I've been seeing a forwarded status floating around on social media about a group of people trying to make this Halloween "Kill A Pitbull Day". I'm usually kind of skeptical when I see these things, so I went to my most trusted source when it comes to all things Internet to find out if this horrible claim is legitimate - Snopes.com.

You've probably seen it, too. People posting this status:

WARNING! Don't plan on your four-legged friends walking around with you on Halloween this year. KEEP ALL DOGS LOCKED IN A HOUSE. October 31 (Halloween night) is trying to become national "Kill A Pit bull Day". Not only are pit bulls part of this "holiday", any breed is fair game. Especially look alike breeds.

Generally that status is accompanied by a screenshot of some guy named Terry Jordan's status urging people to participate in the "holiday" that states:

I'm here by announcing October 31 National kill a pitbull day. After you take the kids trick or treating keep your costume on round up some friends and kill as many pitbulls as you can before midnight. Baseball bats, knives, bricks and poisons (a hotdog soaked in radiator fluid works well) are suitable tools. The owners like brag about their high threshold for pain. So don't worry [about] them suffering they can take it. So remember to spread the word!

Turns out that this whole thing is a hoax. Initially, this claim started in 2012 and was an elaborate prank aimed at a Terry Jordan, a city councilman in Slater, Missouri. He was trying to pass animal legislation in his city that started our targeting pit bulls specifically, but when it finally passed did not single out the breed.

Jordan was horrified by the claims and has never suggested violence against pit bulls.

So, if you see this story floating around on your Facebook feed, link your friends to this article (or the one on snopes.com). No one is out to get your animals this Halloween, but you should always be sure to keep them safe.

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