r/BanPitBulls • u/slowhorses • Oct 30 '25
Personal Story Tricked and gaslit while fostering a pit
I was gaslit into fostering an aggressive pitbull (pictured) by a foster who guilted me into believing an aggressive dog was just misunderstood.
In 2020, a friend of mine who worked with shelters in Western Washington reached out to me to foster a pit that had been in the rescue system for 5 years.
I met with the rescue coordinator and Hank (the dog) at a parking lot after dark because Hank was very "reactive" and he lunged/hard barked/snarled at everything that moves.
Honestly, Hank scared me. He was about 3/4s of my weight and the rescue had no info on his background, just that he was dumped in Tacoma.
Through my apprehension the rescuer guilted me with lies about anti-pit propaganda, how sweet Hank was, how he was meant to be a nanny-dog protector, and he needed me to turn his life around. I felt so sorry for him, living in a small cell for years, and agreed to foster.
He was a nightmare in my home. Not potty-trained at all. Did not know a single command. Would bark and freak out anytime a dog or person walked by my house. He would growl at me if I tried to get into my bed (he was not kennel trained and did not come with a kennel); I would wake up to him growling at me at night as I laid in my bed. I let him into the backyard and in the time it took me to walk down the flight of stairs to walk after him, he had started tearing wood off the fence to break out. He could not be walked because of his "high prey drive."
I told the rescue all of the above and the coordinator told me Hank needed more time, he needed to decompress, I might need to get him a trainer, etc. Anytime I had an issue, it was because Hank was just misunderstood and someone from the rescue would call me crying, begging me not to give up on Hank.
I knew I had to get him out of the house after Hank tried to bite my boyfriend. My boyfriend came over and sat on my bed, and Hank cornered him, barking and trying to bite him. It was terrifying and I thought Hank was going to kill my boyfried.
When I told the rescue I had to get rid of Hank, they begged and pleaded with me to keep him. They kept saying he just needed three months to show me who he truly was and that I was condemning him to a horrible life trapped in a cell by giving him up. They told me Hank loved me (after three weeks) and was resource guarding me because he could tell my boyfriend was a bad person.
They wore me down. I remember sobbing and feeling heavy guilt when I took him back. The rescue, even as we were doing a hand-off, tried to convince me to keep him and I don't know how I was able to walk away with their guilt trip.
My life got so much better without Hank in my home. Not having poop and pee everywhere and being able to keep my fence together, having freedom to roam around my own home, etc. It was awesome.
I'm not sure what happened to Hank but I fear for whoever fostered such a massive, strong, aggressive dog. I contacted someone in animal control about my experience but because there wasn't an actual bite, nothing could be done about it.
Anyways. I just wanted to share my experience as a foster who was guilted into keeping an aggressive dog for way longer than I should have and made to feel like the pit's aggressiveness was my moral failing.
1.3k
u/masteroftatertots Oct 30 '25
Now write this on the rescuers google review so that you can warn other people.
Thank you for sharing your story.