It is so surprising to me to be on a board with people that seem to really care about attaining knowledge before they pass judgement only to find so few actually do.
The breed is not the problem. Pit bull types right now account for a very large percentage of the population of dogs. They are the number one or two most popular breed right now, numbering somewhere in the four to six million range.
Yes, unfortunately there are many idiots who buy them for all the wrong reasons, and some others that get them and don't bother training or socializing them. However, there are many more who simply have researched the breed and got them as family pets. For the few that kill people every year (somewhere between 10 and 20), there are several million that don't. The news won't report this because it isn't news.
With all the dogfighting and drug dealing going on, and all the pit bulls supposedly owned by these criminals, there should be a lot more devastation dealt by them than this. They are strong, determined, and capable, yes. But as a whole, they are obviously not as dangerous as the media and PETA would have you believe. If that were the case, perhaps the percentage of them killing people would be higher than the 0.000002% than it is (the same percentage that all other large breeds hold for killings compared to their population).
This trend has been seen with many other popular breeds when they hit their number one status: German Shepherds, Chows, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinchers, and even Great Danes. Every decade has its breed to hate. Now seems to be the time for the pit bull. Soon, another dog will become the dog to hate and pit bulls will fade into the background, where they have been for a long time.
I strongly urge the people of this forum to do research before posting, as there is a wealth of information out there that doesn't involve biased, greed-based reporters and terrorists like PETA members. I once hated and feared this breed, but after spending much time trying to prove to a friend how dangerous his pit bulls were, I found in my research nothing but the contrary.
Remember, the media is not a non-profit organization bent on educating. They make money off of the stories they print, and do very little research on the details of their stories. There have been numerous stories printed about pit bulls with pictures and all that turned out to be another kind of dog completely. It doesn't hurt to find out for yourself what is true and what is not. The only thing to loose is ignorance.
It helps if I can spell correctly. The only thing to LOSE is ignorance. Heh.
You are sooooo right.
I would add that people on this forum will see through the MSM when they have a series negative stories about President Bush, but stories about a dog are not questioned.
And please don't say, "IT'S FOR THE CHIIIIILDRENNNNN"
I'd like to find the original link to this story.
A few years ago a New York Post story told of a man who was attacked and severely bitten on the leg by another breed of dog.
He called the local media, but they didn’t find it exciting enough to report.
So a few days later, out of curiosity, he falsely told the same story to the same media, but this time he said that the dog was a pit bull.
Three television news stations and four newspapers sent reporters immediately. link