Kill the Pit Bull....

This seems to be the overwhelming opinion of so many people. Those who do not understand the breed, or most any breed of canine, scream for the eradication of an entire breed to fix a problem that was created by man. For those who do not know, PitBull's (as many other breeds) are not a natural breed of dog, nor are they an older breed. Pit bulls were created by interbreeding several different breeds of dog in order to arrive at a chosen temperament and behavior. Like it or not, they were invented by man, and are being destroyed by man. The breed was designed and bred to be a dog fighting dog, and therefore would not be aggressive to humans. Most people who know the breed will tell you that attacks by pit-bulls on people are not a very common occurrence. However, pit mixes will have a higher likelihood to exhibit these character traits. The funny part of this is that people fail to mention what the pit that attacked was "mixed" with. Its simply a PitBull or a Pit Mix.

There are cities and countries that ban the breed because they consider it dangerous. There are countless people who are scared to death of the breed. The saddest part of this is that so many people who own these dogs don't understand what they have. And what they have is a dog that is ultimately devoted to his human and will do anything he asks of him, including laying down his life. After all, that is what he was bred to do. Shove him in a ring and ask him to fight to the death and he will. THAT is dedication.. Sad as it is, it is what he will do. So after years of breeding for this personality and instilling it, now the dog is being put to death because he is doing what he was made to do. Its like creating a special forces team of killer soldiers, then bringing them home only to see that some of them can't function in society. Do we kill them?

I've trained many pit bulls in my career and find them to be extremely smart and easy to train. Forget about this crazy "red zone" BS that people tell you about them, as they have no clue what they are talking about. Add it to the list with the story of the infamous "locking jaws." When this can be proven, let me know. The reason pit bulls are easy to train is mentioned above, they love their humans and will do anything for them. That being said, it is rare that you will find a pure pit-bull, most are mixed and therefore will exhibit behaviors from the breed they are mixed with as well. Pits are playful, friendly and often goofy dogs. They love to play and are high in drive / energy. They are intelligent and need stimulation, both physical and mental.

A huge problem I have with PitBulls is more often the people who own them, as opposed to the dog itself. Its sort of like a gun, in the wrong hands its a dangerous weapon. I see tough guy wanna-bees walking with their pit-bulls on a harness, and the dog is leading them down the street. These people themselves could not control a labrador, let alone a pit-bull. They take pride in making their dogs act tough because they think its cool. And remember, you can make a Chihuahua tough, a pit-bull sweet and and combination there from. A dog is a reflection of its handler. He will do what you ask of him, and if you make him bite, or allow him to bite, he will. Sometimes unknowingly and unintentionally, people instill behaviors in their animals that they are not aware they are creating. People fail to give structure to a dog that needs it. Its cute when he barks at the gate.... However when he bites someone at the gate, its not cute. Its cute when he jumps up on people, but when he jumps up on a child and knocks them down and hurts them, its not cute.

Dogs live in a black and white world. If they are not taught not to do something, they will always do it. Jumping on a friend and jumping on a child is the same to your dog. If your dog is not taught no, it will never understand it.

To continue my point on the attack on pitbulls, I urge you to take a few things into consieration. I am not a pitbull owner, but am utterly concerned about breed specific legislation. I find such a thing extremely prejudicial and wrong. To attack a breed is like attacking a religious group of humans or a race of humans.. IT IS WRONG. Furthermore it will never solve the problem. If they have the ability to ban pit bulls, then the next domnant breed will come under attack soon thereafter. Also, if you ban pit bulls, how will you regulate the mixed breeds that have a bully mix to them? What % of pit mix is too much pit and how will it be determined. Will pit bulls be made to walk around with armbands on to identify them.

I am strongly in favor of leash laws and strongly opposed to dog parks. If these two things were in palce, most of the problem would be solved. If your dog is off of the leash, you are breaking the law, not the dog. Just like if you speed, you are speeding, not your car.

Its time we abandon these "politically correct" idiotic ideals we draw and call it as it is. A dog is a dog is a dog. Your dog is your responsibility. If you have a dog its your responsibility for life. Its not the city's job to take care of your pet if you lose your house. If you have to move, find a place that will take you with your dog. If you dump your dog, you are a loser. There are places everywhere that will allow you to have a dog. You may have to drive a few miles more or maybe pay a little more rent, but don't put on a sad face and say you have to get rid of the dog because you are moving. Are you dumping your child because the first apartment you looked at wouldn't take kids? YES... I am comparing the two. They are both a life and they are both your responsibility. If you get a pit-bull puppy.... IT WILL GROW INTO A FULL SIZE DOG. Don't be an idiot. Prepare yourself for 10-15 years of responsibility. Don't buy or adopt a dog on an impulse. THINK.

If everyone took the responsibility to think before they got a dog, and then took the responsibility to give their dog what it needs, we would have no problems... Imagine a world where dogs live happy lives with their humans. On leashes, in fenced yards, living happy lives and living them with the family they started with. Imagine if only humans could live up to their end of the bargain. That is to finish what you start, and start with a sense of responsibility of what the end holds in store. If you create a bomb that will destroy civilization, eventually it will. Why not focus on creating that which can sustain a civilization?

Putting a Band-Aid on a Bullet Wound

http://www.lincolncountyjournal.com/news/view_sections.asp?idcategory=47&idarticle=3211

Do yourself a favor and read this article above carefully. See if you can find anything wrong with this way of thinking. Imagine for a second if the animals that were being discriminated against were human animals and someone took the leisure to make a decision as to what race would be tolerated and what race would not be tolerated. Say for example some statistics would show that caucasians caused more problems than other races and they should be banned from neighborhoods. That caucasians have the proclivity toward greater violence than say Latinos or Asians. That caucasians posses characteristics such as aggressions, strength and viciousness. So they should be cast out from society.

Imagine such stupid thinking... Of course people may see me as a radical for speaking out like this, but our limited thinking is just that... LIMITED. Yes, there are bad pit-bulls, as there are bad shepherds, shar pei, poodles, labs, cockers, etc. There is no one breed that is specifically bad, nor is there one breed that is specifically good. Dogs are creatures of instinct that are conditioned strongly by their upbringing and surroundings. With the exception of very few dogs, I would blame bad canine behavior on stupid human rearing and structure. If a pit bull kills another dog, or hurts a person, the person who owns the dog and his particular situation should be addressed... Not the entire breed. This is like saying we're gonna stop drunk driving by not selling Red Camaros because so many of them are involved in drunk driving accidents (this is just an example).

What we are doing is running scared without an answer to a problem and people with little knowledge are claiming to be authorities. Its time to address the problems. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and have served their humans well, now we are turning our backs on so many of them by either dumping them at the shelter or trying to exterminate a breed that was made by man. Remember, most current breeds of dogs were developed by human "engineering" in order to develop specific characteristics. Now when the science experiment goes wrong, its time to close up shop. Simple for us, we can just create the negative PR that will ally others and then we can force them out of existence. Of course we know this can never happen, so why do we do such stupid things? Simple, cause it makes the stage look like reality.

In truth it is no closer to solving the problem than banning the red Camaros. Education is the key. People who own dogs, and I mean ALL dogs should begin to educate themselves. I own a dog that many consider could be a dangerous breed, so I take steps to make sure he is well adjusted and sets and example for his breed. Lets turn the camera around and look at the good pit bulls. Lets look at the examples of happy, well adjusted pits that lead a happy life, get along with other dogs and lead well adjusted lives. Believe me there are more of these than the menaces that society tries to perpetrate. Lets point the fingers at the morons who own a breed that is so dedicated to its humans that it would die for them, and then turn them into fighters, who deny them structure, who think its cool that their dogs are "tough." IT'S NOT COOL. Its stupid. Having a dog that you think is tough and showing that off is STUPID. What it means is that you own a tough dog cause you need a tough dog to protect you. Aren't you tougher than your own dog?

Every dog deserves a fair shake, lets not be so ignorant as to believe that breed specific legislation is the answer.. ITS NOT!

By the way, PitBulls are not the number one statistics on bites to humans... Do you know what breed is? Google that one!


Robert Cabral
Founder: Bound Angels
www.boundangels.org