As a former academic, I am shocked to see you take such a reactionary, incomplete and sadly ignorant view of ‘pit bulls’.

While its true they were bred for fighting, they were bred in a manner that selected traits that greatly favored humans and dis-favored their own kind. And the reason why? Because their handlers would be in the ‘pit’ with them when they were fighting. The handlers needed to be able to reach and pull the dogs off one another without fear of being bit.

The fact is, for all their potential viciousness against other dogs, there isn’t a friendlier more well tempered breed when it comes to people, and in particular kids.

Also, I used to think very similar to you about pit bulls . . . before I rescued one from a shelter and she has been with me virtually everyday for the last 12 years and never once has she even snarled at a child. In fact, she and every other pit bull I’ve come to know since visibly become smitten and gentle in the presence of kids.

Having said that, they are extremely athletic dogs who, especially when they are young, need a ton of attention and activity. And not everyone makes a good pit bull owner. Not the least of which are the people that think they make good watch dogs. They don’t, unless they are conditioned to be angry and aggressive toward people. They aren’t born angry and aggressive toward people. They are trained and conditioned to be that way.

But ANY dog is capable of being trained and conditioned that way. And other breeds do far more people biting and maiming than pit bulls do. It’s just the name sounds intimidating, and drug dealers like to train them to be aggressive to people, and bad owners leave them on chains outside in inhumane conditions and, well, when one of those mistreated dogs snap, the media LOVES to sensationalize and distort the image of an otherwise wonderful breed in the name of increased viewership or readers.

The statistics you claim exist are typically commissioned by ambulance chasing law firms who specialize in dog bite cases. The fact is there is absolutely no standardization of dog bite reporting or statistical reporting. Every municipality, every county and every state do it differently.

And worse there are at least a dozen breeds that are often confused with American Staffordshire Terriers and American Pit Bull Terriers – the two most common pit bull breeds in the US. And that confusion extends to the Cop writing the report and even the animal control officer.

The fact is ‘pit bulls’ have been demonized via gross misreporting and sensationalization by the media – the same way Dobermans and German Shepherds once were.

Prior to the rise of gangsta rap, and its association with inner city drug dealing and pit bull ownership, we NEVER heard about pit bull attacks with anywhere near the frequency we have over the last 15 years. It was almost always Dobermans and German Shepherds – and we never hear anything about dog bites/attacks from those two breeds anymore. What happened? A genetic mutation that put an end to all biting by those two breeds? Uh no. People don’t care when they hear a German Shepherd bit or attacked someone. But they cower in fear by the mere mention of the sinister sounding “PIT BULL”.

Remember the Goonies?

Yeah, well pit bulls are essentially the “Sloth Fratelli” of dogs.

I live with an american bulldog/boxer mix that would fall into this category of dogs banned that resemble pitbulls. He is not dangerous to humans. He is great with my girlfriend’s 4-year old nephew that lives in our house. He is very careful when playing with or near the kid. He won’t even as much as open his mouth in any playful or harmful way around the kid. We didn’t teach him this at all. So is this dog that looks like a pitbull dangerous because it’s his instincts to fight? His instincts showed he knows to be gentle with kids. And it’s not something he picked up from being around the kid a lot; my girlfriend’s brother adopted the dog from another family a year and a half ago and the dog was 2 years old.

Can Buehrle not just live in Buffalo or some town around there? I know nothing about the area and traveling around there other than knowing Toronto is close to the border.

I love dogs and I am a dog owner. But I also once tried to kill a German Shepherd (and I was a form Shepherd owner) with my hands and bat because because it charged my kids and I would have killed it if the owner’s child didn’t come out of the house – (I didn’t want to truamatize their child but they didn’t care if mine were) when it was clear the dog gave up and I was ready to gut him with a screwdriver. I could not have defended my family like this against a pit bull. They can be the most well heeled dog but it is an animal. Animals act on instinct. They do not weigh the consequences. They are a loaded gun. Good for the province of Ontario. Always loved visiting the beautiful city of Toronto who have the friendliest people in North America – this is another reason why I love Toronto.

I to have have been in Amimal Rescue for years. Hands on, holding dying animals in my hands. Most of them from the hands of humans. Humans are more a threat to animals, then an animal ever could be. An animal doesn’t kill for fun, it doesn’t attack for fun and it doesn’t see much more then basic instincts for survival.

As far as your point that certin dogs are breed for hunting…..all dogs are breed for hunting. That’s how the find food and eat. If you do not want that risk in your home, do not invite a fellow Carnivore to live with you.

As far as your “First bite” comment….An animals defense reaction is to flee. ALL animals, Lions, Cobras, Scorpions, even fluffy and rover. In the can not flee, the are forced to defend themselves. A dogs first instinct is to growl and/or bark. This is a warning to others that “if you do not give me my space, I will take it myself”. In the animal kingdom this is respected, unless the intention of the aggressor is to kill at eat the other. Humans don not respect this warning. The end result is usually and attack. But, the attack is done in defense, not just because their Great-Grandfather Doggy taught them to hunt humans.

Your comment on of breed extinction is very sad…..Close to 50,000 species die off every year. Every year! This is caused directly or indirectly by humans. Hippos, lions, Sharks, Snakes, Bees, mosquitoes and many other species attack and sometimes kill humans. Are we supposed to eradicate every threat to mankind.Humans are the most violent species on Earth. We rose to the top, because of it. So it comes as no surprise to me that the answer, would be”let them die off”.

Just remember my friend, when the shit hits the fan. Your dog will have your back, but will you have his?

Are you also going to contend that falling coconuts, slippers, marbles, 5-gallon buckets, and lightning are more likely to rip a family pets throat out?

I am fairly positive there is a strong statistical link between the reduction in fatal dog attacks in New Zealand and the complete banning of this particular breed several years back. Funny that.

It’s the same reason automatic weapons and handguns are illegal in NZ. 1% of the population fucking up vastly outweighs the potential positives.

A small percentage of this breeds owners are irresponsible, social degenerates who install nothing but menace and anti social behavior. Same with all the other breed of dog. The difference being these breed is lethal when turns on something.

As with any other things in our society, a small number of people have ruined it for the majority. But in this instance their actions and the inadvertent actions of the dog have maimed and killed innocent people.

The benefits of having them around the community is far outweighed by the potential of having an irresponsible owner being in charge of something with the potential to kill some young life.

What a crass sentence. Spoken like someone who doesn’t get it at all.

And before you give me the whole “well that makes them doubly dangerous because they’ll attack other dogs.” As I’m sure your years of experience have taught you, dog-aggressiveness cuts across all breeds-places-times. Some dogs are aggressive towards other dogs. Some aren’t. There is practically no rhyme or reason to it. Our neighbor’s Jack Russel Terrier was crazy dog-aggressive. Got through the fence and damn near tore my dogs ear off. You know what she did? She lay down and tried to submit but the little rat just kept going after her. Are we banning Jack Russel Terriers now?

As to the argument that pit bulls have some secret “random trigger” buried in their genes that could go off at any moment. Bullcrap. I would believe you if you said that all dogs can potentially snap. Because that is unfortunately true. But to say that pits are genetically predisposed to this random trigger? You’re just taking a fear and calling it a fact. Stop doing that.

I love dogs more than most people, but I just don’t fucking care what unfair laws are lumped against this dog breed.

A Border Collie never escapes under a fence and attacks a random kid playing in the park. There are about 100 other breed of dog who don’t either, feel free to choose from the remaining list.

in other words, I’ve had many many years of working with animals, with shelters, and when necessary with law enforcement on issues involving stray or feral animals. Yes, some breeds who were precursors to modern pit bulls were “originally” bred for hunting – which, you might want to consider, merely contributed selectively to their aggressive tendencies. However, there have been so many generations of these animals bred especially for fighting that their genetic makeup is spread widely throughout the breed population and related breeds. It’s true that there are “gentle” individuals – even fighting breeders occasionally wind up with them, and then, as in the horrible case of Michael Vick, they’ve usually killed the less aggressive ones to keep their money strains “pure.”

One of the problems is, even the “gentle” ones have violent triggers we just don’t really understand. A dog that’s been a family pet for years suddenly, “for no reason” (ie, for reasons we don’t know) turns on a family member, a neighbor’s dog, a neighbor. It’s gotten bad enough so that many municipalities have revoked scienter, the so-called “first bite credit,” for certain breeds or mixes. You can argue all you want but the more you look at statistics, the more conclusive the problem becomes. The argument that pitbulls “aren’t a breed” is one of the sleight-of-hand approaches that propagandists against “breed specific” laws (as if these were comparable to apartheid or voting rights violations, which is assinine) use to try to discredit the acute statistical skew in pitbull-related attacks. You know – oh, that dog wasn’t really a pitbull so you shouldn’t include it in your calculations. That’s pernicious and misleading.

As far as what to do with the breed – neuter them and stop breeding them, and let them die off in the natural order of events – but don’t take your eyes off them in the meantime.

An interesting fact I found on a website.

According to studies by the CDC, a person is more likely to be killed…

- by a family member
- by a falling coconut
- in a bedroom slipper-related accident
- choking on a marble
- drowning in a 5-gallon bucket
- getting struck by lightning

…than by a pit bull.

Substitute dog/breed and you have made the argument for gun enthusiasts. No need to ban them, just enforce the current laws for those that abuse them.

It was no surprise so many people championed Vick’s cause to play football again. At a certain point, they were even able to twist it so opinions on whether he should be allowed to resume his NFL career became a kind of litmus test on racism in this country. The staggering incarceration rate of black men in America wasn’t at issue for most of these people, unless, of course, the individual in question happened to be a celebrity.

How many times did we hear, “He’s paid his dues for his crime, let him play”. The fact is Vick never served a day behind bars for dog fighting. He was sentenced to prison for operating a gambling venture across state lines.

It’s very sad that pit bulls are popular with irresponsible macho assholes, but guess what, irresponsible macho assholes make bad decisions in all phases of their lives. The way they use their guns and drive their cars; the way their consume their alcohol; the way the treat their wives and raise their children; the way they behave in public gatherings. Instead of blaming the victims with breed specific bans, how about sanctioning the real perpetrators of violent crimes and anti-social behavior?

Insurance companies and media hysterics have demonized this breed, but there are plenty of dogs capable of doing grievous harm to people, especially children. If these dog haters had their way, the next wave of dogs being banned would be Rottweilers and German Shepherds and any breed that weighs over a certain number of pounds.