A Day's Toll is 6 Pit Bulls

Huntsville City Schools is taking the first steps to shed a 37-year-old federal desegregation order. The system’s

attorney, though, warns that after years of federal scrutinyand potential upheaval to achieve “unitary status,” the

school board may not get the result it wants. “It is going tobe painful, and it is going to be disruptive,” says J.R. Brooks.

Do westill needthe feds to walkus toschool?

Sonnie Hereford IV holdshis father’s hand in 1962after troopers stoppedthem from entering FifthAvenue Elementary School.Soon, though, Hereford became the first blackstudent in Huntsville CitySchools. In 1970, a federaldesegregation order wasissued under which thecity’s schools still operate.

Huntsville Animal Services Director Karen HillSheppard is tired of the pattern she sees with the six or

so pit bulls brought into the shelter on a typical day.Many are mangy, malnourished, abandoned. Traits that

make these dogs so valuable – strength, tenacity, a“tough” reputation – also make them victims. Rarelyadopted because of their aggressiveness, most end up

having to be euthanized.

A day’s tollis 6 pit bulls

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Huntsville, AlabamaVol. 98, No. 185, 100 pagesContents © 2007, Huntsville Times

IN PARADE: A guide to helpyou through the confusing

task of selecting yourhealth benefits for 2008.Fall is open enrollment season for employer-

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IN LOCAL: A vicious circle of breeding and abandonment. PAGE A13

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Michael Foote of New Hope shows one of his pit bulls’ strength as it hangs suspended in theair by its teeth, where it will stay until he gives an order to let go of the rope. Foote, whoruns Mercy Kennels, takes his gentle dogs to nursing homes to cheer up residents. “Thesedogs are this way because they were raised in a good Christian home,” he tells people whoequate pit bulls with viciousness. For a story on the positive side of the breed, see A13.

“You don’t have manyopportunities to developa business school fromscratch,” says Dr. DavidBillings, who’ll retire as

dean of the newlyrenamed UAH College

of Business Administration. “It is anentrepreneurial activity in academia,

and like most entrepreneurialventures, there’s a high risk.”

A recipe for successmixes UAH, business

IN BUSINESS: How the school grew. PAGE C1

IN LOCAL: How the federal order hampers local decisions. PAGE A13

The Times islaunching itsannual searchfor community

columnists.

Have anopinion?

IN FORUM, A23

Michael Cometa, accused ofvideotaping a nude teen girl in his

Huntsville office, and his seriously illwife die from self-inflicted gunshot

wounds in Baldwin County.

Psychologist in porncase, wife found dead

IN LOCAL: Trial was to begin Oct. 29. PAGE A19

The past is not forgotten atGrambling, where the memory ofEddie Robinson still looms large.

A proud history

IN SPORTS: A&M falls 31-6. PAGE B1

A senior Iraqi official says investigators have avideotape that shows guards from a private U.S.

security contractor shot at civilians withoutprovocation, killing 11 people last Sunday.

Blackwater under fire

IN NEWS: Diplomats avoid each other. PAGE A3, A5

Local&StateAlabama A&M celebrates homecoming week, A17 | Law & Order, A14 | Obituaries, A16 | Intersections, A15

A13The Huntsville Times | Sunday, September 23, 2007

On the NetWhere we breakmore news every

day of the year.

Take a rideBicycles will be cruising thestreets of downtown andold Huntsville this week-end. A Vintage & Cruiser Bi-cycle Ride is set for today at2:30 p.m. Those who wantto participate should meetin front of Huntsville Mid-dle School on Adams Streetby 2:15. The ride will be“conversationally paced”and will be through thedowntown and historicarea and around Big Springbefore stopping for malts atSonic. Families are wel-come and helmets are re-quired. For information, e-mail [email protected].

Road WatchTraffic is reduced to onelane eastbound on MonroeStreet near the Chamber ofCommerce.

Governors Drive

The right-hand, eastboundlane is closed from HarvardRoad to Montgomery Streetthrough Oct. 15. To viewGovernors traffic, visitwww.al.com/traffic.

Champ searchA weeklong competitionbegins near Priceville to seewho has the 2007 WorldGrand Champion among 700or so racking horsesbrought from 14 states toCelebration Arena. But it’snot all about horses. A15

Got ethics?A committee says all em-ployees at the Alabama De-partment of EnvironmentalManagement, and especiallyits top staff, should have an-nual mandatory ethicstraining. A14

Ditto driverWhat happened in the caseof the driver who plowedinto three parked cars July4 at Ditto Landing? A14

Helping handPat McMillion is a retiredteacher spearheading ef-forts to bring a one-roomschoolhouse to Burritt onthe Mountain. A14

SUV deathAn autopsy is planned onan 8-month-old girl founddead in her father’s SUV inMobile. Phong Tran, 27, ofMobile unintentionally leftKaleen Tran in his DodgeDurango after dropping offhis two other childrenThursday morning at LittleFlower Catholic School,said police spokesman Offi-cer Eric Gallichant. Tran re-alized that his daughter wasstill in the SUV when he re-turned to Little Flower at5:45 p.m. Thursday to pickup his children from after-school care, Gallichant said.

Contact usCity editor Shelly [email protected]

Regional editor Mike [email protected]

Blog with the TimesThe latest news:http://blog.al.com/breaking/

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Huntsville Scanner:http://blog.al.com/scanner/

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Special Reports:http://blog.al.com/ht/

Note: Thanks toChristineRichard for herresearch on the

life of Babs Roper.Christine, if you recog-nize some of your ownwords, it’s because theywere better than mine.

From a tiny apart-ment over a flowershop to one of ourbiggest homes, Frances“Babs” Roper’s life was a greatHuntsville story. Could it havehappened anywhere? If youknew her, you wouldn’t betagainst it, but it suits this citylike baby’s breath suits adozen roses.

When Nolan Roperbrought his young bride herein 1938, Huntsville was a tex-tile mill town of 13,000 peo-ple. Whitesburg Drive, wheretheir florist shop opened thatyear, was a gravel road.

“Martha Flemingused to ride her horseup from their farm,”Roper’s niece, BethCarter, rememberedFriday. She was refer-ring to another ofHuntsville’s storied pre-boom families.

When people talkabout Nolan and BabsRoper, the phrase“hard-working” comes

up early.“They were the workingest

people I’ve ever known,” long-time friend Nell Lackey saidFriday.

“Driven,” said another oldfriend.

After years of seven-dayweeks, the shop was turning aprofit, and in 1949 the Ropersbought a piece of land. It wasthe 7-acre “Old Cramer Place”on Franklin Street at Big CoveRoad.

The tract came with a land-mark home the couple re-stored, and they turned itsfields into giant nurseries. It’ssaid those colorful fields wereon many people’s route for aSunday drive.

If the land had a past, italso had a future. It wasn’tthrough making history.

Humana Corp. wanted toopen a for-profit hospital hereto compete with HuntsvilleHospital, and it wanted theRopers’ land to do it.

The corporation paid thecouple $1 million for the landin 1968. At the time, it was arecord price for a single pieceof property in Huntsville.

But Nolan Roper wasn’tjust a guy with a greenthumb. He took a seat on theboard of what would be Med-ical Center hospital.

Later, Roper would helpstart a bank in town known

as the Bank of Huntsville.When it was bought by Colo-nial Bankgroup, Roper got aseat on that board, too.

Meanwhile, the couplewere quietly buying otherproperty. Office complexesand apartment buildingsjoined their holdings.

Babs Roper took her hus-band’s seat on the bank boardwhen he died in 1981 and be-came the first woman to siton the board of ColonialBankgroup of Alabama. Itdidn’t take the bankers longto learn that she was as savvyas her husband.

Well into her 80s, BabsRoper still worked at theflower shop. She enjoyed herOrange Beach condominium,traveled widely and quietlysupported a host of local char-ities and institutions.

LEEROOP

Columnist

Joint trainingeffort may reversedoctor shortageBy STEVE DOYLETimes Staff [email protected]

A cure is in the works for acritical shortage of internalmedicine doctors in Huntsville.

Officials from HuntsvilleHospital and the University of

Alabama at Birmingham areworking together to launch anew internal medicine resi-dency training program atUAB’s regional medical cam-pus on Governors Drive.

Dr. Robert Centor, dean ofUAB’s Huntsville campus,said the three-year programcould admit its first residentsas soon as July 2009. It wouldbe tailored for medical schoolgraduates who want to work

as internists – doctors whospecialize in adult internalmedicine.

“We’re doing all the plan-ning with the assumptionthat we will figure out a wayto get the funding,” Centorsaid.

UAB’s Huntsville campusnow offers a three-year fam-ily practice residency for 36

Poor care and neglectbreed trouble, and thenpit bulls become victimsBy NIKI DOYLETimes Staff [email protected]

No. 24 doesn’t have a name. The black and white pit bull dog does-

n’t have a collar or any sort of ID. She’sone of six pit bulls that the Huntsville An-imal Shelter typically receives each day,and she’s one of the six that will be eu-thanized if her owner doesn’t claim her.

The mangy pit bull, with her one icyblue eye and one brown eye, won’t evenlet shelter workers touch her.

Dr. Karen Hill Sheppard, director ofHuntsville Animal Services, has tried. Shehas watched the black and white pit bullrecoil when her cage clicks open.

Sheppard said she’s tired of seeingthese dogs, who will be euthanized in aweek if they aren’t claimed, come intothe shelter with ticks and fleas, mange,worms - or worse.

It’s a pattern that Sheppard has seenemerging in the pit bulls that comethrough the shelter. The traits that makethese dogs so valuable – their strength,tenacity and reputation as “tough dogs”– also make them victims.

People tire of them after a while. Thenthey discard them.

“They’re doing it for fun,” Sheppardsaid as she closed No. 24’s cage, one ofseven cages that day holding neglectedpit bulls. “It’s such an evil thing to do. Hu-mans are so amazing, but when you hearabout this kind of thing, it makes you socynical.”

One of many No. 24, a pit bull that obviously was

used for breeding, just showed up at theshelter. There’s no way for shelter work-ers to tell if she was stolen, if she ran awayor if someone simply dropped her off.

Animal Services policy generally does-n’t allow the adoption of pit bulls becauseof the breed’s reputation as unpre-dictable and potentially aggressive dogs.

With adult pit bulls, it’s hard to know

for sure how they were raised and whatkind of temperament they have devel-oped, Sheppard said.

“If they do – for whatever reason – de-cide to display aggression, the differenceof a bite between a Chihuahua and a 50-pound pit bull is enormous,” she said.“People are still a bit intimidated some-times by adopting them.”

The shelter has limited slots foradoptable dogs, and workers have tochoose the most likely to go to a goodhome, she said.

The policy is also a safeguard for a citythat doesn’t want to be held liable for adog that injures someone, and for a shel-ter that doesn’t want to take the chanceof adopting a dog that could hurt some-one.

Even more so, Sheppard said, shedoesn’t want to see a pit bull fall into thehands of an owner who wants the dogfor the wrong reason. Sheppard wasn’t

director when the policy was developed,but she understands its intent.

“It’s so easy to say it’s policy,” Sheppardsaid, “but very infrequently is a policy cre-ated for one particular reason.”

The number problemAre pit bulls inherently vicious? It de-

pends on whom you ask.Statistics compiled by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention showthat 60 percent of dog-bite fatalities werecaused by pit-bull types and Rottweilers.

The CDC data span 20 years of dog-bite reports from 1979 to 1998, but thecenter didn’t intend for its numbers tobe used as the basis for breed-specific leg-islation. According to the report, the datacould show a strong bias because bitesby certain breeds – pit bulls, Dobermansand Rottweilers – are more likely to be

Board memberslook at pros, consif step is takenBy CHALLEN STEPHENSTimes Staff [email protected]

In an effort to emerge fromits civil rights past, HuntsvilleCity Schools is taking the firststeps to shed a 37-year-old fed-eral desegregation order.

“It is going to be painful, andit is going to be disruptive,” at-torney J.R. Brooks told the cityschool boardT h u r s d a ynight, warningthat the boardcould be forcedto transfermany teachersand redrawschool zonelines.

Some boardmembers see areward in nolonger beingrequired to askthe Depart-ment of Jus-tice and theNAACP forapproval of where they want tobuild schools.

The first questions from theJustice Department could arrivein the next few days, Brooks toldthe board. “So the process be-gins.”

He said a majority of theboard has indicated that it is in-terested in pursuing the matter.

But there has been no vote ofthe school board, no formal ac-tion and no public commitment.

“I would say that the boardhasn’t voted on anything,”board President DougMartinson Jr. said Friday. “Wehave not authorized the boardattorney to do anything. The

Please see DOGS on A19

Please see MEDICINE on A17

Please see SCHOOLS on A17

Please see ROOP on A17

Babs didn’t wait on opportunity, created own


Dr. Nancy Blevins of the University of Alabama at Birminghamfaculty watches as first-year intern James Morrison examinesa patient at the Huntsville clinic.


Officer Virgie Graham of Huntsville Animal Services picks up a pit bull off GlasgowRoad in north Huntsville to take it to the local shelter to wait for its owner toclaim the dog.

Ellen Hudson/Huntsville Times

Frances “Babs” Roper had livedin Huntsville since 1938.

Schoolsmay tryto shedthe feds

J.R. Brooks isthe attorneyfor the cityschool sys-tem.

Aggressivedogs oftenvulnerableat the end

Huntsville Times

Governors Dr.Mem

orial Parkw

ay

Bob Wallace Ave.

Harvard R

d.

Gallatin S

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Saint Clair Ave.

S

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Eastboundlane closed

Program puts focuson internal medicine

reported.Yet the three breeds classi-

fied as pit bulls regularly scoreabove the norm, an 81.5 per-cent passing rate, during tem-perament testing, according tothe American TemperamentTesting Society.

The nonprofit associationtested about 215 breeds andmore than 27,000 dogs as ofDecember. American Pit BullTerriers have an 84.1 percentpassing rate. AmericanStaffordshire Terriers have an83.9 percent passing rate, while85.2 percent of StaffordshireBull Terriers pass the test.

It’s difficult to say, though,how a pit bull will react in everysituation based on a 12-minutetest, said Madison County An-imal Control Director MikeFritz.

“The natural programmingof the pit bull is to fight,” Fritzsaid. “People do talk about theloyalty of the dog. That’s all partof the design of that breed.”

Pit bulls are specifically brednot to be aggressive toward hu-mans, Fritz said. They wereoriginally bred to fight otherdogs, and the rules of dog-fighting dictate that dog own-ers must be able to control theirdogs.

“Yes, there are people whoare hurt and mauled, but that’sprobably bad breeding as op-posed to the natural instinctsof the dog,” he said.

Fritz gets calls at least onceat a day about roaming pit bulls,and some days county animalcontrol officers have to pick upas many as eight.

People buy the dogs withoutdoing any research on themand later dump them becausethey’re not what they expected,Fritz said.

“They don’t know whatthey’ve got,” he said. “I think alot of people get them as a sta-tus symbol.”

Bred for violenceMany people buy pit bulls

because they look tough, saidChrissy Barribeau, a dog train-er at Huntsville ObedienceTraining Club.

But just because the doglooks tough doesn’t mean it cansurvive being tethered by aheavy chain in a barren back-yard.

Socialization is key for anydog, Barribeau said, but it’s crit-ical for pit bulls to be aroundother dogs when they’re young.Like shepherds are born toherd, pit bulls are born to fightother dogs.

“I don’t think a pit bull is anyharder to train than anotherdog, but they do have certaintraits that have to be workedwith,” she said. “Ignoranceplays a big role in what’s hap-pening with pit bulls.”

That ignorance of basic dogcare results in neglected dogs,said Gwen Ralph, a local vol-unteer for the nonprofit pit-bullrescue group Turtle Moon.

The lack of socialization andneglect, combined with in-breeding – a technique thatdogfighters use to make theirdogs more aggressive – createsviolent, unstable pit bulls,Ralph said.

Although many of the dogsRalph sees are docile or can berehabilitated, the Lineville-based rescue group occasion-ally has to send some dogs tobe destroyed.

Ralph said five 12-week-oldpuppies were euthanized thisyear because of their aggressivetendencies, a trait that shouldnot appear in puppies thatyoung.

“It’s just like with humans,”Ralph said. “When you start in-breeding, you have genetic de-

fects.”The inbred viciousness is a

trait sought by people whowant the dogs as status sym-bols or macho accessories, saidMichael Foote, a New Hoperesident who owns six pit bullsand seven pit-bull puppies.

Often, Foote said, those peo-ple get the mean dogs they’relooking for – at the expense ofthe dogs.

“No dog is born vicious. It’smade that way,” he said. “Canyou look at me and rationallysay, ‘I believe every single oneof these dogs have developedsome congenital disease to beaggressive toward people’?”

That’s the perception, Footesaid, and policies such as thatof Huntsville Animal Servicesdon’t help the stigma.

But Sheppard said it’s notjust a pit-bull problem. Theshelter receives about 9,500animals a year, and more than7,000 of those animals have tobe destroyed, some because oftemperament, others becauseof illness, age or simply the shel-ter’s lack of space for so manydogs.

No place to call homeTurtle Moon has seen 126 pit

bulls this year. More than 339people have contacted the non-profit wanting to adopt – ordump – a pit bull.

The group’s adoption ratehovers around 20 percent.

The application process is sostringent, Ralph said, thatsome applicants have said it’seasier to adopt a baby than apit bull.

“We’re just picky aboutwhere our babies go,” she said.

The rescue group watchesfor red flags in its applications,

such as people who want a dogthat hasn’t been spayed orneutered, or applicants who listthe dog’s primary home as abackyard.

Both the rescue group andHuntsville Animal Servicesperform temperament testingon the dogs if they’re being con-sidered for adoption.

“Our goal is to never put abad dog back in society,” Ralphsaid.

Huntsville Animal Servicesallowed five American bulldogsto be adopted in 2006 afterthey passed the Safety Assess-ment for Evaluating Rehom-ing, or SAFER, temperamenttest.

The test measures the dog’sresponse to situations involvingpeople, other dogs and cats.

“We’re very careful whenwe do these tests,” Sheppardsaid. “Even if the dog tries to killthe cat, that doesn’t mean wewon’t adopt it. We just warn thepeople about what they’re get-ting into.”

Dogs a liability?Sept. 12, Huntsville – A pit

bull escapes from its home onBlue Spring Road and kills apoodle on nearby ShadowLawn Drive.

Aug. 24, Anniston – A 51-year-old woman ends up in in-tensive care after four pit bullsattack her near Blue Mountain.

July 29, Huntsville – Agrandmother is seriously in-jured when her neighbor’s pitbull attacks her, leaving bitemarks on her arms and hands.

June 8, Golden Springs – Awoman has to get 60 stitches inher leg after a pit bull attacksher and her poodle during anafternoon walk.

It’s a mystery why thesedogs choose to bite, but toRalph at Turtle Moon Rescue,it’s no surprise that more bitereports are showing up in thenews.

There are too many pit bullsacross the country, she said,and more dogs means more at-tacks. “I used to get really upsetbecause the shelter euthanizedmost of those dogs, but theydon’t have the resources toscreen all these people,” shesaid. “I would rather see themeuthanized than sold to fight-ers.”

It’s hard to know where allthese dogs come from andwhere they go, said Fritz andSheppard of the county and cityanimal services. Adding to theuncertainty is the theft of pit-bull puppies, which investiga-tors with the Huntsville PoliceDepartment estimate are stolenevery other week or so.

Sgt. Wayne West, an inves-tigator with the west precinct,said it’s hard to find the truthbehind these thefts.

“Whenever we have a dogtheft, it’s almost always a pitbull, and usually a puppy,” hesaid. “But other property can’tget up and walk off. We don’t

know if it got up and ran awayor someone stole it.”

Solution to the problemVirgie Graham didn’t hear

much about pit bulls when hebecame a Huntsville AnimalServices officer 18 years ago.

But he sees them often now,roaming around town andtugging on chains in backyards.

He’s familiar with the signsof a pit-bull home – brokenchains around trees; stakes,bricks and even grocery cartsused to reinforce ragged chain-link fences.

That’s not the kind of homea pit bull should have, Grahamsaid.

“I think if we could get theinformation out, then we couldcut down on the pit-bull prob-lem, and on a lot of the city’sproblems with dogs,” he said.

It’s a matter of education, hesaid. That’s the key.

Graham’s other solution?Stop it.

Stop the breeding. Stop thedumping. Stop the fighting.

That’s Ralph’s solution, too.And Foote’s, and Fritz’s.

Legislation banning certainbreeds only adds to the prob-lem, they say. Irondale, Mid-field, Gadsden, Lannett, Or-ange Beach and Warrior haveeither banned the dog oradopted restraint require-ments.

This legislation only pre-vents responsible owners fromgetting the dogs, dog trainerBarribeau said.

And once responsible own-ers drop out of the picture, Bar-ribeau said, all that’s left are thepeople who have no regard forthe law.

So why should these peoplehave any regard for what theyconsider an accessory?

Another one goneIt’s been more than the five-

to seven-day grace period forNo. 24.

Shelter workers decide thather odd appearance – the mis-matched eyes, the missing fur,the scars and sagging skinfrom mothering many litters ofpuppies – won’t attract a fam-ily looking for a cuddly housepet.

The dog didn’t have a collar,and her owner never claimedher.

No. 24 is dead.

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DogsContinued from page A13

Huntsville AnimalServices shelter

Houses animals in thecity of Huntsville and Madi-son County, with the excep-tion of the city of Madison.

Entire shelter (includescats, dogs and other ani-mals)

Intake 9,595

Live release* 2,442

Live release rate 34%Euthanized

7,153

Pit bulls and pit-bullmixes

Intake1,058

Live release**185

Live release rate 21%Euthanized

873

* Includes adoptions,rescues and returns toowners

** Five American Bull-dogs passed temperamenttesting and were adopted.The other pit bulls weresent to rescue groups or re-turned to owners.

Numbers from 2006

Michael Cometawas psychologistin HuntsvilleBy DAVID FERRARAMobile Press-Register

MOBILE – A formerHuntsville psychologist facingchild pornography charges andhis wife killed themselves Fridayunder a Baldwin County beach-front home.

Michael Stephen Cometa,59, and Keri Cometa, 45, ofTrenton, Ga., died of self-in-flicted gunshot wounds underthe stilted duplex along FortMorgan Road, according toBaldwin County Sheriff’s Officespokesman Anthony Lowery.

Earlier that day, MichaelCometa failed to appear for anarraignment hearing in Madi-son County Circuit Court, his at-torney, Larry Morgan, said Sat-urday.

Cometa was accused of video-taping a nude 16-year-old girlin his office, Morgan said.

A report in The HuntsvilleTimes, citing the indictment,stated that the girl was under 16,and police said she was a client.

Cometa was charged in 2004with six counts of production ofobscene matter and one countof possession of obscene mate-rial. The charges did not allegethat Cometa had touched thegirl in a sexual way, Morgan said.

Cometa was free on bailpending his Oct. 29 trial. Pros-ecutors were prepared to rec-ommend that Cometa spendfive years in prison and five yearson probation, Morgan told TheTimes.

In March, after a bank fore-closed on Cometa’s Huntsvillehome and he filed for bank-ruptcy, he and his wife movedto Georgia, and he did notrenew his license to practice psy-chology, Morgan said.

“His life was absolutelyturned upside down as a resultof the whole incident,” Morgansaid. “He couldn’t practice, hishome was foreclosed, his wifewas seriously ill.

“He paid a big price for his in-volvement in this situation,” hetold The Times.

Cometa was the sole providerfor his wife, and “if he had goneto prison, there would be no-body there for her,” Morgan said.

Morgan said his client “wasvery remorseful and very con-trite” over the charges he faced.

He said he and Cometa weretrying to delay court action inthe criminal case while trying tohelp the victim win a declara-tory judgment from U.S. DistrictJudge Lywood Smith thatCometa’s malpractice insur-ance company should pay herdamages.

Cometa was arrested aboutsix months after his previouswife and secretary, Stephanie,31, committed suicide in No-vember 2003.

On the Web site therapis-tratings.com, where people cananonymously review therapists,three comments were aboutCometa. One was positive.

Another, posted by a 21-year-old named Courtney fromHuntsville, said she started see-ing Cometa when she was 16.

“He kept telling me I shouldbe a model,” Courtney wrote. “Tomake a long story short, oneyear later I am being called ...(by) an investigator to look atpictures of girls to see if I rec-ognize them.”

On Friday, a witness report-ed hearing two loud blasts, andthe bodies were discoveredabout 5 p.m. Inside a JeepGrand Cherokee parked nearthe bodies, the couple left sep-arate notes that indicated theirsuicide intentions, accordingto Lowery.

Investigators found two shot-guns at the scene.

There was nothing to suggestthe couple had ties to South Al-abama, Lowery said. The twowere not renting the vacationhome.

Man in porn case,wife are suicides

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Foote takes dogsto nursing homesto dispel stereotypeBy NIKI DOYLETimes Staff [email protected]

It would be any parent’snightmare.

An 8-month-old baby crawl-ing into a kitchen with a pit bull;a baby innocent enough tostick his hands and face in thedog’s bowl in mid-breakfast.

Panic.That’s the only feeling Joan

Foote felt for that brief instantbefore the dog looked at her son,Tom, and walked off.

“No snarling, no growling, nonothing,” said Foote’s husband,Michael. “It’s like he said, ‘OK,if you want it, you can have it.’

“Most people would haveimmediately snatched their kidup, but due to my stupidity, Iguess, I stood there andwatched.”

Michael and Joan Foote fellin love with the pit bull, Boss, adog strong enough to carry a 16-

pound bowling ball around hisfriend’s Detroit home.

Almost 20 years later, Footeowns six adult pit bulls that arepart of Watchman Ministry, acommunity outreach programthat Foote joined about sevenyears ago.

Every other Saturday, Footeand his pets – Mack, Ivory,Angel, Mayday, Grace and Mr.Tibbs – head out at 6 a.m. to theday-labor pools gathering onGovernors Drive.

Foote said people often by-pass the 70 sack lunches and fivegallons of coffee and orangejuice he brings just to pet thedogs.

It’s a way for him to reach outto people and spread the Gospelin a way that isn’t so intrusive,he said.

“People will talk to me aboutmy dogs before they talk to meabout Jesus,” he said. “That givesme a chance to say, ‘These dogsare this way because they wereraised in a good, Christianhome.’ ”

Foote takes his two-fold mes-sage – of God’s love and thegood that can be found in pitbulls – to Beckwood Manor, anursing home in Anniston.

The dogs visited residents ofSouth Hampton Nursing andRehabilitation Center in OwensCross Roads for about 11months, but stories about a pit-bull attack caused administra-tors to second-guess the dogs itallowed there, Foote said.

“I didn’t even know about thestory, but one of the adminis-trators said, ‘I heard pit bullsturn on their owners.’ I said,‘Ma’am, I’m sure whicheverone you’re talking about did, butmost of them don’t.’ ”

Administrators at BeckwoodManor weren’t sure of the dogsat first, either, he said, but theyhave come around after seeingthe dogs and the way they in-teract with residents.

“You get people who don’tusually move their arms whowill move their arm to petthese dogs,” Foote said.

His pit-bull family has turnedinto Mercy Kennels, which nowhas seven pit-bull puppies forsale.

But don’t try to pull a fast oneon Foote – buyers wanting atough dog on a chain won’t getone of these puppies.

Foote, a former Army ser-geant, screens applicants and in-sists that each owner implant amicrochip in the dog.

If the dog ever runs away orgets lost, a veterinarian can usethe microchip to locate theowner. If the owner isn’t found,the dog goes back to Foote.

“It’s a lifetime commitment,”he said. “In my opinion, youdon’t get one of these dogs andsay, ‘I don’t want this dog any-more’ and stick it in the back-yard.”

Foote’s dogs live in the back-yard, but he created a doggiehaven – tree limbs instead ofsticks, large tubs of water insteadof little water bowls – to meetthe dogs’ needs.

Daily jaunts around theneighborhood help release thedogs’ excessive energy, but thosewalks present their own prob-lems, Foote said.

Although a firm command of“back” will make all of his pitbulls fall back into line, somepassers-by take the long routeto avoid walking directly pasthim and his pack.

“Some people stare as theywalk by,” he said. “Some peopledrive so far away on the otherside of the road that you canhear them hit gravel.”

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A18 The Huntsville Times, Sunday, September 23, 2007

At a glanceWhat, exactly, is a pit

bull?It isn’t a single breed,

which is most people’s per-ception, said Marcy Setter,director of education andpublic relations for Pit BullRescue Central.

Most people use the term“pit bull dog” to describe anydog with common pit-bullcharacteristics, namely theblocky head, thick neck andmuscular body and jaws.

Legally, the definition of“pit bull” varies by city, Set-ter said.

The three breeds generallyaccepted as part of the pit-bull group are the AmericanPit Bull Dog, the Stafford-shire Bull Terrier, the Ameri-can Staffordshire Terrier andany mixes of those breeds.

Setter said pit bulls wereborn when breeders mixedbulldogs – traditionally usedfor bull baiting, a sport inwhich the dog grasps a bullby its nose to render the bullhelpless – with terriers,which are know as tena-cious, scrappy dogs.

Court rulingIn 2002, the Alabama

Supreme Court ruled thatfour pit-bull puppies inHuntsville’s animal shelterwere not vicious and shouldbe available for adoption.

The city sought to havethe four puppies – Justice,Nellie, David and Elizabeth –destroyed because they wereborn to fighting dogs seizedby police in April 2000.

Though a temporary victoryfor pit-bull advocates, the rul-ing didn’t change shelter poli-cy restricting adoptions, saidMike Seibert, a lawyer in thecase. “It should have set aprecedent, but the SupremeCourt didn’t issue an opin-ion” on the policy, Seibertsaid.

The shelter policy was es-tablished before Dr. KarenHill Sheppard became direc-tor of Animal Services in2002.


Michael Foote uses his pit bulls in reaching out to people at day-labor pools and nursing homes..


Michael Foote of New Hopeowns six pit bulls and sevenpuppies.

His faithful companionshelp spread the Gospel

A Day's Toll is 6 Pit Bulls

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