A Pit Bull can be wonderful pets. Problem is, if it has a bad day, people, usually kids, die. I’m sure a bear can be trained to be a wonderful pet, but the down side if something goes wrong is just too great. Yes, we should hold owners responsible. But I think we need more. Possibly you sign on for even greater damages if your Pit goes nutty. And if it kills one of your kids, you don’t get to take care of kids any more. Too extreme? Maybe.
What I don’t get is why people, particularly those with kids, insist on getting Pit Bulls. There are over a hundred or two other breeeds. Even if Pit Bulls are my favorite, maybe I’ll go with my second favorite, Goldens, Poodles, Great Danes, Saint Bernards, and not have to worry about my kid getting mauled. These parents selfish assholes, if you ask me. Not that anyone did…
As a kid I was bit by two different dogs. One was a St. Bernard, the other a Cocker Spaniel. The cocker went to another home and ended up putting two children in hospital.
My best friend was bit by a chow down the street.
The two pits in the area were the nicest ones. They were very rough and tumble dogs but they didn’t bite people. One of the pits, Lucy, loved kids. While she never attacked anyone I could see her do it if one of “her kids” was being harmed or threatened.
Put bulls have tons of energy and can be very headstrong. They are also quite smart and can get bored easily. The bad part is owners don’t always take care of their dogs’ needs (any breed). A pit isn’t the type of dog you can just toss in the back yard and ignore. It does need social interaction and it needs to be taught boundries. Of course, you can say that with any dog breed. The problem is not any dog can be as fierce as a modivated pit bull.
I’m not for banning breeds but I’d be for a proper pet care license. If you want to get any animal you need to apply for a license and take a test that shows you know how to care for such an animal. I have a rescue pit/lab mix and a rescue parrot - both from people who had zero clue about animals. The parrot was from a guy who, I swear to god, thought feeding it bacon was ok. The pit/lab was turned over to the shelter because he had too much energy and would jump their 2 meter chain link fence. Of course he only did this because he wasn’t stimulated or played with enough. Now that he’s at our house he hasn’t even tried to jump our one meter chain link fence. Granted he’s not a full pit, but he acts like one.
Of course, I don’t know how you’d enforce a required pet care license for pets. I just like the idea.
If the dog has a history, yes. But I don’t think you can hold someone fully responsible if an animal has an unsuspected outbreak. I’ve seen horses go nuts and start kicking people out of the blue. No reason behind it they just snap.
My friend was put into hospital when his mothers cat took a chunk out of his finger. The bite got a wierd infection and within 24 hours of the bite the guy was well on the road to being really messed up. Without medical attention they say he might have died. This is not uncommon of cat bites.
Animals have their own mind and their own feelings. They also carry baggage of past memories. Sometimes they just decide to lash out.
Owners should be responsible for anything they could have/should have controled. If the owners keeps the animal locked in the back yard and someone else lets the dog out - and the dog bites a kid in the leg - then no. The owner took the correct steps to contain the dog. If the owner lets the dog run the streets and the dog has already attacked people, then yes. The owner should pay proper expenses and face charges on something like endangerment.
Look, there’s obviously something in Pit Bulls that makes them prone to random and unanticipated violent freakouts. It’s lazy, defensive, and misleading to just say “It’s all in how you raise them!” when the vast majority of Pit Bull maulings involve “friendly family dogs” that were raised with utmost care and attention, like the ones from this weekend, that still inexplicably freak out and kill people. Let’s cut the bullshit and save some lives.
I’m too tired to read through it right now, but I did notice one thing. It lists by breed except it has “pit bull type” and “husky type”. I’m not sure what they mean by this. Is pit bull type any kind of Bull Terrier (including Spuds McKenzie) or just American Pit Bull Terrier’s?
This is extremely naive and temporary. First of all, as you point out, it’s unenforceable. Just completely unenforceable.
Second, if it were enforceable, and you managed to extinct the breed, another breed would come into fashion, and you’d continue to have the same problem. Since it’s the rearing and not the breeding that is at the root of the problem, the dog owners who are attracted to pit bulls for their reputation would then move on to the next breed, and raise killers of that breed.
The issue is human behavior–the trainers of these dogs–not canine genetics. Addressing the genetics, which is a straw man, and ignoring the human behavior, will just make the problem worse.
The only solution is to charge the owner with a crime. Assault, attempted murder, whatever; to treat the dog, for legal purposes, the same as you would any other deadly weapon used by a violent criminal.
The news reported them as being pit bulls…presumably that’s what the owner said they were. They’re pretty easy to identify, though I suppose they could be a mix of some sort as well.
It is a mistake to compare dogs that maul with dogs that bite. I’ve been bitten both by a cocker spaniel and a dalmation, two breeds known for biting. Both cases from loving homes. Yet I’ve never heard of anyone being killed by these breeds.
And I keep hearing that mauling pit bull owners should be criminally charged ? For what? That he should have known his dog is dangerous even to his own family? Well duh. Its a pit bull. Did he take a chance with someone else’s life and thought his pit bull would never ever freak out?
I’d have to agree with his claim. The vast majority of pit bull attacks I read about involved a loved and trusted family pet. Can I cite every article I’ve read in the last ten years? No. But that’s how they’re reported.
No, they are not easy to identify. Most people cannot tell a pit bull from a Rottweiler from a Cane Corso from a Dogue de Bordeaux. I’ve seen Beagles identified as Pit Bulls.
As for the idea that someone else had of getting Saint Bernards instead of Pit Bulls, please, do not encourage people to switch to another breed of dog based on profound ignorance. The largest Saints weigh over 200 pounds (we had a 200 pound Saint when I was growing up). They can be extremely aggressive dogs, they are known biters, and I consider them unsafe for novice owners because of their nature and size. Because of a surge in popularity, contemptible backyard breeders contaminated the breed with unsound hips and aggression problems.
They are wonderful dogs, but they are not “safe.”
[preaching mode]There is no such thing as a safe breed. Young children should not be left alone with any dog.[/preaching mode]
By himself? Quite old. Both the dog and the kid need to be well-trained, the kid needs to recognize signs of trouble, and the dog’s behavior should have been carefully monitored for its entire life.
Having a dog is a commitment to keeping everyone, people and dogs, safe and happy. Instead, people get a dog on a whim, treat it like crap, then react in horror when Fido doesn’t die for them. Those people need to get a pet TV or something.
Nonsense. It is at least partly enforceable. Denver impounded 652 pit bulls in 2003. From here.
The genetic makeup and propensities of pit bulls are hardly a straw man. They didn’t gain their reputation from out of thin air. Addressing only the human side of the equation is simplistic and unproductive.
many of the dogs identified as “pit bulls” in sensational news stories are mixed breeds, unknown breeds, or other breeds. any short haired dog with a blocky head becomes a “pit bull”
when other breeds attack, it doesn’t get reported (maybe if it’s a rottweiler, but generally attacks from dogs that are clearly other breeds get little attention)
yes, there are bad pit bulls, and it’s the primarily the result of irresponsible breeding.
3a) pit bulls were bred for hundreds of years to be friendly to humans, because they were bred for fighting dogs (and other aminals). under the rules of the fighting they were bred for, a dog that intentionally bit one of the three people in the “pit” was disqualified and lost. a human aggressive dog was considered a liability.
3b) many of the pit bull attacks i read about involve incredibly irresponsible owners. i recall a recent attack where an 11 month old dog attacked a child, the dog just had puppies. a dog doesn’t grow into its adult temperament until it’s about 18 months to 2 years old, and breeding a dog of unknown temperament is asking for trouble.
3c) if you buy a pit bull from some backyard breeder whose only selection criterium was “hey, i got a male and a female, let’s have them screw and we can sell puppies”, you’re asking for trouble.
i have never known a dog that attacked someone without showing ample warning signs. the owners of these dogs have either been completely ignorant of their dog’s dangerous behavior or chose to ignore it.
even if you do ban pit bulls, how do you decide what a pit bull is? few people recognize my dog as a pit bull because she is bred to the standard of the dogs from 100 years ago. everyone thinks she’s too small (45 lbs) and too skinny to be a real pit bull. i recall the horror on one woman’s face when i told her that my dog was a pit bull, and she said she had a dog that looks just like her that the humane society told her was a boxer mix.
it takes a lot of time and energy to be a responsible pit bull owner, but a well-bred, socialized and trained pit bull is not dangerous.
fun fact: there is not one recorded case of a neutered, house pet pit bull being involved in a fatal attack.
Looks to me like it’s meant to promote responsible pit bull ownership.
If you want this dog, you should be prepared to train and supervise it properly. If you do, you will be greatly rewarded; if you don’t, you may end up with much more dog than you can handle.
Anecdotally: I have seen dobermans (!!) identified as pit bulls, and the nastiest dog I have ever met was a black lab.
Dogbreedinfo is just a site that gives basic breed information and quizes so that people can choose the dog that will be best for them. They don’t really promote or discourage the ownership of any breed.
one other thing: in all the dog attack statistics, pit bulls usually come out on top due to the category being labeled “pit bull type dogs”. all the other breeds are specific, and the pit bull category gets credit for any other dog that fits a very vague description. a dog of unknown or mixed breed attacks? call it a pit bull type.
I had a black lab who was an aggressive asshole (he came with the ex…another aggressive asshole). I’m not saying there aren’t other aggressive dogs; I’m saying that the percentage of aggressive “fighting dog breeds” if you don’t like narrowing it down to strictly “Pit bull”, is much higher. I KNOW other dogs bite people, but as someone said earlier, they don’t usually maul.
No one should leave young children alone with any breed. That’s a given for most people. But I’d sooner leave a child with an unknown lab than with an unknown dog that is bred for fighting. Your chances of disaster are higher with a dog that is commonly bred for fighting than one that is commonly bred to be a family pet.