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I’ve been bit by dogs about a dozen times, it’s not fun. German Sheperd, Doberman, Collie, Border Collie, Chiuahua, Lab, one white one the size of a lab but not sure what breed and a couple of dunnowhats. Fortunately not by a pitt.

First one was when I was 10, neighbor’s collie shredded my lips, 54 stiches to close it up. 48 on the outside you could literally cover with a dime, 6 inside where it ripped the inside away from the lower gums. Inch long rip. I knew instantly it was unintentional, I was the only kid in the neighborhood who didn’t pick on the dog, he was glad to see me and got carried away. Bit me right in the mouth. I got lucky, a plastic surgeon was on duty at the emergency room. He did a very good job. I can barely see the hairline scars across both lips.

First time I ever heard of a Pitt Bull it was on the news in Houston, a 4 year old boy was attacked by one and a neighbor got it on video, not common in 1977 or so. The boy ran down the sidewalk to go play at a friends house 2 doors down, the dog’s owner didn’t latch the gate well enough, dog hit the gate and it opened, he had the boy by the left arm before anyone coould react, shook him around like a rag doll. By some strange coincidence a neighbor got it on video tape. Video cameras were not cheap or common in the late 70’s’

The people of Houston passed around a petition to have the breed banned, but never got enough signatures for officials to pay any attention. As far as I’m concerned only two signatures should have been needed, the boys 2 parents.

Last time I heard anything, about 2 years later he was going into the hospital for his 5th reconstructive surgery, the doctors had already told the parents he would never have full use of his left arm. So he will never play baseball or basketball, never play guitar or piano, or most instruments, will not be able to shoot a bow or rifle or shotgun most likely, won’t be able to do a lot of things most people take for granted. How do you shuffle a deck of cards if your left arm won’t work? The military will tell him no thanks, we only accept whole people. Now get a good left arm and tell us you’re a gay pink and yellow cismale who thinks he is a bisexual gecko, you’re in.

The town I lived in before moving back to Texas about a year before I left had so many problems with Pitt Bulls they finally enacted a city ordinance. According to the newspaper article, it required owners to keep their dogs inside a 8 foot chain link fence, any time the dog is out it must be on a strong leash no longer than 4 feet, and wear a muzzle that will prevent any attempt to bite anything. First offense $500.

After Michael Vick was arrested for keeping 24 pitts for the dogfights, every black thug in town had to be just like Vick, dozens of them had pitt bulls. I say thugs, that’s what most of them were, not a great neighborhood. 4 bicycles and 3 car stereos stolen in just the month my bike was stolen, off my front porch. Several would walk their dogs down our street. Actually the dogs dragged them down the street. One came by one day, visibly leaning backward against the leash (before the ordinance) and told my next door neighbor ‘I bet you’d sh!t if he got off the leash’. Neighbor said nope, he just picked up the .357 he kept beside him and said go for it. The guy never walked his dog down our street again.

A story hit the news about a 12 year old boy, I think in Ohio, killed by the pitt bull he grew up with. Around the same time period. My neice worked at the local pound. She brought home 3 pitt bulls. I begged her to take the damn things back. Oh no, they’ll put them down”. She wasn’t impressed when I told her that’s exactly what they need to do, those dogs are dangerous, vicious and unpredictable. They have been bred to be vicious for over 1000 years. A year later one of them bit a friend she was talking to while standing at the window of her truck, for no reason. I think she lost a friend. One, same dog I think, killed a neighbors dog (in florida). Same dog snapped at me one day when I was replacing the plumbing in her trailer, she was at achool, her father was with me. (before she moved to Florida) I told him I was going home, next door, to get my shotgun, he better make sure the dog was put up in the bedroom where he was supposed to be before I got back. They made sure the dog was closed up in a spare bedroom after that. I always brought the shotgun with me when I came over to work on the pipes. Only took a few days, but it only takes one bite.

Yet another one in the neighborhood where I live now belonged to a neighbor, I had told him several times he needed to keep his dog in HIS yard. “Oh no, shes just a big baby, wouldn’t hurt anybody”...yeah right...

I rode by on my bicycle one day, the dog that usually barely noticed me and just lay on the corner napping, suddenly with no warning jumped up and lunged at me, snarling and trying to attack. I kept lunging at her with the bicycle, she didn’t know what to think about the bike, and stayed about 6 - 8 feet away. Yelling for help got nobody’s attention so after 5 minutes or so I called the sheriffs office, I happened to have my cell phone that day. According to the time stamps on the two calls, 27 minutes later the sheriff’s deputy finally got there, the dog was STILL barking, snarling and trying to attack me. That finally got the guy’s attention, he tied his dog up. (I had to call twice, after more than 20 minutes I wondered if they were actually coming. It was actually 27 minutes, he showed up while I was talking to the dispatcher.)

I’ve watched a half dozen documentaries, the video of the 4 year old boy being thrown around like a rag doll was very disturbing, I’ve had to deal with a couple of aggressive pitt bulls, but fortunately have not been bitten by one. They break bones. They can exert enough pressure on their jaws to break bones, and they do. They don’t bite then run away and come back to snap again like other dogs do. I’ve seen that way too many times. Up close and personal...They grab and hold on, shake their heads, which allows their teeth to dig in deeper, and bear down on those jaws until bones are crushed.

Sorry about the long post, but I’ve been around several agressive dogs, not only pitts, theres a lot of info out there, and this is not all of it either. I’ve been chased and/or bit while riding a bike many times, usually just chased. Every breed of dog you can think of will chase a guy on a bicycle. Got bit a couple of times. Why don’t people just keep their damn dogs in their OWN YARD? After being chased, bit, harassed, woke up at 3am so many times, I just hate the damn things. Not to mention the dozens of times I’ve had to pick up the garbage all over my yard because some neighbor lets his dog run loose and the thing dumps my trash can and scatters it everywhere...same pitt bull that tried to attack me did that to a neighbor on a regular basis. Owner knew it, still wouldn’t tie his dog up.

How stupid is that? We told him a half dozen times his dog was digging in the man’s garbage, scattering it all over his porch, he still would not do a thing to keep his dog in his yard. Another was killing a neighbors chickens...same thing, wouldn’t tie the thing up...Yes it was a pitt bull, but they are far from the only ones that will kill chickens, the same person has another dog now that just killed the same guy’s chicken a few days ago. Completely different breed. I know because I watched the dog run across his yard, chicken in mouth when I turned onto our road to go home. That is legal grounds for a shooting, cops told me that. Chickens are considered livestock. Owner can legally shoot the dog if he has a feather in his mouth. I got that info straight from the same deputy who came to help me when I had to use a bike to fend off a dog attack.

Again, apologies for the long post. So much info there...