A18 The Huntsville Times, Sunday, September 23, 2007

His faithful companions

help spread the Gospel
Foote takes dogs
to nursing homes
to dispel stereotype
By NIKI DOYLE
Times Staff Writer
niki.doyle@htimes.com
It would be any parent’s
nightmare.
An 8-month-old baby crawl-
ing into a kitchen with a pit bull;
a baby innocent enough to
stick his hands and face in the
dog’s bowl in mid-breakfast.
Panic.
That’s the only feeling Joan
Foote felt for that brief instant
before the dog looked at her son,
Tom, and walked off.
“No snarling, no growling, no
nothing,” said Foote’s husband,
Michael. “It’s like he said, ‘OK, Michael Foote of New Hope
if you want it, you can have it.’ owns six pit bulls and seven
pound bowling ball around his
friend’s Detroit home.
Almost 20 years later, Foote
owns six adult pit bulls that are
part of Watchman Ministry, a
community outreach program
that Foote joined about seven
years ago.
Every other Saturday, Foote
and his pets – Mack, Ivory,
Angel, Mayday, Grace and Mr.
Tibbs – head out at 6 a.m. to the
day-labor pools gathering on
Governors Drive.
Foote said people often by-
pass the 70 sack lunches and five
gallons of coffee and orange
juice he brings just to pet the
dogs.
It’s a way for him to reach out
to people and spread the Gospel
Bryan Bacon/Huntsville Times in a way that isn’t so intrusive,
he said.
“People will talk to me about Bryan Bacon/Huntsville Times

“Most people would have puppies. my dogs before they talk to me Michael Foote uses his pit bulls in reaching out to people at day-labor pools and nursing homes..
immediately snatched their kid about Jesus,” he said. “That gives
up, but due to my stupidity, I Michael and Joan Foote fell me a chance to say, ‘These dogs “I didn’t even know about the His pit-bull family has turned “It’s a lifetime commitment,”
story, but one of the adminis- into Mercy Kennels, which now he said. “In my opinion, you
guess, I stood there and in love with the pit bull, Boss, a are this way because they were
trators said, ‘I heard pit bulls has seven pit-bull puppies for don’t get one of these dogs and
watched.” dog strong enough to carry a 16- raised in a good, Christian
home.’ ” turn on their owners.’ I said, sale. say, ‘I don’t want this dog any-
Foote takes his two-fold mes- ‘Ma’am, I’m sure whichever But don’t try to pull a fast one more’ and stick it in the back-
sage – of God’s love and the one you’re talking about did, but on Foote – buyers wanting a yard.”
Gallery at good that can be found in pit most of them don’t.’ ” tough dog on a chain won’t get Foote’s dogs live in the back-
LILY FLAGG FURNITURE bulls – to Beckwood Manor, a Administrators at Beckwood one of these puppies. yard, but he created a doggie
nursing home in Anniston. Manor weren’t sure of the dogs Foote, a former Army ser- haven – tree limbs instead of
The dogs visited residents of at first, either, he said, but they geant, screens applicants and in- sticks, large tubs of water instead
Great Savings of little water bowls – to meet
on South Hampton Nursing and have come around after seeing sists that each owner implant a
Rehabilitation Center in Owens the dogs’ needs.
Broyhill Collections the dogs and the way they in- microchip in the dog. Daily jaunts around the
Cross Roads for about 11 teract with residents. If the dog ever runs away or
months, but stories about a pit- neighborhood help release the
00616606

Specialties: Chairs, “You get people who don’t gets lost, a veterinarian can use
Entertainment Units, Bedrooms, bull attack caused administra- dogs’ excessive energy, but those
usually move their arms who the microchip to locate the walks present their own prob-
Dining Rooms, Sofas… tors to second-guess the dogs it will move their arm to pet owner. If the owner isn’t found,
Mon-Sat 9-6 allowed there, Foote said. lems, Foote said.
Financing Available 882-3960 • 8402 Whitesburg Dr. these dogs,” Foote said. the dog goes back to Foote. Although a firm command of
“back” will make all of his pit
bulls fall back into line, some
passers-by take the long route
to avoid walking directly past
him and his pack.
“Some people stare as they
walk by,” he said. “Some people
drive so far away on the other
side of the road that you can
hear them hit gravel.”

At a glance
What, exactly, is a pit
bull?
It isn’t a single breed,
which is most people’s per-
ception, said Marcy Setter,
director of education and
public relations for Pit Bull

7. It’s not just for

Rescue Central.
Most people use the term
“pit bull dog” to describe any
dog with common pit-bull
characteristics, namely the

football anymore.
blocky head, thick neck and
muscular body and jaws.
Legally, the definition of
“pit bull” varies by city, Set-
ter said.
The three breeds generally
9 p.m. just got benched. Wait less with night calls accepted as part of the pit-
bull group are the American
starting at 7 p.m. on Sprint Power Pack Plans. Pit Bull Dog, the Stafford-
shire Bull Terrier, the Ameri-
Add the MOTORAZR with NFL Mobile, and your can Staffordshire Terrier and
any mixes of those breeds.
phone is as stocked as your fridge. Game on. Setter said pit bulls were
born when breeders mixed
bulldogs – traditionally used
for bull baiting, a sport in
which the dog grasps a bull
by its nose to render the bull
helpless – with terriers,
which are know as tena-
cious, scrappy dogs.

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Court ruling
In 2002, the Alabama
Supreme Court ruled that
four pit-bull puppies in
Huntsville’s animal shelter
were not vicious and should
be available for adoption.
The city sought to have
the four puppies – Justice,
Nellie, David and Elizabeth –
destroyed because they were
born to fighting dogs seized
by police in April 2000.
Though a temporary victory
for pit-bull advocates, the rul-
ing didn’t change shelter poli-
cy restricting adoptions, said
Mike Seibert, a lawyer in the
case. “It should have set a
precedent, but the Supreme
Official Telecommunications Court didn’t issue an opin-
sprint.com Service Sponsor of the NFL
ion” on the policy, Seibert
said.
The shelter policy was es-
tablished before Dr. Karen
Hill Sheppard became direc-
tor of Animal Services in
2002.
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