Pit Bulls

[minkydog]

No... you don't hear about it. A headlie of 'poodle attack' wouldn't get half as many viewers as a pitbull attack. But they happen.

I'll take my chances

 

[Luvchefmic]

I agree. Just last week there was a pit bull attack right here in metro Atlanta. A woman was just walking in her own neighborhood when THREE pits raced out and attacked her. THankfully, there were neighbors who heard AND came to the rescue. It took three people beat the dogs off her with rocks and bats. She spent a couple days in the hospital and got a couple hundred stitches to the face. In fact, they were unable to fix her face and now she will have to undergo a series of operations to place skin grafts ON HER FACE, for crying out loud. One of the dogs got away and continued to roam the neighborhood for 3 days. And, yes, these were bona fide pit bulls.

No, thank you. I do not trust pit bulls. You might have the greatest pit bull in the world, but I would not cross your door step because I would be in constant fear of attack. You never hear of someone being mauled or killed by a pack of poodles, do you?

I bolded so now lets take out the words three pits and replace it with oh I don't know three horses that came out of their paddock/pasture and then they knocked down the passerby and caused her serious injury or death...
see where I'm going with this ? Its NOT the animal its the OWNER

 

[Art 1]

IMHO was put in my post to avoid just this kind of thing but I am polite & friendly so I will answer you with for every story we read or hear about there are dozens more about other breeds...just my take on things, I know you don't like pitbulls I got that I understand

Other breeds mostly bite people, pit bulls seem to get out and attack people.

 

[minkydog]

I bolded so now lets take out the words three pits and replace it with oh I don't know three horses that came out of their paddock/pasture and then they knocked down the passerby and caused her serious injury or death...
see where I'm going with this ? Its NOT the animal its the OWNER

Oh, yeah,because we all know how vicious horses GRAB SOMEONE'S FACE AND TRY TO EAT IT OFF.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Oh, yeah,because we all know how vicious horses GRAB SOMEONE'S FACE AND TRY TO EAT IT OFF.

Minky I love you, have followed you around for a while and you know that BUT, I'm not suggesting in any way shape or form that a horse can grab someones face & try to eat it off BUT average horse weight about 1500 lbs, in a panick yes biting kicking etc...now those 3 horses in my hypothetical cause all kinds of damage to property & most likely kill someone (one kick to someones head or chest could do it)...horses fault or owners ?

 

[simba928]

Other breeds mostly bite people, pit bulls seem to get out and attack people.

That goes back to the media hype, though. Ever notice that it was a "loving family pet that was simply protecting it's owner" when a golden retriever or lab attacks, but in the same scenario it's a "vicious beast that mauled an innocent passer by" when it's a pit bull type dog?

It is also because pit bull type dogs are very strong, muscular dogs. If you ever look closely at a pit bull type dog, once they pass puppyhood (pit puppies are kind of long, thin, and awkward) you can see the definition of their muscles in their legs and chest. If a pit bull type dog bites you (nobody here is denying that pit bull type dogs bite, any animal with teeth from people to dogs to hamsters to horses can bite), it is a much more severe bite than smaller dogs. I'd be willing to bet that smaller dogs (chihuahuas, lhasa apsos, yorkies, etc) bite more ("I'm a big dog in a little body, hear me roar" type attitude as well as the "I'm the baby and nobody should come near me or my momma/daddy" attitude) than pit bull type dogs, but because of the size difference, a pit bite is more severe, and, therefore, requires medical attention. On the other hand, a chihuahua bite may not necessarily require any kind of medical attention (not to mention the embarassment of saying "I got attacked by a 6 pound chihuahua", KWIM?). It could very well just be a little nick on the finger. However, there have been fatal attacks from beagles, dachshunds, yorkies, and chihuahuas.

 

[minkydog]

Minky I love you, have followed you around for a while and you know that BUT, I'm not suggesting in any way shape or form that a horse can grab someones face & try to eat it off BUT average horse weight about 1500 lbs, in a panick yes biting kicking etc...now those 3 horses in my hypothetical cause all kinds of damage to property & most likely kill someone (one kick to someones head or chest could do it)...horses fault or owners ?

Oh, I totally agree with you. Horses can inflict a lot of damage on someone. I'm not going to debate the virtues or evils of pit bulls, however. I will never trust them and I have a right to my opinion just like everyone else does.

 

[handinpocket]

I look forward to the day that all pit bulls are banned from ownership. It is coming. They are unpredicatable and evil dogs. I have seen an attack, and it wasn't pretty.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Oh, I totally agree with you. Horses can inflict a lot of damage on someone. I'm not going to debate the virtues or evils of pit bulls, however. I will never trust them and I have a right to my opinion just like everyone else does.

there you go everyone is entitled to an opinion I just have a BIG problem with classifying anything on a label....all women, all Italians, all blacks, all Latinos, all pit bulls, etc...just my cause in life I guess...now if we want to say "all men..." we'd probably be right

 

[simba928]

I look forward to the day that all pit bulls are banned from ownership. It is coming. They are unpredicatable and evil dogs. I have seen an attack, and it wasn't pretty.

I really hope and pray that that day never comes. It will only take the dogs away from the responsible people that you want to have dogs (I work with a woman that has 3 lab mixes and 2 pit bull type dogs. She cooks for all 5 dogs. They go to work with her. They have their own swimming pool in her backyard. The trouble dog isn't the pit that was dumped behind the shelter as a puppy with a severe injury or the pit puppy that spent a month in the shelter simply waiting with a wagging tail to be adopted. It is the lab mix puppy that they took as a foster with demodex mange and ended up adopting!) The people that will have these dogs are the people that will not take the animals for a walk. They will neglect the dogs. They will keep the dogs underground, which makes them even more dangerous (and that applies to any dog that never sees the light of day, not just pits. When they get out, they will lack socialization and be extremely fearful, which make for the most dangerous dogs you can find whether it's a chihuahua or great dane). I've met the "bad" people that you wouldn't want to have a pit bull ("I want to adopt this pit bull from a shelter and not have him neutered so that I can breed him with my pit bull. I'll make sure none of my pups end up in a shelter." To which I replied and then told him "Honestly, you'll be lucky if one of your dogs ends up in a good home. About half will end up in shelters, and they will be the lucky ones. The rest will end up on the streets." He had been arguing with me about breeding pits and getting this sweetheart of a boy without him being neutered before and after I said that he got tired of talking to me and didn't like me so much anymore.) as well as the "good" people that take care of their dogs, provide them with enrichment and exercise, train them, alter them, provide vet care. I had one family that wanted this one pit bull so badly. He was sick and on medication for quite a while. They came in EVERYDAY to visit him, bringing him treats, talking to him. He finally went home and is treated like the king he is. Another pit bull was adopted by an awesome woman that sends us updates and pictures of her all the time (which is awesome because despite the number of loving pit bull type dogs we get, very few get adopted)

And let's say that BSL does go into effect everywhere and everyone follows the law. There will just be another breed chosen to be the "dangerous breed". German shepherds went through the "vicious" phase. Chows went throught the "vicious" phase. Rottweilers went through the "vicious" phase. The cycle will just start with a new breed to outlaw.

 

[bumbershoot]

The best part is-- you're only supposed to have *one* dog, and a pitbull is a restricted breed. Ugh. I'm tempted to report it but I don't want bad neighbor karma.

Time to report it!

We had a downstairs neighbor who ended up with two. Restricted breed, and she only told management about one. She got away with the one b/c she said it was a working dog, to alert her to seizures. (of course she never took the dog ANYWHERE with her, and she was gone most of the day...and she used to work in apt mgmt and knew just what to say) But then she got the second. The female was territorial over the entire building. There were 8 apartments in the building, they lived on the second floor, and the woman's boyfriend would let the female dog and the woman's 4 year old daughter stand at the doorway, with the door open (no screen door) while the boyfriend napped or drank. Sigh.

I had a newborn. We were willing to put up with it for awhile, reporting everything to management (a working dog is seen as a human tenant...so if a human is acting out, being violent, threatening, etc, the human can be kicked out, and so can the working dog, but it takes lots of official reports and paperwork), but then the female cornered DH (between 250-300 lbs depending) in his car, refusing to let him out (because that meant he would go into "her" building) until the boyfriend physically came down to haul her away, and she did it twice. I became even more of a hermit, being afraid to go out because of the dog's behaviours, and we finally cried uncle and moved. The woman was FINALLY kicked out, having had this horribly behaved dog the whole time, last year. That was over 3 years of neighbors reporting.

Anyway, your neighbor is breaking two rules. She's already in the negative, karma-wise.

I think its far more dangerous to vilify a breed than to teach awareness about all sorts of animals that could be dangerous.

I find it fairly simple to do BOTH.

DS and I have lots of conversations about all sorts of animals, though our walks do tend to focus on dogs (once we made it clear that tigers don't live in our town, outside of the zoo). We are wary and careful around ALL dogs. He gets off his bike while passing ANY dog, so as to not startle it. If a dog is off leash, we talk about why we hate that, why it's dangerous for the dog, and we cross the street. If a dog is acting strangely, we cross the street. If a dog is a pitbull, we cross the street. But we don't ignore other dogs and how to be safe around them...we just don't necessarily cross the street.

Now I should say that I have NEVER seen what appears to be a responsible pitbull owner. The neighbors growing up chained theirs outside under their big truck ALL day. The people in this town use those short chains with spikey collars and the dogs are always straining at the chains. They let their dogs wander at inappropriate times (with tiny unpredictable toddlers running around, for instance). They do other things that mark them as irresponsible. So I've never actually seen or met in person a responsible pitbull owner. And since we live and walk here in town, those are the people we're living and walking around, and those are the people, and the dogs, that we're crossing the street to avoid.

I bolded so now lets take out the words three pits and replace it with oh I don't know three horses that came out of their paddock/pasture and then they knocked down the passerby and caused her serious injury or death...
see where I'm going with this ? Its NOT the animal its the OWNER

Well, horses are indeed quite frightening! If 3 horses got out and were panicked, I wouldn't want to be around them.

I lived next to a large farm growing up, and the cattle would break through our fence every couple years. Terrifying. I don't like cattle. Too many nights watching them come through our yard, eating toys left out (who knew they ate toys?), trampling everything, going right next to my window...scary for a kid. And cows are big and could kill you.

I'm not going to go swimming with a shark, because they have large teeth and scare me. I will get out of the water when I see a shark. And I'm going to cross the street when I see a pitbull.



I will admit that as puppies they are adorable. As adults, I do not feel the same way. They do NOT please my eyes at all.

 

[autumnpalm]

I will admit, pit bulls make me nervous and I would be very, very cautious around one. I would also not let my kids play with one or allow one in the house. They are actually banned in the province I'm from (Ontario) and while pit bulls owned before the ban in 2005 were not put down, any time they are in public they must be leashed and muzzled.

Overboard? Maybe. It is a controversial law. But it does make me feel safer. I have no doubt that there are lovely pit bulls out there and that owners can make a huge difference in a dog's behaviour and temperament. But IMO pit bulls are a more dangerous breed and I'm glad there are restrictions placed on them.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i completely agree. any animal can be aggressive if they're taught to be like that. i don't understand the people who just pick on one breed.

 

[teskak]

reported. please do not feed the trolls

 

[teskak]

reported. please do not feed the trolls

 

[Mermaid02]

I felt bad for the pit mixes I saw at the Humane Society Friday. They all had their tails wagging, tongues out, eyes looking up at me.... they wanted some love and attention. I really wish people would STOP over breeding them (at least around here) there are more pits and pit mixes than any other dog. It takes someone special to adopt these dogs because of their reputation.