Mark Buehrle and Family Move Outside Miami Due to Pit Bull Ban

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Pitcher Mark Buehrle just signed with the Miami Marlins for four years and $58 million last month, but he won’t be living near his new ballpark. The Beuhrle family has moved outside of Miami-Dade county so that they can keep their pit bull, Slater.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Buehrle’s 18-month old dog, an American Staffordshire Terrier, falls under the county’s pit bull breed ban established in 1989. The pitcher says he would not have signed with the team if it meant giving up Slater, and the family moved to a “dog-friendly development” located in Broward County. Buehrle told the Miami Herald, “It’s kind of ridiculous that because of the way a dog looks, people will ban it. Every kind of dog has good and bad, and that depends on the handlers. If you leave a dog outside all the time, it’ll be crazy. Slater would never do anything harmful.”

He and his wife Jamie are both spokespeople for the organization Best Friends Animal Society, which took in many of the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick‘s dog fighting operation, ‘Bad Newz Kennels.’ Buehrle has taken some criticism for his past comments about Vick, saying that he hoped Vick would get hurt while playing football, but has since stood by his statements, saying “I said it. I meant it.” The Buehrles have also helped Best Friends get some of their dogs homes by showcasing adoptable dogs in PSAs aired during his baseball games with the White Sox, a campaign the organization called Sox For Strays.