Another Pit Bull Attack

[mininik]

For those of you who think you know "Pit Bulls" (good or bad), please go here:

http://www.realpitbull.com

and specifically,

http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html

http://www.realpitbull.com/history.html

 

[Sheryl]

I am a dog lover, but let's be honest here, a big strong dog is a lot scarier and can do a lot more damage when they do "go bad" or have "bad owners". I dislike most small dogs because they are often untrained and aggressive. I have a big black lab cross and small dogs go after him all the time, but I know for a fact that he could easily kill one of them, and they are not likely to be able to do him serious damage. It isn't so much about if a certain breed has more total bites (statistics lie) it is about damage that is done. SOME people do encourage or even train aggession in their dogs. Others are just in denial about how untrained their dogs are. Most people who own dogs that attack always say that their dog would never do anyting like that.... I was bitten by a St Bernard last weekend. It wasn't serious, but he broke the skin on my hand and the owner said that yeah he is naughty, he likes to grab at people. That dog was HUGE and if I had been a toddler, I would have been bit in the face.

I am not for banning specific breeds, but I am for throwing the book at owners for even smaller violations. They just don't take this issue seriously enough.

 

[FairytailGlennMinis]

It was a neighbor's Old English Sheepdog that attacked my sister when she was about 5....we had just gotten home and out of the truck and were getting into our yard when the dog came running, jumped up and pinned both of us to the fence, tearing into my sister's head. She had to have 17 stitches. I was best friends with the daughter of that dog's breeders and he was my favorite of the litter. The new owners had kept him tied out 24/7 and it made him mean and crazy. It took our 6'4" weight lifting cop dad to get the dog off and he got holes in his hands for it. That dog would have killed my sister, no question. He was NOT put down because they had his vaccination records. He got loose and attacked two more times before they put him down. It is not just the breed, it is how they are handled as well. That said, I think some breeds have "attack" bred into them and historicly, pitts are one of those which is very sad because I have known some really neat ones.

 

[runaway ranch]

I hate to hear news like this. I had a horse attacked by a dog. I feel so badly for those poor horses and for their owner. :no:

 

[CRERS]

My heart breaks for that poor woman and her horses.

Yet another sickening, needless tragedy. Oh, and it was a pit bull. What a surpise. I hope that dog is destroyed immediately, and the irresponsible owner prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!! I hope he's banned from owning dogs ever again, and I hope he never has another good night's sleep as long as he lives.

Seems to me that pit bulls are illegal in many places. Hmmm. I wonder why. Could there really be a tendency for this breed to be more unpredictable and potentially dangerous than other breeds? Could there really be that many irresponsible owners out there? (Yeah, there probably could, actually.) I don't think these dogs have been banned from so many states and provinces just on a whim. There's obviously something wrong with this breed due to the breeding of the aforementioned irresponsible breeders.

You're absolutely right, there is most definitely something wrong.......very, very wrong. Pit Bulls unfortunately have become the flavor of the week, just like Rotties, Dobermans & Dalmations have all had their time in the over-breeding spotlight throughout the years. Pit Bulls are now being bred by every moron wanna-be gangster punk that can get their hands on a male and a female, and are sadly owned by many people who have absolutely no right or logical reason to own one.

These dogs were bred for very specific purposes and their instinct is strong, however, so many people that decide to own one do not realize this, do not care or are just too irresponsible to be sure their dog is properly contained and under control at every moment with no room for mistakes!!

I have owned Pit Bulls for years and our dogs have been properly socialized, trained and cared for since day one of stepping foot into this house, HOWEVER, I still see absolutely no good reason to bring them around the horses. Do I believe they would attack them? That isn't a guess that I'm willing to take. They are 'game' dogs.....reason enough for me never to be stupid enough to chance that instinct so carefully bred into them.

This is not the dogs fault, it is the complete fault of the horrendously irresponsible owner who decided to let their dog run unsupervised, and I truly hope with all of my heart and soul that they are held 110% accountable for what they've put the owner of that poor horse through. THIS is the stuff that gives those of us who are dedicated & responsible owners of these breeds a very bad name and I'm just about as fed up as I can possibly be with hearing this stuff and watching the owners get away with nothing more than small fines and slaps on the wrist!!

No, most likely this dog will not do what he did to a person - they have been bred to fight and take down animals and have also been bred to accept their handler into the pit to call/pull them off an opponent. Dogs of this breed that would in turn try to bite their handler were immediately culled, hence leaving Bulls that are very capable of distinguishing between animal/human. This is not to say that there aren't MANY badly bred dogs out there that will not distinguish between the two carefully, but the majority can and will.

This is an absolute shame for the horses owner and the poor horse, and another nail in the coffin of respectable owners and well trained dogs. Sadly, those who should be held responsible will most likely walk with little in the way of any restitution the owner of that horse rightfully deserves. Sickening, absolutely sickening.

The absolute number one factor that determines whether or not a dog will become dangerous is............... ownership.

 

[CRERS]

Pitbulls come into the news because Pitbulls ARE news- would they even have bothered reporting the breed of the dog if it had been JRTS or just crossbreds??

Excellent point. I'd also like to point out that a lot of dogs reported in the news as pit bulls are nothing of the sort. Several years ago in detroit a dog attacked a 4 year old girl. It was widely reported as being a pit bull attack. When they showed a picture of this dog is looked like Lassie! I mean it was clearly a pure bred Collie. But it was widely reported as a pit bull. The misreporting is not usually that blatant but I do know locally about half of the pit bull attacks are actually black labs. When they show pictures of the dogs they are clearly your typical heavy built black lab. I have to question the accuracy of all of these statistics when so many dog attacks are clearly reported as being by pit bulls when the dogs are clearly not even close to being a pit.

Another excellent point, and to prove that particular point, here is an excellent little test to show everyone just how inaccurate these news statistics can be.

Can You Find The Pit Bull??

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

 

[Sue_C.]

Dog related fatalities

 

[Sheryl]

Sue, that is a very interesting study.

The one part that bothered me was the method of determining and counting breed specific numbers. First, part of the determination was based on media accounts. The second was the way attacks were counted if it was a multi-dog attack. If it was 10 dogs attacking, it would be counted 1 for each breed involved. If they were all pitbulls, it could count as 1. If it were 10 different breeds, each breed would get a 1 in the tally.

The other part is that some very aggressive dogs aren't as common and therefore don't have as much opportunity. There were 8 lab/lab cross dogs involved in fatalities over the 20 year period. Yet, Labs are one of the most common breeds compared to say mastiffs or bullmastiffs that are rarely seen in these parts.

Either way, I think the owners need to be held accountable. Not just human death, but injury. Also death and injury to other animals. It really is a very scary thing to have your dog (or horse or what-have-you) attacked by an aggressive dog that is not in control.

Dog related fatalities

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

I have been showing, raising, and breeding Pembroke Welsh Corgis. . . Flame suit on and NOT budging!

No flames here, if every person that helped bring dog litters into this world would have your ethic than I don't think we'd be hearing much about dog attacks, now, would we?

Thanks for being a responsible person

:

Ditto!!!! good for you gatorbait4sure! my daughter thinks she wants a Corgi and after reading your post i find myself thinking i will send her to you... if i could figure out a way to get here there from AZ!

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

My heart breaks for that poor woman and her horses.

The absolute number one factor that determines whether or not a dog will become dangerous is............... ownership.

these two statements say it all!

 

[runamuk]

My heart breaks for that poor woman and her horses.

Yet another sickening, needless tragedy. Oh, and it was a pit bull. What a surpise. I hope that dog is destroyed immediately, and the irresponsible owner prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!! I hope he's banned from owning dogs ever again, and I hope he never has another good night's sleep as long as he lives.

Seems to me that pit bulls are illegal in many places. Hmmm. I wonder why. Could there really be a tendency for this breed to be more unpredictable and potentially dangerous than other breeds? Could there really be that many irresponsible owners out there? (Yeah, there probably could, actually.) I don't think these dogs have been banned from so many states and provinces just on a whim. There's obviously something wrong with this breed due to the breeding of the aforementioned irresponsible breeders.

Well first off it is pitbulls because any dog that is brindle is deemed a pitbull these days even when they aren't. Secondly they are being banned due to PETA and HSUS lobbying in every state to get them banned because once they get one breed banned it is plenty easy to add more to the list ultimately banning dog ownership.

Several states that had cities ban pitbulls are now repealing those bans....WHY? because dog attacks did not go down in fact it didn't change at all even though they wiped out all those evil pitbulls. One city that banned pitbulls has actually seen a rise in violent crime and homicides...makes a person think.......

Blame the owners not the breed, blame the animal control for not enforcing existing laws, prosecute people who's dogs do this, don't ban breeds.

I feel horrible for the people who lose animals to dog attacks it is a horrible thing BUT it isn't just a pitbull thing. It is an irresponsible owner thing.

The dog related fatalities report is not accurate and much of the information came from HSUS who is well known for fabricating data and using data that is 20 yrs old. That report is just more animal rights propaganda.

 

[susanne]

I am so sorry for the death of this beautiful horse and her devastated owner. I simply cannot imagine the horror, the sorrow, or the shock..

The absolute number one factor that determines whether or not a dog will become dangerous is............... ownership.

This is so true, and as long as we imagine that pit bulls are our chief threat, we live with a false sense of security.

There is an enormous difference between a pitbull owned by the likes of Lisa or Runamuk (or any of the other responsible pit bull owners on here) versus an irresponsible, aggressive owner of almost any breed of dog.

The owners of these dangerous dogs are a menace whether they own a dog or not. These are so often the ones who brag about their assault rifles and armor-piercing bullets, and are the ones who terrorize our roads, speeding tailgating, haphazardly changing lanes, refusing to dim bright beams, and otherwise using their vehicles as weapons.

Too often, these morons abuse their animals, their children, their spouses, and anyone they feel they can intimidate. And look out...they are also the ones who will sue you out of house and home should you look at them wrong. They are missing a screw or two and are lacking in certain anatomical features...and try to make up for their shortcomings through force and intimidation.

Sadly, these cretins cannot be euthanized...we are stuck living amongst them. We are forced to live defensively, protecting ourselves as we can.

Do not blame the breed, but protect yourself and yours against all animals, but most importantly against the genetic mutants posing as humans.

We would be wise, even when our children and animals are safe, to view dangerous dogs as warning signs about the people who own rhem.

 

[dancer31501]

The absolute number one factor that determines whether or not a dog will become dangerous is............... ownership.

This is so true, and as long as we imagine that pit bulls are our chief threat, we live with a false sense of security.

There is an enormous difference between a pitbull owned by the likes of Lisa or Runamuk (or any of the other responsible pit bull owners on here) versus an irresponsible, aggressive owner of almost any breed of dog.

The owners of these dangerous dogs are a menace whether they own a dog or not. These are so often the ones who brag about their assault rifles and armor-piercing bullets, and are the ones who terrorize our roads, speeding tailgating, haphazardly changing lanes, refusing to dim bright beams, and otherwise using their vehicles as weapons.

Too often, these morons abuse their animals, their children, their spouses, and anyone they feel they can intimidate. And look out...they are also the ones who will sue you out of house and home should you look at them wrong. They are missing a screw or two and are lacking in certain anatomical features...and try to make up for their shortcomings through force and intimidation.

Sadly, these cretins cannot be euthanized...we are stuck living amongst them. We are forced to live defensively, protecting ourselves as we can.

Do not blame the breed, but protect yourself and yours against all animals, but most importantly against the genetic mutants posing as humans.

We would be wise, even when our children and animals are safe, to view dangerous dogs as warning signs about the people who own rhem.

That is the best an most true on here!!! You could not of put it any other way!!! GOOD JOB an Very true!!!!

 

[NVsOkapi]

how sad....I feel bad for the horse owner and of course the horse and baby.

I also agree that this particualr pit bull needs to be put down because of what it did.

PUNISH THE DEED...NOT THE BREED.

I have a half lab half pit bull and he is the sweetest dog...but..I am responsible and I socialized him well and I always have him in my sight and/or reaching distance. When he is running loose he has an e-collar on and he is never loose without me being in his sight. I feel so bad for dogs who are left to their own devices. You can't blame them for what they do if they have had no training or love in their life.

But please, it is the BAD HORIBLE OWNERS that are doing this to the breed. not the dogs themselves. Pit bulls were never bred to be a pet. they were bred for protection and fighting. it was people who decided one day to take them out of that world and make them a household pet. am I glad they did that? yes. do I understand that they still have a history that should be noted and observed? yes

What a sad story. I hate it when things end like this....

 

[Shortpig]

My heart goes out to the horse owner. That has to be extremely devastating. I'm trying to think how I would feel if something like that was happening and I couldn't truly protect my horses or even stop it.

I have a mixed breed chow/retreiver/cow dog?? Who really knows. He was barking at the back gate and

I couldn't see what he was so aggressively barking at. So opened the window and hollered at him and

guess what happened next. A guy I couldn't see took off with his young Pit Bull he had been training with

the help of my dog. Young guy lived right up the road from me. I was in shock. Later his whole family

was busted for cooking Meth. Then next his dog ended up in my neighbors field with his Alpacas. The guy reached down grabbed the dog and threw it over the fence before the dog even knew what hit him. Then went to the peoples house and threatened the owners. Not the dog. They have now moved on. Haven't

seen them around for awhile.

I have a couple young dogs and they get to go out in my newly fenced in front yard. One is Rottie/G Retriever cross the other a German Shepherd. Because they have been following people walking by

barking at them I will now run hot wires along that same fence high and low set back about 8" . When they start to jump up "Snap" all will be good. Not to mention they get reprimanded for doing it. I wanted to put in a 6 ft chain link fence but the City said no. It wasn't allowed. Stupid city officials. What is the purpose of that. After all it is my property and I was willing to pay the price for the higher fence.

What no one has hit on in this post so far is "JRT's" Wired Haired Fox Terriers" Bull Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers,

They all have something in common. "LOCK JAWS" You have to pry them off and sometimes it is

just too late. What causes each individual dog to react in a situation? I had a beautiful loving Collie we knew you never blew in her face. Or you could lose your face. Other than that she was the sweetest

dog. But don't be fooled she always would put herself between us and danger.

My animals are all fenced in. I do not let them run free to terrorize. I do not believe in tying a dog up

to contain it. Lots of stupid people get cute little furry puppies with the cutest large feet and then when

they start chewing up everything they move them outside and soon they are forgotten. But they won't

give them up. So the animals become bored and start to roam. Then they meet new friends in the same

situation and there begins the pack.

I have seen first hand the same personality in teenagers in our community. Their parents think they are just the cutest kids. Then they come home from school mouthy and talking back, so the parents find it easier to let them go to their friends house. Soon you have a group of young people with no purpose and alot of time on their hands. But in our society these are known as gangs. The difference is we aren't

allowed to shoot them. If I sound mean or vicious it's because I have been in their scope. If I go to

a store alone and there are three dogs at one entrance or a group of young men at the other. I'm going

to go through the dogs. Also there have been animals slaughtered in our area and not by dogs. Once again

it is humans who are truly at fault. Maybe the time has come to require people to take a test prior to owning

a dog. I feel for the dogs but once a dog tastes blood and the adrenaline rush of the chase I believe you

can't ever train that out of them. Therefore they should be put down before their next kill is a small child

or even adults have been killed by them.

 

[justagirl]

They all have something in common. "LOCK JAWS"

This is completely UNTRUE ... and is an old wives tale.

I made my opinion known about this breed several months back , and the irony is that the next week I took a job where 99% of our clientele are pit bull owners.

These owners are very responsible and plump down loads of money on their dogs and are NOT the stereotypical owner we all hear about. Over the last few months I have learned a great deal about this breed and I firmly believe that it's all in how these dogs are raised ........ and socialized.

 

[kenna]

Our pit mix is the sweetest, SMARTEST dog I've met in a long time. We also have 3 dobermans, so we get our fair share of "looks" on walks. I love these dogs, the pit mix has the best personality I could ask for, and one that i hadn't seen so far in the dogs we've had. He's AMAZING. He puts up with so much that the other dogs won't, and is actually the least aggressive of our dogs

However, while pits DON'T have locking jaws, I believe their jaws ARE built for strength and they ARE tenacious, which means when they have something, it's pretty hard to get them off. But then, it's not impossible or improbable to teach them bite inhibition, just like any dog