A petition calling for a local animal shelter to change its adoption policies is gaining attention on social media. The Copperas Cove Animal Shelter currently has a policy in place that does not allow restricted breeds to be adopted out into the public. Those include pit bulls, rottweilers and chows.
Brittany Weimert, an animal advocate with Save A Pet Copperas Cove, believes that is not okay.
"Pit bulls get a bad rap. A lot of people mislabel the breed but any dog that can pass a behavior test should be able to be adopted," Weimert said.
Save A Pet recently created a petition calling for a change, and it has already received close to 2,000 signatures.
"A lot of it is the Copperas Cove residents stepping forward and saying we want these dogs. We're going to other shelters to adopt these dogs when we could be saving dogs within our own city, if they just gave us a chance," said Weimert.
Right now, only rescue groups can adopt these breeds from the shelter.
In January 2018, the city saw five dangerous animal orders based on attacks, two by pit bulls, two by rottweilers and one carried out by an American Bully.
"The frequency of these breeds being involved in attacks coupled with the amount of damage they can inflict led to our decision to restrict their adoption in our community," Copperas Cove Deputy Chief Brian Wyers said.
But Weimert said it is not fair to judge an entire breed based on a few animals.
"Any animal with a mouth can bite, so to just say that it's these dogs is unfair," said Weimert.
Weimert plans to deliver the petition to the mayor and city council members, after getting some more signatures.