Pit bull terriers get a bad rap, and some deserve it. But not Walter.

Used as bait to teach other dogs to fight, Walter was dumped in Dover, covered in cuts and bloody wounds.

"Dr. Rita Tinsley brought him back from the brink of death and fostered him for us for about six months," says Lauri Goss, vice president of the Humane Society of Dover-Stewart County."

Goss is always thrilled when a sad story turns out as well as Walter's. The day after Thanksgiving, Walter got a new home. He was adopted by Constance and Thomas Ayres, and their children, Tommy, 17, Kayla, 16, and Jenna, 15.

Walter — deaf, scarred by abuse and a pit bull to boot — stood little chance of being adopted. That appealed to Kayla, the biggest heart in a big-hearted family.

"Kayla works with special-needs children at her school and has taken sign language classes to work with the deaf. She has a special place in her heart for those with challenges and a ton of love and patience," Constance wrote in her adoption application to Second Chance and Happy Tails.

"She saw the ad for Walter and loved him the minute she saw him and read his story," Constance continued.

Kayla, a junior at Rossview High School, says she and some of her friends hang out in the Life Skills class at school, making friends with classmates who have physical and mental disabilities. In Walter, she saw a familiar unrecognized potential.

"Most people wouldn't take him," she says. "There's nothing really wrong with him except he can't hear. He's just like everyone else."

From the moment the Ayres family met Walter, the deal was sealed.

"We just adored him. He was so loving and excited," Constance says. "We took him home the same day."

Constance thought it would take Walter a long time to warm up to people. She expected to have to work to gain his trust.

"He is so well-behaved and loving, which we were shocked by, because he was so mistreated," Constance says.

Kayla decided she wanted to teach Walter sign language. Kathy Temple, a translator for the deaf, is also a dog trainer for Clarksville Kennel Club and will teach Kayla to communicate to Walter using hand signals next spring.

It turns out the connection between Kayla and Kathy is deeper than either realized. Kathy, too, took in a handicapped dog, Sienna, whose mother chewed off one of her legs when she was born. Sienna has since become a celebrated therapy dog, bringing hope to people who have physical disabilities.

Possessed of a unique vision, Kayla does not see disabilities in either Walter or her friends at school.

"She gets upset when we say Walter is special-needs," Constance says. "She says he isn't special-needs, he's just special."

It seems Kayla's outlook is rubbing off on her family.

"Walter is really good at picking up facial expressions, and he doesn't like getting in trouble for any reason," Constance says. "Everyone laughs at us. We know that he's deaf, but we talk to him all the time."

By STACY SMITH SEGOVIA

The Leaf-Chronicle

http://www.theleafchronicle.com