Letters to the Editor
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Pit Bulls
Ken is SOooooo right! I had some sort of bully when I was a baby, and it took very good care of me!! Personally, I've never met a nasty pit (Am Staff, Am Pit, Staffie or any of the others logged as "pits"). However - I sure can't say that about Chihuahuas. Like people - any breed runs the gamut from sweet as can be to nasty little brats! AND - just like "little" people (aka KIDS) dogs are a direct product of their upbringing!
WHY don't we put some of these restrictions on kids - and, better yet, WHO CAN HAVE KIDS!!!????
Punish the deed - not the breed! Make people responsible for their dogs AND their kids! And - let's stop the NANNY state!
Educate the populace - not legislate!
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We don't want to ban pits - we want to ban "street dogs"
I do own two staffordshire bull terriers. They are NOT pit bulls but are usually defined as pit bulls in breed specific legislation. So they are pit bulls, in the eyes of the law.
Also, many dogs become pit bulls in the BSL scenario -- Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, and Bull Terriers (Spuds).
(Also, if you own an AmStaff you can register them as APBTs with the UKC -- so yes, they can "become" pit bulls.)
Keep in mind the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is one of the few (2 or 3) breeds whose standard declares it "exceptionally good with children." (Any SBT not meeting the standard should not be bred and a hard nosed breeder would cull (yes, kill) any pups that did not meet the standard.)
But having been a "pit bull" owner for 9 years now, I am realizing that it is not my dogs, or any other dogs that are registered with a breed registry, that get regular health checks and go to lots of training that cause problems -- it's the backyard dogs that are unloved and uncared for and untrained.
These backyard dogs are what I call street dogs. I don't even think most of them are full breed American Pit Bull Terriers. They certainly aren't registerd with a breed registry to prove it!
Street dogs are the dogs we are worried about that cause so many problems. They are untrained, unsocialized, and very very poorly bred.
One thing to remember about pit bulls is the TRUE BREED STANDARD OF AN APBT DOES NOT INCLUDE AGGRESSION TO HUMANS. Any good pit bull breeder would cull any dogs that showed aggression to a human. Yes, cull means killing puppies/dogs with the wrong temperment. The pit bull does have a measure of "gameness" -- many breeders will describe this in many ways but it does have to do with one of the animal's jobs -- to continue to fight another animal, never a human, in the face of death. Different lines have different levels of gameness. Most backyard breeders wouldn't know how to selectively breed for this trait (or any other trait...).
Dog aggression in dogs is a very different behavior than people aggression in dogs. Most dog aggressive dogs are very good with people.
If we ban the pit bull the street dog of choice will just become another breed ... the doberman, the rottie, whatever is the flavor of the month. Imagine the Great Dane or Mastiff as the next street dog! You think pits are big and powerful? How about a 140 pound dog! It is entirely possible.
The pit bull has become the great underclass of all dogs. They are so lowly valued most shelters automatically euthanize them. It's very tragic as anyone who has owned them recognize them as the ultimate dog. Dynamic and able to perform any task with precision and confidence.
If they were magically eradicated, a new underclass of dogs would be found. I have no doubt.
For the record, I am afraid of dogs. That's why I got my pit bulls -- they are very very good with people. It's the street dogs that are the problem.
If we're banning dogs, I'd like to see cocker spaniels banned. Most vicious breed I have ever seen. Maybe add huskys to the list as well. I'm quite afraid of cockers and huskies, but never pits. Yes, dog banning is completely ridiculous.
Yes, Watney and Jinx are my baby pit bulls.
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Check the story below...
http://www.kirotv.com/news/13943140/detail.html
Mr. Foster, I have every sympathy for you and your (currently) nice dog, but what do you make of events such as those described in this story? Suppose some instinctual inbred trigger goes off in your dog's brain someday, and it does something like what's described in this story above, and you're confronted with the legal and financial consequences?
Banning animals with a genetic propensity to unprovoked aggression does not reflect "prejudice," it reflects sensible self-interest and public interest. This is an extreme incident, but the stories about pit bull maulings are legion. And, after all, how many stories do we read about people or other animals mauled by, say, Pomeranians or West Highland Terriers or Old English Sheepdogs? I just don't recall any "Sheepdog Fatally Mauls Toddler"/ "Pom Goes on Rampage, Elder Hospitalized with Bites" type stories.
Presa Canarios are already (I think rightly) banned in many areas for their extreme aggressive tendencies. This is to protect both the hubris-ridden idiots who think they can handle any dog and want a really big and bad one and the people who could be hurt or killed when said idiots can't handle the big, bad dog after all. There is nothing unsound about this ban. Curiously, there's very little opposition to it, despite the fact that pit bulls have hurt and killed far more Americans than Presa Canarios have.
I would support a humane phaseout for the pit bull: criminalizing pit bull breeding, instigating mandatory neutering and registration within a tight timeline, euthanizing dogs from lines bred for fighting.
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Mr. Foster and his article
A hearfelt thank you to Mr. Foster for his wonderful article. I am cautiously hopeful that it will open the eyes of people.
I fell into the world of Pit Bulls quite by accident. I had every intentin of adopting a Greyhound and well my story is long, but the end result was that I was adopted by a wonderful Bull Terrier/American Pit Bull cross named Buster. It has been nearly 6 years and during this period my husband and I have been adopted by others, all of which have horrid pasts, and have become model companions.
BSL has proved nothing short of being a complete disaster. There are more Pit Bulls in Denver now then prior to the Ban. It has always been a human problem and until that is addressed and the hystrionics that accompany this wonderful stoic and funny breed, I fear that in the near future the only Pit Bulls that I will have are the photos of my dogs.
I have had emails come across of ex-fighting dogs that nearly made me fall off my chair, and several have been rehabilitated and are now living the life of Reilly. One particular girl I remember is Gracie, Gracie would not fight so some cretin poured acid on her face, apparently that did not work either. So Gracie found herself in a Los Angeles Shelter, Gracie was rescued, nursed back to health and is now living in the Colony of Malibu, CA. There was another beautiful red Pittie that some hooligans thought it funny to throw him on a lit BBQ, he survived and eventually after his body healed from being burned and partially baked was rehomed. Tia Maria Torres of Villalobos Dog Rescue has a slew of ex-fighting dogs, all of which have been successfully rehabilitated and are waiting for their forever homes. There is no other breed of dog that can bounce back from the atrocities that the human mind concocts and afflicts upon them. My home is a prime example of such. I have one dog that at 5 weeks of age a 17 year old ghetto youth strangled and then swung from the end of his leash above his head. This puppy did not wag his tail for 1 month after we adopted him. He has overcome his fear and is a breed ambassador today. Another one of our dogs was found in a cardboard box at a landfill, her tail broken and docked, no water no food in 90 degree plus weather, she too shows no emotional scars from her past. You tell me what other breed of dog can put up with so much and give love so freely?
The Pit Bull Terrier is not a dog of the ghetto or the trailer park, my husband and I do not belong in those classes, nor do any of my friends that have opened their hearts and homes to this loving breed. I cannot imagine my life without a funny, and intelligent Bully in it.
Sincerely,
Sylva Penkov