Letters to the Editor
-
Thank you
Thank you for writing this article. Pit bull abuse has always been something that has really disturbed me. It's been great to see the publicity surrounding the Michael Vick case, but it's important to stress the message that these dogs are not only victims of abuse - in numbers that are far higher and in more places than many of Salon's readership demographic would guess or believe - but they are truly wonderful dogs. So many Americans have a strong love and affection for dogs, but seem to have a blind spot for pits.
I agree with the author's musing at the end that there's somethinng about the dog's loyalty that makes it the target of the exploitation. There's an explanation for that. These dogs were bred to fight other dogs and not to back down because of pain. Humans had to reach into the ring to pull the dogs out and generally handle the dogs during these highly violent rounds of fighting. Dogs that bit humans during times of immense stress and pain were killed. This is the irony of the "genes" argument agains pits: the dogs were bred to be especially, irrationally, unconditionally nice to humans regardless of the brutality and cruelty inflicted upon them, often at the hands of those same humans! Yes, pits can be dog-aggressive (although they are not always this way; a discussion on the nuances of that could fill up another article). Aggression toward other dogs is a completely different trait than aggression toward people, and in no other breed is it more pronounced than in pits - bred to be very dog-aggressive, and very NON-aggressive toward people. Add that to the loyalty this author and other commenters point out, and their willingness to persevere in that loyalty and trust even when in severe pain, and you have a formula for a dog that's easy to abuse. Exploiting the best, sweetest traits in a dog for the purpose of brutality and violence to that dog is something that's always really struck me as sad, tragic. And it says horrific things about the humans that inflict that violence. On top of that, these dogs are ignored, vilified even, while they are abused and waste away in shelters at alarming numbers, hoping for another shot at a decent life that so few of them get.
When you know a pit or pit mix and can see those traits of loyalty, gentleness, affection, and that goofiness and love of life they have, you can see why people are so passionate about these animals and why it's such an injustice that so many people hate or fear them. When I see my dog or other pits/mixes being able to express those traits in a good way, thinking of the hundreds of thousands of dogs just like them who have never known a nice touch or gesture just really gets to me. I have had several different breeds/mixes in my life, and the personality my pit mix has far surpasses my other dogs. I hate to say that - like I'm choosing between my animals, who have all been great dogs, but many other people also feel that way about my pit mix; he charms his way into the favorite spot. I bring him to work, parks, on vacations, and just about anywhere I'm allowed to take him. I can't imagine how his life and my life might have been different had I not adopted him. So thank you again for this article, and for treating these dogs with the compassion they deserve. They are the most abused, most neglected, and the ones that languish the longest and with the least chance at shelters. I hope people start giving more of these dogs the second chance they deserve.
-
Stand up for the under-dog
Ken, your great article casts light on the real problems with backwards legislation in general; namely, the victim is demonized, and the real problem is never solved.
As anyone who is familiar with the psychology of canine behavior knows, a dog is as bad as the person who cares for and trains him. And you have owners at both ends of the spectrum - those who fail to train their dogs, and those who abuse them. Any dog's behavior will be a reflection of that.
Isn't it bad enough that humans have to be the object of ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice? Now we're extending it to a particular breed. What's next - pork rinds?
If legislators are truly concerned about safety, they need to focus on the causes. If we license pit bulls, then all dogs should be licensed. With the licensing should come instruction. Obedience training should be mandatory. There should be severe penalties for violation of the leash laws. I was almost bitten by a doberman that was left outside a store!
This is not just about protecting the public. Animals need protecting as well. Thousands are abused and neglected every year. Dogs, like children, respond to leadership, but many don't get it. Legislators shouldn't ignore that.
-
the sweetest monster
The first time I met a pit bull was at a picnic alongside a river just outside Chicago. He was a very large dog, I'd guess with maybe some mastiff or a similar breed in the mix, brindle and with a huge dense jaw and forehead. His name, a reference to a Satanic horror movie, was tattooed inside one of his ears. His owner, I learned later, was in fact a drug dealer. According to all the stories I'd ever heard, this should have been a dangerous situation, letting this monster run around free at a picnic.
The monster spent the afternoon playing with everybody and especially jumping into the river fetching anything that anybody threw in there, including large rocks. After everybody settled down to eat, the dog began to shiver in his wet coat in the afternoon air. This big fierce looking gargoyle of a dog looked around, for whatever reason chose me, and cuddled up next to me to get warm, resting his head in my lap. I felt a bit like a fairy tale princess making friends with the dragon, but despite his appearance (and his social context, for that matter) he was the sweetest monster you could ever hope to meet. I've had a very soft spot for pit bulls ever since.
I don't think it's unreasonable to make people commit to obedience training if they own certain types of dogs--actually, I think any type of dog deserves a well-trained owner, but that's not going to happen in today's society--but perhaps the "type" of dog could be defined by weight rather than breed, say any dog over 25 or 30 pounds. If you are going to own any animal, you ought to take care to understand that animal's behavior and know how to modify it to ensure a safe environment for everyone. Unfortunately, this may be something that's unenforceable when breeding dogs is relatively easy to do. If nothing else comes out of the Michael Vick incident, I hope that it will spur a push for more education of the general public about not just pit bulls but dog ownership in general.