I am a college educated, mother of two preschoolers, and I own two American Pitbull Terriers.  These dogs are wonderful animals and the love they show our family is really quite remarkable.  This is a special breed that requires special care and consideration.  I would not be opposed to requiring an owner to be "licenced" to own this breed.  While the idea of being told what I can and can not do in regards to animal ownership rubs me the wrong way, I would agree that a person needs to be extra responsible to own this breed of dog.  These dogs require training, time and attention.  They are bred to be with people and suffer greatly when seperated from their owners ( i.e. they make terrible "backyard" dogs).  All pitbulls need to be obedience trained and should be required to hold AKC Good Citizen Certificates.  Onced trained, these dogs are basically no work at all! 

I think that when putting out statistics on dog bites it is important to remember that one needs to have an accurate number of actual dogs involved (i.e. how many pitbulls vs. rotties vs. golden retreivers are there in any one city).  If there are a million pitbulls, a thousand rotties and a hundred goldens, one would expect most of the bites to be from pitbulls, right?  Let's be fair when reporting these types of stats!

Lastly, owners who allow their dogs to injure another person should be punished.  Dogs are not people and they do not understand our rules and regulations.  Owners should.

You bring up a good point that without a base population to compare to, bite stats are basically worthless.  And its impossible to reliably determine the population of a breed.  Registration numbers only cover a small portion.  Throw in mixed breeds and it gets even worse. 

Suffice it to say that with every surge in popularity, there is a rash of attacks due to the increase in haphazard backyard breeding and ill-prepared owners.  The registration numbers for Rottweilers increased exponentially in the 90s, and as a result, all you heard about were Rottie maulings at that time. 

Pit Bulls, unfortunately, have been riding the crest of popularity since the 80s.  I don't know what year it was, but one year the AKC registered roughly 165,000 Labradors, and that was the most popular breed by their numbers.  In that same year, the ADBA registered over 200,000 Pit Bulls.  I believe the studies which suggest this breed makes up less than 1% of the canine population are grossly understated.  I'm more inclined to believe the report I read which guesstimates the breed population at closer to 4 million. 

While I wish the breed could go back to the days of a relative unknown, I don't know if that will happen.

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Lindsay and the red dogs

I agree with both you. I am a college educated step mom of 2 girls, 10 & 11. I have only had my sweetie, Chewy (American Pit bull) for a 1 year. She is about a year and a half. She was given to us in Florida right before we moved to Tulsa. She was found by a friend of ours and he couldn't keep her because he was in an apartment. She was found in a predominately known area that has had many raids for dog-fighting. Even though she is protective over her house, yard and kids, we take her to Petsmart and Petco at least once a week and she absolutely loves the attention. She has a fenced in yard and knows not to leave the yard without one of the family. We have a daycare right next door and she loves the children. She will whimper at the fence when none of the kids are outside.

The story about the lady that was bit in the face, I would like all the details of that story and the owner of the pit bull did not seem to concerned that his dog was "killed". That should be enough for animal cruelty charges. He admitted that he wants people to know that his dogs are killers. That is absurd. Sounds like to me that someone should search his house. If he is that desperate to keep people out, sounds like there is something going on.

Statistics should be researched more thoroughly. They should have a follow-up story about the number of pit bulls compared to other breeds. If the ratio is lop-sided then of course there will be more attacks because they are more pit bulls. Just in the area I live in, I know of at least a dozen full-blood pit bulls. That is only a 1 block area. That is at least half of the dogs in this area. I love my Chewy. She is loyal, smart and loves to play with the kids. I had a Chihuahua 2 years ago and gave her away because she was a horrible little dog and bit almost everyone that came over. I love my pit bull and if they passed a law banning them, I would move! Maybe they should start enforcing the laws and prosecuting for animal cruelty then we wouldn't have this problems.

 

Like you, I was horrified that the man showed no concern, no regret, no remorse over his dog being put down, or that his dog attacked a woman's dog, & then her OFF his property, meaning the dog got out of the fenced yard.

HE needs to be up on charges!  Shame on him.  Wasn't the dog's fault, it was the owner's responsibility.  He didn't do right by his dog from the onset of acquiring him, & he fits the criteria of a man living in a disposible society.  I could see him thinking 'Ok, so the dog is dead, I'll just get another of the same breed, & raise him the same way'.  How sorry is that!

I'm simply stunned at his mentality, & disturbed that this cycle is going to repeat itself.  I feel sorry for any pooch that man acquires.

Kat ~

<snip> and the owner of the pit bull did not seem to concerned that his dog was "killed". That should be enough for animal cruelty charges. He admitted that he wants people to know that his dogs are killers. That is absurd. Sounds like to me that someone should search his house. If he is that desperate to keep people out, sounds like there is something going on. <snip>

Shields, the dog that introduced me to the breed was a brindle Pit mix named Chew.  I posted pics of her in the big thread in this forum (the one that's like 7 pages long).   And there was a Chewy at the weight pull I went to last month in Norman.  Ah, anyway.  I'm just babbling and waxing sentimental now.  :)

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Lindsay and the red dogs

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http://sportstoday.proboards58.com

It is about time you saw that it is the owner's fault. "owners would not take the time or effort to raise their dogs properly.

Marlin:

So the problem is still there and people will continue to get assaulted by this breed of dog.

Its a problem when people get assaulted by any breed of dog.  I lived in a neighborhood that had muzzle/insurance/etc requirements on Pit Bulls before moving to Oklahoma.  And do you know that I couldn't get animal control to muster the effort to corral a violent Chow mix who ruled a block that I used to enjoy walking?  Animal control directed me to the police, and the police directed me to animal control.  It was a problem for 7 years.  I think the dog finally died of old age or got hit by a car. 

Compare that to when the neighbors called to report our new Dogo puppy was a Pit Bull.  There was an officer at our house the same day.  They called again to report that we were hiding Pit Bulls in our basement.  Again, an officer was out there the same day.  Later on when I did get a Pit Bull, as I said, we were subject to all kinds of requirements which I complied with as a matter of ethics.  But not before they were sending me "notice to comply" notes on my 11-week-old puppy because they'd seen me pottying her in the front yard, but did not bother to stop and talk to me.  (She didn't fall under local law until 5 months, when she would be old enough for a rabies shot.)

Which is a greater waste of resources?  Enforcing a dangerous dog law based on behavior, or sending an officer out to investigate phantom and puppy Pit Bulls?  Don't you think the law should protect us all equally?  I should have as much protection from the aggressive dogs in my neighborhood as others wish to have from my Canine Good Citizen-titled, Temperament Titled, United Companion Dog.  (To the layman, the last things in that sentence represent 3 different titles my dog has gotten.  She also has 2 legs on her agility title, as well as 2 weight pull titles.)

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Lindsay and the red dogs

It took forever....he went from wanting to shoot them to believing it is the owners fault. I just hope his change of thought sticks.

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"Pit Bulls Are People Too"

Pitbullwarrior:

It took forever....he went from wanting to shoot them to believing it is the owners fault. I just hope his change of thought sticks.

Oh now, try grasping this: Owner, Dog and Breeder are all responsible in the attacks of these attack dogs.

I also feel the forum names of some of you Pit Bull owners says alot about your precious Dogs caring by its owner.

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http://sportstoday.proboards58.com

You want to know why I call myself Pitbullwarrior read my first post.

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"Pit Bulls Are People Too"