Should Pit Bulls be Outlawed?

[shuamort]

First of all, PETA is advocating baning them--read for yourself...
http://www.badrap.org/rescue/PETAA.cfm

PETA is even against blind people having guide dogs. It makes me wonder if they make up any excuse to get rid of pet ownership:

Working Dogs

Relationships of mutual respect and benefit are truly wonderful. However, working dogs are often used as a substitute for innovative programs that intelligently address human needs. Sometimes they are used in situations considered too dangerous for a human being and, therefore, too dangerous for the animal. They may even be treated cruelly in preparation for, and during, their lives of servitude. Some people with working dogs love them, and some don't, so working dogs cannot always count on having homes where they are well-treated. Also, some working dog programs contribute to dog overpopulation by breeding their dogs (with the notable exception of programs for the deaf that rescue dogs from shelters).

When working dogs become too old to work, they may be separated from their human companions and either "retired" with another family (always wondering, no doubt, what they did wrong or where their lifelong human companion went), returned to the training center, or even killed. Optimally, human services for the disabled should be improved rather than relying on the breeding and exploitation of animals.

:roll:

 

[Squawker]

Another child killed by the gentle, misunderstood, Pit Bull.

May 18, 5:29 PM (ET)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - A pit bull that bit a neighbor last week fatally mauled a young girl before being subdued by firefighters using a fire extinguisher, officials said.
Two-year-old Arianna Fleeman was pronounced dead at a hospital following the attack Tuesday at the dog owner's home, police said.
"The girl, her mother and at least two other people were apparently hanging out on the house's porch," Sgt. Dan Underwood said. "The homeowner apparently told them all to stay out of the house where the dog was."
It was not known what provoked the dog. The attack occurred inside the house, Mayor David Felinton said Wednesday.
Huntington firefighter Jason Price said the dog was wild-eyed and the hair on the back of its neck was raised, and that it rammed the door like a bull.
"Hollywood couldn't have made this dog look more evil," he said.

Source

 

[Fu_chick]

Another child killed by the gentle, misunderstood, Pit Bull.

Source

#1 The dog should have been removed by animal control. I do believe that a dog that bites people unfortunately must be destroyed.

#2 Why the f**k would any parent in their right mind allow their 2 yr old child to go to a house where they KNEW a vicious dog lived?

#3 Why would the owner of the dog KNOWING that it had bitten someone allow a child to com in contact with the dog?

Come on, a little personal responsibility here people. This is yet another example of irresponsible dog ownership. You DO NOT keep a dog that is KNOWN to bite around in the first place, that is just stupid.

If Sally did bite someone, as much as it would rip my heart in two, I would have her put to sleep. I do not understand why it took someone being killed before something was done about the dog.

 

[Squawker]

I agree with all you say fu_chick, but that is why laws are made. A few people screw it up for every one. Another child is dead though, and that's a fact.

 

[Fu_chick]

I agree with all you say fu_chick, but that is why laws are made. A few people screw it up for every one. Another child is dead though, and that's a fact.

It's a fact that if ONE, just ONE key player in this incident had even used half the brain God gave them, this child WOULD still be alive.

I am all for laws that restrict vicious dogs, so long as they judge the deed, NOT the breed.

 

[Squawker]

A 12-year-old boy left alone with his family's two pit bulls was mauled to death by the dogs Friday inside a Sunset District apartment in San Francisco, authorities said.
The boy, identified as Nicholas Scott Faibish, was attacked in a building across from Golden Gate Park by the 80-pound dogs, a male named Rex and a female named Ella.
-snip-
Shocked neighbors said the dogs were often friendly, affectionate and well-behaved.
"The dogs were sweethearts,'' said Art Austin, Castelli's husband. "I never thought they were vicious. They were really nice. I would pet them, and my wife would kiss them on the forehead.''

Aren’t they all just wonderful? I wonder how the parents feel about them now. Here are some other attacks in just one area.

Dog maulings in the Bay Area
March 29, 2005: An 11-year-old Concord boy, JaQuan Rice Jr., was mauled by two pit bulls as he walked near his home. Neighbors rushed to his rescue, with one firing a handgun to scare the dogs away. The owner of pit bulls, Jeff Bray, 28, was charged with owning a mischievous loose animal that causes serious bodily injury to someone, which is a felony. Bray has pleaded not guilty.
June 29, 2004: An 88-year-old Concord woman was injured after a neighbor's pit bull pulled her from her walker and mauled her. The woman, Mabel Wong, suffered extensive injuries to her face, ears and arms in an attack that an animal control officer said she was lucky to survive. No charges were filed against the owner.
Nov. 23, 2003: A pit bull was shot, a police officer and a dog walker were rushed to the hospital, and a police horse was badly hurt after the off- leash dog attacked the horse in Golden Gate Park. The pit bull was later allowed to remain with its owner but must be leashed and muzzled in public and registered as a vicious and dangerous dog.
June 18, 2001: Three pit bulls mauled a 10-year-old Richmond boy, Shawn Jones, as he rode his bicycle in his neighborhood, severely injuring his face and tearing off both his ears. The boy has undergone numerous surgeries since the attack.
The dogs were killed by lethal injection two years later. Dog owner Benjamin Moore was charged with two misdemeanor counts of concealing the dogs afterward, but prosecutors shelved the charges after Moore was sentenced on drug charges.
March 17, 2001: Two San Francisco police officers fired about 30 shots to kill a pit bull in the Ocean View district after a woman was bitten trying to separate him from her akita.
Jan. 26, 2001: Diane Whipple, a 33-year-old lacrosse coach at St. Mary's College, was killed in a Presa Canario attack in the hallway of her Pacific Heights apartment building in San Francisco. The two dogs were owned by attorneys Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, who kept them in their apartment on the same floor: Bane, weighing more than 120 pounds, inflicted the fatal wounds. His mate, Hera, may have also taken part in the attack.
The dogs were owned by Paul "Cornfed" Schneider, a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang who was serving a life sentence. Bane was destroyed shortly after the attack. Hera was later given a lethal injection.
Noel and Knoller were each sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter in 2002 and have been freed on parole, though an appeals court has ordered a lower court judge to reconsider his ruling overturning Knoller's murder conviction. If that conviction is reinstated, she could return to prison.
June 19, 1996: An 8-year-old boy, John Young, was mauled to death by two rottweilers on an East Oakland street. Oakland police shot and killed the dogs. The Alameda County district attorney decided not to file charges against the owner of the dogs.

Source

 

[Fu_chick]

Breed bans are ineffective. I'm sorry if you can't get that through you apparently rather thick skull but that's simplely the truth. If you can post some FACTS of studies done by EXPERTS in the field the contradict the facts about pit bulls and breed bans that I have posted, be my guest. Until then, you are wasting both of our time. The CDC itself, a major source for some of the facts that you have posted states that breed bans are ineffective in preventing dog attacks. Dogs that attack people should be put down. People who keep vicious animals should be punished. Judge the deed NOT the breed.

As to the articals you posted, you do realize that A) Not all of those dogs are pits and B) You had to go back quite a few years on some of those--I was 14 when one of those attacks occured.

The pit that attacked a horse attacked a HORSE not a PERSON. There is a difference you know. I have been around horses forever and let me tell you, lots dogs are truely freaked out by them. There are MANY dogs of ALL breeds that cannot be let loose around horses, due to the fact that they will go after them. There used to be a yellow lab who would shock himself with the invisible fence trying to go after our horses as we pasted on the trail. I have read about this case extensively. The dog-walker was not injured by the pit, she was injured by the horse kicking her (uh-oh, is a horse ban in the works...). She herself made a serious error by letting the dog loose in a non-confined, public place. You never do that with any dog. If she had not made such a mistake, you would not be reading about this. BTW--that pit was a therapy dog. Many dogs attack animals, they are naturally predaters.

What so many people fail to understand is the human component in dog bites. Experts who study dog bites will tell you that often they are a direct result of something that the bitee has done. I'll give you an example from my own life---When I was 6 I was biten in the face by a German Shepherd. I came onto the dogs property, into a fenced area where the dog was kept, and huged it around the neck. As a result, it bite me on the chin and I had to get 21 stitches. I did just about everthing I was NOT supposed to do, and I got biten as a result. Even though I still have the scars from it today, I cannot fault the dog, or even it's owners (there WAS a "Beware of Dog" sign posted and I could read since age 4, therefore having no excuse). It was my own dumb-ass fault.

However, you're not a dog person, so I shouldn't expect you to grasp such concepts.

Nothing you or any other dog-nazi says is going to change the fact that there are many, MANY very responsible pit owners out there who love the breed and will fight for their dogs.

But you know what? I'll make you a deal. If in the next week more people are injured and killed nation-wide by pit bulls than by guns, I will not only eat my words, but I'll fight for the breed to be banned myself. What do ya say?

 

[Fu_chick]

Breed bans are ineffective. I'm sorry if you can't get that through you apparently rather thick skull but that's simply the truth. If you can post some FACTS of studies done by EXPERTS in the field the contradict the facts about pit bulls and breed bans that I have posted, be my guest. Until then, you are wasting both of our time. The CDC itself, a major source for some of the facts that you have posted states that breed bans are ineffective in preventing dog attacks. Dogs that attack people should be put down. People who keep vicious animals should be punished. Judge the deed NOT the breed.

As to the articles you posted, you do realize that A) Not all of those dogs are pits and B) You had to go back quite a few years on some of those--I was 14 when one of those attacks occurred.

The pit that attacked a horse attacked a HORSE not a PERSON. There is a difference you know. I have been around horses forever and let me tell you, lots dogs are truly freaked out by them. There are MANY dogs of ALL breeds that cannot be let loose around horses, due to the fact that they will go after them. There used to be a yellow lab who would shock himself with the invisible fence trying to go after our horses as we pasted on the trail. I have read about this case extensively. The dog-walker was not injured by the pit, she was injured by the horse kicking her (uh-oh, is a horse ban in the works...). She herself made a serious error by letting the dog loose in a non-confined, public place. You never do that with any dog. If she had not made such a mistake, you would not be reading about this. BTW--that pit was a therapy dog. Many dogs attack animals, they are naturally predators.

What so many people fail to understand is the human component in dog bites. Experts who study dog bites will tell you that often they are a direct result of something that the bitee has done. I'll give you an example from my own life---When I was 6 I was bitten in the face by a German Shepherd. I came onto the dogs property, into a fenced area where the dog was kept, and hugged it around the neck. As a result, it bite me on the chin and I had to get 21 stitches. I did just about ever thing I was NOT supposed to do, and I got bitten as a result. Even though I still have the scars from it today, I cannot fault the dog, or even it's owners (there WAS a "Beware of Dog" sign posted and I could read since age 4, therefore having no excuse). It was my own dumb-ass fault.

However, you're not a dog person, so I shouldn't expect you to grasp such concepts.

Nothing you or any other dog-Nazi says is going to change the fact that there are many, MANY very responsible pit owners out there who love the breed and will fight for their dogs.

But you know what? I'll make you a deal. If in the next week more people are injured and killed nation-wide by pit bulls than by guns, I will not only eat my words, but I'll fight for the breed to be banned myself. What do ya say?

 

[Fu_chick]

Sorry about the double post, I'm not sure what happened there....

 

[Fu_chick]

I just read your post a second time and saw something else that caught my eye--the woman bitten while trying to separate the dog fight. You NEVER, EVER get in the middle of a dog fight. That's just begging to be bitten. Plus, as you may or may not know, akitas are a fairly dog aggressive breed themselves. The akita could have started the fight as easily as the pit.

 

[Squawker]

However, you're not a dog person, so I shouldn't expect you to grasp such concepts.

Nothing you or any other dog-nazi says is going to change the fact that there are many, MANY very responsible pit owners out there who love the breed and will fight for their dogs.

But you know what? I'll make you a deal. If in the next week more people are injured and killed nation-wide by pit bulls than by guns, I will not only eat my words, but I'll fight for the breed to be banned myself. What do ya say?

I am well aware of your thoughts on the subject. If other people who read this, find a better breed to adopt than the pit bull or rottweiler, then it has served a purpose. The “other cases” listed at the bottom was included for reference. If this is indicative of just the Bay area, the amount of dog attacks in the entire country must be quite large. A human controls the use of a gun, when a dog attacks it isn’t under any control. I think the large percentage of these dog owners are just as you are FU_Chick. They know the danger exists, but say my dog is different. I am sure the parents thought they were responsible pet owners also.

 

[Fu_chick]

I am well aware of your thoughts on the subject. If other people who read this, find a better breed to adopt than the pit bull or rottweiler, then it has served a purpose. The “other cases” listed at the bottom was included for reference. If this is indicative of just the Bay area, the amount of dog attacks in the entire country must be quite large. A human controls the use of a gun, when a dog attacks it isn’t under any control. I think the large percentage of these dog owners are just as you are FU_Chick. They know the danger exists, but say my dog is different. I am sure the parents thought they were responsible pet owners also.

Hopefully, a person considering adopting a dog would get their information from a more knowledgeable source than someone such as yourself. Potential adopters need to do LOTS and LOTS of research to figure out what breed fits into their lifestyle. In fact, if this thread is how they make their decision as to what dog to adopt, then they are not ready to adopt a dog. Finding the right dog for your family is a process, and just as I would not say that there is a breed that is wrong for everyone I would never say that there is a breed that is right for everyone either.

Pits are not the breed for everyone. I would not suggest them for the inexperienced dog owner. They need to be well socialized and tend to be high energy dogs. Plus dog aggression (not to be confused with human aggression, they are not the same thing) is common with this breed. They need to be around other dogs from an early age. My dog goes to the dog park on a regular basis, but this is not for all dogs. If you are going to own one you need to be aware that you will encounter ignorant assholes such as the above poster on a regular basis.

Actually, my dog is not that different at all. The percentage of pits involved in attacks is VERY small in relation to the overall nation wide population of the breed. Therefore, my dog is not different, actually she is rather typical. The only area where she is as bit different is that she is very submissive to other dogs, not a trait common to the breed.

So, if you are reading this and are considering adopting a dog, please do tons of research to find the right dog for you.

BTW-I am still waiting for facts to discount what I posted earlier.

 

[Fu_chick]

For people who want more info on pits and the horror of Breed Specific Legislation, try this site:
http://www.badrap.org

 

[Squawker]

When you have to call someone an ignorant asshole to make your point, your opinion is automatically discounted. I have owned hunting dogs all my life and have never had one attack a child or another animal. Keep your nasty comments out of the discussion please.

 

[Fu_chick]

When you have to call someone an ignorant asshole to make your point, your opinion is automatically discounted. I have owned hunting dogs all my life and have never had one attack a child or another animal. Keep your nasty comments out of the discussion please.

I feel that way about anyone that thinks my dog should be destroyed simply because she exists.

My dog, along with many, MANY other pits have never harmed a soul.

If you really have owned dogs for as long as you claim, I am shocked by your ignorance of canine behavior. For God's sake educate yourself!

 

[Fu_chick]

OK, perhaps I should not of included the word "asshole," but the rest stands. I love my dog very much and take it very personally when someone makes sweeping generalizations about her.

 

[shh!]

I am not very knowledgable about dogs personally, but I have a friend who has raised a pit bull since it was a 8 weeks old. She has many animals including 4 other dogs, horses, chickens, cats, etc., so she IS an "animal person". She told me that she doesn't trust the pit bull; it is just a "bad dog" by comparison to her other breeds. She cages the dog up if she expects visitors.

 

[Fu_chick]

I am not very knowledgable about dogs personally, but I have a friend who has raised a pit bull since it was a 8 weeks old. She has many animals including 4 other dogs, horses, chickens, cats, etc., so she IS an "animal person". She told me that she doesn't trust the pit bull; it is just a "bad dog" by comparison to her other breeds. She cages the dog up if she expects visitors.

If the dog is aggressive towards people, why does she keep it? That is an accident waiting to happen. Dogs that cannot live with people peacefully should be put down.

 

[Libertarian]

Mexicans commit a disproportionate amount of violent crimes relative to their numerical representation within society. Should Mexicans be banned too?