I’ll give that the frequency of attacks has been alarming recently.
I’ll give that pit bulls have been bred in the past (and are still bred by a few sickos today) to be an aggressive fighting species.
But banning them altogether?
Let me let you in on something, Dalton and co.–it’s not the dog. It’s the owner. Ban the people who abuse their dogs and treat them with cruelty; ban the people who rear their pets to be vicious and violent.
The dog has no idea what it’s doing. It’s only learned what it knows from its owner.
Amen. I’m not really a dog person (what was your first clue) but I’ve known staffordshire terriers who were love-heads, and the same can be said for dobies and rotties. If owners put evil in their heads, they will be evil dogs. The same can be said for children.
(Family would have had a cat, but Mum is allergic to them Maybe when I move out…)
'Zactly. It annoys me whenever people coo and gush over my Westie, and then back away slowly when they see a Rottweiler. Both kinds of breeds can be equally lovable and friendly–it’s (99% of the time) the owner’s fault if they’re not.
Another problem is that these “trouble” breeds tend to be a bit high strung. Anyone who has raised a pit pup will tell you that little guy will absoultly freak out when they see someone. In my experience they will then attempt to lick that person to death.
In a inexperienced persons hands this exitability can turn to an unmanageable pet. In a sicko’s hands all that wonderfull energy can be turned into something ugly.
I agree with you. Pit bulls, properly trained, are wonderful dogs. Don’t know the sitch in Canada, but here in the US, they seem to be the guard dog of choice among people of color *(Rotties seem to come in a close second).
I lived for a while in a predominately black neighborhood, and one of my neighbors had bought a pit bull for protection. Once I was walking past the house and the dog was in the yard and came over and gave me a good growling at. I stopped walking, and the owner said, “Let him smell you.” I offered the dog the back of my hand to sniff, the dog checked me out then let me go on my merry way. After that, I was able to walk past the yard with no problem, and after it got to know me, I could even pet him.
Great dogs, but they definitely need to be well-trained by their owners and respected by others. Banning a particular breed of dog is just stupid. A pit bull or rottweiller can be the sweetest cuddle bunny in the world, and a cocker spaniel can be trained as a vicious attack dog. But the two former do generally have more aggressive tendencies, thanks to selective breeding, and are very popular as guard dogs. Unfortunately, too many people think that in order to be a good guard dog, an animal must be taught to be vicious toward anyone who is not a member of its owner’s household.
Sad.
*which perhaps is the real reason so many communities want to ban them. There are many other breeds of dog that are perfectly capable of chewing a person to shreds, but since they are favored by white folk, they are given a pass.
Not sure what the sitch is, but people whose feathers are ruffled (like me) are pointing out, “Hey, you’re banning pit bulls, but not German Shepherds or Rottweilers, what gives?” I hope this isn’t tied to racism
The rationale on this seems to be “We’ve had a outbreak of attacks recently, especially on kids, and this breed is known to be vicious and aggressive, so it makes sense just to ban it all together”.
Which, of course, is complete idiocy. You don’t solve a problem of aggressiveness by just disallowing the breed altogether. If my puppy growls I don’t ship her off back to the breeder–I take her to an obedience school where she learns not to growl.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem like there’ll be any leeway on this.
It’s stupid. And futile. The worst dog bite I ever got was from a cocker spaniel.
The only problem with pit bulls is that the breed attracts problem owners. German Shepherds, rottweilers, etc. have come in for same sort of idiocy.
Okay, I fully grant that intensive breeding practices can maximize certain traits but the potential for aggression is worlds away from a specific animal behaving inappropriately. Pits, rotties, shepherds, etc. certainly aren’t predestined to be killers just because of their breed. ANY animal can become aggressive if mistreated or trained that way.
BTW, I own a large dog who’s rather scary looking: a black/brindle Shepherd/black Lab mix. She’s a total cream puff who’s never even nipped anyone but better believe she’s never outside without a leash (except for the dog park.) Some people are nervous around any dogs, even friendly ones, and that’s fair. So I’m not saying dogs must come before human concerns.
But c’mon already; at least the compromises can be based in reason.
Did you guys check out the link ? The victim was walking the dogs when they suddenly went berserk. Nothing to indicate that the dogs were viscious.
I’ve been around for over 50 years and dogs have been biting people since they were first domesticated (I used to be a paper boy), but the increasing frequency of severe maimings is overwhelmingly associated with the increasing popularity of the pit bull.
A mistreated dog that has been improperly raised will leave no doubt as to its pugnacious disposition. They are usually controlled and strangers will give them a wide berth. It is these lovely adorable pitbulls that suddenly go berserk that cause the majority of canine maulings reported in the news today.
“Majority”? “Reported in the news”?
Not to bust your chops unduly, but please…this is hardly a convincing indictment.
I’m not quibbling that dog attacks aren’t awful, just questioning the rational, effective basis for outlawing a particular breed.
Rottweilers and Pit Bulls are involved in a disproportionate number of serious injuries and fatalities to humans. They are dangerous animals. Pit Bulls in particular, are attractive to irresponsible people who should not own any breed of dog. Many are bred for dog fighting, or to attack or intimidate strangers.
I don’t care why they are vicious and dangerous, or whether or not it is the dog’s “fault”. I don’t want dangerous animals in my neighborhood. Pit Bulls are prohibited in my county, and I hope it stays that way.
Oh, that’s just stupid. You ban pit bulls, the fucktards are just gonna move on to another breed and give it a bad reputation. They’ll go back to Dobies, or Rotties, or move on to the mastiff breeds. There will always* be dog maulings until you do something about the fucktards who shouldn’t be allowed to have animals.
The only remotely negative thing I can say about pit bulls as a breed (and having worked in an area with lots of “home bisniss” I’ve worked with an almightly lot of them) is that they tend to be very animal aggressive unless you really socialize them. Oh, and they’ll beat you to death with those ropey tails.
They are not dangerous animals; they are powerful animals who are sometimes handled in a dangerous manner. There’s a world of difference.
Cars are involved in a disproportionate number of serious injuries and fatalities to humans. Cars are attractive to irresponsible people who should not own any kind of car.
Do you want to ban cars? No, you want to ban (prevent) the people who handles cars in a seriously reckless and irresponsible manner.
mks57, yes, pit bulls are high-strung because of selective breeding. But if they’re properly trained and reared, they won’t be aggressive or psychotic. And note that all the pit bulls mentioned in the attack are adult dogs–not puppies. Adult dogs have had to have some contact with humans within the course of their lives, and what kind of contact will mark their personalities.
[QUOTE=KythereiaLet me let you in on something, Dalton and co.–it’s not the dog. It’s the owner.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you that this is a dumb law, but sometimes it is the dog. I work for an animal shelter, and once we got in (in addition to a half-dozen adults) several pit bull puppies that had been bred for fighting.
They started off acting like normal puppies, but they grew up for several months in the animal shelter, as the criminal case against the dogfighter wound its way through court. And as they matured, they became increasingly aggressive against one another, until they were badly injuring each other in their cage. We had to separate them to avoid having them kill each other.
That’s not normal for dogs. These specific pits had had murderous anti-dog psychosis bred into them.
Not all pits are bad dogs, far from it. But when someone wants to breed a murderous dog, they sometimes succeed; and then it’s the inherited psychosis, as much as it’s the rearing, that creates a dangerous creature.
But in this case the natural psychotic tendencies of pit bulls had been amplified by their breeding. I have to wonder if they’d behave that way if they’d never been in contact with that breeder.
I have to agree with TVeblen. The recent spat of reports is only because of the hysterics caused by the news reports themselves. Lots of reports I’ve read don’t tell enough of the tale to get an accurate depiction of events leading up to the attack. Most people suck at handling dogs. I’ve seen plenty of stupid kids (with stupid ass parents) approach strange dogs in the worse possible ways (including scaring the dogs with lots of motion and sound).
Maybe when I move out…)