The Attack on Pit Bulls

Ignorance is a big pet peeve of mine. Many times the ignorance comes from inaccurate reports by the news media. In my city, the news media has become infatuated with pit bulls and their supposedly violent and overly aggressive tendencies. Because of their relentless and inaccurate reporting, many counties and surrounding cities in my area have either banned or are considering laws to ban or eliminate pit bulls. This is utterly ridiculous to ban or punish a breed of dog because they are suppose to be overly aggressive and violent, because of the undesirable and shady deeds of some of the owners, or because of the irresponsibility of the owner. There have been several attacks on people by pit bulls and some of these people, unfortunately, have died due to the attacks. However, the problem is not the breed but the deed and responsibility of the owners.

I am a firm believer that parents are responsible for their young children's' actions. A parent's job is to raise their children instilling values, morals, and ethics. Young children look up to parents, copy what they see adults do, and learn behavior - right or wrong - from their parents and other adults in their lives. Instead of punishing the children the parents should be punished. This is the same situation with pit bulls or any pets. The owners are responsible for their pets.

My first point is that despite the popular and inaccurate saying that "Pets are people too." Pets are not people they are animals. They think like animals and behave like animals. Pets protect, bark, play, and attack if they feel threatened. What makes a pet, or a pit bull in this case attack is part of their animal mentality. In other words, pit bulls don't know not to attack children, elderly people, or anyone else. They attack if they feel threatened and threatened could mean their perception that another animal, including a human being, is crossing their territory, threatening or irritating them in some way. To animals, children appear as small animals. That is way people need to be careful when children are around pets. A child in my area was attacked by a pit bull when the child went to pet the neighbors' dog. Why is a small child allowed to pet any animal that is not theirs? Where were the parents? The animal may seem nice but you should never take a chance. And at least accompany your child when they want to approach a pet.

My next point is that the owners of pets, in particularly, pit bulls and other dogs that have aggressive tendencies need to make sure their pets are secured and not able to jump over fences and break chains. Just because your pet doesn't seem or act aggressive to you does not mean your pet is not aggressive, ALL animals can be aggressive and attack or bite, so don't think your pet wouldn't harm a flea. If you own an aggressive dog, including a pit bull, you need to make sure they cannot jump fences or break chains. Also, the dog needs to be kept muzzled when it is outside this will prevent the dog from tearing someone from limb to limb. Instead of banning pit bulls, a better law would be to have all owners muzzle their pit bulls and other aggressive dogs, when they are outside. An elderly lady in my area was attacked and killed by a neighbor's pit bull that jumped over the fence.

Another point is the fact that many young males get a pit bull for status reasons. They also make the dog overly aggressive by engaging the animal in fights. They force these dogs to fight, which makes them more aggressive and more likely to attack when they feel threatened or perceive danger. What's even worse is that if the dog loses a fight or the person thinks the dog is not aggressive or mean as they would like, they abandon the dog. So there are stray, overly aggressive pit bulls roaming the streets ready to attack anything and anyone. In another attack, there was a man that was attacked by stray pit bulls wandering around the neighborhood the owners have never been found probably because there were no owners.

Why certain areas want to ban these dogs is based on inaccurate information mainly from the media but also from a lack of research about the pit bull breed. The stereotype that pit bulls' jaws lock is totally inaccurate. Their jaws don't lock. They have strong jaws. Also, these animals are no more aggressive and easily led to attack then Doberman Pinchers, Rottweilers, Bull Mastiffs, Bull dogs, Akitas, Huskies, and the list goes on and on. The problem is that these dogs have become associated with violence by the news media and they have become the dog of choice for drug dealers and young males who associated these dogs with aggression, dominance, and street toughness. Pit bulls have also been overly bred due to their popularity and demand for the dog by those whose deeds are less than desirable. The sport of fighting these dogs have created very aggressive and volatile pit bulls that are not kept properly secured from attacking neighbors or have been abandoned to roam the streets to attack.

Are these issues the fault of the pit bull breed or the fault of the owners? Of course, it is the fault of the owners. You can't and shouldn't blame the dog. The news media is also to blame for reporting inaccurate information about the pit bull and failing to report accurate information. Not to mention reporting every single negative incident that takes place with the pit bull, which only furthers the stereotype and negative perceptions about the bree