My personal opinion - this being a "free country" and all (snicker, snicker) is that people should be allowed to own pit bulls. But they should be held 100% accountable if (when) those dogs do damage.
If my child were hurt or killed by someone's dog (not just pits), not only do I plan on making sure the dog can never hurt anyone again, but the owner isn't going to be too fond of me either. The owner should be held on Assault charges, or murder charges if the attack results in death.
Any and all financial loss should come out of the owner's pocked, bank, or assets.
In fact, I wouldn't have a problem with a requirement to have liability insurance specifically for owning these "dangerous" breeds.
Then the question becomes, will I have to have liability insurance to own and operate a gun.
I agree; but, too often, the owners are snaggletoothed losers with pockets, but no bank accounts or assets.
People should not have sharks in their swimming pools, nor should they have pit bulls in their yards.
Pit bulls are land sharks.
In fact, about 99% of the insurance companies will cancel your insurance for owning one of several different breeds, or the rider will be so high you would wish to be canceled. However, drug dealers and users are not known for having insurance.
I'm not real keen on telling people what they can and cannot have, but I wish they would quit breeding these things. I *never* had to worry about them in all my years until the last 20 or so. All of a sudden there has been an explosion of them.
Some people are so stupid and irresponsible, not my dog, that all the punitive measures in the world aren't going to deter them. One female owner here whose dog tore half a woman's face off had been cited several times for animal violations before that happened. She had nothing to lose as she was a renter, didn't have any money. Owners should be held 100% accountable. I'll bet some who had the misfortune of having theirs euthanized or killed by cop (couple cases of that here in the last couple years) never replaced them.
But I have trouble that they can kill or change a child's life forever. Why wait for us to hit critical mass which we will?
The same could be said for guns, I suppose, but I don't see it quite the same way. When does society have a right to impose restrictions for the common good and when do they not? I can't have a horse or cow in my house, but I can have a pit bull and dangerous snakes. Hmmmm. I'd be safer having a horse or cow if they got out. They can injure too, but are not nearly as likely to.
They never did find my daughter's boyfriend's python when it got loose from the house.
I agree people should be 100% liable for any damage done by their dogs. Of course I think the same should be true of parents of minor children....
susie