Pit Bulls: Deadly Breed Most Responsible for Death and Maimings of Humans and Other Animals
On average about 27 people will be killed by a dog each year in the US, 19 of the homicide victims will be children under the age of 15. The dog that causes 3 out of 4 attacks on kids will be the "loving" family dog, such as the "friendly companion" pit bull with the wonderful disposition. Children attacked by these breeds are literally torn apart with horrifying injuries that are almost beyond words. Those that survive are often maimed for life.
What accounts for the popularity of pit bulls?
The dogs fearsome image and reputation certainly seems to have a great deal to do with it. These dogs are particularly popular in the inner cities have become part of hip hop culture and style, leading many opponents of pit bull bans to cite racism as a possible motive for the proposed bans. But the dogs have made life for residents in these places more difficult, as the owners use them as tools of intimidation, or wield totally inadequate or no control over them, leading to bites, maulings and deaths in areas with enough social ills. Additionally a large subculture (recently exposured when NFL star quarterback Michael Vick was indicted for promoting dog fighting operations) has grown up around these dogs that enjoys the spectacle of dogs ripping each other apart. Fighting skill, power, cool, hipness of "Pits" are concepts that have engaged the popular imagination and led to the proliferation of Pit Bulls as pets in otherwise sane and healthy America. Many of these owners are unaware of the origins of their desire to own a pit bull, but the taste for such animals has its roots in the cultural debris of American Hip Hop.
Owners are the Problem: True- They Are Crazy (Most of them)
Unfortunately pit bulls and related breeds have spread to middle class America where they are revered as family "pets," it seems that many of the owners are as tenacious as the dogs themselves as they enjoy defending their cherished animal against the vituperations in the press and the (until recently) mild ones such as those found on this web site. Indeed over the past five years we have received more ill will and hate filled emails from pit bull owners than we have actual dog bite victims (most emails to this site are from irate pit bull owners!). Although one case we received on this web site was a child mauled to death---by a pit bull. So the raving emails of the pit bull owners of these supposedly loving dogs reaches to a truly tragic level. I will say that a fair number of the less aggressive people sending email may be owners with a geniune affection for a pet- however the taste for such pets and violent defense of them is misplaced affection. These dogs are bred killers and have no place in a family home no matter how innocent or friendly a particular dog may seem. The experience of the United Kingdom mentioned below- a country of some 60 million people is instructive on this point.
That the owners of these dogs have alot of "issues" is evidenced by the volume and content of the email we get ( I have started to post a few examples at the bottom of this page). Although anecdotal we conclude from their own words to us on this site that a large number of these pit bull owners are people who have no qualifications to own any animal. In fact the majority of the hate filled email we received over the past five years was from a simple one sentence reference on this site to the fact that pit bulls are the most likely breed to bite. We have since researched the issue and expanded the commentary and information about the deadly nature of pit bulls on this site in direct response to the unremitting string of hate filled emails we get from misanthrope pit bull lovers, who we presume prefer to cuddle with butch and his spiked collar, rather than the 5 year old child in Chicago whose skull was crushed in the jaws of such a beast.
It would be merely tragic-comedy if these pit bull propagandists where ignored, but they are vocal in opposing legislation that would protect children from cruel deaths and they influence real world policy.
Ban Pit Bulls: More Laws Needed: Already Banned in England- When will US Policy Catch Up?
More enlightened countries such as England have already acted against cultural trends that led to widespread private ownership of pit bulls, a phenomenon we now have entrenched in the US. The Dangerous Dogs Act has been law in the UK since 1991! The law was introduced in response to numerous high profile incidents of serious injury or death resulting from attacks by aggressive and uncontrolled dogs, usually on children. These incidents received heavy media attention, which resulted in widespread public outrage over the keeping of dangerous dogs such as Pit bulls and led to the legislative response through passage of the Act banning them.
Several breeds in particular were identified by the Act including those dogs identified as Pit Bull Terriers.
It is illegal to own any of these dogs in England and the UK including Pit Bulls without specific exemption from a court of law.
The dogs that are privately held are required to be muzzled and kept on a leash in public, they must be registered and insured, neutered and receive microchip implants. The Act also bans the breeding and exchange of pit bulls. The numbers of dog attacks and serious incidents has dropped dramatically all across the UK. If only the US had such laws we could save countless lives of children!
I also note that not one of the hundreds of emails we received defending Pit Bulls mentions the fact that a country of 60 Million people voted to ban these dogs, nor do they bother to regard this as at all relevant. Such a ban is inconvient evidence to their "defenses" of these dogs to say the least. You Disagree with the UK ban? Do you have any facts, studies, agruments about the ban and its results? Let's hear them. Ban Pit Bulls!!!
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