American Pit Bull Terriers: Man's Best Friend or Monsters of Selective Breeding?

There are a lot of things wrong with this world. Human suffering continues with atrocities occurring throughout the world. People and especially children are far more important than the well-being of any animal. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the suffering of innocent creatures, so with the recent headlines about Michael "Scum of the Earth" Vick, I am compelled to chime in with the facts as I know them regarding the bully breeds and the current attacks on the breed and calls for BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) to eradicate them.

The American Pit Bull Terrier was developed and selectively bred to be a fighting dog. That is a historical fact. But here is a list of items that idiots in the media and elsewhere keep repeating, but are complete falsehoods:

Pit bulls have locking jaws - Nope. The APBT jaw is no different in mechanical structure than any other canine breed.

Pit bulls will "turn" on their owners for no reason at all - Wrong! Pit bulls have no bizarre brain defect that makes them go insane and suddenly attack someone or something for no apparent reason. Pit bulls, just like any other breed, will attack or flee when threatened, surprised, or trained to do so.

Pit bulls cannot be trusted with other animals - another lie!

I have owned three pit bulls so far. All three co-existed peacefully in my home with other animals, including other dog breeds and cats. In my 20+ years of owning pit bulls, I've seen three actual fights between them and other dogs. None of those three fights lasted more than 10 seconds, and a sharp voiced rebuke from me caused both dogs to stop fighting immediately. A short remedial session with the aggressor (two of the three times the initiator of the fight was not the pit bull) settled the matter. These three dog fights were all over toys, and there was no blood spilled. My current APBT, Moses, has free rein of the house all day along with Kolby, our Australian Shepherd/Chow mix, and two cats while we are gone to work. We've never arrived home to find evidence of any fighting or quarrels. I've also raised my two children from infancy while owning a pit bull. Never a problem, except for my son getting nipped on the ear by a German Shepherd we had when he was around six years old and decided to crawl into the dog house with the dog. Never leave a child alone with any dog!

Now, back to the one fact that the media gets right: Pit Bulls were originally bred to be fighting dogs. This fact does not mean that that is all Pit Bulls can do. The attributes this breeding left us with ended up tailoring the breed into a powerful, highly tolerant animal that has become one of the most loyal, stable, and dependable canine companions anyone could wish for. Before you listen to the media hype and throw the baby out with the bath water, realize that this selection ended up culling out animals that had any tendency to attack people as opposed to dogs. Aggression was tailored and targeted in the breed toward dogs specifically. Stamina and health increased as weak and unhealthy dogs were culled. While the practice of "culling" is evil and abhorrent, it resulted in a very clean breed with incredible attributes of stamina, strength, and loyalty.

While I am a big fan of the American Pit Bull Terrier and will always have one as part of my family, I advocate responsible ownership. If you are not an experienced dog owner, and you have not studied the bully breed origins and history in depth, please DO NOT acquire a pit bull or pit bull mix as a pet. Irresponsible owners and breeders are damning this incredible dog breed throughout the entire planet due to ignorance, stupidity, and the pure evil of some people who get their jollies from watching poor dumb animals rip each other apart.

Pit Bulls are dangerous when they are not under the control of a knowledgeable, responsible master, just like guns. If someone breaks into my house, he will most likely end up wearing my dog, provided I'm not at home to take care of the intruder personally. Part of the reason I admire and own a member of the breed is because of the capabilities that make them dangerous. If a murderer or rapist enters my home, I want a dog who stands a fighting chance of disabling or chasing away the intruder. If you hire a body guard, you want someone who is physically fit and not afraid of a fight, right?

Pit bulls, Rottwielers, Dobermans, Chows, etc, none of them should be left roaming the streets. If you own a dog, keep it contained. Innocent creatures must give way to the safety of human beings, and even though your precious "Fifi" has never bitten anyone or anything, I won't know her from a trained attack dog or fight conditioned pit if I see her trotting down my street where kids play in their open front yards. That means I will attempt to call "Fifi" to me, and if she comes willingly I will be a nice guy and lock her in my fence until animal control comes and picks her up. If she growls or charges at me or some bystander, I'm gonna put a bullet in her. I'll feel bad about it when you tell me what a wonderful pet she was and how she must've just been frightened and had never even growled before, but she'll be dead nonetheless.

My dogs are family members. I protect them from outsiders and I protect outsiders from them with an eight foot high privacy fence made of mortared stone and wood. Other bully breed owners should do the same. Our animal friends are in danger until we get the mess that the rappers and Michael Vicks of the world have created cleaned up and find ways to keep pit bulls and mixed breeds from roaming the streets.

Pit bulls and pit bull mixes are responsible for a greater number of dog attacks resulting in human fatalities than any other breed. They are, conversely, responsible for a lower number of non-fatality attacks than almost any other breed (last time I checked, the sweet little Cocker Spaniels were number one in frequency of attacks on humans, be glad they don't have the power and stamina of a pit!). Pit bulls also rate in the top five breeds in American Temperament Testing Society's statistics.

Say "NO!" to breed specific legislation and "Yes" to making individual owners take responsibility for what they train their animals to do. Convict them along with Michael Vick. There are no bad dogs, just some evil owners.