Nugget, a therapy dog, helps to rehabilitate juvenile offenders in Tennessee through “ProjectPITS.”
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How many faithful dogs served their masters well in Tennessee can never be known. What is known, is that throughout the years many people in Tennessee have relied on dogs to assist in everyday life and to provide companionship.
While dogs continue to serve in many of their traditional functions, dogs have also taken on new and unique tasks that enhance the lives of their owners and the community. Therapy, medical assistance, and search and rescue are only a few of the many services dogs provide to the people of Tennessee.
While serious attacks by dogs are very rare, the intense media coverage that may accompany such an incident can mislead the public and/or lawmakers into imagining that dogs pose a significant threat to the community. Sensationalized publicity, combined with a lack of understanding of the infrequency of dog attacks, and of their causes, has resulted in reactive and uniformed policies directed against certain types of dogs. At least 25 cities or counties in Tennessee have passed breed specific restrictions, or outright bans, in the profoundly mistaken notion that community safety is dependent upon the appearance of the dog, rather than the behavior of the owner.
Today, dogs contribute more to the welfare of individuals and the society than perhaps any other time in the history of the human dog-bond. Additionally, over the past three decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries in Tennessee and throughout the nation.
National Canine Research Council