The fact still remains, however, that with today's thoroughly feminized, emotionalized approach to pets, pit bulls pose a serious problem and denying it is the most likely way to bring about breed bans. When/if breed bans happen, pit bull defenders will be as much to blame as anyone. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that it exists. Pit bull lovers waste all their energy on denying the problem and exert next to nothing on recognizing the problem and trying to do something to solve it.
Here's the deal. There aren't Hippo Rescue places all over the United States encouraging regular people to adopt them into neighborhoods where innocent neighbors are as much at risk as the adopters.
Hippos don't kill little old ladies minding their own business weeding flowerbeds in their own yards. Hippos aren't owned by immature kids in gang neighborhoods who don't know their own limitations but instead want to impress their peers with their powerful pets.
I LOVE chihuahua rescues. If you adopt a chihuahua and are a lousy "pet parent" and can't control the dog, at MOST you'll be a minor pain in the butt to friends, neighbors, and relatives.
I HATE pit bull rescues and think the clowns that operate them should be held financially accountable for any injuries on people from a dog adopted through their rescues. If you adopt a pit bull and are a lousy doggy "mommy" or doggy "daddy," you pose a potentially lethal danger not just to yourself and those who live in your house, but to all your neighbors.
The liberal mindest that "if you just give these dogs a chance, if you just treat them nicely, they'll be good!" dominates in the pit bull defender mindset. It's as if they think that it's "doggy racism" to acknowledge that a poorly-trained pit bull is whole helluva lot more dangerous than a poorly trained basset hound.
I don't know what the answer is, and I really, really HATE the whole idea of breed banning. I DO know that emotional people think "dogs are people, too." They're wrong -- people are people; dogs are dogs. Treat them with dignity and respect -- expecting a dog bred to hold a serious post, to have a serious job of being a warrior protector, to lower itself to being a mere pet, the family's "little buddy" insults that dog's dignity. Its as wrong -- I would even say immoral -- as expecting an Australian cow dog to be a pet in a city apartment. It is cruel to the animal and disrespects its dignity. IN THE CASE OF THE PIT BULL, IT CAN ALSO BE DEADLY DANGEROUS.
The hippo response on pit bull threads is one more confirmation of the fact that pit bull "lovers" are too wrapped up in a kind of feminized "pet parent" emotion to be logical in facing up to, let alone coming up with a viable solution to, the pit bull problem.
One more time on this forum, American Pit Bull Terriers are a large, aggressive breed of dog. If one is unaccustomed to handling large, aggressive canines also including Rottys, Shepherds, Dobermans, Boxers and even Collies and others, get an ankle biter or better yet, become a cat person.
If you are unable or as in most cases, unwilling to socialize your animal so that it isn’t going to try to destroy every other mammal that crosses it’s path, you should consider the liability you are placing yourself in and reconsider your choice of pets.
If I shoot you with my gun, no matter what the circumstances, you can sue me and will most likely prevail. If my dog bites you, you have the same recourse. If you die from a gunshot that I am responsible for, I will do some time. If you die from injuries inflicted by my dog, same thing.
I have many guns. I pride myself in knowing both the location and the condition of all of them, all of the time. I take the same pride in how I care for my animals.
Large canines, especially Bulldogs, bear close scrutiny. Any unusual display of aggression or an attack on any of the other animals, or people on the farm will be immediately addressed by my other constant companion out here, my Walther P22.
I’ve had a lot of Bulldogs over the years, haven’t had to put too many down for going crazy.
OK, let me have it, I can handle anything ya’ll can dish out, I’m a Pit Bull owner.
Oh wait, yeah there is. Bad dog owners are a problem for everyone; I can't let my kids play in the front yard because of the dog packs that roam around our street. I don't think there's a single person on the hippo list that will deny the danger a neglected or overly indulged pit bull presents.
>The liberal mindest that “if you just give these dogs a chance, if you just treat them nicely, they’ll be good!” dominates in the pit bull defender mindset. <
You missed the mark here. With any large, powerful breed, whether pit bull, Anatolian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Tibetan Mastiff, Doberman, etc., there is an inherent responsibility to keep the dog under control at all times. Powerful dogs need socialization and training, which is not to the average pet owner, “treating them nicely” necessarily. Training a dog means modifying its behavior to stop whatever it’s doing at the time on command. Socializing a pup with people of all ages means the pup will treat all people as people, and will not give chase to a screaming toddler.
Most of all, anyone who chains a dog and leaves it unattended in the yard is asking for a tragedy, especially if they know their neighbors have little kids. At the very least a little child could get tangled in the chain. At the worst, the child could get killed.
Finally, whether you like it or not, parents must teach young children to never, ever approach a dog that is not theirs without the dog’s owner present. In addition, contrary to popular belief, it is dangerous for anyone to hug a strange dog, especially a little kid on eye level with the animal. Dogs do not like to be hugged by strangers. Most will suffer through, to the trained eye showing signs of stress, but some will lash out and bite, usually grabbing the person’s face. Parents have a responsibility to teach children how to behave around strange dogs and there are a number of programs out there to help them do so.
Even though parents have the responsibility above, should a dog bite a child, the dog owner is ultimately responsible for not keeping his animal under control. But, any thinking parent needs to do everything in his or her power to keep his child safe.
It is all about responsible ownership and not the breed. Banning all Pit Bulls tomorrow would not solve the problem. The same problem Pit owners would simply get another breed, treat it the same way and have the same issues. Fact is there are few purebred pits out there now, most are mixed breeds so it is not just a pit problem now.