DCentric

BBC World Service

Pit bull puppy

DCentric is based at WAMU 88.5 FM, the NPR affiliate for D.C. We’ve mentioned Kojo Nnamdi on this blog before, but the other WAMU “star” I get asked about when people find out where I work is Diane Rehm. I’m never surprised by such inquiries; her show has over 2 million listeners and this year, she won a Peabody award. The Diane Rehm show always covers interesting topics, but I wanted to draw your attention to the second hour (11 am) of her show on Monday, when she’s going to discuss dog fighting.

I am an animal lover with a Humane Society pup of my own, so two weeks ago, when a rescued pit bull-mix named “Parrot” briefly fought with a bichon-poodle and was shot and killed by a D.C. police officer at the Adams Morgan day festival, I was especially concerned and saddened. On local blogs and news sites, the unfortunate story attracted hundreds of comments about how such dogs were dangerous, menacing beasts who had been bred to kill in dog fights. I’m looking forward to Monday’s Diane Rehm Show, because she’ll be discussing the “culture” of dog fighting, canine forensic science and how to rehabilitate these dogs. If you don’t think the “culture of dog fighting” isn’t loaded with racial or class issues, you should definitely tune in.