Posted on 04/26/2006 9:14:27 AM PDT by Wristpin
Thank you for that post. You will take some heat for it, because, well, it wasn't very PC. But it's right on the money.
susie
I'm sure you'll find much comfort in that tiresome platitude if your child/loved one/beloved pet is ever mauled by one. I've known a few "good owners" whose pit created real problems for them. One family's 2 pits got out of their yard, went down the block, broke into neighbor's fence and killed their dog. Before that, they were inclined to use the same comeback you used. After that, they put down their dogs with the understanding that it could have been someone's child that was killed, in which case, they wouldn't have been able to live with themselves.
Perhaps all pit bull owners should be required to spend 6 months in training with Cesar the Dog Whisperer before being allowed to own one. He's the ONLY one I'd trust to train a pit or rottweiler.
"The only realistic way to SOLVE THIS PROBLEM without nanny-staters getting involved is for breeders and owners of dog breeds that have a track record of endangering lives, to get involved. A good first step would be for them to acknowledge that a problem exists. That hasn't happened. They all come up with false and useless platitudes, like, "There are no dogs, just bad owners," and "Be prudent with regard to dogs you don't know."
The problem is they make money selling these dogs and the registering orgs make money off registrations. Don't expect them to police themselves.
An imaginative scenario...but one that somehow fails to animate me. What gets me going is the stupidity, self-centeredness, and public menance of the "community" of lovers of vicious dogs.
Why don't we start with exterminating the Pits, work through the Rotts and some of the other bad-ass dogs, and see how it goes."
The saddened, former owners can still put on their studded leather vests (sans chemise), put on their Nazi helments, and go out cruising on their hogs. And, if they are thinking ahead, they can have a case of Bud icing in the bathtub back at the trailer.
(This is a Saturday, that I have sketched. On Sunday, they might go to the Knife and Gun Show down at the WWF arena.)
You people are really missing the point here. I'm not so much comparing the Rotweiller and pit bull to a Lincoln Navigator or Galil assault rifle as I'm comparing the owner of that (apparently unsupervised) pit bull and rott to the driver of the Navigator driving down the sidewalk with a fifth of Jack Daniel's in his blood stream, or the owner of the rifle who's sporadically launching a few rounds out his front window because he keeps forgetting what happens when he pulls the trigger.
The point of my comparison is, (I'll say it again) the potential injuries you faced were greater by virtue of the fact that an irresponsible owner owned a pitbull and rott instead of a poodle. Likewise, your potential injuries would not have been as great if the loaded SUV driver had been on a mountain bike instead, or if the rifle owner kept pulling the trigger of a single shot, blackpowder kentucky rifle. That's my only point. If the owner of the rott and pit had been responsible and the dogs were secured in a chain link kennel, or being kept in a locked house, you would have been no more threatened by them than you would have been by the sober operator of a Navigator, observing all traffic laws, and driving past you on the street, or by the rifle owner insuring that his weapon was properly cleared and locked in a gun safe.
To try to reinforce my point...I know that dogs have minds of their own, and that sometimes, even a responsible owner may lose control of them, and when that happens a big, 'mean' dog is a greater potential risk than a smaller breed. Well, sometimes the brakes give out on vehicles, even for a responsible, sober driver, and when that happens, a large SUV or truck will potentially cause more death and destruction than a motorcycle or smaller compact car. Sometimes the safety or sear mechanism on a firearm will mechanically fail, even when handled by a responsible shooter, and when that happens the potential for death and destruction are greater when it's a larger caliber weapon, and/or one with an autoloading mechanism. Granted, even at these times, they objects are not acting of their own accord as is the case with a dog, but my point is that certain vehicles and certain weapons are potentially more dangerous when their owners lose control, and to ban them simply as a result of that fact is ridiculous; and that is precisely the point many people make with regards to certain breeds...we need to ban them because they are potentially more dangerous when improperly handled or when their owners lose control. If you can demonstrate to me that that is NOT the argument being put forward by many anti-pit bull, anti-gun or anti-suv groups do so, but I think you'll have a hard time doing so, and I'm only trying to point out that intellectual consistency and honesty dictate that when the same tortured, emotional rationale used to go after a certain type of vehicle or weapon is employed to go after a certain breed of dog, the counter argument need not be any more sophisticated or altogether different than the counterpoints presented for the former.
Very likely true, and an important factor to keep in mind considering this problem (I feel that now I have a personal stake in it because I've experienced it personally, it's not just something I read in headlines). I think, too, that another very strong contributing factor to this is the disconnect Americans now have to mother nature. Dogs, cats, and other pets, as much as we may love them (and I've had my share of pets and right now have a very beloved cat ... or, perhaps, she has me!), but I fortunately came from a background where one learned as fact young and early that dogs, cats, and other animals are NOT people and should not be put on the same level as people if only because it insults the animals' dignity! The "pets are people too" mentality is as much to blame for this problem as anything. There should be no banning of a breed, no government intervention. The solution is for people who own dogs to come to grips with the reality that when dogs are put on the same emotional level as people, we end up with "pet" dogs that kill innocent humans who pose no intentional threat to the dogs.
(This is a Saturday, that I have sketched. On Sunday, they might go to the Knife and Gun Show down at the WWF arena.)"
Well you've changed my mind....how could I ever have lost my way when you have made it all so lucidly clear with your well articulated and sophisticated argument.
You are truly the torch which illuminates the path to truth and wisdom. Either that or you're just a flaming moron. .
At some point there becomes too much collateral damage and it becomes a law enforcement/public safety issue. Have you seen how many of these dogs are shot by law enforcement? It's unbelievable!
The only realistic way to SOLVE THIS PROBLEM without nanny-staters getting involved is for breeders and owners of dog breeds that have a track record of endangering lives, to get involved.
The comparison isn't about the objects.
It is about responsible ownership of the objects.
The attack referred to in this article would not have happened if the owner had contained his dog.
To be a responsible owners of any breed means containing your dog.
Responsible owners and breeders do their darnest to educate people about how critical this is.
...my point is that certain vehicles and certain weapons are potentially more dangerous when their owners lose control, and to ban them simply as a result of that fact is ridiculous...
Again, I don't advocate banning them. The truth is, however, that UNLESS carrying onconcealed firearms becomes legal on public property, or UNLESS owners of "potentially more dangerous" dogs ADMIT that there's a real problem and then do something to resolve it rather than go into denial, your worst-case scenario of seeing breeds being banned may come to pass. It's annoying for those of us who have experienced the problem and who are freedom advocates like yourself, when we see "responsibility" forced on innocents rather than the real source of the problem.
Everyone keep their frikkin dog contained.
Anyone that doesn't, gets stomped on and is criminally responsible for their dogs actions.
End of story.
Haven't you ever wondered why you ONLY hear the bad stories?
Now, when you walk down the street and you see a pit bull, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
I agree completely; I fully support the 2nd Amendment as our founders intended it...armed society, polite society and all that. I also believe that two wrongs do not make a right, and think our efforts would be better spent fighting to take back the second amendment instead of restricting everything else that might otherwise hurt us because we allowed the second amendment to be infringed!!
In the interim, there are some municipalities where gun laws have become so onerous that many people rely on pits and other 'vicious' breeds as their only means of personal and home defense!
"Pitts are bred to bite and fight. It's in them the day they are born, it's called instinct. People can modify and control instinctual activity in an animal but they can never permanently alter it or remove it.
I've trained dogs, attack dogs among others, for over 30 years. Any Pitt owner who tells me there dog could never attack anyone is an IDIOT!"
Thanks for your expertise and experience. I recall growing up with Shelties, and a lot of little children. The dogs would herd the kids, but not attack them. Those dogs were bred to herd.
I assume great training can reduce the instinctual behavior of Shelties to herd, and of Pit Bulls to attack.
There also seems to be a difference in the degree and duration of the Pit Bull's attack behavior. They seem to keep going to seriously injure.
I know these incidents make you grumpy Kanawa....Yet not a single comment of sympathy for the victim nor concern that a vicious Pit is being relocated into a formerly "safe" neighborhood.
That's the typical response of the blood sport dog fanciers. These attacks are increasing as the industry pushes these animals as normal dogs.
"Everyone keep their frikkin dog contained.
Anyone that doesn't, gets stomped on and is criminally responsible for their dogs actions. "
A case of too little, too late from a victim's point of view. These dogs are screwed-up in the genes. You can't alter their genes by training. I've had three friends attacked by pits! I find that incredible!
FU
And if they don't....we're gonna open up a can of Scottish law on their sorry, low-life butts!
Curious how those screaming about 'blood sport,' are in fact, advocates for the extermination of an entire breed.
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