Community Chat

[sunshine45]

In praise of the pit bull terrier I grew up with a pit bull, and they aren’t devil dogs. They are the best of breeds

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/05/in-praise-of-the-pit-bull-terrier/

I can testify to a pit bull’s basic decency. My father’s favourite child was a pit bull, a rescue dog, orange, name of Brigand. Briggie slept by my father’s bed at night, and in the evening lay beside him on the sofa watching the News at Ten, one proprietorial paw on his knee. Other dads have photos of their kids around the home. For my father it was just Brigand looking noble in different locations. It’s a tribute to Brig’s character that neither me nor my brothers resented him.

Shake your head all you like, but Brigand was typical of his breed. It’s often argued that pit bulls were bred to fight and are therefore by nature always poised to attack, but they were bred to go for bears and badgers, not people. Back in the grimy days of pit fights, it was vital that a dog, even a battle-ready one, never turned on humans. Most modern pit bulls are mortified at even the slightest cross word.

[Carmie]

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@hckynut wrote:

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@Carmie wrote:

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@hckynut wrote:

(thread title)

Why? Do they not have pet Laws similar to our country? There may be some places in our country that do not have laws, but most of the ones I have seen and heard say:

"Your pet must be under your control at all times".

One again blaming animals for the irresponsibility of their owners. Sure I know the history of Pitbulls and also Rottweilers, some like a few other "domestic animals", can be dangerous. 

If they find an owner guilty of neglect or irresponsibility for the Pitbull? Ban them from the country, there are a lot of borderless countries out there now?

hckynut(john)

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Yes, Canada has laws stating your dog must be under control at all times, but not everyone obeys the laws.   There are many cities in the US that it is illegal to own pit bulls.  Some of the states that have these cities include Flordia, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, Washington, Colorado and New York.  There could be others.

Often the owner of the dog or a family is attacked with no warning.  These laws were passed to protect people.

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@Carmie

I understand "some" of your points. "People don't obey laws", so the animal is many times given a death sentence, and the law breaker, what? Gets fined a few $$$. 

I don't understand "banning any breed", in any city in our country. Our neighbor has always had 2 Rottweilers, which have a huge piece of high fenced property. Every time I have seen them outside that fence, they have been in the control of the owner.

To me it is a "step too far" to ban a certain breed of domestic animals for reasons that mostly reflect back to their owners. I have been bitten by 2 dogs in my life, neither of which was a pit bull. 

Seems to me these cities you say ban this breed, would be more interested in some of the rising crime rates committed by some humans that do have

documents, as do all dogs, at least in most cities.

hckynut(john)

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Well, I have to admit that I agree with you, but these types of decisions are not my call.  There are other breeds that are prohibited as well.  I take my dogs almost everywhere within reason and always when we go on vacation.  

Because we take our dogs with us, we settled on a small, friendly breed.  They are portable and welcomed by all.  I would never own a dog that was a " prohibited"  breed because I know it would be too difficult to travel with them.

if you love dogs that are often targeted and not welcome in many cities, hotels, etc. you must accept that on occasion you will have to alter your plans or neighborhoods.

i understand the ban though.  If this ban saves just one person from getting mauled or killed it worked.  I know that I was once way too close to two sets of teeth in the mouth of snarling dogs and it was terrifying.  I wanted to protect myself and my two small dogs and thought we were all going to be dog bait.

I was extremely lucky that my husband was home and that he was armed and heard me screaming.  I am not sorry those dogs were killed, they were not able to live with people or other animals.

[Suhse]

It's my understanding, that, pitt's now in shelters, (in Montreal) cannot be adopted or transferred, and will be Euthanized, in 2017, for no reason other than being born. 

That's disgusting and disgraceful. Who could do this? Law or not, could you kill a dog, for no reason. A dog that probably just wanted a home and love? 

Shame on us!

[itiswhatitis]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

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@sophiamarie wrote:

Top 10 Most Dangerous Dog Breeds Based On Their Fatalities

Breed Bodily harm Child Victims

Pit bull	2235	911
Rottweiler	495	278
Husky	71	44
German shepherd	96	60

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If you are going to post statistics, at least provide the source of where you found them.  I could put together a totally different chart. 

@Lipstickdiva

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/pets-animals/dog-breeds-that-have-attacked-the-most-people/ss-BB...

Here is a link to the PDF that is found in the msn story above

http://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-merritt-clifton-2014.pdf

Scroll down and check for PIT BULL!

[itiswhatitis]

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@sophiamarie wrote:

Not everything in Google is correct but it's a start.  Maybe the chart is wrong.  Change the No. 1 dangerous breed to "miniature poodle".....

There are just some people who claim to know everything.  There are some things I look up for starters.  I could go on and do extensive research but it won't change anybody's mind.   I know what I know and I think it's a lot more than what I'm reading here.  JMO of course.

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@sophiamarie, yeah that isn't accurate though.  Pitbulls and the other usual suspects have a high rate of dog bites.  

[gardenman]

Go back forty years or so and our local dog shelters were full of labs and lab mixes. This was largely due to the fact that we have a lot of hunters around here and they're hunting dogs. Pit Bulls were largely unheard of. Then dogfighting spread into the area and became more popular and now our shelters are filled almost exclusively with Pit Bulls and their mixes. It's kind of rare to find a lab or lab mix in the shelters anymore.

I've never understood the problem with banning Pit Bulls. What property does a Pit Bull have that you can't find in another breed? Pit Bulls aren't especially attractive dogs. By and large they aren't the smartest dogs around. They don't always have the best temperament. What makes a Pit Bull such an attractive dog that they're now flooding the shelters?  

The answer is they fight. Those that won't fight, or aren't good at fighting end up in the shelters. The rest end up in the ring or dead. Dogs that fight well get bred nonstop and their puppies sold for whatever the market will bear. For many of the poorer people in communities buying a Pit Bull is like buying a lottery ticket. If they get the right dog, train it right, and it becomes a good fighter, that one investment can make them a ton of money.

There are lots of animals that can be kept as pets that are banned for one reason or another and most of those banned animals don't kill people. Turtles and tortoises are banned in New Jersey and for the life of me I can't remember the last time I read of an angry tortoise killing it's owner or a passerby. (Yeah, I know they're worried more about salmonella bacteria than temperament, but still, it's a little goofy.) 

If Pit Bulls exuded some maigc substance that cured a disease or was otherwise irreplaceable, I'd say fine, don't ban them. Realistically, there's no property that a Pit Bull has, other than fighting, that you can't find in a more stable, less aggressive breed of dog. Why take the chance on owning a Pit Bull when you can find whatever properties you're looking for (other than fighting) in a more stable breed? Google the list of banned animals/pets in any state and you'll find lots of good animals that are banned for whatever reason. Banning Pit Bulls because some of them occasionally kill people isn't such an outrageous idea.

[RainyDayGal]

Pure evil!

I've read all their rules.  OMG pure evil.  Come Monday they will start murdering the dogs in the shelters, they will not let them be adopted out.  If you have pits in your home and they have puppies - guess what?  Killed.  You can find all the regulations and it should make you sick to your stomach.  They can also add ANY breed at ANY time to the list to be banned without discussion or vote.  They just do it.

They have also started banning cats from being outdoors.

[RainyDayGal]

Every Saturady I spend time with dogs at the shelter.  Lots of pits (and yes, labs!).  I completely disagree with everything Gardenman has said.

They are beautiful! They are loyal, sweet, loving, goofy, smart, caring, funny, playful couch potatoes.  I could go on and on.  I have friends with pits.  The dogs are all rescues and no one I know uses them to fight. 

That is not the breeds fault if evil people do that.  Fortunately, there are many intelligent people out there that realize the beauty and gentleness of the breed and are saving them by rescue and adopting.

The ignorance has got to stop!

[on the bay]

Thank you so much @RainyDayGal!

My granddogs were all pitbulls and when my son first got them, I thought what is he thinking!

But they turned out to be the most loving gentle dogs I have ever known. Once you have one, you can't imagine your life without one.

I loved them with all my heart and will miss them forever.

And they all adjusted their play to the size and manner of who they were with-a small cat, a grandma, their "dad", a little puppy. I can't say enough about them.

Any breed can be taught to be aggressive-thru abuse and training from cruel humans-any breed at all!

Anyone against them has never owned one.

[CrazyDaisy]

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@gardenman wrote:

Go back forty years or so and our local dog shelters were full of labs and lab mixes. This was largely due to the fact that we have a lot of hunters around here and they're hunting dogs. Pit Bulls were largely unheard of. Then dogfighting spread into the area and became more popular and now our shelters are filled almost exclusively with Pit Bulls and their mixes. It's kind of rare to find a lab or lab mix in the shelters anymore.

I've never understood the problem with banning Pit Bulls. What property does a Pit Bull have that you can't find in another breed? Pit Bulls aren't especially attractive dogs. By and large they aren't the smartest dogs around. They don't always have the best temperament. What makes a Pit Bull such an attractive dog that they're now flooding the shelters?  

The answer is they fight. Those that won't fight, or aren't good at fighting end up in the shelters. The rest end up in the ring or dead. Dogs that fight well get bred nonstop and their puppies sold for whatever the market will bear. For many of the poorer people in communities buying a Pit Bull is like buying a lottery ticket. If they get the right dog, train it right, and it becomes a good fighter, that one investment can make them a ton of money.

There are lots of animals that can be kept as pets that are banned for one reason or another and most of those banned animals don't kill people. Turtles and tortoises are banned in New Jersey and for the life of me I can't remember the last time I read of an angry tortoise killing it's owner or a passerby. (Yeah, I know they're worried more about salmonella bacteria than temperament, but still, it's a little goofy.) 

If Pit Bulls exuded some maigc substance that cured a disease or was otherwise irreplaceable, I'd say fine, don't ban them. Realistically, there's no property that a Pit Bull has, other than fighting, that you can't find in a more stable, less aggressive breed of dog. Why take the chance on owning a Pit Bull when you can find whatever properties you're looking for (other than fighting) in a more stable breed? Google the list of banned animals/pets in any state and you'll find lots of good animals that are banned for whatever reason. Banning Pit Bulls because some of them occasionally kill people isn't such an outrageous idea.

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I would be interested in your background with this breed.  Not sure where you have gotten your information, but you really do not have a good grasp of the breed.  You do realize that this breed have been wonderful pets for decades before they were used by criminals for fighting.  Only a very small percentage of these dogs are bred for fighting, the rest are wonderful pets.  So you want to justify genocide the whole breed because of the actions of a few.  Think Hitler used the same rational.....