Letters to the Editor
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@ elitist
ALL dog breeds "are an artificially created breed, not a naturally occurring species"
ALL hunting and fighting animals "are bred to kill"
ALL animals, and most humans, "are unpredictable"
ALL large animals "do enormous damage very quickly when they attack"
ALL animals "can never be made safe" other than by surgical alteration to remove teeth, claws, etc.
What you are showing here is the rabid, uncompromising, ILL-INFORMED hate speech that is perpetuating these stereotypes. Are you going to tell me a St. Bernard can't do as much damage as a Pit? Puh leese.
Nauseating little confessions? You mean, saying that we have good, well behaved animals which we love?
"if you can love a pit, you can love something a LOT LESS DANGEROUS, so there is something else going on here.
Pit lovers - who never hesitate to impose their diatribes on the public - should at least be honest enough to tell us what that is."
I don't even have the faintest clue what that is supposed to mean. I don't even know what would be less dangerous than my dog- a feather perhaps?
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Pets = Family = Animal
I don't own a dog. I have a macaw and I'll sit outside with him throughout the summer so he can get some sun and fresh air, also its good for him to be around a variety of people. Alot of people passing by will see this huge bird and stop to ask questions or get a close look at him or take his picture with their cell phone. The vast majority of people are delighted to get a close look and are curious and interested about him. There have been some (not alot, but enough for me to find it odd) who will stop and say, "Does he bite? Is he vicious, I mean can you get him to attack someone?" So here's this great big outregeously beautiful, sweet macaw and some people only want to know if I can make him attack someone. I'll never understand why some people are so fasinated with owning a vicious animal.
Macaws are well known for being good natured, but if improperly socialized or neglected or abused they can become very mean and very dangerous. I would say if someone has a vicious macaw blame the owner. I don't know if pit bulls are more easily moved towards agression than most other breeds of dogs, but I would guess a pit bull that is a true menace is the result of the owner's actions.
I'm one of those people who consider pets to be family, but they still are animals with their natural instincts and behaviors. Its a pet owner's responsibility to learn and understand those behaviors and to create an environment that is safe and enriching for everyone.
I think its sad and inexcusable that there are people who aquire pets and encourage their most agressive behaviors so they can own a vicious animal. Unfortunately, pit bulls have become the "poster child" for this crowd. I would guess many breeders do not properly socialize the dogs they sell or properly screen the people who buy them.
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WAKE UP HUMANS!
As founder of "Kingdom of Animals Institute for Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Training of Aggressive Canines...please stop this madness about "incurable" specific breeds. I have worked with hundreds of dogs of all breeds that were ready to be euthanized because they were aggressive(not because of their breed)but because of their abuse by humans. Except for two dogs that were totally "runt" by severe abuse, the other 98% were systemically rehabilated to become lovable pets that were adopted by caring people. If we outlaw one breed, then just another will crop-up and the core of the problem will never be solved. We must severely punish and ostracize any human who cruely abuses and tortues a animal. Until we take a firm stand against this....the problem will continue into the next generation of youth. My grandmother always told me (which I have come to confirm) that show me how a person treats an animal and I will tell you how they will treat others.
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dog-aggression isn't the same as people-aggression
As any evolutionary biologist can tell you, aggression is not a single trait--it's many separate traits. For dogs, aggression against other dogs is completely different than aggression against people, or small prey animals. Pit bulls were bred to be dog-aggressive, and bred NOT to be people-aggressive. Any pit bull that showed the slightest aggression against humans was not allowed to breed (and was usually killed immediately) during the historical development of the breed, because it was important for farmers and then dog-handlers to handle the dogs without getting bitten. So pit bulls have been selected to actually be far MORE human-friendly than most dogs, and most pit owners will tell you that their pit bulls are extremely loving, affectionate, and gentle with people, especially with children. For generations in America and in England, pit bulls were the favorite family dog, because they were so much more friendly, stable, and affectionate with people than labs, shepherds, collies, and other dogs. Check the temperment evaluation website--pit bulls rank among the highest for stable, loving, calm temperments.
It's true that pit bulls ARE genetically dog-aggressive, and it takes a lot of careful work to keep your pit bull safe and calm around other dogs. All responsible pit bull web sites try to teach owners how to do this, and all warn that you can never assume your pit bull will be safe around new dogs. For people who want to go to off-leash dog parks and have a dog who is completely trustworthy with other dogs, a pit bull is certainly the wrong choice.
The sad irony is that ANY animal that is beaten and abused WILL become unpredictable and dangerous. Pit bulls are often chosen by jerks who think they're macho dogs, and those pit bulls often become crazy. Or else they're just dumped, since they refuse to be scary dogs (which is why city shelters are filled with pit bull mixes. Oddly enough, most pit bulls that end up in shelters are dumped because they're TOO friendly, and the owners wanted a mean dog. So the shelter population is being selected for friendliness, not meanness).
We've adopted several dogs over the years, and we adopted a pit bull mix against my objections (I too was freaked out about all the horrible things people say about pits). I soon fell in love, and now I can't imagine NOT having a pit bull--they are simply the most loving, goofy, sweet-natured animal on earth (my husband excepted, of course). So people who love pit bulls love them not because we're psychotic would-be killers who project our own thwarted aggression onto our dogs, but because our pit bulls are quite simply lovable dogs.