Should We only Fear the Pit Bulls?
Adopted Oscar with sibling, Kitty
The controversy continues as to whether Pit Bulls are a menace to the dog-world and society at large. It is unfortunate that these creatures have been in-bred and their reputation and their use as attack and fighting animals seems to be spiraling out of control. When I was growing up, everyone was “afraid” of Dobermans. Now, due to the exposure of large dog fighting rings (thanks, Michael Vick!) and some of the unsavory people who are using and training them as intimidation dogs, the Pit Bull’s reputation has been soiled to the point where, almost universally, people are fearful of them. Two of my friends rescued and adopted Pit Bulls — one was captured and taken in after being observed wandering in a public park for weeks and slowly dying of starvation and cold; the other was thrown into my friend’s yard as discarded trash. Both dogs were nursed to health and are now thriving with their new families and are adorable, sweet pups.
The forever beloved lab, with a reputation for having the friendliest, gentle demeanor can also be bred to be mean and attack. We had a neighbor who had the meanest lab I had ever seen. I just couldn’t figure it out. When I walked Brandy and Val it would run up to the boundary of its’ invisible fence and bark, snarl, growl, bear teeth, etc. to such an extent, I would cross the street and literally pray that it would not break through the fence. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that dog was scary except its’ owner. Eventually, the dog bit another neighbor and it was put down with the excuse being “it was old and getting erratic.” Erratic for the last 10 years?
Maybe it’s the people and not the dogs?
Here’s an interesting article recently forwarded to me written in Philly.com
Tags: Dobermans, dog fighting, Labrador retrievers, Michael Vick, Pit Bulls
March 15th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
I operate with these dogs and as far as animal behavior goes, I’m a strong believer in nurture and exercising. I have met Jack Russell Terriers that I would not go close to once again, but have certainly not had a negative encounter with an American Staffordshire Terrier. If you are talking about their owners- nicely, that’s a different story. People are creatures as nicely, and we have a tendency to every have our own concepts about “moral concepts”.