Archived News
February 5, 2013
Re-Consider the Pit Bull: Corrections to James Gardner’s Article in Seattle Met Magazine
Letter to the Editor, by Ellen Taft
Yet again, in “Consider the Pit Bull,” a reporter in Seattle has refused to cover the most important aspect regarding the ownership of Pit Bulls. The February article published in Seattle Met, is riddled with inaccuracies, distortions and false quotes. Not only are there many untrue and half-true facts, but there is also a serious omission in the article, “Consider the Pit Bull,” by James Gardner…
August 12, 2012
Dog Shitshow
The Stranger, by Dominic Holden
In response, Taft called on media outlets to promote a Change.org petition asking the Seattle City Council and Mayor Mike McGinn for sweeping legislation to “eliminate all fighting breeds.” Specifically, it says fighting breed dogs that are already in the city should be spayed and neutered, and new fighting breed dogs should be prohibited outright. Finally, the petition asks for “safety…
September 11, 2011
Hear Ellen Taft Explain Why Pit Bulls are Bad Tonight
The Stranger, by Unpaid Intern
Tomorrow from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., anti-pit bull activist Ellen Taft, president of the organization Families and Dogs against Fighting Breeds (FDAFB), is staging a rally in Westlake Park entitled Protect Pets in Parks. The rally announcement specifically calls to ban fighting breeds from the city’s off-leash areas. Want proof that such a ban is necessary? Taft points to a pro-pit website that…
September 16, 2008
Pit Bullies: Advocates Scrap over Proposed Pit-Bull Ban
The Stranger, by Jonah Spangenthal
A group working to ban potentially dangerous dogs from Seattle has abruptly canceled plans to submit a citizen initiative after receiving threatening e-mails from pit-bull enthusiasts, group members say … “The harassment was so bad, we decided it wouldn’t be safe to send out signature gatherers,” says Ellen Taft, a spokeswoman for Families and Dogs Against Fighting Breeds (FDAFB)…
July 30, 2008
Check Your Faux Service Dog at the Door
Seattle Weekly, by Mike Seely
Ellen Taft’s counterintuitive take on animal rights took root many years ago in Minnesota, where, as a 31-year-old grad student, she was violently mauled by a pair of neighborhood dogs. Taft was subsequently successful in having her attackers euthanized before moving to Seattle, where, she says, “dogs have immense social privilege.” Here, she successfully helped close an off-leash area…
January 31, 2008
Seattleites to vote on ban of fighting dogs
Seattle PI, by Ellen Taft
The Jan. 7 article “Pit-bull paradoxes: Sweet or Savage” left out some very pertinent facts about pit bulls in Seattle. While discussing the increase in the number of registered pit bulls, the author did not mention that 80 percent of dogs are unlicensed, so there are likely to be many more pit bulls than the 1,505 figure quoted. Secondly, the author did not mention the extreme danger that pit bulls other fighting breeds…