Why dangerous pets like Pit bulls?

Question

It seems that many Americans have an obsession with dangerous pets like snakes, alligators and dangerous dog breeds like pit bulls and even get tigers. Why do people get dangerous pets?
This phenomenon seems to be especially true of the lower classes. Is it out of ignorance, an unhealthy obsession with danger , a need to showoff in public or compensating for a lack of masculinity and/or money?

Answer 1

The need to show off - to be a big shot when their lives are meager and mean.
Instead of changing themselves and their situations by getting an education and working their way up, they want instant acclaim and gratification from others, so they do something, or get something, to draw attention to themselves.
Then the next idiot wants something even more dangerous or strange.
Very sad - and a waste of talent lots of times.

Answer 2

I have a wonderful Pit Bull. I also have a 3 year old daughter and I trust them together completely. The people who witness the attack are the ones who give the statement about what breed of dog it is. Sadly alot of people can't tell the difference between the breed the dog actually is and a pitbull. On all the lists of most aggressive dog breeds that I pulled up the pitbull wasn't even on it. The top two were usually the German Shepherd and the Chow Chow. I think there is also a larger amount of dog bite complaints against pitbulls because they are extremely over-populated. Of course if you have 10,000 pitbulls versus 1,000 of another breed there are going to be more instances of "alleged" pitbull attacks. The fact is any dog has the ability to attack or bite if it's provoked. When I was younger my neighbor had to have numerous stitches on her face and STILL has scars and severe damage to her right eye from an attack by a Dachsund ...but of course that went unreported. The dog was allowed to return home and subsequently bit several more neighborhood children. If that HAD been a pitbull, german shepherd, doberman, or rottweiler the dog would have been put to sleep immediately. Especially since everyone in the community would have rallied behind the childs parents to have the animal euthanized. The fact that it was a cute and seemingly harmless Dachsund apparently meant nothing even though the child was obviously injured very badly by the dog. If everybody actually took the time to educate themselves about the "bad breeds" they would find out that the majority of these dogs are bigger lap dogs and are far more affectionate than the majority of the little dogs that people seem to associate with "harmless". I would much rather my daughter be with our pit as opposed to most of the smaller dogs people are so in love with these days. I've owned Dobermans and Rottweilers as well and found them to be extremely good natured animals. It all just depends on how they're raised as far as I'm concerned.

Answer 3

Your small breed dogs were attacked, so what, it could have been any breed. I have a Miniature Dachshund that was bitten by a Chihuahua and a Toy Fox Terrier and a Sheltie tried to bite my shepherd so maybe I should start asking a bunch of questions asking why don't we ban small dogs. Your prejuduce is really annoying and you are very narrow minded.
I have large and small breed dogs and I assure you that i am not trying to compensate for anything, I just like the breeds I chose. They are perfect for me.

Answer 4

I think some people really get them because they want a pet they can think of as "macho". With pit bulls, a lot of people want something that will scare people off of their property. Because that is the goal, they treat the dog badly in order to make it "mean" and then end up making it VERY dangerous.

That said, I own a snake (though I wouldn't consider my corn snake dangerous) and pit bulls are one of my favorite breeds. Yes, pit bulls are dangerous, they can be very aggressive and they have the power and ability to do a lot of damage. However, they can also be wonderful loving pets with a beautiful conformation.

Answer 5

No, your ignorant. Pit bulls are not dangerous. People with your mind set about them are.
You need to educate yourself before talking down on a breed just because you believe what you see on TV.
I'm a 35 year old woman. I don't think I'm trying to compensate for the lack of a huge penis by owning a pit bull.
My 5 lb. chihuahua is more dangerous than my bully.
You probably wouldn't know what a pit bull looked like if it bit you in the a**.
And here's where you can find out jerk off:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

Answer 6

Of course I'd like to reiterate what everyone has said about pit bulls not being naturally dangerous.

As for the class issue...there are tons of books out there that theorize on these issues. One theory I have heard deals with the fact that working class people often dress flashy...they wear expensive clothes, jewelry, and flash around money. Often working class people have grown up never knowing how long financial stability will last. It came and went. Their mind of thinking, according to this theory, is to spend the money now because it might not be there tomorrow. I would assume the same thing goes for the pit bull. It is flashy to them. The name of the book escapes me. I'll come back and edit my post if I remember it later.

Answer 7

Those poeple buy these pets from ilegal sellers that hord the banned animals and they dont care if their breaking the law as long as they get their money they dont care but Pitt Bulls are wonderful no thanks to a bonehead like Micheal Vick isnt making the Pitt Bull breed any more popular more poeple need to understnad thet Pitts arent born killers there so called owners were and the dogs have to suffer!
But as far as alligators they are not pets what so ever they belong in the wild not in captivity or in someone bath tub.
They need to be in a really deep mearky lake or very large pond!
soem snakes arent killers but if a person is that stupid to buy a vemonious snake eigther the snake gets out one day and the owner gets to the hospital in time or the snakes kills the owner! Who would be that stupid to buy a pet that they cant love but would kill them

Answer 8

I think pit bulls are only as dangerous as they are raised to be. Same with almost any breed. I think the ignorance of the owner (either from lack of experience, or sheer stupidity) is what makes most dogs "dangerous." As for the other types of animals, it could be anything you listed.

Answer 9

The most dangerous pet people own by far is the house cat. They have 250 prey items and kill for the joy of it. The next mst dangerous is any badly trianed dog of any breed

Answer 10

snakes alligators and tigers are wild animals. A Pit Bull is a dog, any dog could be dangerous if mistreated or not properly trained.
Only ignorant people would not know the difference!
And as far as it always being lower class of people or low income,well Vick and DMX, the rapper accused of starving his 14 dogs proves you wrong.

Answer 11

Because, as a rule, Pit Bulls are friendly and not dangerous. However, stereotyping is dangerous as a form of social cancer.

The Germans believed that the Jews were dangerous. The general idea is the same.