pit bulls...have we mentioned them?

I had friends with 2 sons, 4 and 5 at the time, who went to the pre-school/nursery school with my kids. They were out playing in their front yard; the gardeners for a neighbor a couple of houses down were working on that yard. The gardeners had recently bought a pitbull with the idea that it would be a guard dog for their equipment while they worked, I guess they had some stuff stolen off the truck previously. They had the dog chained to the truck and gone into the back yard, mowers and blowers running, lots of noise. The dog slipped the chain...

The older son went screaming in terror into the house calling for mom, she came out to find the pitbull mauling the 4 year old. Between her yelling and screaming, neighbors running to help, they finally got the pitbull off. The 4 year old was alive, but had most of his face torn off. He was rushed to the hospital where he spent about 12 hours in reconstructive surgery ... as a start.

The dog was destroyed promptly by animal control; the gardeners were charged with negligence or something. The boy is fine now, 15 years later, thanks to the doctors he had; but it was a near thing.

 

+1000

Great looking dog - and that is a fantastic photo

 

I think anyone who doesn't have their pitbull, completely locked down should have the dog taken away. Like CMY said, his dog has to get through 3 fences and I'm sure he keeps a very good eye on the dog, but sadly the majority of owners don't. Most people have the dog tied to an old stump behind a chain-link fence, not a chance that would hold up if the dog wanted to get out. Of course there are good, responsible owners with a dog that would never hurt a fly but the majority would and the good dogs are the exception to the rule not the other way around.

 

New law passed in the UK today, all status dogs must be muzzled and restrained while outside.

 

That would sure change a lot of things. An owner of an aggressive breed would probably feel a little "less macho" with that pesky muzzle on.

 

Here in Toronto we have a fairly new law(about 2 years now) where' pitbull owner's must have their dog's muzzled. If they get caught without a muzzle they get a HUGE fine.

I'm pretty sure it's just PitBull's however I could be wrong.

As I said before I've been attacked and bitten twice by a Pit and then I have a friend with one of the friendliest dog's i've ever met that's a Pit(remember the retarded one)

So it goes both way's.

 

http://www.gm.tv/articles/45430-dangerous-dogs-asbo.html

I also saw that the Uk passed a dangerous dog act in '91, so not really the first law if its kind. I wish the US would do that.

 

No specific breed was mentioned but i assume they mean Dobermans, alsations etc.

Exactly and if it did get loose no damage can be done.

 

pit bulls have been outlawed in Denver for some time now - for a reason. we hear of pit bull attacks frequently, i have never heard of any other attacks from a different breed.

 

here is the history of the ban in denver and some of the accounts of attacks:

History of the Denver Pit Bull Ban
The history of the City and County of Denver pit bull ban, which was enacted in 1989, revoked in April 2004 and reinstated in May 2005, is best summarized in a 2005 Municipal Lawyer article titled, "One City's Experience," by Kory A. Nelson, the Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City and County of Denver. A deeper review of the ban's legal history can be found in, "Denver's Pit Bull Ordinance, A Review of Its History and Judicial Rulings," (download PDF) also by Mr. Nelson.

Below we have gathered pit bull attack incidents that played a role in the enactment of the Denver pit bull ban. Due to the closeness of the City of Aurora, which passed a Fighting Breed ban in 2005, we've included Aurora incidents as well. Though distinctly two separate cities, their histories regarding the pit bull problem overlap. Combined, the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area has an estimated population of 2.3 million, both of which cities prohibit new pit bulls.

(1986) Fernando Salazar | On October 26, 1986, 3-year old Fernando Salazar of Denver wandered into a neighbor's yard and was killed by a pit bull chained to the neighbor's carport. At the time of the attack, Gil Troncasa, the dog's owner, was watching football on T.V. His wife ultimately discovered the deadly incident.
(1989) Rev. Wilbur Billingsley | On May 8, 1989, 59-year old Rev. Wilbur Billingsley of Denver was attacked by a pit bull in the alley behind his home. The victim suffered serious injuries with over 70 bites and two broken legs. His neighbor, Normal Cable, stopped the assault by firing a shotgun at the dog.1
October 1989, Denver Passes Pit Bull Ban

(2003) Jennifer Brooke | On November 30, 2003, 40-year old Jennifer Brooke of Elbert County2 was killed by loose pit bulls when she went out to feed her horses. At the time, she had been armed with a baseball bat. Two other victims were bitten in this same incident before arriving officers shot and killed the dogs.
(2004) John Doe | On February 1, 2004, a 5-year old boy was bitten in the face by a pit bull during a Super Bowl party. The attack occurred in the Montbello home of Vanessa Stephen, who was believed to be the boy's grandmother. Stephen was cited for the attack and for harboring an unregistered pit bull.3
(2004) On April 14, 2004, Colorado Governor Bill Owens signed House Bill 1279, which prohibited counties and municipalities from regulating dogs through breed-specific laws. Later that same day, the City and County of Denver announced that it would suspend active enforcement of its pit bull ban ordinance.
April 2004, Denver Pit Bull Ban Revoked

(2004) Jane Doe | On July 13, 2004, a 7-year old girl was attacked near the Denver Tech Center by her babysitter's "mastiff-mix." The babysitter, Gretchen Robinson, had recently adopted the dog from the Denver Dumb Friends League. Arriving officers were forced to shoot the dog three times killing it.4
(2004) Vivianna Vigil | On September 13, 2004, 3-year old Vivianna Vigil of Aurora was attacked by a pit bull who had gotten out of its owner's house through a screen door. Neighbor Kristen Brown said the pit bull had a "death grip" on the little girl. In August, the same pit bull had attacked a FedEx deliveryman.
(2004) Gabriel Moody | On October 15, 2004, 6-year old Gabriel Moody was severely bitten in the face by a pit bull in Westminister, which is a northwest suburb of Denver, but lies in a different county. The owner of the dog, Shelley Fernandez of Arvada, had been visiting the boy's family at the time if the attack.
(2005) John Albergotti | On February 24, 2005, Denver Police Officer John Albergotti was attacked by a pit bull while attempting to locate a homicide suspect. He supplied testimony in the April court case that authorized Denver to reinstate its pit bull ban (City and County of Denver v. State of Colorado).
May 2005, Denver Pit Bull Ban Reinstated

(2005) Jose Simental | On September 11, 2005, Jose Simental of Aurora was working outside on his truck when four pit bulls attacked him. A friend of his fought the dogs off with a crowbar. The owner of the pit bulls had been "keeping the dogs for her kids" who couldn't house pit bulls because of Denver's ban.5
October 2005, Aurora Passes Fighting Breed Ban

(2005) Gregg Jones Jr., | On November 2, 2005, 10-year old Gregg Jones Jr. of Aurora was brutally attacked by his mother's three pit bulls in his backyard. One of his arms was so badly injured that doctors had to amputate it. The attack fell one week after Aurora passed its Fighting Breed ban, but prior to its "effect" date.6
(2007) Dorothy Rugg | On July 12, 2007, 63-year old Dorothy Rugg and her granddaughter, 20-year old Bobbi Mitchell of Aurora, were attacked by a family pit bull while visiting the home of Rugg's son (see video). The dog was repeatedly stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife, but this failed to stop its violent assault.7
(2008) On November 19, 2008, Chief U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel upheld the Aurora Fighting Breed ban. Daniel rejected arguments brought by the American Canine Foundation, a pit bull lobbying group, and Florence Vianzon Sasek including: Substantive Due Process, Equal Protection and Takings Claims.
For historical purposes, a PDF file combining these victims' stories can be found at the DogsBite.org Scribd page, "Historical Pit Bull Attack Victims of Denver and Aurora."

 

aaaaaaaaand, results from a search on dog attacks in denver from breeds other than pit bulls results in 2 attacks in the same time period as above, one attack was from a rottie, the other was a boxer.

 

Owner's know the breed is a dangerous and tempermental breed which I think is part of their reasoning behind getting one.

Their specific dog may not be dangerous but arguing that the breed is not in general is stupid and they know it, hence all the defensive and offensive comment's about their dog's/breed.

Just give it up, Pit/Rott's* etc., are dangerous dog's.



* I would get a Rott over a Pit personally any day.

 

exactly

 

I think the evidence, when regressed to remove the influence of the owners, shows that the breed is no more dangerous than other breeds. It's hard to wrap your head around this, in the face of so many reports of attacks, but what I am getting at is the root cause--the lack of proper socialization of these dogs by their owners, a statistically significant number of whom tend to be "ghetto." The breed is not inherently dangerous, at least no more than akitas or chows or dobermans or shepherds or other guard breeds. But the owners they attract has made it so in reality. Their jaw structure and musculature makes them lethal when they do attack.

Might be a minor, insignificant distinction at this point, but it's still there.

I actually read that the largest number of attacks in the US are by golden retrievers. Considering their popularity, you could say that is the most vicious breed. Obviously, you'd be ignoring the fact that they are three times as popular a pet as any other breed of dog. But to use the logic on here, who cares, the fact is that they carried out the most attacks so they must be the most vicious breed.

No, I am not a pit bull owner. I just love all dogs, and I hate unfounded hysteria whether it results in glacial speed limits or hatred towards an undeserving breed of dog.

 

Didn't have a chance to read the full thread but this may still be of relevance imho

Went to stay at a friends house who I've stayed at before. At 3am I roll into his house and just crash on the usual couch in his den. It was dark and I had generous levels of Patron in my blood so I just hit the sack.

The next morning I see a pitbull standing a few feet away. I'm somewhat alarmed since I didn't know his roommate of a year had one in my pals house. I get up to head to the kitchen for water while the pitbull goes to bed on the the couch he has used for the past year to sleep on.

I do recall my legs weren't super comfy when I hit the couch but presumed it was a pillow or clothes that I kicked off that night. I ended up staying a couple more nights and the pitbull ended up being one of the most easy going dogs I have come across who just wanted pets non stop.

Flipped my opinion of the bread 100% but I guess it comes down to how they are taken care of and if the actual dog is happy?

 

Too much paranoia fuelled by too many stereotypes for people to be rational about this. Of only the dogs could speak.

 

Dogs are quite often like children in that they are a strong reflection of their owners. Nervous people have nervous dogs, calm people have calm dogs, and A-Holes have bad dogs. And, like people, there are no absolutes. Also, some dogs (and people) just aren't wired right. I owned and ran a dog daycare and kennel for 3 years, seeing over 12,000 dogs a year that included every breed under the sun. I conducted extensive temperament evaluations for every dog before allowing them in as clients, and I rejected a lot of them. Some of my competitors had blanket no-Pit Bull policies which I viewed as short-sighted because it tended to overlook the ability of any breed to produce aggressive variants, be it through nature or nurture. I had about a dozen bully breed clients, and all of them were incredibly sweet and loving dogs. In fact, they were some of the most consistently well-behaved dogs in what was an ever-changing environment. I understand why some people hold strong anti-Pit sentiments given the way their breed has been bastardized. I preferred to judge each and every dog on its own merit, from the moment it first entered its facility to the personality of its owner and how well it did or did not settle in given our facility's specific layout.

Pit Bulls have become the dog of choice for the gang banger/trailer trash set because of their power to weight ratio, and unfortunately when something goes wrong it's usually pretty severe. I've seen studies about the reactive threshold of Pit Bulls, where the theory says they have a higher threshold than most breeds, but rather than escalating their aggression they go from 0 to 10 much more quickly. I have no way of knowing whether that is, in fact, true. But to me that would be where the breeding comes in to play. Dog fighters kill a lot more of their own dogs than they raise, typically because they do not display that desired level of aggression and don't warrant the expense of raising. And while these fighting dogs do sometimes wind up in the shelter system, their blood lines are unlikely to cross over into the general population. Shelters spay/neuter all their dogs, and typically most of these animals are euthanized. Keep in mind that it isn't in the best interest of the shelter system to re-home an aggressive animal. I used to consult with a trainer who ran the Queensland SPCA, and he talked a lot about what a horrible job that is. They always erred on the side of euthanasia rather than taking a chance on borderline dogs.

There's no doubt that Pit Bulls are a polarizing breed, but my personal experience with them has been nothing but positive. My rule of thumb with any dog is to look at the owner, not the breed.

 

But how many goldens cause death? As you can see above the vast majority of pit bull attacks killed the person.

 

CMA really has the right attitude about these dogs.

I am a pit mix owner of 8 years. Every effort to socialize and train has had very mixed levels of success. The theory that bad incidents with this breed are of the fault of bad owners are wishful thinking. Despite a very loving home, daily exercise and command giving to keep her obedience training sustained, she remains unpredictable.

Owners of this breed need to understand and accept what they are dealing with. The simple fact is owners who try all they may to undo levels of aggression, and do nothing to encourage this behavior may still have a killer dog.

I never leave the house without a muzzle on her.
I never let her off leash.

The prevailing guesswork that identifies a "bad owner" as someone who encourages these attacks by encouraging aggression misses the point. The only bad owners are those who fail to accept the responsibility of 100% control at all times.

 

How long have you had your dog? Did you get her as a pup? If she wasn't socialized early on, you'll never recapture that window of opportunity and, at best, will only have moderate success reconditioning her to accept other dogs. Again, unpredictable. From my observations, pit mixes are more anxious/skittish than the pure breeds and your experience seems consistent with that. But it's good you recognize responsibility as a dog owner, regardless of the breed.

 

This is the exact attitude owners should have, and if they did I would have 0 problem with the breed, unfortunately this isn't the case.

 

or in this case a dog eat police car world!

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/mar/25/video-winston-dog-vs-police-car/

Chris