[proud_yank]

Thanks for the ignorant and arrogant post.

Where did I say anything about profiling? There are plenty of breeds (huskies, chows, heck, even jack russell terriers can be nasty) that are 'aggressive', other than pit bulls. Given that such a label exists, and it is well established that certain breeds are more aggressive than others, that 'profiling' already exists.

As far as I am concerned, shoot any dog that attacks you, and I believe in the owner being held accountable for an attack regardless what breed it is. In some states now, a dog barking at you is considered a 'viscious dog', which is well beyond absurd.

If you shoot someone's dog for merely running off-leash in public, I hope it lands you in jail.

[Finny]

Not too long ago, a lady was unloading groceries from her car. She propped open the door to her house to do so. Arms loaded with groceries, she got to her kitchen, put down the groceries, turned around -- and found TWO pit bulls/mixes that had escaped from their yard in a home several blocks away, in her kitchen and growling at her. Search FR threads for one by a woman whose little dog was attacked and seriously maimed by a couple of pit bulls, and you can read about this incident.

Now maybe you ain't been keepin' up on current events, to paraphrase Hudson, but all you've got to do is search FR right here using the words "bull," "bulls," "pitbulls," and "pitbull" and you'll see a long, long list of recent and fairly recent news reports about kids, old people, and average folks (not to mention goats and other livestock) being either killed or critically injured not by huskies, Jack Russell terriers, or chows, but by Rottweilers, pit bulls/pit bull mixes, and presa canarios. If you think that the lady in her kitchen would have been facing an equally dangerous threat had it been two Jack Russell terriers in her kitchen, you're fooling nobody but yourself.

There is no great coverup and conspiracy to hide all the other Americans who are killed or critically injured in proportionate numbers by dogs of other breeds. Hence the call by many misguided people to "ban" pit bulls and Rotts, etc. I think banning is the wrong solution. The best solution that offers the best live-and-let-live for all dog owners, is to have breed-specific regulation on dogs, singling out the very very few dog breeds that have a record of killing or critically injuring more than three innocent Americans a year. Pretty simple and reasonable, but pit bull/mix rottweiler, etc. defenders INSIST that this is not right, that all vicious dogs are equally dangerous. The vicious out-of-control Jack Russell terrier has very little chance and zero track record of killing or critically injuring an adult human, except by fluke. The pit bull/mix, Rottweiler, and Presa Canario, on the other hand, has a long and well-documented track record of both.

What you prefer to call "nanny staters" are people like me who are sick and tired of NOT being able to walk on public streets in public neighborhoods or be able to unload groceries from the car FOR GOD'S SAKE without the threat being faced with some loser's pet that's of a breed that has a history of killing or critically injuring adult humans. As much as I wish this was a concealed-carry state, it is not, and in fact, a person shouldn't have to carry a side-arm to protect themselves from asshat dog-lovers' PETS.