I read your entire post, and you make a lot of good points. I do want to see any dog abused or mistreated, regardless of breed. Even if the media is being unfair and reporting in a way that distorts the truth about this breed, I also have just heard too many anecdotal cases. Cases in which the owner or owners were very good to the pit bull, treated it like a baby, and one day it just snapped. Like the latest where the owners swore up and down that their dog was a gentle teddy bear and took off half the woman’s face because she accidently stepped on its foot. I’ve had dogs all of my life. Some breeds are more aggressive and temperamental I am convinced. I’ve observed it in my own life. I come from a family of dog lovers. I am one myself. No dogs in our family have ever been mistreated, neglected, or abused in any way. In fact, it can be sickening how the dogs are sometimes treated better than other people in our family. Yet, we’ve had dog bites. My husband we bit badly by our husky and I was bit as a kid from our shepherd. None of us have ever or will ever take a chance with pit bulls, Rotweilers or dobermans. Labs are by far my favorite. I’d say they’re the best dogs ever! Smart, loyal, good watch dogs yet I’ve never even heard of a lab attacking their owner unless it was abused.
Meant to type “I do NOT want to see any dog abused”.
I’ve heard quite a few stories about labs and other breeds that bit for “no reason”, but of course people assume with breeds like those that something must have provoked them. I’ve seen my mother make excuse after excuse for her lab, and that dog was just trouble. It didn’t help that she was always getting loose (my mother thought she was a great dog owner, lol), so we suffered our fair share of angry neighbors.
I think many times people aren’t willing to look objectively at their own pets, much like their children. If my dog ever bit a human, I would have her euthanized, but I know plenty of people that would swear up and down that their dog didn’t mean to do it, or it was scared, etc. and that the dog was well cared for. I don’t really see anyone admitting they could have done better to prevent an attack, though. Admitting responsibility is something rarely seen anymore, especially considering the amount of lawsuits involving dog bites.
Not to mention, people getting bit by a strong dog like a pit bull or rottweiler don’t tend to make those same excuses (except in rare cases like this one, but this guy was clueless! You just don’t let your dogs run around like that and expect not to be blamed!)instead chalking it up to the breed as something to be expected. It’s sad that there is such a bias, yet there is no science to prove that a breed of dog is any more dangerous than another (there are studies that show the opposite, though if you are interested in seeing them). I guess the media is pretty good at their job, because they’re making money every time they use the words “pit bull” in a story.