Gigi was sad and sad after losing her furry brother, a big Labrador named King. Having lost his partner and playmate, he was left alone. Her owner, Aaron Michael Louie, took Gigi to the park and thought the socialization would benefit her, but other dog owners weren’t as concerned.
People avoided Gigi and wouldn’t let their dogs play with her, so Gigi went back to playing by herself. It was heartbreaking because Gigi just wanted to have fun like any other dog.
Pervasive PT prejudice
Dog with pink hat and jewelry (1)
Pitbulls are often the most misunderstood dog breed by the public due to incorrect stereotypes that claim these dogs are dangerous and have a stronger bite than other dog breeds. However, according to the journal article Pitbulls and Prejudice [1] published by the American Psychological Association, “Scientific research has shown that there is no truth to these common stereotypes.”
But there is widespread prejudice against pit bulls in the community, and Gigi and Aaron experienced it firsthand.
“I wanted to take Gigi to the park to help socialize her. People were avoiding her. They didn’t want their dogs playing with her, so she ended up playing by herself. And that just made me feel so awful, watching my dog not be able to have fun with other dogs,” Aaron told The Dodo.
Even when Aaron would take Gigi on walks, he would often see people cross the street to avoid them. “I never get like frustrated or mad because in my mind, I’m just like, ‘They don’t know us’. They’re going off something that they believe without even meeting us,” Aaron commented.
And, it’s not only Gigi that’s the victim of an ugly prejudice.
Aaron, himself, has been a victim of stereotypes.
“We’ve been told that I look like a typical Pit bull owner,” Aaron said.
He has had several different dogs in his lifetime, but Pit Bulls have always had a special place in his heart.
Before Gigi, Aaron had a Labrador Retriever dog, named King, for fifteen years. In 2021, when he noticed that King was getting older, he decided to get another dog.
“I met Gigi, and she was just the sweetest, kindest little dog. So, I brought her home, and it was, like, an immediate bond between them,” Aaron said, adding that King passed away a couple of months later. “The first month or two after he passed, it was probably the hardest time because not only did I lose my first adult dog, she lost the only other dog that she’s ever known.”
Both of them experienced a strong grief period, which eventually brought the two of them closer.
Bully Breed Meet & Greet
Seeing his little, sweet girl suffer because of the ugly prejudices and stereotypes, Aaron decided to do something about it.
He took matters into his own hands and started a thing he likes to call the “Bully Breed Meetup”.
The first meetup he ever did was in his hometown city of San Diego. Both of them were very excited and a bit nervous.
At first, Gigi did not know what was going on, but the more dogs that showed up, the more her tail wagged.
She was finally happy to be able to play with other dogs
“To see GiGi’s personality grow. To see the love pouring out of her. The joy. The smile she has when she sees her friends […] We’ve been through so much. We’ve battled against a lot of hate. But we still lead with love,” Aaron wrote in an Instagram post.
It all began as Aaron’s wish to make Gigi happy, but it grew into something much bigger.
Both Aaron and Gigi are now huge Pit Bull advocates, with a huge social media presence that show people how kind these dogs can be.
As of now, they’ve had many Bully breed meetups in the San Diego area, and there are many more to come.
View this post on Instagram
“My favorite part has been just seeing these dogs grow in that space and find their comfort zone, find their happy place with their humans,” Aaron said.
Follow Gigi on Instagram for more educational and inspirational content, and her dad, Aaron, as well (a.k.a. Gigi’s assistant, as he likes to call himself).
References:
[1] Duberstein, A., King, B., & Johnson, A. R. (2023). Pit bulls and prejudice. The Humanistic Psychologist, 51(2), 183–188. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000259
