I had just exited off the BQE on Sunday afternoon when I spotted them. A skinny, old black man and a mama pit bull with teets down to the ground. I was in the far left lane of a four-lane road with direct traffic that lead to the Brooklyn Bridge. Driving slowly, I couldn’t take my eyes off them. She was brindle, he wore a red tattered sweat shirt and they walked like a couple who had been together for decades.
I contemplated stopping but it seemed an impossible feat, not to mention that my motivation for stopping would likely turn out to be futile. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think that if I continued home, I would forever wonder about the mama pit and the man in the red sweatshirt.
Then it occurred to me that I was sans husband, who would most definitely not let me cut across three lanes of traffic to approach a perfect stranger, and so I did it. I cut 90 degrees across, pissing off several cars in the process, and pulled over onto a side street. I double parked the car, left the emergency lights on and got out just as the man and his dog were at the corner.
He looked at me, nodded and said, “good afternoon ma’am.” And then I went for it. I spoke to him about his pit – who was timid and clung closely to him – and told him about mine. I also told him how I work with a non-profit organization that holds free spay/neuter clinics once per month. His eyes lit up. He was not only interested but floored that we offered the service for free. I told him it’s $100 for poodles and free for pits, and he had a good laugh.
It turned out my new friend, Rufus, has three pits. Mama who was with him, papa and one of their daughters who were both at home. They are older – 10, 10 and eight – and he explained that the births were accidental. He had kept mama and papa separate assuming mama was only in heat for a week to 10 days. Little did he know that it could last up to a month.
While it’s great news and was well-worth the drama it took to stop and advocate, his pups are older, and will need special clearance from a vet in order to be operated on. I wish this had a happy ending but we will have to wait and see what happens…