Posted on 02/16/2010 12:37:30 AM PST by Chet 99
February 06, 2010|By David Kelly
Reporting from Riverside The pit bulls sprawled around the Riverside County Animal Control office this week were an unusually tranquil lot -- more fluffy the cat than hound from hell.
Each had been sedated before its turn on the operating table to get fixed, part of an ambitious project aimed at putting a dent in their exploding population here.
"We always knew we had a lot of pit bulls, but when we analyzed the data we saw that half our population was dominated by this breed," said Robert Miller, director of Riverside County Department of Animal Services. "It's a problem born out of community decisions. Sometimes it's machismo or the dogs are highlighted in the latest rap video or some young men think it's cool to own them."
Pit bulls have been responsible for a number of vicious attacks, including one Monday in which three children were badly mauled.
The high-energy, powerfully built dogs can be difficult to handle. Males will leap 6-foot-high fences to mate with females, who can bear as many as 14 puppies. The result has been a pit bull boom.
In 2008, Riverside County shelters euthanized 3,000 of them.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.latimes.com ...
Big deal, I had a German Shepherd that could jump a 6 foot fence wit a foot to spare... Birdsbane, my English Springer Spaniel can do it flat pawed.
The problem with pit bulls is the owners. Not each individual one, but the fact that owning a pit bull is the same as owning a “designer dog” - too many people are breeding and buying for reasons other than a good family member.
They become objects of expediency, and dangerous ones.
The reason I oppose pit bull bans is one of the same reasons I oppose banning guns. You can’t outlaw stupidity, and the rotten core of bad ownership with just find something else to abuse, while depriving responsible people of a good thing.
Just shoot em’ in the head,,,Cheeeper...
I am not saying that this is a bad idea, and I applaud the effort.
BUT
Reasonable owners will bring their dogs in. The most docile of the strays will be brought in. The more feral of the strays will be left to dominate the breeding between strays.The worst kind of “Pit Puppy Mills” will flourish; and the Pit “category” will become more and more ill bred, ill tempered, unstable, and predictably vicious.
DG
Thanks for posting this.
good article
Not only ban them but exterminate them and send their owners in for commonsense training.
Nine times out of ten, it's a child. The rest of the time it is a helpless adult.
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