[Grammar] ... help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls face ...

[kadioguy]

(In Reader's Digest, an article called The Good Pit Bull)

[...]
Word spread around Angell Animal Medical Center about the hero dog who’d rescued her owner from the train tracks. Rob Halpin, Angell’s public relations director, asked David if he’d be willing to share Lilly’s story with the media. It would, Halpin told him, help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls face that often prevented them from being adopted.
[...]
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This is a story happening in the past. I think that the blue part is in the present simple because it is a general truth. However, can I choose to backshift it, simply as part of indirect speech? That is:

It would, Halpin told him, help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls faced that often prevented them from being adopted.

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(In other words)

Halpin: "It will help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls face that often prevents them from being adopted."
↓
It would, Halpin told him, help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls faced that often prevented them from being adopted.
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What do you think?

 

[Tarheel]

I wouldn't. The thing you are talking about (a prevalent attitude (stigma) about pit bulls) is a current thing. It is not in the past.

 

[kadioguy]

You can choose ether past or present tense, but you need to be consistent:

It would, Halpin told him, help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls faced that often prevented them from being adopted.

It would, Halpin told him, help counter the unfair stigma pit bulls face that often prevents them from being adopted.

So do you think the original one isn't well-written (because of not being consistent with others in tense)?