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For the record, I love dogs and I love my two dogs, just as I loved my last two and those before them. Dogs were my 4H project when I was a kid and still are, I guess, as I have changed my life and diet in order to improve the health and life spans my current two.

And, for the record, I don’t like the pit bull class/family of dogs and am very much in favor of their either being banned or outlawed outright or the cost of ownership and insurance being made correspondingly as high as their actuarial data justifies.

I’ve personally known only friendly pits, but I don’t trust any of them past 6 months old.

In fact, the only things I “fear” when walking my dogs are copperheads and pit bull type dogs that are loose or have broken free, and both for the same reason.

Though I don’t hunt, I have springer spaniels, dogs genetically programmed to hunt upland game birds. It is a joy to me to watch them “switch on” and go to work hunting the birds and whateverelse they smell in the backyard and on our walks.

With education and that experience of watching decades of human programmed canine genetics at work, I see no point in having something that can suddenly switch on genetically and then effienctly main or kill because it’s in their DNA.

The actuarial data supports this opinion and I support being free of such things being in the hands of people who cannot afford the damage they can do and/or are unwilling or unable to train and control them even if they can afford the insurance or whatever else is required.

We had a Vizsla at one time and it was a joy to watch her switch on; that dog could run! She scattered the deer in her path.

I agree. Insurance payouts matter little if you or a loved one are dead or maimed. Too many people ignore the potential for violence until reality strikes.