Players For Pits is a 501c3 non-profit organization, based in Illinois that features professional athletes who are against animal abuse.

Mission Statement:
Players for Pits, NFP is an Illinois based 501c3 no-kill rescue committed to saving pit bulls and pit bull mix breed dogs. The rescue was founded by Stephanie Paluch and Ryan Copeland in May of 2013 and has grown over the years to include many dedicated volunteers and professional athletes. Everyone involved at Players for Pits is active with the community and works diligently towards helping abused, neglected, and abandoned dogs. As a volunteer based rescue, all funds are reliant upon donations, grants, and sponsorships. Funds are used mostly for medical care for the dogs in our care, as well as training and general care for those that require rehabilitation. It is the mission of Players for Pits to decrease the amount of dogs dying in shelters locally and nationwide, while creating awareness for spay/neuter programs to further educate the public towards becoming more involved in animal welfare.

Our Philosophies:

Players for Pits is dedicated towards advocating and implementing responsible pet ownership for the dogs in our program. Our adoption process is structured towards the ability to consider the needs of both the applicant(s) as well as the dog(s). There is no set time frame on how long it can take for an adoption to take place as each situation is as unique as the individual dogs in our rescue. Every dog adopted out will be current on vaccinations, altered, dewormed, microchipped to the rescue and tested for heartworm (age appropriate). Any dog taken in with a medical issue will be treated by the rescue with the best possible care administered by our vets.

We do not put emphasis on “breed labeling” at Players for Pits. While we rationalize with breed stereotypes and tendencies, it is impossible to accurately predict behavior of a mixed breed dog based on assumed physical breed traits. Scientifically, less than 1% of a dogs genes determine their outward appearance, therefore we consider each dog in our rescue an individual with their own unique personality and characteristics. We urge all applicants to apply for a dog based on the dog and not their assumptions of personality based on what breed the dog looks like.

Players for Pits is a part of many educational programs, including community outreach, spay and neuter programs, as well as canine assisted therapy work. Every member of the PFP team is active in helping community members around us while educating the public to become more involved in animal welfare. Our goal is to increase the amount of awareness in the community to help lead our cities toward a collective “no-kill” status.

PFP seeks to dismantle the negative stereotypes surrounding “pit bulls” in our society. We will help our adopters if they would like their “pit bull” mix dog enrolled in Canine Good Citizenship class and continue on towards active therapy work with their dog. Our alumni participate in many programs that give back to the community and we aim to increase the number of working therapy “pit bulls” yearly. Because Chicago is a high traffic area for dog fighting and breeding, we work within those targeted areas to spay and neuter dogs and educate the owners about overpopulation. We work with the police to combat dog fighting and urge anyone with tips to immediately report them to their local authorities. We can also direct you to anonymous tip lines.

Adoption Policy