[ I am a very firm believer that the pit bull breed is innocent, contrary
to what many people (sadly) believe about these animals, based on what the media likes to tell them. I wrote this in response to multiple comments about how
vicious pit bulls are on a board called 'American Life' that I now frequent. I could not stand to see so much misinformation and only one side to be
represented. So, I shared my personal experience and knowledge on the subject. I've added a lot more comments, too. Here it is- ]
Half of my family have pit bulls and I fostered a "bred & dumped" pit bull not too long ago. I found her running around downtown, abandoned, scared to pieces and took her home with me until I could find the owners. yeah right. She eventually went to the animal control pound, but the county that I took her to is one of the best in the country (my state was ranked most dog-friendly in the country. we're so great!). I took naps with this dog laying on the couch right next to me. She was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met (not to mention hilarious). I had her for a total of two weeks and came to trust her pretty well - my own dog, a mutt (who is also a very sweet dog), is probably more dangerous to a human than the one I fostered.
now for the misinformation. OK, get ready for this: pit bulls were bred specifically not to be aggressive to humans. ....whaaat? when two dogs are going to be in an organized dog fight, the owners switch dogs and wash them, to be sure this is no poison on the opponent's dog's fur which would obviously kill their own dog when it went to bite its opponent (confusing, sorry). if the dogs were bred to be aggressive with humans, that could pose a problem. so for a very long time, they have been bred NOT to be aggressive to us people. also, humans needed to be able to break up the fights, so they needed to be able to get in there and not get an arm torn off.
(I speak in past tense but this sadly still goes in today in some places)
they are so loyal and want to please their owners so much that when a human does abuse them, they are very very sensitive to it, more so than other breeds. this sours them to humans in general. it is the owners fault entirely!
Another thing I hate seeing is enormous PSI (pounds per sq. inch) numbers that pit bulls can supposedly produce in their bites. Most are incorrect. NO, pit bulls do not have thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch. That is a MYTH. PSI is hard to measure in the first place, because how do you get a dog to accurately bite down on something as hard as it can? The most accurate test has been done by National Geographic. A rottweiler, a german shepard and a pit bull were all tested. Pit bull had the weakest results, as 320 PSI. To put that into perspective for you...
a macaw (very large parrot - the kind typically seen on a pirate's shoulder) roughly measured 350 PSI.
an alligator (roughly) has a bite of some 3000 PSI.
a lion - roughly 900 PSI.
and finally - humans have been measured at 175.
But when they use their muscular physique and put all of their might into killing a person, they can do it. That's why we need to weed out irresponsible owners. I would love to make permits necessary to own them! That would be great. It would cut down on so much abuse.
Some people need statistics to believe things. And not just things I say, things that specific organizations (unbiased) say.
AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER 515 430 85 83.5%
AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER 503 419 84 83.3%
these are the ATTS (american temperment test society) scores for the two breeds most often referred to as pit bulls. there is a complicated test involving attacks from random strangers on dogs, and the results are calculated by how well the test dogs behaved in such a situation. the ATTS is unbiased. (515 and 503 were the amount of dogs tested, followed by the amount that passed and the amount that failed.)
let's compare to other breeds, some of which were mentioned in this thread:
CHOW CHOW 88 61 27 69.3%
DOBERMAN PINSCHER 1438 1,104 334 76.8%
BEARDED COLLIE 45 24 21 53.3%
GOLDEN RETRIEVER 679 568 111 83.7% (only slightly higher than pit bulls)
there are others - the jack russel terrier for example, scored 100%. but only 2 were tested. I picked ones out that had many tested, and were breeds commonly found in households.
pit bulls are a powerful breed, there is no doubt about it - another thing I don't deny. when they DO attack, it is often serious. that is the problem! when. WHEN they attack. WHY do they attack? I don't buy the argument that they "snap" for a second. it doesn't make any sense! It just... goes crazy and kills a child? for no reason at all? and it was the perfect dog before? and the breed was specifically bred to NOT attack humans?
if you have a dog.. that receives such a miniscule amount of love that it feels completely abandoned, and only knows human beings that beat the crap out of them, when all they want is love in return... and then a human (keep in mind the dog is convinced all humans are evil, thanks to its owner) who is weak comes along and challenges them (looks it in the eye, rubs it the wrong way when it doesn't mean to), and they attack, that isn't that shocking when you look at it from the dog's point of view! I hate that some people never stop and observe beyond the surface what animals are capable of feeling. "Hmm, I wonder why this dog hates me? It must be crazy!" when really, the problem is THEM.
and finally - they ARE bred to be aggressive to other dogs. I will definitely admit that. the one and only reason I didn't keep this pit was because my other dog would start picking a fight with it the moment it saw her. and the pit bull would not back down. although my dog showed more signs of aggression, I still did not want to risk it. if, as a puppy, they are raised around many other dogs and trained properly, they can live in peace with other dogs and even cats. but if not.... don't even try introducing them.
I didn't want to put a picture of her in the beginning of this entry, because I don't like when people try to 'set the scene' and get the reader in a certain mindset before reading the facts and information. Now that everything has been said, her she is:
AWW. isn't she freaking adorable?
I think this pretty much explains my position! there is a LOT of stuff up there, I combined a few posts and elaborated, but I hope it has enlightened some people.
Half of my family have pit bulls and I fostered a "bred & dumped" pit bull not too long ago. I found her running around downtown, abandoned, scared to pieces and took her home with me until I could find the owners. yeah right. She eventually went to the animal control pound, but the county that I took her to is one of the best in the country (my state was ranked most dog-friendly in the country. we're so great!). I took naps with this dog laying on the couch right next to me. She was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met (not to mention hilarious). I had her for a total of two weeks and came to trust her pretty well - my own dog, a mutt (who is also a very sweet dog), is probably more dangerous to a human than the one I fostered.
now for the misinformation. OK, get ready for this: pit bulls were bred specifically not to be aggressive to humans. ....whaaat? when two dogs are going to be in an organized dog fight, the owners switch dogs and wash them, to be sure this is no poison on the opponent's dog's fur which would obviously kill their own dog when it went to bite its opponent (confusing, sorry). if the dogs were bred to be aggressive with humans, that could pose a problem. so for a very long time, they have been bred NOT to be aggressive to us people. also, humans needed to be able to break up the fights, so they needed to be able to get in there and not get an arm torn off.
(I speak in past tense but this sadly still goes in today in some places)
they are so loyal and want to please their owners so much that when a human does abuse them, they are very very sensitive to it, more so than other breeds. this sours them to humans in general. it is the owners fault entirely!
Another thing I hate seeing is enormous PSI (pounds per sq. inch) numbers that pit bulls can supposedly produce in their bites. Most are incorrect. NO, pit bulls do not have thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch. That is a MYTH. PSI is hard to measure in the first place, because how do you get a dog to accurately bite down on something as hard as it can? The most accurate test has been done by National Geographic. A rottweiler, a german shepard and a pit bull were all tested. Pit bull had the weakest results, as 320 PSI. To put that into perspective for you...
a macaw (very large parrot - the kind typically seen on a pirate's shoulder) roughly measured 350 PSI.
an alligator (roughly) has a bite of some 3000 PSI.
a lion - roughly 900 PSI.
and finally - humans have been measured at 175.
But when they use their muscular physique and put all of their might into killing a person, they can do it. That's why we need to weed out irresponsible owners. I would love to make permits necessary to own them! That would be great. It would cut down on so much abuse.
Some people need statistics to believe things. And not just things I say, things that specific organizations (unbiased) say.
AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER 515 430 85 83.5%
AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER 503 419 84 83.3%
these are the ATTS (american temperment test society) scores for the two breeds most often referred to as pit bulls. there is a complicated test involving attacks from random strangers on dogs, and the results are calculated by how well the test dogs behaved in such a situation. the ATTS is unbiased. (515 and 503 were the amount of dogs tested, followed by the amount that passed and the amount that failed.)
let's compare to other breeds, some of which were mentioned in this thread:
CHOW CHOW 88 61 27 69.3%
DOBERMAN PINSCHER 1438 1,104 334 76.8%
BEARDED COLLIE 45 24 21 53.3%
GOLDEN RETRIEVER 679 568 111 83.7% (only slightly higher than pit bulls)
there are others - the jack russel terrier for example, scored 100%. but only 2 were tested. I picked ones out that had many tested, and were breeds commonly found in households.
pit bulls are a powerful breed, there is no doubt about it - another thing I don't deny. when they DO attack, it is often serious. that is the problem! when. WHEN they attack. WHY do they attack? I don't buy the argument that they "snap" for a second. it doesn't make any sense! It just... goes crazy and kills a child? for no reason at all? and it was the perfect dog before? and the breed was specifically bred to NOT attack humans?
if you have a dog.. that receives such a miniscule amount of love that it feels completely abandoned, and only knows human beings that beat the crap out of them, when all they want is love in return... and then a human (keep in mind the dog is convinced all humans are evil, thanks to its owner) who is weak comes along and challenges them (looks it in the eye, rubs it the wrong way when it doesn't mean to), and they attack, that isn't that shocking when you look at it from the dog's point of view! I hate that some people never stop and observe beyond the surface what animals are capable of feeling. "Hmm, I wonder why this dog hates me? It must be crazy!" when really, the problem is THEM.
and finally - they ARE bred to be aggressive to other dogs. I will definitely admit that. the one and only reason I didn't keep this pit was because my other dog would start picking a fight with it the moment it saw her. and the pit bull would not back down. although my dog showed more signs of aggression, I still did not want to risk it. if, as a puppy, they are raised around many other dogs and trained properly, they can live in peace with other dogs and even cats. but if not.... don't even try introducing them.
I didn't want to put a picture of her in the beginning of this entry, because I don't like when people try to 'set the scene' and get the reader in a certain mindset before reading the facts and information. Now that everything has been said, her she is:
AWW. isn't she freaking adorable?
I think this pretty much explains my position! there is a LOT of stuff up there, I combined a few posts and elaborated, but I hope it has enlightened some people.
