The first things is, they want the story about what happened. I tell them and make sure I say, "She WAS in their driveway." The universal response to that has been, "So what?" usually followed by: "I have dogs wander into my driveway all the time. They don't get attacked."
Much different attitude than that displayed by some of the posters here, who seem to think a "trespassing" dog -- as if such a thing existed -- deserves such a fate.
I remember when I was a kid watching my father and the other men getting ready to hunt deer. They all had their dogs, and the dogs had to get along. The dogs were fit, and smart and aching for the hunt. My father's dogs would be so hyper from the night before when they got the first smell of the gun oil. But they were never violent. Even in the company of all those other dogs. All the dogs behaved. They knew better.
I guess Pits just can't help what they do. They certainly wouldn't make good hunting dogs. They'd just tear-up all the meat!
"I guess Pits just can't help what they do. They certainly wouldn't make good hunting dogs. They'd just tear-up all the meat!"
You don't know anything about this breed! You are making yourself look worse. These dogs were bred to bait bulls! Their job was to grab onto the bull to keep it contained until it was ready for the slaughter. For a time, the only meat you could get was baited by these dogs. It was later, when bullbaiting became illegal, that they were trained to fight each other. Even to this day people use these dogs to go hog hunting because they are very effective at it, and they have no reason to "tear up the meat". They do it for the same reason coonhounds hunt coons.
During all of this history, they had to be extremely human friendly. A referee, the other dog's owner, or anyone had to be able to walk up to two dogs ferociously fighting and not get bit. ANY DOG not within those standards was IMMEDIATELY culled. They didn't even want to breed those kinds of dogs. Unfortunately, a few breeders nowadays don't have the same standards, and are breeding for human aggression. But I say few because if there were many, there would be literally millions of people getting hurt by these dogs.
No one is telling you that your dog deserved to get mauled. That is illogical. You are the reason your dog was in the driveway. Dogs cannot be held responsible for the things they do because it is ultimately up to us to be responsible for them. They do not know right from wrong, have no idea what morals are. They are instinctual beings, and therefore must be cared for as if they were small children. Which means NOT LETTING THEM RUN THE STREETS.
There are tons and tons of dogs running the streets. Some once belonged to someone but somehow ran away, some were abandoned, some were born there. When a dog you care for disappears, it isn't always cars that get them. Other dogs are a VERY real danger, regardless of the breed. What if it had been a pack of dogs? Your dog would be dead, no matter the breed.
Dogs that are out a lot sometimes meet up and form packs, which is another thing you should be thinking about when your dog goes on its jolly way. ANY breed can join a pack. Near my neighborhood, there's a purebred yellow lab, a chow/golden mix, and two other dogs of unknown breed in a pack that roams the area. They don't attack people, but they do bark as people walk by, and when I walk my dogs, they get pretty close. I have no doubt that they would kill my dogs if I wasn't there with them, pit bull or not.
I feel for you and your dog, but you need to face the reality that it could have been any number of things that hurt your dog. And if you continue to let your dog roam, it's a distinct possibility that your dog will die from something out there. What if someone was driving a little too fast down your street and your dog darted out? What if someone was scouting the area to steal dogs for research? It happens, believe me.
I am still amazed that you don't have a leash law in your area. Many places have them because of safety issues, not only for dogs, but for people. Just because it isn't the law there doesn't mean it isn't a smart thing to do.
The crazy PitBull-lady omitted this information about the SPORT of Bull Baiting:
"Bull baiting was most popular sport at Wakes in North Shropshire at all events. James Gryce of Myddle described (in 1878) a bull baiting at Loppington at which he had been present when a boy as 'the most barbarous act I ever saw. It was young bull and had very little notion of tossing the dogs, which tore his ears and the skin off his face in shreds, and his mournful cries were awful. I was up a tree, and was afraid the earth would open and swallow us all up!'.
http://www.oakengates.com/history/bull%20baiting.htm