Is it Pit Bull or pit bull? - Capitalization is more than a grammar issue

The term "Pit Bull" is not only applied inconsistently in practice to dogs that may or may not have Pit Bull blood in their veins, but it is also used carelessly by those who have the breed's best interests at heart. How do I mean?

When was the last time you saw the words "Pit Bull" capitalized?
Frequently the term is "pit bull" - where the "p" and "b" are not capitalized. If the entire breed is used, only American is capitalized, as in: American pit bull terrier. Sometimes only one word is capitalized, like "Pit bull." But this is incorrect. American Pit Bull Terrier is a breed, a proper noun, and as such every word in that name should be capitalized.

Then why, you ask, is there such inconsistency? I myself have found this mistake in the most renowned newspapers in our country, on rescue websites, blogs, and magazine articles. The mistake is made by PhDs and high-school grads alike. Most commonly, the breed is referred to as "pit bull" - no caps anywhere, but people have taken to adopting whatever combination suits them, leaving me to wonder if I shall soon discover an American piT bUll teRRier the next time I open the paper.

Does is matter? What is the value in pressing the Shift key a couple extra times?
It matters a lot.

You wouldn't spell golden retriever or new orleans or jessica without capital letters, would you? If you were reading an article in the New York Times and your eyes ran across the words martin luther king, jr. - wouldn't you pause? And why is that? What does capitalization DO, exactly?

#1) It denotes importance and value. While this is not true in all languages (in German, for instance, all nouns are capitalized), in English, we only capitalize things of significance - cities, countries, names, titles, etc.
#2) It creates separation. This ties into significance. If you were to examine a sentence visually with the height of its letters rising and falling along the page, your eye gives extra attention to the words with the tallest letters - the capitalized words. They stand out. They let us know that, Hey! These words are special! Capitalized words even let us know when a thought is finished and a new one has begun (capitalizing the first word of every sentence).

Why is this significant for Pit Bulls?
For one thing, they're the only breed that is consistently misnomered in this way. There is no question that a Beagle has a capital B and a Doberman Pinscher should have a capital D and P. Pit Bulls are also the most devalued breed in our society. They're considered "kennel trash" by shelters who deem them unadoptable and euthanize them in record numbers. They're persecuted by journalists looking for a sensational story. They're feared by many, misrepresented by unscrupulous and image-obsessed people, abused by the evil and the ignorant, and ignored by legitimate animal-rights groups (and I'm not talking about PETA, here. Operative word is legitimate).

The fact that we do not make the effort to acknowledge them as a separate breed worthy of capital letters is of concern. It is no small accident that we devalue them in writing as we do in life. The names we give things and the language we use to describe them reflects the beliefs we hold about those things.

One excuse I've heard for this continual error is that because Pit Bulls have such varied lineage, they are seen more as a "mutt" than a "pure breed" and thus the lack of capitalization. Wow, really? In that case, we've made a dire mistake in capitalizing most every breed in existence. And for that matter, why even bother capitalizing "American" at all? Are we not a conglomeration of ethnicities, ideas, and values?

Lack of capitalization not only reinforces the myth that Pit Bulls are "different" from other breeds, but it also devalues their status as a breed, and thus their status as dogs - capable of love and companionship like any other.

There's a reason civil rights groups are careful about the language they use and the language they want others to use. Words have power - to evoke images, to create impressions, to limit or expand how something is treated. For those of us who fight to restore the reputation of this wonderful breed, it's time our writing reflected our purpose.

It's Pit Bull, folks. Plain and simple.

Stephanie