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Pitbulls - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

Pitbulls, what's your opinion of them?


  • Total voters
    54
They are a breed of animal which should be left in the past
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO_lCT1HgzQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXiO_duXa5A

I don't belive they are nice and docile dogs, I think they are mentally screwed up from years of fighting. The most dangerous are the docile, since they can turn on your child in a second

EXTERMINATE THEM

A friend of mine got attacked by such an animal, we had to cave it's head in before it would let go of his leg.


I'd rather the dangerous breed was exterminated than having to do something like this, prevention is better than cure



QUOTE
Pit bulls drove my family from the Bronx. My pregnant wife and I had moved to Bedford Park, off Mosholu Parkway, late in 1997. Though the neighborhood had rough edges, we got used to it, at least for a while. After our son was born, however—and as spring blossomed, and we ventured outside more often—we found ourselves growing ever more frightened of dangerous dogs. Pit-bull owners had converted the little park in front of our apartment building into a dog-training ground, where they goaded their animals into attacking one another or taught them to hang from tree branches to strengthen their jaws and their tenacity. Not surprisingly, when the dogs were running wild, the neighborhood's young mothers gathered up their children and fled. Seniors cowered together on a few benches. Like the mothers, owners of small dogs waited until the park was pit-bull-free before taking them for a walk. The park had been lost as a public space, impoverishing the neighborhood.
The dogs had taken over more than the park. Walking down 204th Street or past the gone- to-seed low-income housing abutting the Metro-North Botanical Garden stop, we regularly ran a gauntlet of thugs flaunting spike-collared pit bulls, bespeaking a world of anarchy and dread. As a friend and I walked home one spring night, we saw three stocking-capped toughs slouched against a chain-link fence, barely restraining a thick- necked, snarling pit bull. My heart raced, until I noticed two young cops walking in our direction, just beyond the bad dudes. My relief was short-lived. "It's a full moon, and dogs go crazy in the fooool moon," one of the thugs howled wildly, as he let the pit bull lunge to the end of his leash at the cops. A confrontation seemed imminent, but the two officers nervously crossed the street to avoid it. "I guess we know who won that battle," my friend glumly noted, and we crossed the street, too


QUOTE
CDC and other health agencies reports pit bull-type dogs were responsible for more bite-related deaths than other breeds

QUOTE
A similar incident happened in Dallas where two people were seriously injured after two pit bulls that had gotten out of their yard, attacked them. The victims – Helen Fuller and Clarence Webber – were hospitalized. Helen Fuller is expected to lose an eye and her brother says that he knows her life “is going to be changed from this point.” She also suffered severe facial injuries. In the Dallas dog attack case, the pit bulls were picked up by animal control for roaming in the neighborhood, but were later returned to their owner.This is aggravating because this is not the first time in Texas or here in California that pit bulls have broken out of restraint and gone off their owner’s property to violently attack a human being. According to Dogsbite.org, the combination of pit bulls, rottweilers and wolf hybrids are responsible for:
* 77 percent of attacks that cause bodily harm
* 73 percent of dog attacks on children
* 83 percent of attacks on adults
* 70 percent of attacks that result in fatalities
* 77 percent that result in maiming
And here is one more interesting fact about pit bulls: These dogs attack adults nearly as often as they attack children, a characteristic not found in any other breed. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between the years 1979 and 1998 at least 25 breeds of dogs were involved in 238 human dog bite related fatalities. Pit bulls and rottweilers were involved in more than half of these fatalities – about 60 percent.

QUOTE
Pit bulls at top of fatal attacks
About 4.7 million people are bitten every year by dogs, resulting in about 12 fatalities a year, according to the federal statistics. About 500,000 to 800,000 dog bites require medical treatment annually.Children, according to the 2000 federal study, are the most vulnerable victims in dog attacks. Those under the age of 14 account for 42 percent of dog bite injuries. The highest rate of injuries was to children between the ages of 5 and 9.Carl Friedman, director of San Francisco's Animal Care and Control, said that although he does not want to condemn an entire breed, local and national statistics support taking steps to regulate pit bulls, such as mandatory neutering. "When you have a mauling where a 12-year-old child is killed and when 50 to 60 percent of our hearings for vicious and dangerous animals are for pit bulls, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to see we have a problem with pit bulls," Friedman said.
 
I think pit bulls are much like Rotts in that they have a bad rep. I see news about dog fighting rings and they use pit bulls mostly. I think it's just sad what happens to those poor dogs. That said, pit bulls do scare me, but then again, i have a fear of dogs, esp. big dogs.
 
While I don't have a problem with pit bulls, per se, I do think they need a special type of owner. Unfortunately, they don't seem to get the right owners around where I live.
 
^Yep, and they're often Goldens or Labs.

QFT. Labs have a reputation for being very docile, gentle, and obedient dog; however, I've seen stats that more bites/attacks are attributed to Labs than any other breed.

Part of that is sheer numbers. Labs are the most popular breed in America, and Goldens are #7, per AKC registration numbers.

I've owned a Golden, and currently own a Lab. I couldn't imagine them biting anyone unless threatened. Then again, we've trained them pretty hard from puppies on.

I am intimidated by pit bulls and dobermans and the like, especially the ones from rescues with lack of training as a pup and potentially shady backgrounds. Mainly because of the stigma, but you repeatedly hear stories about the same 'vicious' breeds over and over.
 
Labs might have a record of 'bites' but I doubt very much any of those bites are fatal.
Plus if you see a Labrador Retriever going psycho on a kid, what you do is you just run up and kick that dog a good hard kick straight into the face and that's going to send him/her running with its tail between its legs


Pitbulls have a F'ing psychotic reputation for a reason, they go f-ing psycho and there's no stopping them.
Here's one who didn't understand the meaning of the world porcupine and kept attacking and attacking
http://therealsouthkorea.wordpress....ing-images-series-dont-mess-with-a-porcupine/
pitbull10ya.jpg

dumbass breed....intelligence LMFAO

They also got this thing called "lock-jaw" so when they maul some soft and cushy that don't have spikes like a human, they bite on and don't let go

Like SmoothieX says the reason you might see Labs on some bite list is because they are millions and millions of these dogs in America...so inevitably you get one or two rotten apples that might one day bite someone....putting Labs on some sh!tlist is just a distraction by Pitt fanatics to protect this inevitably aggressive and dangerous fighting dog
Unlike a Lab, if a Pitbull attacks someone it ain't gonna be stopped by a kick to the face
Or a command like "bold dog - stay"
They are fighting dogs who belong in our past and not in our future

EXTERMINATE THEM
 
^Yep, and they're often Goldens or Labs.

QFT. Labs have a reputation for being very docile, gentle, and obedient dog; however, I've seen stats that more bites/attacks are attributed to Labs than any other breed.

Part of that is sheer numbers. Labs are the most popular breed in America, and Goldens are #7, per AKC registration numbers.

I've owned a Golden, and currently own a Lab. I couldn't imagine them biting anyone unless threatened. Then again, we've trained them pretty hard from puppies on.

I am intimidated by pit bulls and dobermans and the like, especially the ones from rescues with lack of training as a pup and potentially shady backgrounds. Mainly because of the stigma, but you repeatedly hear stories about the same 'vicious' breeds over and over.
I have a friend with a rescue lab (one of four dogs) that will rip your throat out. No, I'm not kidding, either. Do not look the dog directly in the eye and do not make sudden movements toward either him or his wife (or at all, for that matter) -- and that's with the dog on her leash. When his wife walks the dogs in the evening, she has no fear walking alone, in the dark, with that particular dog.
 
I have a friend with a rescue lab (one of four dogs) that will rip your throat out. No, I'm not kidding, either. Do not look the dog directly in the eye and do not make sudden movements toward either him or his wife (

Whose wife? Your friend's, or the dog's? :lol:
 
Pit bulls drove my family from the Bronx. My pregnant wife and I had moved to Bedford Park, off Mosholu Parkway, late in 1997. Though the neighborhood had rough edges, we got used to it, at least for a while. After our son was born, however—and as spring blossomed, and we ventured outside more often—we found ourselves growing ever more frightened of dangerous dogs. Pit-bull owners had converted the little park in front of our apartment building into a dog-training ground, where they goaded their animals into attacking one another or taught them to hang from tree branches to strengthen their jaws and their tenacity. Not surprisingly, when the dogs were running wild, the neighborhood's young mothers gathered up their children and fled. Seniors cowered together on a few benches. Like the mothers, owners of small dogs waited until the park was pit-bull-free before taking them for a walk. The park had been lost as a public space, impoverishing the neighborhood.
The dogs had taken over more than the park. Walking down 204th Street or past the gone- to-seed low-income housing abutting the Metro-North Botanical Garden stop, we regularly ran a gauntlet of thugs flaunting spike-collared pit bulls, bespeaking a world of anarchy and dread. As a friend and I walked home one spring night, we saw three stocking-capped toughs slouched against a chain-link fence, barely restraining a thick- necked, snarling pit bull. My heart raced, until I noticed two young cops walking in our direction, just beyond the bad dudes. My relief was short-lived. "It's a full moon, and dogs go crazy in the fooool moon," one of the thugs howled wildly, as he let the pit bull lunge to the end of his leash at the cops. A confrontation seemed imminent, but the two officers nervously crossed the street to avoid it. "I guess we know who won that battle," my friend glumly noted, and we crossed the street, too

OK. The police failed. Then why not complain further to the police. Win by volume in that instance. Why not ask those cops the name of their supervisor and complain to their sergeant that their officers failed to stop an obvious crime (i.e. dogfighting) from taking place. If need be take that to the local press and that can also put pressure on the cops to do something and not send a couple limp dicks to take care of the situation.

Wheres the EXTERMINATE THEM vote option at?

That's about as sensible as banning cars because many people die in car accidents.

Yes, there should be education involved before one purchases a Pitbull, but there is no need to completely obliterate the breed. Most of this anti-pitbull hysteria started because of misinformation and media instigated idiocy. Quite a few 'media types' and most certainly the average citizen fails this test. Only one of the twenty five dogs in the aforementioned link is a pitbull, can any anti-pitbull type identify the pit? Also quite a few of that 96% could also be attributed to breeds commonly mistaken for pitbulls.

And that dog with the quill injuries your showing? Where the hell was the owner when his dog got into that scrap? He should've pulled his dog out of that situation or prevented it from occuring.

inevitably aggressive and dangerous fighting dog

I doubt the men of the US 102nd Infantry Regiment would agree with your assessment. Stubby, their Pitbull, was every bit the loyal and loving comrade at arms that saved many of his fellow soldiers, foiled a spy, and even saved the life of a French child in Paris (he prevented the lad from being run over by an ambulance). And let us not forget human aggression is inherently a flaw of the Pitbull genome. They were bred to fight, yes, but they also had to be handled and any dog that bit its handler was culled.

Not too long ago the Pitbull was a symbol of unending loyalty and steadfast devotion, as Stubby and many other dogs of his ilk have shown. Let us not forget that these animals were and are loyal and steadfast companions of man.

And also, no dog should be left unsupervised around a child. A dog should be properly socialized around all humans and other animals so that unfortunate incidents do not occur. The burden is then upon the owner, who must train and monitor his pooch. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
I'm in the "hate 'em" category. Locally, we have had a lot of dog mauling cases form Pit Bulls. Just a few days ago, I was in a park where 4 women were sitting having coffee at a cafe. One of them had a Pit Bull that was laying down on the ground next to her, on a leash. A man walked by with a Pointer heading away from them and the Pit Bull roared off and tried to attack the Pointer. The woman was not holding on to the leash nor locked it under her chair leg.

The man with the Pointer did a good job of keeping his dog behind him and away from the Pit Bull, who was trying to get the Pointer by the neck in his jaws. It was fortunate that when the Pit did try to chomp down on the Pointer's neck that he was able to slide away without injury. I'm glad that the woman finally got her dog under control.

She went back and put the handle-base of the retractable leash under her chair leg, which was good as a man was walking by with 2 West Highland Terriers and the Pit Bull reared up snapping, but couldn't get to them.

Every time I see a PB, I get away from it as quickly as possible.
 
The woman was not holding on to the leash nor locked it under her chair leg.

Yet another example of irresponsible owner and improperly socialized/trained dog. Did this woman research the breed and know EXACTLY what she was getting into? I think not. Was she a responsible dog owner? Debateable. Perhaps if the dog had been socialized with other dogs of all different sizes, this incident might not have occured.
 
I should have said that I have met some fantastically friendly and delightful Pit Bulls. Sadly, there are so many here that are monsters that they just can't be trusted in public.
 
I have a friend with a rescue lab (one of four dogs) that will rip your throat out. No, I'm not kidding, either. Do not look the dog directly in the eye and do not make sudden movements toward either him or his wife (or at all, for that matter) -- and that's with the dog on her leash. When his wife walks the dogs in the evening, she has no fear walking alone, in the dark, with that particular dog.

That is one reason I would never buy a rescue dog. They are not significantly less expensive than a dog from a breeder, there's emotional and health baggage, and I find some of the stuff a resuce makes you go through (home interviews, supervised sessions) to get the dog pretty offensive.

Give me a purebred dog from a responsible breeder any day of the week. It gives you much more certainty about what you are getting. To me its well worth the additional expense, which may even be offset by the additional vet/obedience bills you get with a rescue.
 
I should have said that I have met some fantastically friendly and delightful Pit Bulls. Sadly, there are so many here that are monsters that they just can't be trusted in public.

I wasn't personally attacking you, my friend, please don't interpret it as such, I merely was expressing my opinion and experiences with the breed. Max, the one I babysat for six months last year was a joy to have around. All the neighborhood kids loved him and the worst that happened was kids coming to their parents covered in dog slobber because he'd lick their faces and wag his tail happily.

Yeah. There are badly bred Pits out there, but that's due to irresponsible jackasses and criminals that want them to fight. I like 'em because they're loyal, loving companions.
 
I wasn't personally attacking you, my friend, please don't interpret it as such, I merely was expressing my opinion and experiences with the breed.

I didn't feel attacked at all. :) I actually did mean that I should have included that bit in my original post.

Yeah. There are badly bred Pits out there, but that's due to irresponsible jackasses and criminals that want them to fight. I like 'em because they're loyal, loving companions.

I think that is the point of nearly any dog. If it isn't properly trained and socialized, they can all become monsters.
 
I have a friend with a rescue lab (one of four dogs) that will rip your throat out. No, I'm not kidding, either. Do not look the dog directly in the eye and do not make sudden movements toward either him or his wife (or at all, for that matter) -- and that's with the dog on her leash. When his wife walks the dogs in the evening, she has no fear walking alone, in the dark, with that particular dog.
That is one reason I would never buy a rescue dog. They are not significantly less expensive than a dog from a breeder, there's emotional and health baggage, and I find some of the stuff a resuce makes you go through (home interviews, supervised sessions) to get the dog pretty offensive.

Give me a purebred dog from a responsible breeder any day of the week. It gives you much more certainty about what you are getting. To me its well worth the additional expense, which may even be offset by the additional vet/obedience bills you get with a rescue.
Purebred dogs are getting dumber and dumber, and IMHO breeders are criminal. Sure there are "reputable" breeders; however, there are thousands of good dogs out there who need a good, stable home. More often than not, it's the purebred dogs (such as the Labs that you defend) that are turning on people and attacking them. I've adopted "rescue" dogs and lived in a household with them and could never have asked for a better companion. So, you may want to rethink your position.
 
It depends on the dog and its owner. And that applies to every breed of dog.

Yep.

Of all the dogs I encountered when I was a canvasser, the only ones that ever bit me or scared me were labs. I met many pit bulls and pit crosses and they were generally well-trained, where as dogs like labs were often not trained at all because people don't think they have to be.
 
With out reguard to the breed or size of the dog..

In my County, the Owner is 100 percent responsible for the actions of their animal. That includes being charged with a crime for injuries or damages caused by the animal.

Don't blame the Dog, Blame the Owner.
 
I dont like them. Yeah, I know other dogs can bite and kill too, but pit bulls are the ones you hear about more often.

I will admit they are good watch dogs. When I was in the Army stationed in Kansas, a Soldier had a pet pit bull in is house on post (they were legal to have then on Army posts at that time) and some civilian loser broke into his house. Well it was easy to find the guy because he was the moron at the hospital with his hand chewed off.

The Pit bull got a hold of this dude's hand after he entered the house and the only way he got away was when his hand was chewed off. The Soldier came home and saw blood everywhere and his dog gnawing on a hand.
 
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