Letters to the Editor
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how ironic
you must have winced when you saw the headline today:
Pit Bulls Break Into Home, Maul Woman
How many times do we have to hear these stories before we wake up and make these disgusting dangerous breeds ILLEGAL.
I mean, do you ever hear, "Pack of Labrador Retrievers Maul Child to Death!"
I would cross to the other side of the street, too, if I saw you coming.
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Awesome-o
Chances are high that if you delve into that terrible story, you'll find that the pit bull in question was tormented and neglected from a young age by a local scumbag, and that is why the dog became vicious.
You can torment any animal, human or nonhuman, and produce a vicious beast. I'm willing to bet that the scumbag who tormented that pit bull was himself a victim of a nasty and brutish childhood. Makes we wonder about Vick's upbringing.
Anyway, you can press a button and make pit bulls disappear. The scumbags will just find another dog to turn into vicious killers.
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Read about the latest attack!
Woman Seriously Hurt In Pit Bull Attack
POSTED: 2:02 pm PDT August 21, 2007
UPDATED: 6:10 pm PDT August 21, 2007
GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- Two pit bulls that entered a Gig Harbor home through a pet door attacked and severely injured a woman while she slept, sheriff's deputies told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.
The dogs may have gone into the house to attack another dog, according to animal control officers. They attacked the woman in her bed as she tried to fight off the dogs.
Deputies said the woman got a gun and fired at the dogs, but the attack continued. She was eventually able to escape the house, get into her car and call 911.
According to deputies, after the pit bulls attacked the woman they went after a neighbor’s Jack Russell terrier, killing it.
“They’ve had problems over there before a couple of houses down with the dogs. It’s one of those things. We just hope Sue is OK,” neighbor Ricky Russell said.
Pierce County animal control officers were able to capture the pit bulls.
“Highly aggressive, people aggressive, animal aggressive. They attacked a Jack Russell terrier out there and they attacked the lady pretty severely,” Brian Boman, with animal control, said.
According to investigators, the dogs were determined and difficult to stop.
“We ended up having to pepper spray them an our deputies thought they might have to terminate the dogs out there, that’s how vicious they were,” Detective Ed Troyer said.
The woman is at St. Joseph's hospital and is listed in satisfactory condition, according to a hospital spokesman.
The victim is disabled. Her dog is a caretaker dog, according to a neighbor.
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"a leap of reason"
I no longer try to persuade people that my pit mix is a kind and gentle soul who has been put to the test in every sort of situation and still remains the lady that she is. However, the logic of banning things that could 'potentially' do harm boggles my mind. For example, I know that when I walk down the street or to my car after shopping, "potentially" some man may drive up and try to force me into his vehicle and inflict serious harm on me. I know that a women is raped just about every minute in America, but I don't make the assumption that all men rape. I know that a gun can potentially kill me, but I don't think they should be banned. I know alchohol kills, but I don't want to give up my few beers for the "greater good." I'm sure this seems like a huge leap of reason. But the larger point is that many things can be seen as a potential threat. Where does it end?
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Anonymous with the nice pit bull.
When I went to help out in a post-Katrina animal shelter, I encountered the biggest damn pit bull I'd ever seen. That dog had a mouth that looked large enough to swallow you whole. That dog had also gone through hell before being rescued.
You know what? She was the nicest dog you'd hope to meet. The other pit bulls were nice, too, despite having gone through similar hard times. They mingled with the other dogs and we had no incidents.
I know that pit bulls have the capacity to inflict serious damage, but I'm convinced that it's nurture, and not nature, that turns them mean.
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Yes, but...
pit bulls do seem to have a problem with uncontrollable rampages, mauling/killing people and animals without provocation, if they "snap." They really seem to lack the internal brakes that other dog breeds have, once this happens, and that is a menace.
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snapping
Yes, but imagine what the neighbors of Dahmer said. "He seemed like such a nice, quiet man. I never would have thought he would have "SNAPPED" like that." Apparently, some people lack the brakes to keep them from snapping, too.
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Are we now
equating dog with humans?
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Licenses
Maybe there should just be licenses (expensive) required for "dangerous" dog breeds, and the government and neighbors would have a recourse if someone has a potentially dangerous dog (revoke license of an actual dangerous dog, arrest owners of unlicensed dogs). Even more expensive licences required to breed them. Anyone with such a dog and no license would be charged with a felony. Then those that know how to breed and raise these dogs safely could do so, and maybe this dogfighting nonsense would end. If you are poor and can't afford the license, too bad. there is no inalienable right to your choice of dog breed. There are other dogs. Obviously guns require "licensing", and criminals still use them for crimes. But dogs are harder to conceal than a gun. But maybe these losers would just start cockfights if you take their dogs away . . .
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Denial
Let's see...2 pit bulls BREAK into a home, maul a woman while she SLEEPS, and kill her dog. Hmmmm. Would one of the many pit bull defenders on this thread please direct me to a story in the last 5, 10, even 15 years with similar facts NOT involving a pit bull?
Come on, folks. This is a perfect example of the agressiveness of this breed. It IS the dog, not the owner. Sure, I have no doubt that these 2 dogs were more than likely abused and mistreated. But come on! Look at the facts. These dogs went out of their way to maul someone. A person who was sleeping for crying out loud. Please show me another breed that would do (or even has done) such a thing.
I have had dogs all my life, and I completely understand the devotion, and undying love and appreciation that pit owners have for their dogs. I truly do. But the facts are the facts. And for all the bluster from pit defenders that Jack Russels bite more, or chihuahuas bite more, or German Shepards or Chows, or whatever, for some reason there are never incidents like this involving those breeds. Banning pits makes sense. And if pit defenders think about it altruistically, banning pits means those pits who are tortued, who are abused, who are forced to fight, will never have to go through such an awful life.
And for those people who say, well, if you ban pits (and other breeds who have been SPECIFICALLY bred over generations to fight and or kill other animals) , then people will just find another breed to force to fight, I would say, really? Why hasn't that already happened then? We live in an unforgving capitalistic society - if money could be made forcing, say, golden retrievers to fight (obviously a favorite breed to cite by pit defenders based on this thread), it would be happening. Plain and simple, it hasn't happened because there are very few other breeds that have been specifically bred like the pit - to fight, and to be extremely aggressive. (I'm trying to think of that breed that was responsible for the mauling to death of the woman in San Francisco several years ago - another example of such a breed.)
You would be hard-pressed to find a bigger dog (or animal) lover than me. I routinely quote St. Francis to people who ridicule my love for animals, or who don't inderstand what the fuss is over animal cruelty or animal abuse. And I'm agnostic. My wife and I have rescued/adopted so many dogs/cats over the years, and found homes for them, that I have lost count. And I have known many pits who are the sweetest, goofiest dogs when around people. BUT, their breeding and inherent characteristics (it IS nature, not nurture), their unpredictability, and most of all their potential for incredibly serious and fatal damage should they decide to attack, all add up to a common-sense conclusion, that for safety reasons, the breed must be banned.
And I know that pit defenders will never accept this. Just as I probably wouldn't if someone told me that there was a ban in the works to to get rid of black and tan coonhounds (I have one). The difference? The stats and facts back up the banning of pitbulls, NOT the banning of B&T coonhounds.
I'm not sure who said it first, but facts are stubborn things....