Skip to main content
Cloudy icon
25º

Dog trainer offering free classes for pit bulls after girl mauled to death in Detroit

Owners can contact Motor City K-9 Solutions

DETROIT – Steve Liggens knows any and everything about dogs.

"This is Jacko. He's a Dutch shepherd. Right there, that's a pit bull. His name is Money," Liggens said.

He said he has a personal connection with man's best friend.

"I've been training dogs since I was 14," Liggens said.

So he started his own company, called Motor City K-9 Solutions.

"We do primary board and trains, but we also do classes and things of that nature," Liggens said.

He wants to use his expertise for a bigger cause.

"With Emma Hernandez being fatally killed by the pit bulls and then Ashes being attacked and killed, it's been a problem with pit bulls constantly, and I kind of want to do something about it," Liggens said.

Emma was mauled to death by pit bulls while she road her bike near her Detroit home last week.

MORE: 9-year-old girl killed by dogs in Detroit

Ashes the dog was killed by pit bulls that escaped a neighbor's yard. The dog's owner was also attacked.

READ: Pit bulls kill small dog, attack dog's owner in Detroit

Liggens wants to help for free.

"So what I would like to do is kind of help out with that, offer some free classes for pit bulls owners, to change the narrative," Liggens said.

Liggens said he knows that narrative is negative and pit bulls have the reputation of being violent, but he said a lot of that has to do with the dog's environment.

"The biggest problem is pit bulls are not receiving enrichment. In Detroit, if you drive through, you see a lot of pit bulls chained out," he said.

Liggens said he can change that behavior in four weeks.

"We kind of change the rules a little bit. Most dogs that are attacking, they're not taught to be violent, but they're not taught anything, so nature trumps everything," he said.

For more information, click here.