What a BS analogy...dogs have been around humans, helping them, hunting for them, protecting them, since man discovered fire. Lions and tigers in circuses and shows only go back to the 19th Century.
Pit bulls, Rottweilers and some other breeds have the physical capacity to crush a child's skull in their jaws. Regardless of how kind, and well-tempered, and well-trained they are, they could have dire consequences if they go nuts.
However, Einstein, the qualifier is "IF" and they don't if well-trained and well-socialized. I would trust my dogs around my grandson before I would trust my grandson around my locked-up firearms.
Keeping one is like having a sweet, well-tempered, well-controlled and carefully monitored bomb that couldn't possibly go off in the trunk of your car.
Keeping one is gaining the best friend you'll ever have!
So have cats.
Lions and tigers in circuses and shows only go back to the 19th Century.
I have to call BS on that. Wild cats were captive in gladiatorial games and "tamed" in circuses around zero AD/CE.Unless you're claiming that the tales of early Christian martyrs being thrown to the Lions are pure fiction. But hey, what's a couple of millennia between friends?
However, Einstein, the qualifier is "IF" and they don't if well-trained and well-socialized.
You're simply wrong there. Animals, including humans, sometimes wig out. No matter how well-trained and -socialized.
I have a friend who was nearly killed by a German Shepherd. From a good bloodline, a reputable breeder. It was a trusted family pet until it flipped one day and almost ripped her throat out. It came out of nowhere. I never knew that dog, but I met his brother -- and he was loving and loyal as a dog could be.
Unpredictable. That's all I'm saying. Best to make sure we can ensure that we can control them if that happens. And that a human will be held responsible in that exigency.