The three core principles of ACPB are to Educate, Advocate and Celebrate. With these pillars in mind, they place pit bulls with foster families–and have anywhere from 30 to 40 dogs in foster homes throughout the city at any given time–they provide free training classes for pit bull owners, facilitate targeted spay/neuter programs, and cultivate alumni support through events like the Pack Hike.
These programs make ACPB so much more than a typical dog rescue. “We always make sure when we are adopting out a dog, that the person comes into the family,” says Tripler. “It’s not something where we hand you a dog and say ‘Ok, good luck.'” When you adopt from ACPB, you get even more than a new best friend. Tripler says, “We have a network of volunteers that help out with walks, we have free training, we have an alumni coordinator that reaches out to people to make sure they’re doing all right.”