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Dogged police work: Officer rescues pit bull from train tracks in Dorchester

Rudolph

Transit Police report that around 10 a.m. today, Officer Lisa Murawski-Dupont managed to convince a pit bull that commuter-rail tracks running between Savin Hill and JFK/UMass were not the best place for him to be.

According to police, Murawski-Dupont was at the Savin Hill T stop when somebody alerted her there was a dog on the commuter rail tracks.

Officer Murawski-Dupont immediately proceeded to the right of way and bicycled the entire distance locating a pit bull terrier just outside of JFK-UMass station walking on the commuter rail right of way. MBTA operations halted all service while Officer Murawski-Dupont was able to coax the dog (who we have dubbed "Rudolph"- yes after Santa's #1 helper) to safety. Rudolph had a very friendly disposition and made fast friends with Officer Murawski-Dupont, whose actions probably saved his life.

Rudolph is now under the care of the Animal Rescue League of Boston. If Rudolph looks familiar, contact detectives at 617-222-1170, send an anonymous text to 873873, or call the Animal Rescue League at 617-426-9170.

Photo by TPD.

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Comments

If you're going to name a dog for a member of St. Nick's crew, there is a Santa-sized missed opportunity here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa%27s_Little_Helper

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If I didn't already have a pittie I would adopt Rudolf. From my experience pitties are the friendliest and most welcoming of dogs to everyone. Mine is comfortable around everyone (whether that would include a burglar is another question). But she was not bred to be a guard dog and so have an automatic distrusting nature the way a German shepherd does. I've encountered enough German shepherds which were off leash and really should not be.

So I hope someone gives their family a Xmas gift named Rudolf. He will shine a warm glow into their family all year around.

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Assuming they were raised by a responsible dog owner, not a thug who wanted a dog that would fight or guard his stash.

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Breeding an upbringing make a vast difference in the temperament of a pit bull. The wrong genes and developmental environment and the dog will never be safe to have indoors with family.

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Please stop talking if you have no idea what you're talking about.

For reference, the tendency to attack humans is not something pit bulls are bred for when they are bred for fighting. Attacking your owner, if you were a dog, would get you put down, as and such you would not be breeding.

Pit bulls were considered among the most people-friendly breeds until the media decided they were the bad breed of the week sometime in the 80s-90s. They were originally bred to hunt, drive livestock, and as family companions. From the UKC: "Sometime during the nineteenth century, dog fanciers in England, Ireland and Scotland began to experiment with crosses between Bulldogs and Terriers, looking for a dog that combined the gameness of the terrier with the strength and athleticism of the Bulldog. The result was a dog that embodied all of the virtues attributed to great warriors: strength, indomitable courage, and gentleness with loved ones." http://www.ukcdogs.com/Web.nsf/Breeds/AmericanPitBullTerrier12012012

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I do breed dogs. Their genetics and environment does a lot for developing their personality and temperament. A dog bred from a lineage of aggressive dogs and in the wrong kind of environment will be on a hair trigger when it comes to aggression.

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Take a look at Craigslist or at any shelter and see all of the morons who are cross breeding pits with more protective/human-aggressive breeds like Rotties, GS's, mastiffs, etc. It's horrifying. A lot of these dogs are genetic disasters waiting to happen.

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I could not possibly bury my face any further into my palm.

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So above you're touting all of the great inbred qualities of AmStaffs/pits whatever but when it comes to the negatives, you just scoff at that kind of "ethnic profiling?" Sorry but that makes no sense whatsoever.

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Dogs from puppy mills can be psycho, regardless of breed.

My SIL had a truly violently psychotic king charles spaniel! I've also met a number of German Shepherds and even chichihuas that suffered physical and mental damage from being bred and reared by puppy mills.

Long story short: we need a campaign against illegal breeding of animals, not a breed ban against pit bulls.

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Puppy Mills are inhumane and the only way to stop them, other than making sure laws are passed to outright ban the practice, is for people NOT purchase dogs unless from a shelter or reputable breeder.
Dogs should not be purchased at a store - ever! I can't believe they even still sell them at stores, I won't even walk by them.

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German shepherds who are not bred to be guard dogs are not automatically distrusting anymore than a pit is...I dont let my GSD off leash out of courtesy to others but he wouldnt do anything more than bark loudly and then fling himself onto the ground to wait for a belly rub if you approached him off leash.

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German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Malamutes, Border Collies and Pit Bulls are all ACTIVE dogs and they are also in need of a firm hand to train and keep them.

Yet people buy those with the reputations for being protective for "security" and don't understand/realize that the dogs will dominate them and misbehave with other people if they aren't properly handled.

Putting them on a zip leash and whining "don't do that Killer that's not nice" won't do with any dog, but is a disaster recipe with any of these breeds in public situations.

Also, before there were Pitt Bulls, people inappropriately bred GSDs and Dobermans for quick bucks, with similar results: inbred dogs with health and behavior problems. One person I knew ended up surrendering her GSD because the dog was so damaged that it would seem to forget her and other family members if they left the house and came back. It ended up jumping the fence and mauling a neighbor's dog (after having bitten just about every family member). I have a friend with a GSD, and that dog is properly bred and mannered. When I took shelter on the porch during a violent lightening storm, he barked at me from the kitchen - but then sat quietly and watched me when I called his name (and he recognized me as his person's friend). That's the way it should be.

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Who would think to get a Malamute for "security"? They usually don't bark, and unless an intruder is afraid of having their hand (or face, if it's low enough) licked, they won't do much to stop someone.

(I mean, I'm sure people do. People do all sorts of things. But I don't know what would possess someone to acquire a hundred-pound animal without knowing anything about it.)

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Referring to a couple of German shepherds both of which frequently stopped me and others from walking along a street is not bullying. It is recognizing that the dog, while doing what is thinks it is supposed to do, is not being managed well. Not being leashed and not knowing who each and every resident is makes for a bad combination. Both were great dogs - when their owners were around. Neither was directly threatening. But stopping people from walking along the street is not a good behavior.

As for whether they are good as guard dogs there is a reason why they frequently are guard dogs: temperament, strength, intelligence and protectiveness. That does not imply they are bad dogs; it recognizes that they are just one of other breeds that can produce dogs that are either good or bad in human company.

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I get you...please dont take offense...i meant bullying figuratively. I would not like to be harassed on a street by any dog of any size either...worse yet my GSD definitely doesn't like to be surprised by an off leash dog! :)

I only challenged that b/c I know from owning several and working with GSD rescue organizations that even inadvertently spreading the idea of them as naturally aggressive as a breed means more GSDs in shelter---or worse--at the end of the day, just like our pit friends! As it is you can scarcely find an apartment in this city that will let a renter have either breed due to the kind of perceptions that are out there from a few bad owners who could frankly make a beagle aggressive.

Living in Dorchester near JFK where Rudy here was found I see off leash pits and shepherds all the time who are surprisingly docile.

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recently a new condo owner in our building bought the unit above us. When we heard she had two pits, we kinda cringed. To all the other tenants in the building we were quite surprised. They are some of the friendliest dogs you will ever meet. They want to come up and have you pet them or will lick your face. Over all pretty good dogs. Very well mannered and tempered.

The key is, according to the tenant, is the right reinforcement. I can't say that it was their upbringing as she says they were shelter dogs, so that is clearly not the case.

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Aw! This warms my heart! She probably did save his life!! He probably had no idea he was in harms way. ~Mea

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Can you guess?

IMAGE(<a href="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00684/dachshund-518_684991n.jpg)">http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00684/dachshund-518_684991n....

(And it's even worse considering small dog owners almost universally don't train these little shit dogs and their ilk)

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Because the number of people and animals being horribly mauled by dachshunds is just insane.

Come on. I have a real soft spot for pit bulls but unless you're completely clueless, no one who knows the breed can deny that they have some serious issues that are being exacerbated by poor breeding and terrible owners.

Cue the post about that one Pomeranian who attacked a baby in like 1990...

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I know of no such Pom case, BUT, as someone who works with animals, especially Pits, for a living (I work for a large animal welfare organization -- I'll let you guess which one), my main concern out of any animal is CATS. Damn cat bites send me to the hospital every. single. time. It's actually my employer's policy to send me to the hospital if a cat bite so much as draws blood from me. This is because cat bites are puncture wounds, and really, cat mouths are FILTHY.
I will counter your statement of ".... [pit bulls have] some serious issues that are being exacerbated by poor breeding and terrible owners" with this:
I agree with you to a point: dog issues are most certainly exacerbated by poor breeding and bad owners. Pits are the asshole dog of choice these days -- it happens. But, this is not an issue unique to Pits (or any bully breed, really) -- it is an issue of DOGS, period. The difference is subtle, but important. Why? Because when you suggest that Pits have some inherent quality that require special breeding or training to just own them, you sign the death certificate for thousands of shelter dogs each year -- people will walk on by the sea of Pitties in the shelter, after all, who wants a complicating factor in their life? But overcrowding happens, and so does euthanasia. It's an unfortunate reality that can hopefully be rectified with education.

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And I have heard the same thing about cats and cat bites from a vet friend! But without going into detail, let me just say that I've had a series of frightening, heartbreaking incidents involving pit bulls that would stand out to anyone as distinct from the pool of "all dogs." And I blame a combination of a really distressed gene pool and owners who are unprepared to deal with a breed that can be very unpredictable. The pit bull overload in shelters kills me but I reserve most of my rage for the irresponsible jerks who continue to breed these dogs and position them as status symbols for people who nine times out of ten don't have the resources to care for, train, or exercise them. So sorry for the rant--I have strong feelings on the subject but I'm not a "pit bull hater" by any means. Just wish there were fewer of them.

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No.

The entire breed does not have serious issues that are being exacerbated by poor breeding and terrible owners. Individual dogs may have serious issues that are being exacerbated by poor breeding and terrible owners, but this is not indicative of the entire breed.

To consider how silly your statement is, try replacing "pit bulls" with the name of an ethnic or racial minority and think about if you would ever actually say that. Example: "I have a real soft spot for Mexicans but unless you're completely clueless, no one who knows the breed can deny that they have some serious issues that are being exacerbated by poor breeding."

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Ummm. Dogs are not people, OK? It's just not a comparison. Dogs breeds have been bred for thousands of years deliberately to produce a certain set of characteristics--floppy ears, rough coat, smooth coat, herding ability, etc. This extends obviously to physical appearance but also to a lot of what you could call either tendencies or talents or whatever. A Jack Russell is going to have extremely strong inbred tendencies towards having a high prey drive, a high level of energy and tenacity and an independent nature that help him in the task he was bred for--going after vermin. A Lab not only has webbed toes--better for swimming--but a soft mouth to carry game and a fondness for--duh--retrieving. Does this mean that EVERY border collie is a talented herder or that there aren't Labs who hate water? No, but the inbred tendency is there. For pit bulls that means a STRONG tendency towards dog aggression and the "gameness" that breeders prized since it would make dogs better fighters. Also a trusting nature that tends to make them lousy guard dogs, unlike say a Chow, Rottweiler or other guardian breed.

I could go on but I think you can do your own research about this instead of trying to portray me as some kind of dog racist. Any basic AKC or dog breed manual will detail very specifically the inbred character traits of different breeds and all of the decent pit bull rescue sites also wisely reinforce the characteristics of PBs and help owners handle them responsibly.

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Three cheers for the officer bah humbug to her bosses who assigned her to bike patrol in the middle of an ice storm, she's lucky she wasn't bit or injured riding down the wet and slippery right of way tracks.

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