Why haven't they outlawed the pitbull breed?

Question

My nine year old daughter was attacted by one for no reason. They are crazy and lie is crazy enough without having dogs like this. The people who have them need their heads checked!!! I know a couple that has a two year old child that their pit attacted twice and nearly killed it. With me if it would have growled once at one of my children it would know what happened. Something needs to be done about those killers!!!

Answer 1

The something that needs to be done is that bad breeders and bad owners need to be outlawed. But, it's easier in the US to outlaw a dog than it is to correct poor and immoral human behaviour.

I take offense that you think owners "need their heads checked!!!" A good pit bull is a great dog. I don't have one, but I certainly would in the future, partly just to show ignorant people (ahem) how great they can be. I don't see you railing against Cocker Spaniels and Labs, who bite more people than Pits do.

I've been around a ton of pits. And you know what I've been bitten by? A nasty old Cocker Spaniel (TWICE!!) and a Doberman left at home all day and then set 'free' to run around.

Answer 2

The majority of Pitt Bull Terriers are violent because they have horrible owners. People need to know what they are getting into when they get a Pitt Bull Terrier. Many of these can be loving and fun and a wonderful family pet.

A case of mistaken Identity...

Quite often dogs that attack are identified as pit bulls when they are not. It seems that that any dog of medium build with short hair is thought to be a pit bull. There are 20+ breeds that are commonly incorrectly identified as pit bulls.

Also, most dog attacks are by dogs that AREN'T pitt bulls. So, I guess that we just shouldn't have any dogs at all...


"The worst part of this identity problem is that the initial attack has frontpage coverage with PIT BULL all over it. Then several day's later when they properly identify the dog as a mix breed or another breed that story is a line or two on page 30 buried. "


Here are some more Stats:
"The Washington Animal Foundation did a survey on human fatalities by dogs in 2001 and came up with these figures, Rottweiler (6); Labrador (2);
Pomeranian (1); German Shepherd (2); Chow (1); Wolf-Hybrid (1); Akita (1); Doberman (1); Beagle (1); Presa Canario (2); Pit Bull (1); mixed breeds (6). When comparing these figures with the human fatalities from 1975-80 by Pickney & Kennedy, Traumatic Deaths from Dog Attacks in the United States, the report identified the following as responsible for human fatalities during the study period from May, 1975 to April, 1980: German Shepherd (16); Husky (9); St. Bernard (8); Bull Terrier (6); Great Dane (6); Malamute(5); Golden Retriever (3); Boxer (2); Dachshund (2); Doberman Pinscher (2); Collie (2); Rottweiler(1); Basenji (1); Chow-Chow (1); Labrador Retriever (1); Yorkshire Terrier (1); mixed and unknown breeds (15). One would question the accuracy of human fatalities by dogs from current reports and especially the statistics on the Pit Bull."

Answer 3

There are other breeds more dangerous than pit bulls.
Any dog awill attack is mistreated in any way or has shown agression before and was never handlede properly with the issue.

Lady im sorry your child was attacked, but the truth is the breed needs an owner that knows when to have it put down, how to care for it and more. You need to take it up with the owner, if the dog has no owner then it grew wild on the streets. did you see the dog attack her from beginning? she didnt throw somethgin at it to provoke it? Even yell at it or aproach it? Kids are curious to pets.

If it was anouther breed, would you want that breed to be banned also? Rotties are know to be agressive also and attack for no reason, are you gonna hate them too? What about other dogs known for agression? I heard Chow Chows are agressive, hey why not ban them too.
What about dogs trained to protect a yard and escapes it and runs free? Tell me? I really am sorry, but just cause that pit attacked your dont dont mean every pit you see is the same way. That pit was probley froma poor breeder with a bad back ground.

If a german sheperd walked up to you and growled would you wanna ban those as well? How about a Lab, i heard that that breed was getting agressive and attacking people?

No one should be allowed to own a pit bull uless they can catch the signs of agression and have the animal delt with imediatly. SOMeone who can handle the breed should be it.
Depending where you get the dog alos affects it. If you buy from the guy next door that is just breeding for money , no papers or anything . Then you have no clue of the history background.

HAte the breed if you want lady, but just think of the other dogs that have attacked people. Pits are just placed on the front cause they were bred for agression.

Answer 4

Most people like u have those feelings cause youve encountered pit bulls that have bad breeding (inbreeding can cause behavior prob.) or they could have been rescued dogs that have been abused before. But in order to get a pitbull u need to properly socailize and take special precaustions when there a pup so that they wont attack u. Most pits i wouldnt blame the behavior on them but the owners who havnt treated them properly soemtimes without even knowing theve done wrong. Lots of pitbulls are very loyal and are great around kids if, again im stressing my point, trained and treated properly. look at this link and you can read about all the pitbulls that have saved people or have been used for search and rescuse http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/ (click the positive press link) this link also has pics showing how bad owners can be o the dogs which would cause them to become mean. But i agree some pits are very mean and should be put down but dont let those dogs affect your view on the great pits that r out there.

Answer 5

It's not so much the breed as the people that decide they want to own them. The problem is the wrong kind of people who want a "tough" dog or want to fight them have been breeding and owning them and not training them properly. There are way more pit bulls than there are good owners right now and this has led to lots of problems. Not the dogs' fault.

The same has been said of german shepherds, rotts, and dobermans. Again, it's stupid people owning a breed for the wrong reasons.

You make the point perfectly - any parent would be crazy to keep an aggressive dog around a small child. That says a lot more about the parents than the dog itself.

Answer 6

For those of you who think rescueing a pit from a shelter is a bad idea, your not entirley correct.
I rescued my pit from a shelter about 31/2 years ago.
He was about a year old when he was found wandering the streets. Then for about 6 months he was in the shelter.
When I brought him home he had a bit of an additude, but with alot of love and teaching him proper behaviors, he is a great dog. I also have another pit and a cat. I also have a 15 month old grand daughter that plays ball with him.
All dogs are descendants of the wolf. All have aggression in there blood lines. Should we just outlaw all dogs???
NO, we should outlaw the people who think making a dog aggessive is COOL. The fact is german shepards have attacked and killed more people than any other breed.

Answer 7

I agree 100% with the first answer, it's not the breed, it's the people who own it. My brother has a pit bull and has owned it ever since it was a puppy and it has never done anything bad or mean, he is the sweetest thing and very friendly! He used to sleep on the bed with my brother until he got too big and wasn't allowed to anymore. Pit bull's have the reputation of killers b/c they are big dogs and do look scary. Dog fighters realize this and want to get the scary looking dogs to TRAIN to be mean. Any dog can be trained to be mean and kill.

Answer 8

As others have said a pit bull who is viciuos is the faualt of the breeder and owner/handler. Not the dog iself. it is a poor dumbbeast wh simply does as it is taught to do.
In fact I know 1 pit who saved a 3 year old boy's life bty dragging it away by his overalls from an angry copperhead ready to strike! If she had not acted fast and so smart that little boy could've ened up dying a nasty death.
I'm safraid legally yes in defence of a child or yourself you are allowed to kill an attacking do or order it destroyed but for heavens sake please don't blame the breed for bad owners.
BTW personally I prefer a mutt adopted from a shelter. I've notced too many times health defects brought on by imbreeding to make purebreds.

Answer 9

Unfortunately the pit bull breed was breed for dog fighting. They are the way they are because of humans. However, regardless of what they are breed for, a lot has to do with their training. If an owner is not strict and authoritative especially with these types of breeds, the dog won't think it's wrong for it to be aggressive. What it really boils down to, is people need to train their dogs, and not treat them like a misbehaving child.
I work with animals and have found that people like the idea of having a dog but they don't want to take the time to train it properly according to it's breed.

Answer 10

It's not the breed that is the problem. It's people who baby them and let them take charge. It's also the people who train them to be attack animals. The more dangerous breeds should really only be purchased by people who are WILLING to take the RESPONSIBILITY to get the dog properly trained in companion dog classes. Most people get pitts and rotts for a "Status symbol". They represent tough. Really they can be amazing animals. I had a frined who raised them. They were all put through heavy amounts of training. They never attacked a soul. Actaully they were better mannered than the chihuahua they owned. Go figure. Training is key.