Mark Buehrle and Family Move Outside Miami Due to Pit Bull Ban

by Jennifer Mishler January 7, 2012
Categories: Animals, Causes, Sports
Tags: mark buehrle.

Pitcher Mark Buehrle just signed with the Miami Marlins for four years and $58 million last month, but he won’t be living near his new ballpark. The Beuhrle family has moved outside of Miami-Dade county so that they can keep their pit bull, Slater.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Buehrle’s 18-month old dog, an American Staffordshire Terrier, falls under the county’s pit bull breed ban established in 1989. The pitcher says he would not have signed with the team if it meant giving up Slater, and the family moved to a “dog-friendly development” located in Broward County. Buehrle told the Miami Herald, “It’s kind of ridiculous that because of the way a dog looks, people will ban it. Every kind of dog has good and bad, and that depends on the handlers. If you leave a dog outside all the time, it’ll be crazy. Slater would never do anything harmful.”

He and his wife Jamie are both spokespeople for the organization Best Friends Animal Society, which took in many of the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick‘s dog fighting operation, ‘Bad Newz Kennels.’ Buehrle has taken some criticism for his past comments about Vick, saying that he hoped Vick would get hurt while playing football, but has since stood by his statements, saying “I said it. I meant it.” The Buehrles have also helped Best Friends get some of their dogs homes by showcasing adoptable dogs in PSAs aired during his baseball games with the White Sox, a campaign the organization called Sox For Strays.

About Jennifer Mishler

Jennifer is an animal advocate and activist. She is a volunteer coordinator with The Girls Gone Green, a nonprofit organization advocating for animals rights, veganism, and environmentalism. She is also an Onshore Volunteer with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and a volunteer with CJ Acres Animal Rescue Farm, a nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates farm animals. Along with writing for Ecorazzi, she writes about veganism and animal rights on her blog, A Dog's Eye View. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and their three animal friends. Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jennygonevegan

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TruthBeTold

We need more people willing to stand up for what is right. What’s next, banning races? Unreal this ban even exists, especially in America. The only kind of pitbull that should be banned is the rapper “Pitbull.”
freeyoursoul

Those dangerous species? Like dogs? Why would anyone live in that racist shithole?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Clay-Hund/100002306427660 Clay Hund

I think you meant to say breed, but even yet, pit bulls are not one breed, but many different breeds. Anyone that thinks that a breed or breed type is dangerous, obviously lacks understanding of dogs.
TexasGood

Cant we ban people from certain areas. We discriminate against animals and its ok. But I know a ton of people that should be put down and yet they are still aloud to rome the earth. Funny how we think we are higher thinking animals but yet we are the ones that due all the damage. I have owned a pitbill since I was little and we never had any bad experiences. Its the breed, its the person raising the dog. You have to make it part of the family or it will turn out mean. Mine always lived in the house with us and was treated as a family member.
Liteseeker49

Mark you and your wife ROCK
http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Bohler/525552495 Patrick Bohler

Finally, a real man steps up and doesn’t backpedal and candy coat his remarks about Vick. Thank you mark and Jamie for fighting for these wonderful dogs in Miami-Dade FL. You have our support on the west coast and we will be watching the election closely, hoping this discriminatory ban is defeated once and for all.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Bohler/525552495 Patrick Bohler

I’m still waiting for the back breaking, career ending hit.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Bohler/525552495 Patrick Bohler

Anyone who supports a ban on a breed/type of dog is most likely a bigot and holds the same opinion about their fellow humans.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Bohler/525552495 Patrick Bohler

The human species is the most dangerous of all on this planet.