From the always interesting Dogma blog, the Sorry Again site, where pit bulls, their owners, and concerned others speak out photographically on the tragic stupidity of breed specific legislation.
If you've lived half a century, you can remember a continuous parade of breeds that well meaning but ignorant people thought should be singled out for ostracism or oblivion. i've seen German Shepherd, Doberman, and Rottweiler scares and laws over the years, and when we're over the pit bull thing, people will single out another breed to blame. When a larger sized breed of dog, capable of inflicting more damage becomes popular, dog bites and fatal attacks by that breed rise accordingly.
Make no mistake, dog bites are on the rise, but pit bulls (which aren't a breed per se, but a category for any bully or part bully breeds when attack reports are filed) are not as much the problem as the desire of humans to own creatures they don't understand and are poorly equipped to care for. The tougher the neighborhood (or the dog owner), the more appealing having a big bad on the end of a leash becomes. Put aside for a moment those who starve, fight train, or otherwise abuse their dogs; too few decent people realize the commitment and responsibility canine custody entails. Folks who birth and raise children they don't love, control or teach create much more death and havoc in the world than dog owners, but we can't address that in the land of freedom. Teaching children, who are naturally attracted to animals, to fear or threaten dogs increases the danger.
Everywhere you go in this country, laws are already on the books to control dogs and their owners. The problem is, they largely work only after the fact, when someone has been hurt or killed, and a dog is destroyed. But singling out a breed will not make much of a difference in the 20 fatalities and less in the over 4 million bites reported annually. Another big 'protection' breed will just fill in the vacuum. Bull breeds have the equipment to be more efficient attackers than some others, but the only way to address this is on the human end.
i haven't had a dog in many years, and hope to take a pup or rescue dog when we move up north. i see dogs i want to take in all the time, but i know dogs need time, space, and training. i'm the queen of instant gratification, and if i can wait until i can make a good home... well, i lose patience with others who can't.
The only thing Sorry Again should be sorry about is that so few of their contributors know how to spell vicious. But then, considering the kind of company they keep, why should that surprise me?
Comments