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« PBRC Halloween Contest | Main | Breed Differences in Canine Aggression »

November 02, 2009

Comments

MichelleD

Get it a little more anyway...the people causing trouble with their dogs are NOT the ones (usually) that over-estimate their dogs abilities. They are the ones that have NO CLUE about their dog, period. Ones that leave them chained up, isolated and/or otherwise neglected.

Julie

I agree, Michelle- the second gets it maybe a little more. The focus seems to be on owners who are being responsible in the first place. The problem isn't with owners who are saying their dogs are perfect- even if the dogs are not.

Truthfully, I feel like any responsible "pit bull" owner is far more vigilant than the majority of dog owners- we have to be.

I've certainly never claimed my dogs are unable to do wrong- in that respect, the editorial makes its most valid point, in my opinion- they're dogs. Plain and simple.

Although, and yes, I've said this before- until everyone, owners included, start seeing "pit bulls" as regular old dogs, we still have a long way to go.

Marc

Give R Ray some credit since she is a huge supporter of rescues and adoptions, particularly pit bulls. I would think some of that would rub off on her fans and not everyone would be running out for a designer pit bull but rather a resuce.

MichelleD

No doubt Marc!! I have some serious beef with the tone they direct at RR in the first article and couldn't quite put my finger on it. Its like she's being blamed for being an ambassador for the breed! Thanks God someone is encouraging people to consider a pit bull for their home! It is OBVIOUS that the tone of this article came from the rescue community. Who, in seeemingly increasing numbers, seem more intent on keeping people from adopting than facilitating adoptions (not just pit bulls either).

WTF is "but well-meaning humans mess it all up" - this is straight out of a H$U$ brochure. WELL MEANING humanes are PROBLEM????? Did she write this for the Onion!? To echo Brent's point: No, its not the stupid evil humans like Vick and those who want to model him - its those WELL MEANING people that want to adopt a poor pup with little chance of a home and like hamburgers. Yeah, its THOSE people that are the problem.

Sarah

Things like research and facts often seem to escape the spotlight when it comes to stories on animals, especially pets.

The message that the media inevitably misses is that pit bulls are designed to fight other dogs.

This *does* make them different from other dogs, because even though dog-dog aggression can crop up in any breed -- and believe me, I've seen it -- it's *supposed* to crop up in pit bulls. Genetics and environment being what they are, naturally this doesn't mean every pit is dangerously dog-aggressive, in the same way that not every Greyhound can race. But the building blocks are there.

What the media also misses is that pits are also bred to be terrific with people, including children. The fact that some aren't is also a result of those mysterious forces of genetics and environment.

But until the media and the public takes a deep breath and stops with the "They're born that way"/"It's all how they're raised" dichotomy, we're never going to get to a rational discussion about how to properly raise and keep a dog-fighting breed in a shrinking urban society.

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