Posted on 04/06/2009 7:39:41 AM PDT by stinkerpot65
The scene was so gruesome that even seasoned emergency responders broke down and cried.
"They were never agressive; never seen them agressive," Watson said. "Never bit no one."
"I'm scared," Watson said. "I've got three kids who are going to be without a mom to be there for them."
Watson was sentenced to seven years in prison; that's part of the reason she can't stop crying.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
Years ago we had a pit named Kayla. We bought her as a puppy and this was before the internet so we hadn’t heard all the stories one hears today. I had 3 small boys. She was a fine dog. We got her because we liked the way she looked (she did not have cropped ears—wish I had pic of her scanned but I don’t) and the short coat. After we got her we discovered that in addition to those 2 things she was very easy going, could take everything the kids did in stride and was just a wonderful all around dog. Her ONLY drawback was she was very destructive (chewed up lots of stuff).
So, that’s why we had one.
I wonder if pit bulls can have rage syndrome? I don’t know that I’ve heard of it, but what you describe sounds like it. It’s a neuro disorder, and is common in some breeds (springers for instance).
Then you should probably log off and quit reading, becuase I will respond as I did the last person. We agree to disagree. I love my Pits and feel safer with my niece and nephew with them then walking down the street to the local store by themselves. With your logic you might as well never EVER allow your children to ride in any automobile. Your more likely to get into a fatal car accident then be mauled by a Pitbull i’m sure.
Do you like semi-automatic pistols? Do you care about the second amendment? To help you avoid wasting more of your valuable time, I would recommend the following: don't use your emotions to decide what government control is ok. You may have noticed a recent spate of media stories about shootings. Those are designed to whip up public emotion in preparation for gun ban legislation. How could anyone be against common sense bans of dangerous guns? All rhetorical questions of course, no need to answer.
Amen...
You can't have children without parents (except in a lab or something). Therefor, all (virtually) children will have parents. Some parents will be nuts/evil. Therefor some children will be killed by those insane/evil parents. We can do as much as possible to stop this, but we can't ban kids from being born to evil parents.
Accidental deaths. Ok, well we can do what we can to encourage safety, but accidents are still going to happen. We have traffic cops, OSHA, child services and a host of other organizations which are working to make sure our environments are safe. But accidents can't be banned.
However, there is nothing on this great planet which necessitates pit bulls. There is no reason for their existence other than to make otherwise inferior feeling persons feel superior.
There should be at least local laws banning or requiring stringent licensing for pit bulls. Personally I would support statewide laws.
OK, according to that 15 fatalities in TX. How many pits in TX? It’s got to be a huge number. I think this is proof that the vast majority even of pits are not out there killing folks. But hey, that doesn’t make a good story.
Can you tell me where in the Constitution it says the Federal Govt CAN regulate what sort of dog you can own?
If you don’t have a fence capable of keeping a dog in, the dog should not be out loose in the yard without someone there. It is VERY possible to have good dog proof fences, but it takes some $$. And, it’s almost impossible for a dog to escape from inside one’s house.
We aren't talking about guns. We're talking about pit bulls. I'm not using my emotions to decide anything. I know that pit bulls kill more people than any other breed even though they are not even one of the top 50 most popular breeds of dogs. I know that most of the cases where dogs have mauled people that come through our local courts involve pit bulls. I used to see all the pictures because I prosecuted people on those cases. They are dangerous animals and there is no good reason to have one. There are so many other breeds out there that are far less likely to hurt or kill people. Pit bulls are a menace and so are the people stupid enough to own them.
Go buy a pit bull. I could care less.
Neither have I but some dogs love to bolt especially if people do not walk them. People can forget etc etc. Responsible dog owners usually do not have a problem.
“According to this Pit bulls are responsible for 27% of the total fatalities and they aren’t even in the top fifty most popular breeds.How can you not say they are a special case.”
“pitbull” is not a breed.
Unless I’m mistaken, the statistics you provide,
are based on AKC registrations of purebreds.
The AKC only registers American Staffordshire Terriers.
One of the problems in determining “relative” danger of a breed
is that one needs an accurate ratio of the number of bites to the total population.
Determining the numerator and denominator is very difficult.
For example with regard to the numerator...
We have a popular label “pitbull”, but what do we mean by it?
It appears all too often that the “pitbull’ label
is applied to dogs involved in attacks in a reflexive manner.
If pressed I could supply examples but for brevity let me mention a recent attack.
A grandmother left a baby alone on a bed near 2 “guard dog” “pitbulls”.
The baby is said to have fallen off the bed
and startled the dogs leading to the attack.
Two seperate accounts by neighbors familiar with the dogs
reported their weight as 120lbs in one case and 150lbs in the other.
The 3 breeds that are “normally” tagged with the label “pitbull”
come nowhere near those weights.
70-75lbs should be the MAXIMUM weight of one, the American Staffordshire Terrier (AST).
The other 2 breeds, the American Pitbull Terrier (APT)
and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (SBT) are even lighter.
I’m not saying the dogs weren’t “pitbulls”
but caution is advised when reading such reports.
We could broaden the definition of “pitbulls’ to include
all short haired dogs weighing between 40 and 150 lbs
but such a description is too vague and sweeping
to use as a basis for sound analysis of the danger
of particular breeds relative to their population.
The denominator (total population) is a whole other problem
fraught with lack of accuracy and uncertainties
I recommend...
“A Community Approach to Dog Bite Prevention
Prepared by the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions”
http://www.avma.org/public_health/dogbite/dogbite.pdf
...as a good rational basis for discussing and formulating
a comprehensive approach to dog bite prevention.
Before you enter the thread and condemn pitbulls for seemingly no reason, it would be good to mention this experience because it lets people see where you are coming from. I'm sure all the owners said they were loving owners too.
Here’s a thought.
All dogs must be in a fenced area or if outside with the owner, on a leash. Any dog not so fenced or leashed is a moving target. If anyone’s dog attacks and injures another person, the dog owner gets fined and publically caned.
If a dog kills someone, the owner is executed.
This would take care of all vicious dog problems within a short time.
I am not kidding, I am perfectly serious.
Bears repeating. Well said.
We have a Pit Bull and my daughter has a Pit Bull. Bred properly, trained properly and treated properly, they are wonderful pets full of love and loyality. It’s not a breed for everyone - right now they are the “fad” of the day, which leads to bad breeding, poor or no training, and stupid owners.
Your Post was very good. People keep taking up for these animals and then you read yet another article of someone being mauled by them.
Freedom is fine, but I cant own a machine gun, why should I own a pit bull. I dont remember reading of another breed constantly that mauls kids and other animals.Certainly any group of dogs in a pack can be dangerous , but time and time again we read of pitbulls attacking.
Some say it is the way the animal is treated or trained, perhaps that has some credence, but time and time again the story reads , the dog was never aggressive before it ate the kid.
Well, now. I have a pretty handsome family AND a beautiful doggie.
There are people besides thugs that own these dogs - Rachel Ray, Michael J Fox, ME...that look pretty descent.
much of what you say is true, but a dog biting someone is a little different than a dog that is bred to kill someone..A pure bred pit is a beautiful animal. But not something I would want to be around..They go off when the urge hits them. Killing is their business. Just as killing is a wolfs business....
I agree with the last sentence. Most of the dogs I’ve known to roam thru the years had owners who did not care if the dog was on their property or not, and if the dog was injured or killed (by a car for instance) they just got another dog.
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