It’s not wild, wacky Wednesday, but there were several news stories I wanted to comment on today. I have a news feed that comes into my e-mail, just to keep me updated on what’s going on in the world. For some reason, today there was nothing but bad news about Pit Bulls.
1. A woman in Northern California says she had the front door to her home open, and two Pit Bulls from the neighbor’s house chewed through their fence and came inside her house. She grabbed her infant son and went into the bedroom, leaving her four-year old and her Chihuahua to deal with the intruders. (Doesn’t seem like a great plan, but I’m assuming she panicked.) Anyways, the Chihuahua got between the Pit Bulls and the four-year old, saving the kid’s life, but the small dog was killed in the process.
2. Dateline Cleveland: Police went to a man’s home to arrest him for aggravated murder Wednesday night. A woman in the home opened the back door, releasing a pit bull on the officers. When the dog began attacking, it was shot three times. Current condition unknown.
3. Also from Cleveland: Police went to a home to investigate a pit bull complaint. When the person saw the police, he took the dog inside the home and is now involved in a stand-off with police.
4. And finally, from Summit County (near Akron): A man reported he had been bitten by a dog, and when sheriff’s deputies showed up to investigate, they found the man sheltering in his vehicle, and a pit bull mix running loose. The dog then bit one of the deputies on the hand and refused to let go even when they used a taser on him. The dog was subsequently shot and killed.
If you’ve been a loyal reader, you know I have nothing against Pits. I’ve always thought a vicious dog was more a reflection of the owner than the dog. So, here’s the question: why are there so many articles in the news? I’m not specifically looking for them – they just happened to pop up. Are there that many bad Pit owners out there? Does the media specifically target stories about Pits? Or are Pits really dangerous dogs after all?
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
shandee, very well said! I am the proud mom of 4 pitties. 2 of which were rescued from horrendous conditions. they are the most lovable, dedicated dogs anyone could ask for and you would never know they were mistreated in the past by their current behavior. I love the dogs included in the “pit bull” breed and hope one day the public will realize that generalizations are not fair. each dog must be looked at individually. they all have different personalities just as people do.
To answer some of your questions:
Yes, the media loves “pit bull” attacks, it gets them hits on their station and lots of feedback… And on top of that it helps “promote” the bully breed bans going on across the country.
Again, yes, there are a LOT of irresponsible owner’s out there that chose the pit bull as their pet, unfortunately they make it hard for people like myself with a strong love for the breed to even find a place to live. We definately need more responsible owner’s out there to help save these poor creatures.
And lastly, no, pit bulls are not dangerous. Although, their genetics often play a major role in how they act once mature. If you breed a human aggressive dog with a dog with major behavoiral problems, then you get a pit bull who is going to behave totally opposite of the standards for the breed. Throw that dog in the hands of an irresponsible owner and here we are with breaking news stories. It’s a horrible and vicious cycle these dogs face.
Now, with all that said as you can probably tell I’m a huge advocate of the breed, the REAL American Pit Bull Terrier is by far my breed of choice. I don’t own them because they make me look macho or I like having a “tough dog.” In fact, I own them because they show so much will, determination, loyalty and love that I’ve never seen in any other breed of dog. These guys have so much good about them that they are easily taken into the wrong hands and those good traits are used for the wrong reasons. For example, the dogs determination is what keeps it going in a dog fight, the dogs love and loyalty to it’s owner is what keeps it in the ring.
What these dogs face everyday is unreal, breed discrimination, hatred, the bully breed bans, and so much more. None of this should be allowed in our modern day society, but because it’s a dog it’s not only allowed but people make full attempts to keep them far away. In one walk around my neighborhood with my pit bull, we met people who stayed at least 4 feet away from us, little kids who were scared to death, and some people willing to be educated on the breed. Almost everyone I’ve met has either believed every single piece of news about Pit Bulls they’ve heard or believed none of it, the ones who believed it all couldn’t even tell that my girl was a pit bull. Why? Because the pit bulls that are making the news are far from the breed standards for what a pit bull should look like. They’re huge 90+ pound dogs, stocky bodies, really short or long legs, block heads, and look like they’re pumped with steriods… Or they simply are a different breed all together… But the fact is the real pit bull is only a medium sized dog, the bigger ones aren’t/shouldn’t be any bigger than what most labs are.
I’m not trying to persuade anyone to see my side, in fact you can totally disagree if you want. I’m just putting some info out there and trying to educate some people on the way. If you would like to talk more about this then feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’ll answer any questions you may have and hear your side of things.
I don’t want to start an online feud but this breed has been over bred, poorly bred and many owners simply don’t properly maintain this type of dog. I have yet to hear of poodle fighting rings, etc. Yes, any dog can bite in certain circumstances but pits simply have the capacity to do serious damage more than many breeds.
Poodle bites just do not make the news! However, I do think that people who want to feel tough think that owning a Pit Bull will make them tough.