Letters to the Editor
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Kudos to Mr. Foster
Speaking as someone who has lived with two aggressive rescued dogs, I can speak to the truth of what Mr. Foster says: very rarely is a dog's problem "in the blood" or uncorrectable. My wife's golden retriever was extremely aggressive due to the horrific abuse he suffered during his first year of life. With us (and a few select others), however, he was as kind and placid as could be. After his passing, our new dog, a labrador retriever and also a rescue, was very aggressive towards dogs. With a year's worth of intensive training, he has become gentle, social, and a joy.
There are very few truly bad dogs, but many, many bad owners. If one does the numbers, for example, in Denver, more people were hurt by Akitas than by pit bulls. But Akitas (who were bred to hunt and fight bears) are not subject to the stigma a pit bull is. However, by the logic of the pit bull ban, Akitas should be next. But such a fuzzy and friendly looking pooch has nothing to fear.
Most dog-related injuries and accidents revolve around humans neglecting to undertake the requisite education; either owners don't know how to control their dogs or adults don't know how to act around them, and fail to teach their children the same.