Tad Bartimus
I hope she spreads the word, some more, that guns can be good.
Posted on 06/26/2002 4:11:57 PM PDT by tarawa
Menacing pit bull is reason to get a gun By Tad Bartiums, Scripps Howarad June 26, 2002
It was dark, my vision was obscured by an armload of laundry and I was distracted by the yowling cat. I kicked open the back door and started down the steps. A menacing growl stopped me.
Barely visible in the reflected porch light was a pit bull blocking the sidewalk. Gray, wearing a wide leather collar studded with brass spikes, his ears clipped into points, the 60-pound dog stared unblinking at me, swaying slightly. As he panted, saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth.
Startled, I yelled: "Go away! Get out of here! GIT!"
He growled again. I backed up, feeling first one step, then another, until I reached the porch and ducked back inside. The pit bull put his front paws on the bottom tread. Searching for a defensive weapon, I rejected the dust mop and instead heaved a bucket filled with soapy water.
The pit bull shook his massive head to clear the froth from his eyes, growled a final time and trotted away. I was trying to quiet the terrified cat and hold onto the collar of my own dog, now ready to battle the interloper, when I realized my heart was pounding.
All I could think about was the mauling death of Diane Whipple by a male Presa Canario as she tried to enter her San Francisco apartment in January last year.
The dog that killed the 33-year-old lacrosse coach lived just down the hall from her. One of its owners, Marjorie Knoller, had been convicted in March of second-degree murder for her dog's actions.
I sent word via a neighbor to the pit bull owner, telling him his dog had scared me half to death. An animal lover since birth, I knew the dog was blameless because the animals are taught to be vicious.
I was assured the gray pit bull wouldn't bother me again, but a week later, the beast apparently returned. I came home to find my screen door ripped open, a Plexiglas barrier shattered and the back porch in shambles. It took a ladder to get the cat down from a shelf.
Pit bulls are common in my community because, following ancestral custom, local men own them to hunt wild boar for meat and sport. The dogs are trained to track, attack and tear their prey apart. It's not unusual to see several pit bulls chained or pinned in yards, and I've learned to steer clear of fiercely barking canines in the back of pickup trucks.
I've seen the gray pit bull twice more in five months; each time, I chased him away with the garden hose. Until this week, I'd rejected the idea of a gun to defend my household because I thought punishment meted out by our legal system was a sufficient deterrent.
Then Superior Court Judge James Warren reversed Knoller's second-degree murder conviction in San Francisco. Two other charges stand: involuntary manslaughter and owning a "mischievous" animal.
Now I'm thinking the unthinkable.
I grew up with carefully polished, always unloaded rifles and shotguns stored in a locked case in our basement. My father was a skilled hunter who gave it up in midlife because he decided that, since we didn't need to eat what he shot, he should stop killing. When I was a cub reporter assigned to the police beat, a veteran sergeant taught me how to clean, load and shoot a handgun, but told me I should never own a weapon "unless you're prepared to use it."
As a war correspondent in Vietnam and elsewhere, I was always unarmed. I staunchly supported the Brady bill. I believe that guns kill people.
Then Warren threw out Knoller's murder conviction.
I no longer believe the threat of legal action can deter the owner of a vicious dog.
Forget less effective alternatives such as mace, pepper spray and my husband's old baseball bat. Unlike Whipple, I won't be victimized on my own doorstep by somebody else's lethal weapon. I intend to defend myself with my own.
What a loser. Well . . . whatever it takes to get a limp-wristed wuss like this one to change his view on Brady, I'm all for it. So I think I'll get me a pit bull and go out terrorizing liberals with it. Get a real nasty "unadoptable" one from the pound. Buy a good strong leash and a muzzle so he can't actually bite anyone, putting me in the poorhouse, then go out and have some fun with my new best friend. You can spot a lib a mile away, sic Fido on him then, after laughter has subsided, hand the wimp a copy of this article . . . hehe.
I get real soft when it comes to converts however, as I just love when it happens. I say give this woman a thumbs up and maybe a friendly email. She sounds as if her mind cracked open a smidge.
Huh? Who uses pit bulls for hunting? I never heard of such a thing in the U.S. Where does this dummy live? For live hunting (not retrieving), hounds are universally used, as far as I know, and even then not to "tear apart" the game, as stated in this piece. What the hell is this person talking about? Can someone enlighten me on this?
And flies cause garbage.
When confronted with this question on a personel level, she changed her mind. All suporters of the Brady Bill should be forced to display a sign in their yard that says THERE ARE NO FIREARMS IN THIS HOUSE.
The Brady Bill would soon have no supporters.
Maybe she's from, um, Eastern Europe? Wild boar? Hmm.
}:-)4
Pay no attention to the man behind the screen.
Tad Bartimus
I hope she spreads the word, some more, that guns can be good.
Thanks for the laughter break!!
I have owned three pit bulls and have NEVER had ANY problems with them. If they are gotten young and treated with love and the proper amount of discipline, they make WONDERFUL family pets. Are they VERY loyal to their families? Yes. Are they VERY intelligent? Certainly. Are they all vicious, man-eating animals? Not on a bet! Of course, if it would get the gun-grabbing libs to shut their traps, I am perfectly willing to swear that I had to keep all three of my dogs muzzled just to bring in the groceries!!! LOL (hey, I'm willing to do my part....)
has always been a storyteller. As a bureau chief, war correspondent in Vietnam, foreign correspondent in Europe, Northern Ireland and Latin America, and as special roving correspondent in the United States, she reported for The Associated Press for 25 years.Maybe some fellow members in JAWS will be encouraged to buy guns, too.In her salad days, she told other people's stories; now she tells her own, writing the nationally syndicated column "Among Friends" for The Women Syndicate, of which she is CEO and co-founder. She also founded the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) in 1985, an organization numbering nearly 1,000 members which aims to help women journalists and writers achieve their full potential.
Tad's not the brightest bulb around. They got laws against murder too.
This dog could very well lay in wait for her someday when she isn't prepared. I'm serious, this dog sounds dangerous.
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