her potential to work in the narcotics field.
Six months after being rescued, Throw Away Dogs Project made the announcement that Wildflower had become its first rescue pit bull police dog placement. This special pit bull is also the first rescued pit bull to become a K9 officer in Oklahoma and will be joining the Wetumka Police Department.
It didn’t take long for the newest K9 member of the squad to prove her value: Wildflower has already made her first drug bust! During a vehicle search at a routine traffic stop, she uncovered a plastic bag filled with a variety of narcotics. One of the drugs was later identified as meth.
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While Wildflower’s story has a happy ending, the sad truth is that too many pit bulls get unfairly categorized as aggressive and dangerous. As a result of unjust stereotyping, many pit bulls end up unadopted, with nowhere to go.
Thanks to organizations like Throw Away Dogs, the awareness of the huge potential these dogs have to make a difference in the world is being spread.
“A lot of folks just don’t take to pit bulls as well, or they have preconceived notions about the breed,” said Wetumka Police Department Chief Joe Chitwood during an interview with Fox 25 News. “She’s ours now. She’s here to serve our community and be an ambassador to the pit bulls here in this state.”
Have you ever been too quick to judge a pit bull and been proven wrong?