People and Dogs

Written by After

After reading about the pit bull on a rampage in Reservoir a couple of days ago (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26228455-421,00.html) , it started me thinking again about people and dogs. Now I will start off by saying that I do not own a dog. Never have, but probably will at some point in the future when my daughter is a bit older and can understand how to take care of one.I have been around dogs, I know people who have dogs. I know people who have cute little fluffy white one, ugly slobbering fat ones, old crippled blind ones and yes, even people with pit bulls. And to those with pit bulls, you will probably not like my opinion on people and dogs, but then you may also agree with me.

You can do a google search on pit bulls and get just as much information on how they are lovely family dogs that cuddle up to 9 month old babies as well as how they will rip your throat out as quick as look at you. You read about how their aggressive fighting streak has been bred out of them just as much as how they are bred for dog fighting, and to rip throats out. Of course I believe the earlier version, because lets face it, who on earth fights dogs in this day and age, so why would they need to breed a fighting instinct into a dog... Yeah.. Righto. Point being there are arguements on both side of the fence, and both insist that they know they truth.

 

 I know there area lot of people who love their pit bulls. And when I say love their pit bulls, I am talking about those kinds of people who are aware that they have a dog with 'perhaps a bit more' of an aggressive nature than others. People who actually spend the time, money and energy training their dogs and teaching them to obey and behave. People who will secure their yards, not just to please other people and give the illusion that their dogs are secure, but actually secure them. People who don't own a pit bull so they can boast about their 'big tough pit bull' that would rip apart any stray animal or person who wanders into their yard. And believe it or not, I do think it is harsh that these people would be punished by having the breed banned, all because of a 'few bad seeds'. But the thing is, I don't think it is a few bad seeds. I reckon there would be just as many, probably more, people who have pit bulls because they want to look tough. Now that is not based on any research or statistics, it is solely based on observations.

So, would banning the breed solve a problem? I think yes. And before all you bleeding heart pit bull lovers start rattling off statistics about dog attacks from other breeds and how the owners are to blame, not the dogs and that banning them is against freedom of speech, freedom of association or whatever other freedom you can think of, then I also slightly agree with you there too. But at the end of the day, if you have a breed of dog, such as the pit bull which is favoured by those in society who want a dog for 'protection, or to look tough, or to scare off rival smack dealers or other such personalities which have zero idea on how to look after a dog, and probably encourage it to be vicious, then unfortunatly changing these peoples behaviours would be rather like banging your head against a brick wall. I would say banning the breed would be a hell of a lot easier, and not to mention safer in the meantime while you try and teach your local 'gangster wannabe' to not train their dogs to attack on command.

But lets have a look at some stats I found with a quick google search. The first one I came across was a Dog Attack report from 2004/2005 ( http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/Files/Information/Dog%20Attack%20Report%20July%202004%20-%20June%202005.pdf) Hmm... Not looking good for pit bulls. Now you can argue those stats in either way. I will argue them to my point of view of course... How many pit bulll owners who actually register their dogs will register them as a 'Staffy cross' or some other similar, but different breed, so as to avoid attention about them having a pit bull? So chances are that stat is probably higher. I am sure though you could find a bunch of stats to support any theory if you search hard enough. So perhaps thats where it makes it such a contentious issue of banning breeds.

Reality is that pit bulls are a breed which have bred for decades for dog fighting. Which means they have been bred to attack, be aggressive, fight to the death and generally be furry weapons with 4 legs. I have no doubt that over time and with very careful and responsible breeding this trait could be bred out of them, but do we really want to take the risk in the meantime. Those newspaper headlines could very easily have read '10 year old girl mauled to death', thankfully it didn't. Put aside human attacks, lets mot forget about other peoples pets which pit bulls would be probably even more likely to go for. I would be rather pissed off if I was out walking my little white fluffy poodle (if I had one) with my 3 year old daughter and a pit pull, or any dog of course, ripped its throat out. Yes, I said any dog, I am not saying that pit bulls are the only aggro breed, but it is the one which is being discussed.

So after banning pitbulls, and other dangerous breeds which are bred for fighting, I still think more needs to be done in the are of people and dogs. There should be compulsory training and obedience schooling, be it a poodle or a great dane, and people need to ensure that their dogs are secure, on leads in public and not a menace to those around them. You might be a dog lover and 'know' that your precious doggy is nice and kind, but the little old lady walking towards you on the street doesnt know that. My mother has a fear of dogs, she freaks out when they are around and not a leash in public, the owners might say 'ah, spotty is ok, he is harmless' and thats all well and good, but have a bit of respect for other people. I don't wander down the street waving about an unloaded pistol saying 'it's ok, it is unloaded!'

I was ranting to 'Burn' earlier tonight, and this is what he had to say on the matter:

but if you wanna dog like that carry a gun i reckon, both kill, and one eats less food