Guide dogs being attacked by fighting pitbull types

Dozens of gentle guide dogs are being attacked every year by status pit-bull type dogs with some so badly traumatised they have to be withdrawn from service, research has found.

Bull breeds, such as bull terriers, bull mastiffs and staffordshire bull terriers, accounted for 40 per cent of attacks on guide dogs, despite these breeds making up a small minority of the dog population in Britain, the study by a team at the UK Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said.

It found that on average, three guide dogs were being attacked by other dogs each month, causing significant financial and emotional problems for their owners.

The performance or behaviour of the guide dogs was affected in half of cases and in some instances the guide dog had to be withdrawn from service.

The attacking dog's owner apologised in only six out of 100 cases and in eight out of 100 they left without saying anything to the guide dog handler despite them being distressed about the state of their dog.

I've seen similar threads before on the subject of pit bulls and it's always the same. You've got the pro pits and the anti pits. No matter what the case may be it would seem that pit bulls do have a higher instance of attacking other dogs and humans than a lot of other breeds. No one would deny that you can make any dog vicious but there are certain breeds, pits being one of them, that in my opinion take to this behavior naturally, as if by instinct. A lot of these dogs are abused and abandoned so its no small wonder they tend to be nasty.

Britain, of course. I was going to say that's why I carry a .45 when I walk my two Newfoundland dogs.

We had just gotten our first Newfie back in 1989 and taken her on a short walk of her new neighborhood here in South Florida. We'd gotten to the "turn around" point when I saw this big FAT latino male standing shirtless out on his front lawn at 9am in the morning smoking a huge stogie and sipping what looked to be a tumbler of whiskey. I also noticed the enormous Rottweiler dog leaping up and trying to clear the wall that surrounded the property. There was death in those eyes and the maw was curled and those fangs flashed in the early morning sun. I QUIETLY told my wife to go home that I would stay and cover them.

I spoke to the guy: "I sure hope that formidable looking dog doesn't manage to clear that wall.

He responds in heavily accented English: So what CHOO gonna do if he does? He'll EAT that pup of yours you know."

I respond: Yeah, but that's only if he gets by me. Before he does I'm gonna put a 45 caliber slug thru his brain but only after I LET him bite me so I can sue you for everything you own."

The next sound was a loud screeech: REX GET INSIDE! and they both disappeared.

Then as I was carefully walking home and checking my "six" I saw a zone car roll by and I stopped the cop. I told him about the whole thing and left NOTHING out. That cop was laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his cheeks. He called a few others to "15" (meet) with him so he could share. They all laughed, too and said not to worry about it, that the guy and his dog had been problems before. The cops must have had something going because I drove by a month later and there was police tape up all over the place and the place was deserted and obviously long vacant.

“Bull breeds, such as bull terriers, bull mastiffs and staffordshire bull terriers, accounted for 40 per cent of attacks on guide dogs, despite these breeds making up a small minority of the dog population in Britain”<<<<<<<

I just read another article with basically the same information, showing a picture they used to describe the situation (in addition to the standard snarling dog stock pic)which was from a video where a BOXER (tail and ears intact due to UK cropping/docking legislation) attacked a guide dog. I believe you may have posted the story when it happened, and they called it a pit bull-type dog then. Here is the other story on the same study but with more information:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1287570/Three-guide-dogs-attacked-month-streets-Britain.html?ITO=1490

Notice that in this story they mention that 60% of the dogs were off lead, and 86% were male dogs, and “excluding cross breeds, almost half were bull breeds - bulldogs, mastiffs, bull terriers, pit bull types and Staffordshire bull terriers.”

A large percentage of owners whose dogs attacked the assistance dogs did not stay to help, which is another telltalle sign of the real issue. No matter how many breeds you squeeze together to encompass the term “pit bull”, and no matter how much you legislate against specific breeds or types, things of this nature will continue to happen, because the same bad owners still have dogs (illegally if need be), and they are still neglecting to train them/sterilize them/keep them secure/or otherwise take responsibility for them.

The law-abiding, caring dog owners that would bother to stop and help are lacking in the study because their dogs aren’t the ones causing trouble. I wonder why no one has brought up the fact that over half of the dogs involved were apparently NOT pit bull-type dogs, which means legislation is needed for ALL dog owners, not just the ones that look mean. I can’t see how anyone can use logic to turn this into a pit bull issue when the majority of the dogs involved in the attacks aren’t (and some of the dogs that are being counted as bull breeds are mastiffs?!)

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