One day, Tony brought home a pit bull named Sadie. He got Sadie in secret. He didn’t ask for his mom and dad’s permission. They were furious, not because he brought home a dog, but because he brought home a pit bull. Really?! The most dangerous breed of dog — that’s what his parents believed — but Tony was patient, and he let them find out for themselves who Sadie really was.

“I had never really met a pit bull that… has not been the most caring, social animal. The devotion they give us is reason enough for me to make my decision,” Tony says. “My parents were very much against it. I had to get her without their consent. My mom was afraid of her at first.” Tony explained that all of those harmful stereotypes were untrue, then Sadie and his folks soon formed an unbreakable bond. While Tony was away for the summer, his parents took care of Sadie and fell in love. When Tony moved out, they got their first dog, a pit bull.

“Most people who meet them support the myths about them. That they attack more than any other dog, they have locked jaws, they don’t feel pain, all of these things are obviously not true,” he says. “I try to talk to the people. I introduce Sadie… just a five-minute conversation with these people, and I feel like they leave with a totally different outlook on the breed.”

Please SHARE this video to convert nonbelievers — pit bulls are wonderful, loving dogs, not the monsters some people would like you to believe they are!