Should Pitbulls be outlawed?

Question

No matter HOW nice and sweet you think they are, they can turn on you. They can be vicious.
Many of you think "stupid/irresponsible owners" should be outlawed but responsible owners shouldn't, but accidents happen. I have had a few freinds get attacked... both are alive thankfully. If it is illegal for one man, be it for all. We are all equal.
They CAN be trained to fight. People WILL do just that. They can be aggressive.
So really, be honest: What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes they should. People caused this problem. The dogs were bred to be aggressive and fight.

Perhaps the breed could find a place in the military or police as a service type dog. But there is no good reason for the general public to have them. They are too dangerous.

Answer 2

If you're going to outlaw Pits, then you'd better outlaw German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rotts, Cocker Spaniels, Collies, Boxers, Poodles, and just about any other breed of dog. All dogs are capable of biting and attacking if not raised properly. I've been a professional dog trainer/handler for 12 years now, and i've seen all kinds of dog attacks. There was an incident where a Border Collie attacked a trainer and critically wounded him, and a Great Dane attacked and killed it's master, a 61 year old woman. I disagree totally with the notion that Pitbulls turn on you. I've trained many Pits, and know several people who own them, and when raised properly, they are excellent pets who give you no trouble at all.

These dogs are made to be monsters by irresponsible dog owners who neglect them in different ways to try to make them aggressive. My friends has raised two Pitbulls now for 8 years, he has two kids, and has never had one single incident. In fact, he loves the breed so much that he said that he never wants another breed again. He got rid of a Cocker Spaniel that bit his wife in an unprovoked attack.

Pitbulls should not be allowed. Stupid, irresponsible, reckless dog owners should.

Answer 3

No. I don't think ANY breed of dog should be outlawed. Dogs are animals and canines before anything else. Breed comes third.

There's no such thing as a bad dog, or bad breed. Yes, Pitbulls were bred to fight other dogs, and for bull baiting. But with the proper training, socialization, and leadership from a responsible owner who understands the breeds' needs, that dog they will be just as nice as any other dog.

It's just unfortunate that a lot of idiots get a hold of powerful breeds and use them to intimidate others as guard dogs, attack dogs, dog fights, and what have you. A lot of gang members own pitbulls and raise them to be killers. They aren't born killers. If they were, the puppies would be killing eachother when they were old enough to stand and bite. But do they? No. They act just like any other playful puppy would. It's once they grow older that people turn them mean.

I personally wouldn't own a pitbull. But it's not because I fear them; I grew up with them as kids. My cousins and uncles had them, and they were sweet, socialized members of the family who were well behaved and never showed any aggression. It's a powerful breed, and you have to know about and be capable of controlling a power breed in order to have a nice dog. I'm a tiny little thing, so it would take a lot of extra effort to control a pit, rottie, boxer, german shepherd, etc.

You have to get a dog that matches your lifestyle and physical ability to control them. And many people either don't do that with pits, or choose not to keep them under control. That's why pits get a bad rep. Outlawing them will solve nothing.

Answer 4

Pits should not be human aggressive, from day one until now, it was never meant to be. They were bred for taking down large animals and later dog fighting, but aggression towards humans wasn't tolerated at all. A dog was worthless, in either case, if it couldn't be easily handled. A properly bred, raised and trained Pit is nothing to fear, although you do need to use common sense around other animals. However, that's true with many breeds, like my Sighthounds and Dachshund have prey drive too. Should they be banned also? Nobody is trying to make them human aggressive, but should they decide to...will it be their fault? Personally, I wish we had to take a test to breed and own certain dog breeds. Heck, maybe any dog breed. Many breeds have been near ruined/ruined by irresponsible breeders and owners.

ETA: Dog bite statistics are worthless, unless you take everything into account, for example: popularity. Obviously, there are more biting Pits and German Shepherds than Black Russian Terriers and Anatolian Shepherds.

Also, I have a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua in my neighborhood who chase and harass people and animals. They couldn't do much damage (tho a pom has killed a baby before), but does that mean they're not aggressive? Hardly. Personally, I'd rather than an aggressive Rott owned by a responsible owner, than an aggressive Chihuahua owned by an irresponsible owner in my neighborhood. Why? Because I wouldn't have the Rott running through my yard growling and snapping at my toddler and dogs, while we're out playing. I wouldn't have the Rott using my yard as a toilet. I wouldn't have the Rott following us on walks, barking and biting at our heels. I wouldn't have the Rott barking and waking up my husband, who often works third shift. Give me a responsible owner, no matter the dog!

Answer 5

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta the top breeds involved in fatal dog bites are pit bulls followed by rottweilers. To the idiots that believe that any dog can be trained to be vicious or anything else, not so. Dogs have breed specific traits. Hounds are trackers, shepards are herders, several breeds are working dogs, several breeds are retrievers, some breeds are bred to be aggressive. So if I wanted a dog to be people aggressive would I obtain a poodle? Only if I were stupid. Any individual of any breed can be the sweetest or the most vicious. But in some breeds those traits are prevalent. The homes in my neighborhood have dogs and thankfully there aren't any pits or rotties.

Answer 6

You are probably young enough that you don't remember when the same thing happened with dobermans being trained as security dogs. It was same arguments. It has to be judged by the individual dog and mainly how he has been treated and trained. No "breed" of dog is bad, you can have problems that run within a breed when there is too much inbreeding going on, again this is peoples fault not the animals. Any animal can turn on someone if they have been abused. The first thing everyone does is blame the animal. And any dog can be trained to fight. Every one loves Dalmatians, but the traits of their breed are that they are nervous, highly active dogs that are actually not recommended for families with small children.

Answer 7

I think it would be a travesty to outlaw the most people-friendly breed of dog I've ever known.
I've personally owned two pits...both of whom wouldn't ever bite a person (unless I was being physically attacked) or attack another dog.
I don't know where you get your information from, except for the media which often portrays every dog cited in a an attack as a pitbull, even though often they aren't.
Do some research on the breed. You'll find that human agression was bred OUT of the dog for generations.
My pitbull is my baby. Everyone loves him. He can play with 2 year olds as gently as possible.
If they outlawed pitbulls I'd either break the law or move. 'Cus there's no way I'm going without this fantastic breed!

Answer 8

I guess the pitbulls I`ve known that were gentle , loving dogs and NEVER bit anyone were just figments of my imagination ? No dog is born vicious ............... they are MADE vicious by their owners ............. period !

It`s the cruel , unscrupulous OWNERS that should pay the penalty for what their dogs do , and never again be allowed to own a pet of any kind ! Why blame the dog ???

I agree that some breeds may be more prone to unacceptable behaviour than others , but all in all , Pit Bulls are not something to be feared if they come from a loving home .

If you want to ban biting dogs , you can start out with Cocker Spaniels .............. the worst "biter" there is ! But yet no one seems to complain . Why ?

Because a Cocker Spaniel biting someone is not considered newsworthy in the least .

But if a Pit Bull bites someone , it`s plastered across every front page on this planet ! Why ?
Because it`s newsworthy .

Answer 9

Pitibulls are not the sweetest dogs on the earth. Labs do not bite more often than they do, pitbull worshippers just make that crap up.

They are a wreck, and I honestly don't think it's possible to eliminate all of the fighting dogs. No matter what, there will be pitbull attacks and pitbull fighting rings.

Yes, any dog can turn on you, but pitbulls are more LIKELY to turn on you because of their history. They were bred to fight. They have a strong prey drive, very strong jaws, and all that together equals a disaster.

I'm sure there are pitbulls out there that would never attack no matter what. Go ahead and love your monstrous, muscly bow legged Hulk dog, I'm sure they're your best friend and wouldn't hurt anyone.

But, my final opinion? If the government has time to euthanize ALL of the pitbulls in the state/county/city, I'm sure they can give each dog a temperament test to determine whether it should be euthanized, because I assure you, for every 10 pitbulls they euthanize, seven of them were probably even-tempered family pets.

Answer 10

Hmm... You aren't thinking about the potential chain reaction.
Dog fighters will continue to fight dogs. They will just switch to different breeds. How about we just use the dangerous dog laws already in place, make fighting dogs, raising dogs for fighting and training fighting dogs punishable by law. The way it is in most states, it is legal to raise dogs for fighting, you just can't actually fight them. If you could be charged with dog fighting for having the paraphernalia associated with it, animal controls and police officers could make more convictions.
The problem is, Pitbulls will just be the first to go. That doesn't actually fix the problem. Then it'll be rottweilers, Dobermans, German Shepherds, Danes, Labs, Dalmations etc... Dog fighters don't care what breed they use. They will use whatever is available.
Until we make the penalties stricter against the subhumans that continue to use dogs for fighting, dog fighting will continue.
Why punish the dog when all he's doing is obeying his owner?

Answer 11

Yes definitely. They ARE bred for dog fighting and they are STILL being bred for dog fighting. People say its the OWNER that is responsible not the dog. THAT is preciseoly the problem! Bad people are attracted to this breed like flies to sh*&.! They cant help themselves. And the Hip Hop culture is now glamorizing pits and dog fighting which is why even professional black athletes all have them and some fight them like Vick.
It would be better to ban the people but that is impossible so banning the fighting dogs are the only solution.