Red Cross Honors Kris Crawford's Canine Efforts

Mercury News
September 2008

 

For the second year running, the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross recently designated a select group of six community activists as "Red Cross Heroes." At its awards breakfast, the organization awarded their "Education Hero" award to Los Gatos resident Kris Crawford for her efforts in eradicating dog fighting, working with disabled children, and developing safety classes that save children from dog bites.

That Crawford launched the highly successful For Kids' Sake dog bite prevention program is notable enough. But what's even more significant is the fact that Crawford created the program, which includes animated materials, presentations and lesson plans, based on her own dogs, Deputy Dakota, Trooper Tahoe and Sergeant Cheyenne. All three are American pit bull terriers.

Crawford devised the initiative in the mid-1990s, after getting Cheyenne. She enrolled the animal in schutzhund training, which encompasses sessions in obedience, tracking and protection. Cheyenne proved adept at the first two, but fell short in the latter. Most pit bulls don't do well in protection due to the fact that people-friendliness has been bred into them since the breed originated. So Crawford conceived of a plan that was to prove life-changing for both of them.

"I was at a crossroads, trying to determine how to make my life have value," Crawford says. "So I decided I would train Cheyenne to become a therapy dog and also train her to save lives."

About the same time, Dakota joined the family. Crawford and her dogs earned great visibility and respect in search and rescue (SAR) programs; so much so that Crawford was tapped to assist on such high-profile SAR cases as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the search for Laci Peterson, and over 200 other search missions. But despite these successes in working with state and federal agencies, Crawford says she typically experienced skepticism (and worse) when people learned that her cherished pets were pit bulls.

"My dogs have visited thousands of children in hospitals, they've provided therapy for disabled and severely abused and depressed kids, and they've helped in scores of search and rescue missions for children and adults. When someone's missing, my dogs are called. Yet when we're out in a park doing training exercises, I've had mothers grab their children and run away. It's heartbreaking how the media has painted the image of pit bull terriers," Crawford says.

Crawford adds that the negative stereotypes about pit bulls inaccurately depict their true personalities.

"Pit bulls rank higher than popular family breeds like the golden retriever in temperment tests by the American Temperament Testing Society. They are incredibly devoted and loyal, and eager to please their owners. That's why dog fighters will exploit them, because they'll do anything the owner wants them to; they will not bite a human unless they're abused or trained to do so. Pit bull terriers are the most abused dogs in America now."

Crawford and her dogs had been doing dog bite prevention classes on and off since the late 1990's. Then Crawford lost the use of her right hand in an accident and could no longer do search and rescue work. While sitting in a hospital waiting room, prior to one of her reconstructive surgeries, she saw a young boy who was waiting for facial reconstructive surgery following a severe bite by the family's Labrador.

"I knew then what I had to do," Crawford says. "I had been doing dog-bite prevention classes for the past 10 years, in the limited time when I wasn't at my job or at search and rescue training or missions. Now I could really focus on it."

Each year, she says, nearly 2.8 million children suffer dog bites. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that half of all children under the age of 12 have been bitten by a dog, resulting in injuries of varying severity. Roughly 79 percent of fatal dog attacks involve children under the age of nine. Most notable is that half of all dog bites come from the family's own dog, and another 40 percent come from a friend's or neighbor's dog.

"But research shows that just one hour of dog safety training can reduce attacks by 80 percent," Crawford says. "So that's why I developed the classes. As search and rescue dogs, my dogs could only save one child at a time. But now as Deputy Dakota, Trooper Tahoe and Sergeant Cheyenne of the For Kids' Sake Safety Squadron, we can save an entire classroom!"

When not espousing dog safety, Crawford also found time to launch the "Lost in the Woods--Hug a Tree" program, in which she uses her pit bulls to teach children how not to get lost in the wilderness. In her classes, kids also learn techniques for staying safe and getting found quicker if they do happen to stray off-course.

Additionally, Crawford created "Knock Out Dog Fighting," a program that has brought together world-champion mixed martial arts fighters to teach kids --particularly those in juvenile hall--that dog fighting is not a symbol of strength or power.

"Statistics show that most serial killers started their pattern of abuse as children, abusing animals. I believe that one of the most effective ways to stop the cycle of violence is to teach young people about the proper treatment of animals. This type of education can create a cycle of a different sort: a cycle of compassion," Crawford says.

Crawford and her dogs still work with disabled and abused children. Her For Pits' Sake organization was founded in 1997. It is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit and depends on the community, as well as Crawford's own savings, for its financial support.

Lee Miller, who nominated Crawford for the "Hero" award, says her citation is more than justified.

"My wife and I have witnessed what she's done over the years in the community, and what she's attempting to do at the current time," Miller says. "We both admire her spirit and desire to educate people, and especially her taking the dogs to shut-ins. We were delighted when we heard she had won the award."

Miller has seen firsthand the interaction between Crawford and her pit bulls, and says he has never witnessed any aggressive behavior on the part of the animals.

"Oh gosh no, they might lick you to death," he laughs. "All three are absolutely wonderful dogs."

More information about For Pit's Sake can be found at www.forpitssake.org. Details about Knock Out Dog Fighting are available at www.knockoutdogfighting.org.

 

More information about Crawford and the American Red Cross Real Heroes awards can be found HERE.