Bad Dog: Pit Bull Politics and Multispecies Justice

"Pit bulls and pit bull-type dogs spark intense controversies, from breed bans to fierce defenses by shelter and rescue organizations and breed advocates. Bad Dog draws from the increasingly contentious world of human/dog politics, featuring rich ethnographic research with dogs and their advocates that explores the ways that relationships between humans and animals do not just reflect but actively shape experiences of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, nation, breed, and species. Weaver develops the concept of interspecies intersectionalities, bridging discussions in animal studies with feminist, critical race, queer, and trans theories. Contrasting ways of knowing that involve harm reduction-style efforts oriented toward keeping humans and animals together and shelter-based practices of working and playing with dogs, with the white, middle-class "family values" inherent in the work of most animal rescuers, Weaver proposes a reading of interspecies intersectionalities that alters what it means to touch,feel, and think with animals. Bad Dog gives us, in detailed and careful analysis, a means to move beyond the zero-sum logic where caring for animals is seen in opposition to caring for humans, and, instead, suggests a powerful way in which we might thinkwith marginalized humans and animals together"--
Fifty-plus years of media fearmongering coupled with targeted breed bans have produced what could be called “America’s Most Wanted” dog: the pit bull. However, at the turn of the twenty-first century, competing narratives began to change the meaning of “pit bull.” Increasingly represented as loving members of mostly white, middle-class, heteronormative families, pit bulls and pit bull–type dogs are now frequently seen as victims rather than perpetrators, beings deserving not fear or scorn but rather care and compassion.Drawing from the increasingly contentious world of human/dog politics and featuring rich ethnographic research among dogs and their advocates, Bad Dog explores how relationships between humans and animals not only reflect but actively shape experiences of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, nation, breed, and species. Harlan Weaver proposes a critical and queer reading of pit bull politics and animal advocacy, challenging the zero-sum logic through which care for animals is seen as detracting from care for humans. Introducing understandings rooted in examinations of what it means for humans to touch, feel, sense, and think with and through relationships with nonhuman animals, Weaver suggests powerful ways to seek justice for marginalized humans and animals together.