Gone to the Dogs
Our fine furry friends are under fire, following the recent fatal attacks by pitbulls in SF. Although Mayor Newsom is pushing for breed-specific (read: Pitbull) regulations, which would require a change in the state law, the proposal currently affects canines of all breeds.
The proposed regulations:
- Restriction on “Backyard Breeding”
- Requiring owners of vicious breeds to obtain liability insurance
- Increasing fines on owners of unregistered dogs
- Required spay/neuter of vicious breeds; give city the authority to spay/neuter dogs when impounded or found to be unregistered
- Require that vicious breeds have microchips implanted for quick ID in case of attack
- Require that all dog bites be reported to Animal Control in order to maintain accurate record of problem dogs
- Teach children how to interact with dogs and therefore prevent bites in a school program
You can read a final report from the Canine Response Working Group at the Office of the Mayor’s site.
Are these the right steps to take? It’s a good start.
Some say “punish the deed, not the breed”. Here’s a site that helps you learn about pitbulls, with the argument that “they are just like any other dog”:
BadRap.org
On the other hand, here are arguments against pitbulls:
Pit Bulls ARE DANGEROUS!
And for both ends of the argument, a site specializing in the legal issues regarding dog attacks:
Dog Bite Law
Note: the picture above is not a pitbull. She is just a lonely dog I met at the animal shelter a few months ago.
Ever wonder how shepards are so good at sheparding? Why pointers point? Bloodhounds have an amazing sense of smell? Dogs bred for hunting water foul are good at swimming.
Step into the way-back machine with me . . . a handful of years ago, some dude named Mendel did some experiments with bean plants and found out he could make ‘em like he wanted ‘em. Combine that with good ol’ natural selection and presto: breeding dogs became quite a treat - dogs were made to be good at one thing, less likely to do others, made miniature, made large, made good swimmers, made hypoallergenic (labradoodle, anyone).
So I would suggest that all save-the-poor-ill-trained,not-their-fault-pitbull club members immediately call their high school science or college genetics teacher and demand some remedial tutoring.
You see, these dogs were bred to be nasty, brutish, evil creatures. Yes, proper training and care reduces the risk that your pit bull will *rip the throat of your beloved child* but it doesn’t foreclose the option completely. It is In Their Blood. Any other argument is a denial of basic science, nature, nuture, and all.
They are NOT like any other dog. How many breed-specific legislative efforts have been made to curb the dangers of Golden Retrievers? Not many, eh?
I’m not for rounding up and exterminating these dogs - but I am absolutely for efforts to end their breeding. The only purpose they serve is protection: which just proves their danger.
Bad dog - bad dog!
note: I neglected to add some links for the other end of the argument (which I intended on having, and posted too soon. Post has been edited since then). Ironically, my intial net searches only gave back PRO-pitbull sites. So that, in turn, mistakenly implied that my opinion was FOR pitbulls.
You have some great points, CD. These dogs most certainly have it in their blood to attack.
I personally don’t trust pitbulls, and don’t think they should be bred. At the risk of sounding cold, if someone adopts a pitbull, they should be well aware of the dangers of owning one. In other words, you’re asking for it!
I think the proposed regulations are a good start, but maybe we’re askin’ for a whole lotta protest if they specifically call out pitbulls and pitbulls only. Using the more generic term “vicious breeds” helps. Most “guard dog types” should be questioned with these regulations.
Why not let that protest come?
I don’t really care how deluded pit bull owners are, how sure they are that *their* dog really IS sweet, kind, would never eat their face given the chance, etc. . . .
One wonders how the pro-pit lobby was so powerful that they managed to enact prohibitions against breed specific legislation at the state level (which is, I’m betting, exactly what happened).
When legislating, anytime you can be specific you should be. Apply regulations to “vicious breeds” and you’ll go 8 rounds each with various dangerous breeds, what is and is not, etc. We know pit bulls suck. Say “no pit bulls” then add other specific breeds as necessary (ie: presa canarios). Few other breeds will likely be added because, while I can’t put my hands on the stat right now, there are roughly 81x more pit bull attacks than by the next most attacking breed.
Generally, I don’t approve of BSL. They’re usually very vague in terms of identifying the so-called “dangerous breeds”, and far too restrictive, punishing good owners of good dogs.
The regulations proposed by your mayor, however, make sense. ESPECIALLY this one:
“Teach children how to interact with dogs and therefore prevent bites in a school program”
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen children nipped at by dogs in my neighborhood because they don’t have the slightest clue how to interact properly with dogs, or they choose to be antagonistic. And I’m talking about all the various breeds in my neighborhood, from the Great Dane a few streets down to the Scottie one street over. My Pit Bull has never nipped at a child - because of 2 things: 1) I trained it to be a good dog, and 2) I make sure the kids who want to pet her are calm and don’t do anything that might provoke her. Hell, my Cattle Dog mix seems more likely to nip somebody than my Pit Bull.
Halting the breeding of these dogs (they are not just protectors - they are great companions) isn’t the answer, but cracking down on the irresponsible breeders and the bad PEOPLE who continue to train them as fighting dogs IS, among other things.
“there are roughly 81x more pit bull attacks than by the next most attacking breed.”
What a load of crap. None of the rest of the breeds are getting the press, that’s all. Where was all this anti-Pit Bull vitriol when it was chic to blame the Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers back in the ’80s and ’90s? Did those breeds suddenly disappear? No. Did they suddenly become less vicious? No. And how many “pit bull” attacks have been by mis-identified breeds? Plenty. AmStaffs, Boxers, Rottweilers, and even German Shepherds (!) have attacked people and been mis-identified as Pit Bulls. The AmStaff I can understand, but the others are ridiculous.
Now, I’m not denying that Pit Bulls do attack people. It happens. The owners that allow it to happen (or worse, encourage it) are the ones who should suffer for the Pit Bull’s bad rep, not the owners who train and care for their dogs properly.
Besides, if there were no Pit Bulls, there’d be no “Petey” from the Little Rascals. Oh, and you know the black and white dog in the recent Disneyland ads? Yeah, that’s a Pit Bull.
Why are you guys so infatuated with these stupid dogs. Get a life. Get a nice dog, like a stinking goldie or black lab to be a sponge for your attention. Why do you need a killer attack dog to put me at risk? You guys sound like the gun nuts…guns don’t kill people, people do…they’re not bad guns, only bad gun owners.
What is your guyz problem?
Pitbulls aren’t mean dogs unless trained to do so.
In my neighborhood, a black lab attacked a little boy..What happened? It was reported as another “pitbull attack.”
CD said earlier that it is in their blood.
Well guess what? Pitbulls were not bred to attack people. They were bred to attack dogs. Pitbulls are supposed to be PEOPLE FRIENDLY!!
Think about it.People are in the “pit” with the dogs to pull them off the other dog. If pitbulls were people aggressive, the dogs would attack their trainers/owners. Thus most people would kill the dog then get another dog fighter.
I hate when dogs getta bad rap 4 something people have done. Take the german shepherd for example.
This is marked as one of those “dangerous” dogs.
Well guess what? Shepherds were born & bred to HERD sheep & cattle.
Look at the name:
German-bred in germany
ShepHERD-bred to HERD sheep
Put the name together & u gotta german shepherd dog.
How do people think these dogs are mean when they serve our country? They were used as “war dogs” to help soilders in battle.They guide the blind, and are used in search & rescue to save lives. They are a police officers parter to help people obey the law. Shepherds r used as therepy dogs to show kids & elderly people that somebody out there cares about them. They r also bomb detector dogs and drug detection dogs to sniff out bombs & illegal drugs some1 might try to take into our country. German shepherds are truely angels. They have done so much to help our country,but selfish back-stabbing people take one look at the dog & see it as a demon. People like this think that the only “good dogs” in the world are labs & golden retrievers. People like that make me sick. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad dog…only bad owners.
I agree with JJ.
I have a pit mix and she’d the sweetest dog ever.
It’s sad what happends to dogs like this.And the Dogs that refuse to fight become bait dogs themselves for other dogs.
The bottom line is if you make a mistake on a cocker spaniel, someone gets nicked. If you make a mistake on a pit bull, you’re gonna read about it in the paper.
Please don’t punnish the breed for the owners fault.
rotties are the best most loyal dogs ever
you suck balls cd grow a brain
Hello all
I’m a nurse midwife w/a great interest in genetics-so I know the science part.If you look at photos from the 20’s you’ll see alot of Pits and children and American flags,because they were so tolerant of kids and protected the home too.Then fast forward to now where for the last decade these dogs have been the poster dog by a horrible urban subculture that takes pride in their bad ass dog and their guns.This group of citizens aren’t big on “the big picture” of the importance of spay neuter but then again neither are alot of the entire US population.Shelters and rescue are overwhelmed,period.
So,I’m walking down the street and come upon a starving tick infested damn near dead puppy.Obviously a Pit.Nursed him back to health and gave him to a lady who has other dogs and grandkids.That dog was so smart-I’ve had dogs all my life and he was a dream.He has never been agressive to the “pack”. He had to fit in at her country home-he’s over 2 1/2 now and neutered.
Same thing happened again in early November-this time the dog was female around 9-12 months old.I have paid thousands of dollars for AKC dogs that were hard to train etc.Just like the first, this dog was so smart and sensitive and the easiest dog I ever had.Was housebroken in 2 days-learned to Sit Stay and walk on a leash so quickly! She was obviously abandoned but I still serched for an owner by every means possible for a month.She looks just like the old RCA dog but w/ a more square head.
We couldn’t keep her because my AKC female weimaraner is the most Alpha dog in the world! The Pit would roll over in submission again and again-she got along great w/ my male weim-but for her safety I placed her in what I thought was a good home.Went back a month later and the woman hadn’t watched her and gone on vacation for winter break from college and never even answered her messages! So when I went to check she was missing,but the guy who found her was taking care of her.He had 4 kids ages 12 to 1 1/2 and figured maybe her owner was on a winter holiday and she was so sweet he kept her for 3 weeks! I was so happy she had found such a nice family.He is a day laborer and they travel alot so he couldn’t keep her -darn! so back to my house where I had to keep her seperate from my dog.Well my dog managed to open a pocket door and a reg doorknob and when I walked in from running some errands she attacked the Pit-went straight for her throat.It was the most horrible event you can imagine,and the Pit was cornered and of course she fought back and defended herself and it was a 20 minute ordeal. I know it was stupid on my part but I was alone and knew if I didn’t stop it 1 or both dogs would be dead.I managed to get my dog into a closet w/ a pocket door and as soon as I closed it -the fight was over.The Pit didn’t go after my male who was present and in loyalty to his mom had bitten her on the butt a couple of times.There was blood everywhere but this was the outcome.The Pit had her ears chewed up 2 big hematomas behind each ear and a 3-4″ large gash near her throat.My Weim had no gashes just limped a couple of days cause the Pit had bit her front leg.In other words the Pit protected herself but didn’t do what she could have-she looked and sounded so vicious-but she didn’t even break my dogs skin! I called rescue groups and tried to place her because I was so overwhelmed but they are all full due to the Pit problem-so she lived in a small bedroom for a week,until I could place her with a nice family.They knew all about the fight,but could see her great disposition and she was also tested by a dog trainer and passed with flying colors for her temperment.She is so obedient and will start her training classes in a week,and will be spayed in a couple of weeks too.During that week she never barked or whined because she was lonely or bored-never destroyed anything in the room-never went to the bathroom in there.I let her out every couple of hours-gave her as much attention as possible and my son slept with her at night but I made sure there were many doors between my dogs and the rescue dog.
So that’s it.I know it was a long story but my point is-what to do with all the abandoned Pits w/ good temperments? Both dogs I rescued were smart sensitive and wanted to please their owners,and passed the classic “temperment test”.Even under great duress she defended herself but didn’t rip my dog apart, or attack me.
My dog is in special classes to deal w/ her agression to other dogs,but I may have some hard decisions ahead.When I saw this discussion I wanted to tell a real life situation.It’s not an easy fix.
PS
Over the last few years I have become disabled,and was not able to keep my dogs around other dogs for socialization.I didn’t know how bad this was until this situation.When I said “hard decisions” I meant that I may have to accept the truths of disability.I will need to make sure they get out around other dogs even if I can’t do it.No big deal-just the way it sounded after I re-read my post-wanted to clarify.