Oakland Shelter Offers Sterilization 'Pit Stop' For Pit Bull Owners

OAKLAND, N.J. — The Ramapo Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland is offering Paterson pit bull owners free sterilization for their dogs to help keep them from overpopulating.

Two pit bulls, originally rescued from Paterson, visit the crowd at the Pit Bulls and Pumpkins event in Oakland in early October.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Stephanie Pearl*

A pit bull originally rescued from Paterson receives some love at Pit Bulls and Pumpkins.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Stephanie Pearl*

Joshua Jongsma

10/22/2015 5:32 a.m.

The "Pit Stop" program, short for Paterson Initiative to Stop the Overpopulation of Pit Bulls, has become necessary, said Stephanie Pearl, who helped coordinate the initiative.

"They're great dogs. There are just too much of them," Pearl told Daily Voice. "A lot of people are breeding them for the wrong reasons. Sometimes it's an accidental thing where they're not fixed."

Paterson seemed to have a great need for help with the pit bull population, Pearl said: Each year, the Oakland shelter rescues more than 300 of them from the city.

Only one in every 600 finds a permanent home, according to Ramapo-Bergen Refuge. Some of the dogs come from fighting rings, and other people can't afford to sterilize their pets.

The reputation of pit bulls also hurts their chances at adoption. This has led the shelter to stage a Pit Bulls and Pumpkins event earlier this month.The shelter offers a non-surgical method to sterilize male pit bulls -- and throws in free rabies and parvovirus vaccines.

FOR AN APPOINTMENT: Call Pearl at (973) 610-7941.

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