Mark Buehrle is a pit bull owner and proud of it. Buehrle is also an activist for all dogs and pets in general, so when he was traded from the Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays back in November, he found himself in quite an odd situation.
Beuhrle may be facing a summer away from his wife and children and his dog for the first time in his career.
Why?
According to thestar.com on Feb. 17, Ontario government has a ban on pit bulls. Because of the ban, Buehrle’s wife Jamie and their children will remain in Miami until the end of the school year, then return to their off-season home in the St. Louis area.
“I don’t want to make this a season-long story,” Buehrle said Wednesday after reporting for the first day of full workouts for pitchers and catchers. “Other families have gone through things and they’ve made it work. And I will see my dogs when I can.”
Well many folks, mostly non-dog owners suggest that Buehrle just leave the dog in a kennel so his family can come to Toronto, but for the Buehrle family, that's not an option.
“Being a responsible pet owner, you can’t drop off the dog on someone else,” he said.
“If you try and bring the dog (into Ontario) anyways and think you can (hide it), you’re taking a chance, and then (if you get caught) the dog sits in a cage for a month or more or however long until the court date comes up. Sometimes people can’t understand why we’re doing this and they look at you having kids there, so we decided the family would not (come to Toronto).”
It is nice to see someone stick to their guns for a family pet, but this must be a tough choice for their family. However families who have pets, especially dogs, know that they aren't just like family - they are family.
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