Please post a verified case where an AKC registered Staffordshire Bull Terrier killed a person in the United States.
You forgot one native "version" of the Pit Bull. After all, it was developed in the east coast fighting pits of the day: 
Posted on 06/23/2010 9:13:19 PM PDT by Chet 99
Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010
MIDDLETOWN — The father of an 11-year-old girl mauled by a pit bull in mid-May is set to appear in civil court Monday at New London Superior Courthouse.
Thomas Sheehan, of 331 Timber Ridge Road, Middletown, was allegedly hosting a family party when his daughter was viciously attacked by an unleashed pit bull. The dog belongs to the son of Sheehan’s girlfriend, the 11-year-old’s mother, Merryl Simon Macek, said.
According to Macek, her daughter suffered severe injuries from the attack including five deep lacerations and two puncture wounds under the jaw. Three-fourths of the girl’s right eyelid was also ripped off.
Though she was not present when the incident occurred, Macek said 911 was not called nor was the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.
“My concerns are why this was never reported, and why no one has yet to be held accountable,” Macek said via e-mail. “Why was this neglect and endangerment not reported to DCF by the Middletown PD? And why were no charges brought against the dog owner for the leash laws, lack of registration and vaccination?”
“This was a horrible tragedy, a life-altering injury to my daughter that has spiraled into a mess of continuous neglect by every agency in the system.”
According to Connecticut court records, Sheehan has no prior criminal record.
Hillary Federico can be reached by e-mail at hfederico@middletownpress.com.
We were at the vet this afternoon when one was brought in. The thick rope used to control it was held so tightly it could not touch the floor with it’s front feet and was gasping for breath. It had had no obedience training. They had to shift other dogs around in the office as this one entered and left.
My husband rolled his eyes and asked why anyone would have such a dog?
I’m sorry, you’ll NEVER convince me that that vicious, mutant strain of a dog is fit for being a family pet, or any kind of pet. I was attacked by one that got away from its owner, and thank the Lord it had a muzzle on. The sooner they are forced into extinction, won’t be soon enough for me. Do I make myself clear, sweetheart?
“) While many Pit Bull maulings involve mistreated dogs, running loose, many are unprovoked attacks on family members or friends, from dogs that supposedly had never been aggressive, in the past.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I have called after reading about some of these supposed “family” dog attacks. Animal control often has a different view. Some of the same dog owners that claim their dog was never mean and always cared for are the ones whose dogs already had run-ins with animal control, whether it be from running loose, being neglected, or prior bites. There is always more to the story if you are willing to do some digging. No dog owner would dare admit their dog was a problem but they did nothing about it. That is admitting responsibility, and that is something people in this country are sadly unable to do.
“b) Most dogs that are mistreated or are allowed to run loose NEVER seriously injure or kill innocent people. Pit Bulls, Rotties and a handful of other breeds are responsible for nearly all deaths and maimings.”<<<<<<<<<
Never say never. Last year, 19 people died from dogs that were not pit bulls. The breeds included friendly dogs such as weimaraners and border collies, but the situations inlvolving each fatality, such as owner irresponsibility and parental neglect, were present in the majority of the cases, no matter the breed involved.
By the way, when you see studies on dog fatalities based on breed, know that “Pit bull-type” is the name they used for all those studies, (that encompasses easily 13 different, pure, registered breeds, and possibly up to 26 that could be mistaken for American Pit Bull Terriers) and with the reputable ones, (thinking CDC and AVMA) they admitted that the studies were deeply flawed because the source information was from news reports, not any scientifically-obtained source. These authors go on to say that not only are pit bull type dogs often misidentified, but they are also over-reported in media circuits, sometimes hundreds of times over different stations.
The fact of the matter is that over 50 breeds of dog have taken lives, including small and toy breeds (dachshunds in particular have been responsible for several). There is no breed ban that can eliminate or even put a dent in the average number of fatalities we experience on a yearly basis. The reason for this is because irresponsible ownership does not disappear with the regulation or extinction of certain breeds of dog.
In areas where certain breeds have been banned, there have been no reductions in the amount of dog attacks, even serious ones.
“The bottom line is most dog owners will mess up at some point in the 10 to 15 years their dogs live. With most breeds this will not result in a tragedy, with Pit Bulls it often will.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
All dog owners mess up some time. However, the dogs involved in fatalities are often in the hands of owners who mess up frequently. It is very rare to get a case where the owners did in fact do what they were supposed to do, and the dog attacked anyway. Especially if you call animal control. Often, they know something the media doesn’t, and it’s important to get these details because it could mean the difference between an unprovoked attack from a cherished family pet that was always nice to an attack from a problem dog with a bite history that was intact, breeding, and/or chained up forever by irresponsible, willfully negligent people.
Not everything we read is the truth. The media is not a public service, and I often do my own research to find the truth when hearing ANY story that interests me. I simply cannot trust journalists to be the experts their voices and writing skills imply that they are. Often they are rushing for a story with a looming deadline, and their boss is asking them about profits and ratings, which is where the rhetorical, sensational, and often plain wrong “news” comes from.
“e were at the vet this afternoon when one was brought in. The thick rope used to control it was held so tightly it could not touch the floor with it’s front feet and was gasping for breath. It had had no obedience training. They had to shift other dogs around in the office as this one entered and left.
My husband rolled his eyes and asked why anyone would have such a dog?”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,,,
Holding a lunging dog with a rope? Sounds like the perfect dog owner! Never mind training a dog to sit nicely on a leash, because they didn’t have one! And people blame the dog? My dog (a pit bull type) recently got spayed. She waited an hour in the lobby with all kinds of other dogs barking, whining, straining, jumping, peeing, and growling all around her. She calmly sat or laid down the entire time, and only once looked up to see where the whistling was coming from (the vet’s office had a bird in the lobby). There was a man with a chocolate lab that had to wait outside because his dog was viciously trying to attack any dog or person walking by! He also had a rope instead of a leash. Interesting coincidence? Experts say no.
“I’m sorry, you’ll NEVER convince me that that vicious, mutant strain of a dog is fit for being a family pet, or any kind of pet. I was attacked by one that got away from its owner, and thank the Lord it had a muzzle on. The sooner they are forced into extinction, won’t be soon enough for me. Do I make myself clear, sweetheart?”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,
Breed bans work so well! Just look at the UK. Since their breed ban, they have had a dramatic INCREASE in pit bull type dogs, as well as an increase in attacks. The people following the law, the ones we never had to worry about in the first place, were the only ones that did the right thing, leaving a country full of illegally-owned and kept, untrained, intact dogs whose owners WANT them to be vicious, because the dogs were banned for a reason.
Your experience, though limited, can be strong enough for you to feel justified in generalizing an entire breed of dog. However, take into consideration that your example is part of the minority, not the other way around. Far more (ten million pit bulls in this country today) of them never hurt anyone, but they don’t make the news.
Do you have a breakdown of the breeds? I would bet they were mostly Rotties, then GSDs, Siberian Huskies, Wolf Hybrids, Dobermans (rarely) or dogs that are basically foreign versions of Pit Bulls (like Cane Corsos, Dogo Argentinos, etc.) There are a few other breeds that rarely cause deaths (e.g., Saint Bernards, Great Danes).
Fatal attacks by the other hundreds of dog breeds are so rare that that they can be considered freak occurrences, rather than a real risk.
As for the “these Pit Bull attacks are not really done by Pit Bulls” argument, that is pure nonsense. While I am sure that in rare cases a mauling by a different type of dog is wrongly attributed to a Pit Bull (and vice versa) there is no way this would skew the numbers in a material way.
The vast, vast majority of reported “Pit Bull” attacks are by American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers (which are nearly identical to APBTs), Staffordshire Bull Terriers (which are somewhat less dangerous IMHO) and mixes of these breeds.
Funny, when a GSD or Husky kills someone, you never hear delusional claims that the dog was not really a GSD or a Husky. It seems that Pit Bull owners have a unique psychological disorder, which causes them to refuse to acknowledge the risks their dogs present and the damage they too often cause.
“Do you have a breakdown of the breeds? I would bet they were mostly Rotties, then GSDs, Siberian Huskies, Wolf Hybrids, Dobermans (rarely) or dogs that are basically foreign versions of Pit Bulls (like Cane Corsos, Dogo Argentinos, etc.) There are a few other breeds that rarely cause deaths (e.g., Saint Bernards, Great Danes).”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
You are grouping dogs like Cane Corsos and Dogos in with pit bulls, but those dogs are NOT the same breed, and outweigh pit bulls by 60 to a hundred pounds! Not to mention, they were each bred for distinctly different things. Grouping those dogs together is exactly why it appears that pit bulls (the three breeds that people involved in the issue call true “pit bulls” are American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and sometimes English Staffordshire Bull Terriers) have such high numbers. But let’s say for argument purposes that every single dog reported as a pit bull is indeed one of the above three breeds. Pit bull-type dogs have not made the death toll rise.
On average, accounting for increases in both the population of dogs and people, the number of fatalities has remained steady through the decades. It will continue to rise as populations do, but since pit bulls have become popular, there was not an increase in deaths to account for all the claims that the dogs are inherently dangerous. In fact, there are an estimated 10 million pit bull-type dogs in this country. Right now, they are the single most popular type of dog. There are only about 76 million dogs, and at least half of those are smaller breeds (they will always be more numerous due to the relative ease of care compared to larger dogs which need more space and are sometimes restricted/banned from apartments, condos, etc.) which leaves 38 million estimated medium to large breed dogs. That means pit bull type dogs represent almost 30% of the medium to large breeds, and in some areas, according to shelter statistics, this number can be as high as 60% (mostly in large cities or cities with high poverty levels).
Compared to their population among other similarly-sized dogs, the percentage of them that have taken a life matches their rank in popularity (especially important is the “job” in which most of these dogs are now used for). They are not more dangerous than other breeds, but they are more popular, more abused, more neglected, and more desired as a guard/fighter/accessory.
Statisticians will say that the only way to have a meaningful, repeatable study is to include at least 30 examples of whatever you happen to be studying. If you do not have this minimum, you cannot trust that the percentages will hold true if numbers increase. 30 is the magic number. Since there have never been 30 attacks annually by any single breed ever in our recorded history, it stands to reason that you can only take away so much from these studies. There have been 30 total dog attacks, though, and from using ALL BREEDS involved, we can see patterns emerge.
“Funny, when a GSD or Husky kills someone, you never hear delusional claims that the dog was not really a GSD or a Husky. It seems that Pit Bull owners have a unique psychological disorder, which causes them to refuse to acknowledge the risks their dogs present and the damage they too often cause.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
That’s because most people know what those dogs (GSD, Huskies)should look like. Nowadays, you have many different types of dogs that look very similar to pit bulls. There is nothing else that looks like a German Shepherd- maybe a Malinois to the untrained eye, but they stand out. There are so many breeds of dog that are mistakenly called pit bulls, and vice versa. I constantly get people asking me where I got my Boxer (she’s an American Bulldog), but my German Shepherd is never, ever called anything else. There are a bunch of breed id tests online, and the vast majority of people aren’t able to correctly identify the pit bull, even people who own them.
Here is a link to the 2009 dog bite fatalities. It includes many details that the media tend to leave out, but this author decided to research each and every one and find as much out as possible, if the information was available through animal control, public health, witnesses, etc.
If you don’t want to read the whole thing, let me sum things up. There were 16 identifiable breeds that killed someone out of 34 total deaths. 19 of those deaths were not from pit bull-type dogs. Several of the ones that involved dogs being described as pit bulls were mixed breed dogs whose lineage was unknown, but had pit bull characteristics according to witnesses, police, animal control, or the reporters doing the stories. Some of these incidents included dogs that were well above the weight limit for a pit bull-type dog, ranging from 80 to 120 pounds, but were called pit bulls for lack of a better, more accurate term. Some of the breeds involved were weimaraner, great dane, boxer, australian shepherd, collie mix, blue heeler, terrier mix, lab/rottie mix, bull mastiff, chow, husky, malamute, and several mixed dogs of unknown lineage. 21 of the incidents involved outside dogs, 10 of which were chained. 6 incidents involved children 5 years old or younger alone with dogs. One incident involved a pregnant, chained dog, and another involved a pair of dogs interrupted while breeding. Two incidents involved dogs that had a history of aggression. Almost every single incident had details that showed a completely preventable tragedy.
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/dog-attack-fatalities-2009/
>>>There are a bunch of breed id tests online, and the vast majority of people aren’t able to correctly identify the pit bull, even people who own them.<<<
There are two major reasons for this:
1) The breed ID tests I’ve seen usually have a “ABPT” that looks about 25 lbs, ane has none of the characteristics of a typical ABPT.
2) The breed standard (if you can call it that) for ABPTs is ridiculously loose. There is no height or weight limit. The UKC suggests 35 to 60 lbs for males and 30 to 50 lbs for females (When is the last time you saw an ABPT under 60 lbs, much less a 30 lbs one?), but specifically states that there is no penalty for dogs larger than this.
UKC registerable litters of APBTs are advertised all over the web, with boasts of parents who are 80, 100 or 120 lbs. This is a big part of the problem. Breeding standards for Pit Bulls stink, even among “reputable breeders”. The back yard breeders and the “bad-ass” Pit Bull breeders who brag that the breed their 100 pound plus, Pit Bulss for “strong prey instict” are 1,000 times worse.
A well bred 30 to 60 lbs Pit Bull, that is well socialized, trained and socialized, can be a great dog (though still one that must be carefully supervised). Sadly, at best, maybe 5% of Pit Bulls fit into that category. Most are oversized, poorly bred, poor socialized, poorly trained and in the hands of people who are not qualified to handle them. As a result, people are being maimed and killed and the breed is deservedly getting a bad reputation.
The Pit Bull lovers out there need to acknowledge the inehrent danger of the breed and work to get the riff-raff out of Pit Bull breeding and ownership. In addition to education and tightening the show standard and registration requirements, they should support breed specific legislation, that falls short of banning. (e.g., mandatory spay/neuter of non breeding stock, licensing of breeders, expensive licensing for owners that can be refunded if the dog passes a canine good citizenship test, etc.)
If they fail to do this, more and more communities are going to ban Pit Bulls.
Also, your estimate of 10 million Pit Bull type dogs is ridiculous. There is no way that 1 in 7.5 dogs in America is a Pit Bull.
“1) The breed ID tests I’ve seen usually have a “ABPT” that looks about 25 lbs, ane has none of the characteristics of a typical ABPT.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,
The ones I have seen have all used only purebred, registered dogs who fit the standard. The people compiling these tests tend to use dogs that are registered under more historically accurate bodies, such as ADBA and to some extent, UKC. Breed fanciers do not acknowledge dogs much larger than 60 pounds to be in standard, no matter what the papers say, because their history shows mostly smaller dogs. They also tend to show the more game-style dogs, which to fanciers, represent what the breed should look like.
The dogs being bred upwards of 100 pounds have undoubtedly been mixed with larger breeds to obtain such a size, as is often seen with the “american bully”, a new breed being created for people who want the ugliest, lowest, largest mutant they can find (the dogs seem to be mostly creampuffs though, due to their size, short muzzles and inability to do anything but lay on the couch....much like english bulldogs).
“2) The breed standard (if you can call it that) for ABPTs is ridiculously loose. There is no height or weight limit. The UKC suggests 35 to 60 lbs for males and 30 to 50 lbs for females (When is the last time you saw an ABPT under 60 lbs, much less a 30 lbs one?), but specifically states that there is no penalty for dogs larger than this.”<<<<<<<,
These dogs are so far out of standard that no one involved on the responsible side would say that they are pit bulls. It would be like breeding a chihuahua to be 40 pounds. How far out of standard does a dog breed have to be before it is no longer that breed? Not to mention, lots of other dogs are being called pit bulls by their owners because of the assumption that having a pit bull is somehow better than having a mutt. You would be surprised what people try to pass off as pit bulls. It is indeed very sad how few people really know the breed. Even breeders shock me with their ignorant remarks on a regular basis, which is why I try to stay away from them and educate from a distance.
I do not associate with people who claim their giant, blue, dysplastic mutts are pit bulls. They are not, no matter how many times they say so. My dogs have always been around 30 to 50 pounds because I like the dogs that are bred correctly with health and temperament-tested parents (or rescues with stellar temperaments and correct type). They are healthier, more stable, and I can tell how they will turn out with some certainty because the breeding stock has been homogenized to such an extent that the offspring come out looking/acting like little carbon copies. Responsible breeders and owners look for the same thing.
“UKC registerable litters of APBTs are advertised all over the web, with boasts of parents who are 80, 100 or 120 lbs. This is a big part of the problem. Breeding standards for Pit Bulls stink, even among “reputable breeders”. The back yard breeders and the “bad-ass” Pit Bull breeders who brag that the breed their 100 pound plus, Pit Bulss for “strong prey instict” are 1,000 times worse.”<<<<<<<<<<<<
I agree with this. This has been such an issue that the UKC has now changed their judging standards after realizing how much the champions have grown bigger and changed in other ways compared to the original dogs. UKC dogs are very thick compared to the ADBA dogs, which are generally more wiry, small, gamey, and terrier-like. I would not call anyone a reputable breeder if size, color, or “freakiness” is their goal. That’s what they call themselves, but none of them bother even to do the simplest health testing on the dogs, and many disagree that any should be done, which again is very sad. They are far from responsible.
“A well bred 30 to 60 lbs Pit Bull, that is well socialized, trained and socialized, can be a great dog (though still one that must be carefully supervised). Sadly, at best, maybe 5% of Pit Bulls fit into that category. Most are oversized, poorly bred, poor socialized, poorly trained and in the hands of people who are not qualified to handle them. As a result, people are being maimed and killed and the breed is deservedly getting a bad reputation.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I agree with most of this also. I do not believe most of the dogs being bred today should be, and they are definitely mistreated by people who might be able to handle a pet rock, given the right circumstances. However, despite the fact that many are in horrible situations, the vast majority of them still do not cause trouble. The dogs on the news are such a small minority they do not even represent a half of a percentage of the total.
“The Pit Bull lovers out there need to acknowledge the inehrent danger of the breed and work to get the riff-raff out of Pit Bull breeding and ownership.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This is what some of us are trying to do. I spend countless hours a week with a group of others that feel things need to change. We organize walks, hand out flyers, speak with backyard breeders and peers about more responsible ways of dealing with dogs, volunteer at shelters, clinics, and even speak at events. The problem is that the people whose dogs are causing trouble are either not paying attention to us because they are too busy breeding/fighting their dogs, or they hear everything we say and disagree with all of it, claiming they know better than we do. It is a constant, losing battle, but we still try. If some responsible dog ownership laws were passed and actually enforced, we might be able to see some differences, but so far only a few places have done it, and despite some great success, the news travels very slowly.
“Also, your estimate of 10 million Pit Bull type dogs is ridiculous. There is no way that 1 in 7.5 dogs in America is a Pit Bull.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,
My numbers are from estimates coming from the only numbers we have to go by, which are registration, licensing, and shelter numbers. There is no accurate way to determine the population of any breed of dog, considering the majority of them are not registered or licensed. However, if the shelters in major cities are showing 60% pit bull-type dogs, (they are always a pretty accurate representation of the overall population for any given area...think about when 101 Dalmatians came out, and the shelters were full of Dals for a while, many with extreme behavior issues like aggression) you cannot deny they are a huge chunk of the population.
Also, we have only older numbers to go by, but back when the UKC was open with how many dogs they registered, we were told that there were over 200 thousand American Pit Bull Terriers registered. The ADBA is the largest registering body for the breed, so you can add at least another 200 thousand to that easily. This was a few years back, and since then the population has exploded even more. In my city, in any one neighborhood, you can expect to see pit bulls in at least one yard on every street. In my neighborhood, I know 4 other people with them. In the hood down the street a ways, almost every yard has multiple pit bulls, with chihuahuas coming in at a close second (chows are definitely third most popular here), and of course many of these are running loose or chained up.
(a) Any citizen may kill a pit bull on sight by any means without consequence. (b) The government offers $500 cash reward per pit bull head, no questions asked. (c) Anyone raising or owning a pit bull to be fined $5000 per dog. (d) A $500 cash reward to anyone with information leading to the whereabouts of pit bulls, or their owners, no questions asked.
There. That ought to do it.
GOD I hope someone reads this. First thing the little girl is in cheer comp and far from the (people) that own these stupid dogs! And second you for real I have owned 12 Labs in my life, none of which EVER tried to attack ANYONE... EVER!!! Third letting the dog roam free is an excuse. Free or chained the dog would attack. Ya’ll need to quit protecting this stupid ‘’mix breed’’ and take responsibility that they are AGGRESSIVE!!!!!
So, in your PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, you haven’t had a lab bite you. Good for you. I have had at least that many pit bulls come through (rescues that have come from fighting backgrounds, beaten, starved, chained, burned, etc.) and none of them have ever tried to bite me, my family, my friends, or my other pets. So, we both have anecdotal evidence suggesting our favorite breeds don’t attack. Sadly, it means nothing either way.
Over 50 breeds of dog have taken lives, including labs, goldens, and even chessies. Other “friendly” breeds include collies, saint bernards, old english sheepdogs, pomeranians, dachshunds (of which there are several), westies, weimaraners, border collies, bloodhounds, newfoundlands, and heelers.
Experts disagree with you. I disagree with you. Heck, even the facts that can easily be found from reputable sources contradict your statements. If you read through all these dog attack stories like I do, you would see that the pattern showing up surpasses the breed of dog. It goes straight back to the owner, no matter the breed of dog involved.
If the pit bull breed was as bad as you think, answer me this: Why is it that since we have been compiling fatality statistics, the average number of human deaths has not risen when taking into account the increase in population of humans and dogs? Why is it that since pit bulls became the most popular type of dog, the death toll has not risen? It would make more sense if, out of the estimated 10 MILLION pit bulls, at least one percent was responsible for fatalities, but that’s not the case. On average, 17-35 people die every year from ALL DOGS COMBINED. Last year, 19 people died from dogs that were not pit bulls, and most of those stories were only reported locally. A pit bull runs loose down a street and scares someone and it’s national news!
Why don’t you do some research before you step onto your soapbox? I’ve been researching this for YEARS, originally starting out sharing your opinion, but changing it once I realized I was sadly mistaken. There is far too much reputable evidence supporting the fact that irresponsible ownership is the single most common factor in all dog attacks. Pit bulls are the most popular breed, so they are in the spotlight right now. Soon, another breed will take their place, and they will once again become invisible, as they have been for the hundred years that other breeds were in their place.
Good Lord! I’m sad to see your post. I never realized you were like this.
Please post a verified case where an AKC registered Staffordshire Bull Terrier killed a person in the United States.
You forgot one native "version" of the Pit Bull. After all, it was developed in the east coast fighting pits of the day:
What sort of twisted, backwards, upside-down logic controls the thoughts of a family, planning the purchase of a dog? Especially when small children are involved, and ESPECIALLY a single-child family where your innate sense of protection should be even higher.
"Oh, honey, let's buy the world's statistically most dangerous dog, what do you think? Oh, that's a wonderful idea, hun. We're so selfish and thoughtless, so let's get a really vicious one, one that will endanger not only our children, but terrorize the adults and children of the entire neighborhood. Let's get a well-known killer, a powerful and unpredictable breed, one historically bred for fighting, the one singularly responsible for the highest incidence of dog attack deaths on the planet."
Is this the behaviour of a responsible and loving parent? Is it rational? Is this consciously thinking of your child's welfare and the safety of those who live near you? Is it being smart? Is it empathetic? Is this using calm reason? Is it using the last shred of love in your heart? Or does this type of thought process rest squarely in the realm of the GALACTICALLY STUPID?
The WORST dog on the planet earth
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/breeds-causing-DBRFs.pdf
One gets loose in my neighborhood constantly...no one will care until it mutilates some child walking to a nearby school. When I am outside; Smith and Wesson tag along...
You're right...that ought to do it...I have private property concerns over 'a' and 'b' (people going into people's yards after dark to collect a pit bull head or two...); but 'c' would resolve that fairly quickly...
Do you know what is the most dangerous dog in Canada?
Should we likewise exterminate it?
You’re allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement.
It does sadden me that a ‘conservative’ and a fellow countryman
should propose draconian laws based on fear and hate
and ignore common sense and conservative principles
but it is better that I know where you stand
and I’ll take care that it’s not behind me.
The municipal law in my neighborhood is that dogs are to be leashed at all times in public, and fenced on their property if untethered. This is the law. Even so, some cretins don't care about the law, so, I have taken to carrying the upper legal limit in knives on this daily jaunt.
Any dog that offensively attacks me will face mortal consequences, especially if it bites me. Dog owners should be made fully aware, when breaking the leash and control laws, that there are people like me out there who will not hesitate to defend themselves. As far as I'm concerned, the leash is there to protect your dog. Understand this and obey the law. Be thankful for the "draconian" laws in Canada that prevent me from openly carrying a loaded pistol.
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