The problem is it’s almost impossible to enforce such a law, and that makes it a stupid law.
Another thing that makes it a stupid law is it does nothing to control the problem of bad dog owners and is just a stupid attempt to single out a given breed. Under the strictest breed definitions, a dog could be alike in temperament, appearance, and etc to a pit bull but, could in fact be a mutt.
Years ago, other dogs were considered menaces, it comes in turns, it seems. Dobermans, rottweilers, even the fairly lovable German shepherd. There are multiple fold problems going on here. With dogs like German shepherds, they were a classic case of a “popular” dog that is more difficult to train and raise properly than your average lazy dog owner is able to deal with. With pit bulls, I think a big problem is certain unsavory elements of society have become enamored with them, and these unsavory elements unfortunately don’t raise them properly.
Either way, if pit bulls get banned, the unsavory types will probably just like them more. Or, they’ll start to like a breed like the rottweiler more, or the doberman. Eventually you have to either decide to take action, seriously, against the dog owner, or just decide dogs in general can’t coexist with human society.
12,000+ years of human civilization suggests the latter is a ridiculous decision.
We’ve been getting The Dog Whisperer on TV here - must say that I’m amazed at the number of middle class Americans who have good intentions but are really clueless when it comes to bringing up a dog and who make dogs into aggressive things, without really trying. I wouldn’t discribe them as “fuckwads, asshats and jerkoffs”. At least two I’ve seen had pitbulls who were out of control.
My best friend loves animals. She lives out in the boonies and has, at last count 15 dogs. One of those dogs is a Pit Bull rescued from a Pit Bull fighting ring. The dog was about 7 months old and in rotten shape. She took it and locked it in a pen, at this time the dog looked as though it would have to be put down. She took 3 months getting to know the dog, socializing it with her other animals before she let it back out of the pen. She kept up her work with the animal afterwards.
That dog is now the biggest babydoll on the planet. Her 3 year old has ridden the dog in the house and plops down on the dog to give the dog hugs. The dog takes it all with good grace, she’s a totally different animal.
I think the owner and the way the dog is raised makes the biggest difference. The Pit Bull owners in the OP are at fault here, leash laws are leash laws, it doesn’t matter what kind of dog it is.
I have a couple of friends who own pit bulls and the dogs are big goofy fun guys. True they are bundles of muscle who could really hurt someone or somedog but they don’t try to; they just like to play.
The issue is with the owners not following leash laws.
I have a bit of an issue with folks saying “they are just being dogs.”
No dog I have ever had has ever attacked another dog, whether on leash or off.
There is a huge range of dominance displays ranging from body language and vocalizations, before one dog (or wolf) comes close to physically attacking another.
So, IMO, dogs that attack other dogs are not just being dogs - they are being aggressive, vicious dogs that should be closely controlled and should not be allowed to harass well behaved dogs and their owners.
Every article in the paper about a pit bull killing or tearing someone up is accpmpanied by an article saying he was just a big lovable baby. After a while the statistics become too hard to ignore. Pit bulls are more dangerous than other breeds. Of course yours is the exception until it eats your baby. I just want the damn things on leashes .
Won’t hurt the dog, but it will get him away from you in short order. If the owner complains, explain that you felt you were in danger from their uncontrolled animal, that you are allowed to defend yourself under such cercumstances. Offer to call the police to mediate.
It isn’t the breeds fault that humans designed it to be this low maintence animal, bred originally for pit fighting and guarding.
Humans are to blame.
I’ve wanted one ( Staffy’s, mainly) for a long time because of the low groom, low maintence, great with kids, good health.
The problem is pretty obvious: the stigma of the dog itself.
They are the most legislated dogs on the planet right now. Yes, they are very dangerous when coupled with some asshat owners ( which seem to be driven to own this breed by the droves.) but when socialized properly and given a thorough training, are wonderful dogs and a credit to the doggie breed.
I don’t think in our lifetime we will see a relaxed stance on this breed at all. Like the english bulldog was once ferocious and omnious, it will be bred down with consideration to being a vital, friendly, happy companion. Until then, they will be driven out of society until near extinct, which is a shame, really.
I just love these dogs and their built like a brick shit out looks.
Allow me to offer a cite that, I hope, will get you to think about this issue a little more critically than you seem to be doing here. Scroll down a bit and see six news accounts of “pit bull attacks” debunked for the sensationalist crap that they were. Link
That’s part of it. Pits are the smartest, most loyal dogs I’ve ever been around. They’re extremely good at reading people, and they want to please.
I had a girlfriend who had a pit that was the sweetest, most amazing dog I’ve ever met. She (the dog) was rambunctious and loved to play, but she had also learned that if she came on too strong with people that didn’t know her, it made them uncomfortable. She was better than most people at feeling new acquaintances out and adjusting her behavior to what was appropriate. When she found someone like me that also liked to play, she would really bond with them. When I came over, she’d run around the house, jumping over the couch, skidding across the hardwood floors and sliding into walls, and just having a joyously unfettered good time.
One day, I brought my ex home from having major ACL/MCL surgery. She was in a lot of pain, and I had to carry her to the couch, where she spent most of the next few weeks. The three of us (me, the ex, and the dog) spent a lot of time on the couch. Whenever my ex and I sat there, the dog would bound up and wriggle between us. I was worried that the dog would jump up on the couch, which could have been disastrous for my ex’s knee if the dog landed on it wrong. Instead the dog practically tiptoed across the room, coming around the side of the couch where my ex’s head was to avoid her legs. She then ever-so-carefully, almost daintily, climbed up on the couch and curled up next to her best friend’s neck and chest. Not only did she immediately understand what was going on, she went out of her way to let us know she understood what was going on. Over the next week or so, there were a few times that I jostled the couch or accidentally bumped my girlfriend in a way that hurt her, but the dog never did. This was the most energetic and athletic dog I’ve ever known, but she was also a remarkably perceptive and gentle soul.
The problem is that if this dog had been owned by an angry young male with a carefully cultivated aura of menace that bought the dog partly as an accessory to his image, the dog would pick up on that and oblige his wishes, even if not specifically trained to attack people and other dogs. This of course leaves aside the many pits that are specifically trained to be aggressive.
People who are clueless when it comes to bringing up a dog shouldn’t have large breed dogs. You could (and probably should) argue that they shouldn’t have any dogs at all.
The thing with Pit Bulls (and other similar breeds) that has been noted here many times before, is that if they do get aggressive, it is very dangerous. Other breeds will let go if you whack them or kick them etc. I have also noticed (and it might be because I don’t belong to any other online messageboard) is that Americans defend people’s right to own Pit Bulls and that the owners are the problem, not the dog.
Whilst I too agree that the owners are the problem, removing or restricting the breed takes away some of the problem. If it means that my dog or my child or me, may be slightly safer, if only for a short time whilst the criminal idiots find a new breed to make their own, it is worth it.
It is oh so kin to the attitude of Americans to guns ie the gun isn’t the problem, it is the owner/user.
What other solutions to the problem are there?
Are you required to register a dog in the US?
Do you honestly believe, with the insane amount of back yard breeding that goes on, that the “Pit Bull” can genuinely be banned at all? Even with many areas requiring dogs be licensed, many many dogs are not, and the kind of person who buys a “Pit” for macho reasons or as an attack or fighting isn’t the type to comply with those laws. As Martin Hyde pointed out, Breed Specific Legislation is nearly impossible to enforce, and an unintended side effect may well be driving out responsible breeders, rescues, and trainers, which is not a good thing.
If the problem’s going to keep coming back with only a small lapse while the unsavory types phase in a new breed (which is unlikely to lead any appreciable drop at all- it’s disgustingly easy to obtain a big scary mutt of indeterminate heritage overnight, and as soon as the demand is there, the for-profit backyard breeders and mills will swoop in to fill it) than all logic suggests that the problem isn’t the dogs themselves- so we either ban all potentially lethal breeds, or we deal with the actual problem.
If we ban “Pits” for your stated reason, based on current stats we’ll also have to exterminate all Rottweilers, German Shepherd Dogs, and the large, sled-dog styled, Spitz breeds. That’s a lot of dogs, and some of them are a lot cuter to most folks than “Pits”.
But it doesn’t. The assholes who want an aggressive dog will just get some other large breed. Demand for that breed will go up, so people who are only interested in making money (rather than in breeding good examples of a breed of dog) will start breeding that breed, which will lead to temperament problems. It’s happened several times- at one time, Dobermans, German Shepherds, and Rottweilers were considered problem breeds.
There’s another problem- unless you have papers saying that your dog’s parents are of a particular breed, you really can’t prove that it is or isn’t of that breed. “Pit bull” isn’t a breed, either- there are several breeds that get called pit bulls.
Rather than breed-specific laws, I’d rather see laws mandating spaying and neutering of dogs except for dogs owned by licensed breeders. The vast majority of serious dog attacks come from un-neutered males or un-spayed females, and 70 to 76 percent of all dog bite incidents involve an un-neutered male dog.. Having more dogs spayed or neutered would cut down on dog attacks, and would also reduce the number of unwanted puppies in our shelters.
I think it is possible to police this. Here, when the dog control unit was put out to contract, suddenly, areas that had been a problem (mine included) were free from unlicensed dogs. Yes, in the company’s zealousness to make money, sensible and reliable dog owners were fined walking between car and off leash areas, when we are talking only metres - but after public protest, this has ceased.
Where there is money to be made…
So because every pitbull that’s attacked someone has been described as “a big lovable baby,” then it naturally follows, in your tiny mind, that every pitbull that has been described as “a big lovable baby” is a dangerous killer just waiting to destroy! Is that how your mind operates? Do you not see how idiotic that kind of thinking is?
No, they’re being BADLY RAISED dogs. I take my dog to a dog park quite often, and I used to live near some folks who were pit bull crazy. As in loved the ugly things, NOT as in “I’m a macho guy and I want a macho killer dog”.
The first time they saw my puppy (now 7 years old) a miniature Australian Shepherd, they came DASHING over to check her out and nearly scared the life out of both of us. Within weeks, she was herding and bossing them around. Raised correctly, they really are lovable, gentle doofuses (doofi?).
One always hears the same thing about Rottweilers, about how terrifying and what killers they are. Um, yeah, not any I’ve ever met, and I’ve known two folks who bred and raised them.
It’s the owner’s responsibility, no matter what kind of dog they have, to make sure that the dog is behaving in a properly socialized way whether they are off-leash or leashed.
Not to mention the demographics most likely to not only raise a dog improperly, but to raise a dog SPECIFICALLY to be vicious, agressive and usually as fodder for illegal spectator dogfights.
That, more than the so-called “natural tendencies” of breed itself is the impetus for so many states making the owning, breeding and selling of pit bulls illegal.
The fighting pit bull is to the moron, asshole springerite what the BMW is to the yuppie. Status symbol and extension of his machismo.