HANCOCK — Joe Dupont-Roche cares about dogs.

Especially pit bulls, a breed the 11-year-old Well School sixth-grader says has a totally undeserved reputation for viciousness. His pet, Bella, who he affectionately calls “Peanut,” was rescued by his family from Puerto Rico about three years ago. Like many dogs in that country, she had been abandoned on a beach.

“There are breed-specific bans in Puerto Rico,” Joe said Friday as he played with Bella at his home in Hancock, with his mother, Josée Dupont, looking on. “A pit bull can get killed, no questions asked. But any dog can be taught to be aggressive. It’s really not the dog. It’s the people.”

So Joe has been working to promote the breed, starting with educating his friends at school. This fall, his class took a long hike up Pack Monadnock mountain, and Bella, who’s certainly not a large dog, went along.

“She could handle it,” Joe said about the hike. “She goes up hill slowly. She pulls when you want to go downhill. It went great. All the kids petted Bella and one said he fell in love with her.”

Now Joe’s taking his love for pit bulls to a new level.

He’s not asking for a lot of toys, electronic devices or sports equipment for Christmas.

Instead, he wants to help unfortunate dogs — many of them pit bulls — trapped in shelters in New York City and Brooklyn, where their chances of long-term survival are slim. He’s already sent four packages to help dogs in the city, and he’s asking his family and friends to forego gifts this year, instead giving money so he can put together another shipment of Kongs and other chew toys.

“Instead of getting things I really don’t need, it would be nice to send more toys and treats and blankets to dogs in the pound,” Joe said. “There are two where all the strays are taken.”
Josée Dupont said some of the New York dogs are in desperate straits.

“If you’re labeled a pit bull, you have no chance. They’re called death-row dogs,” she said. “But there are many volunteers who go there every day, to walk dogs and keep track of them.”

In New England, according to Dupont, the conditions in shelters are better. “It’s cozy compared to what goes on in the city,” she said. That’s why Joe has been focusing on doing anything he can for the dogs of New York City and Brooklyn.

“I think it’s really important to help those emergency dogs first,” he said.

Joe’s been asking friends and family for donations to help dogs for years. He also became familiar with the work of Dave and Brooke Goldstein, who run a New York City-based website called Bruised Not Broken, which encourages the adoption of pit bulls and pit bull mixed breed dogs. When he was assigned at school to write an essay about a hero, he chose to tell the story of the Goldsteins and their organization and how they had motivated him.

In the essay, which Joe said was graded Check ++, one plus mark above the Well’s usual highest mark, he wrote, “At my school, unfortunately a lot of people think that pit bulls are killing machines, and when no one believes you, it’s very frustrating. Bruised Not Broken inspires me to stick up for what I know and to be courageous even though people disagree.

Slowly, people are starting to realize that pit bulls are great dogs, but there is still a lot of work left.”

According to Dupont, a thank you mention on the Bruised Not Broken Facebook page about Joe’s gifts to shelter dogs and his essay has generated more than 2,000 “likes” and many comments complimenting Joe on his efforts.

“Most people just need to be inspired,” Dupont said.

“The pit bull community is huge, and I’m a part of that now,” Joe added.

Joe’s family has adopted a number of pit bulls over the years, his mother said, and they’ve never had issues with the dogs. Bella, who probably has a bit of beagle mixed in with her pit bull genes, is very protective, but she loves children and other dogs, including Amigo, the family’s Chihuahua, who is much more assertive than Bella.

“One kid at school said [pit bulls] are nasty,” Joe said. “I said, ‘You’re just saying what everyone else says. My dog’s great.’ He said, ‘You just got lucky.’ But he doesn’t really know her. I want to change that — it’s my goal. She’s a pit bull ambassador, aren’t you, Peanut.”

And Joe is also serving as an advocate for the breed, even as he gets ready to prepare another care package to ship rather than to open a lot of presents on Christmas day. But he won’t be totally forgotten.

“For the record, we’ll still be giving him some gifts,” Dupont said. “And he has a very generous grandmother.”

This article appears in the Dec. 22, 2011, issued of the Ledger-Transcript.