"the pit problem"

I don't think you should ever discount your gut feelings or fears about a particular dog. Understanding that not all pit bulls are aggressive is different than excersizing precautions if you live in an area where many pits ARE aggressive. You can take a quick look at the owner and get a good idea whether or not they are responsible and in control....if the dog is being walked with a logging chain, if the dog is dragging its 90 lb female owner.....your fear may very well be justified. My dog sometimes plays with a huge pit mix, but I would not have allowed it before assessing the owners first. They are mature, intelligent educated owners who can talk knowlegbly about their dog's temperment and play style; also, the dog was old enough to be displaying his true "adult" dog personality, and had never shown any dog aggression.

I am not really afriad of any particular breed of dog, but I have felt fear for my children and my dog. I am far less worried about a pit attacking me than I am about one attacking my dog, since there have been several serious attacks on dogs by pits and pit mixes in my town. I am a firm believer that there are several breeds which are not appropriate for the "average" or "good enough" dog owner, and pit bulls are one of them. I think certain breeds need more time, dedication, and training than most modern families are willing to provide ......as a result, we have incidents like the one which happened in Boston the other day. A woman had just stepped out to walk her dog, when the neighbors pit and pit mix slipped out the door while the owner was bringing in groceries. The two dogs attacked the woman's English Cocker Spaniel, she picked him up to save him, and part of her finger was bitten off in the process. A neighbor found the severed finger, but doctors were unable to reattach it. By all accounts the owner of the pit and pit mix was a "responsible dog owner", but apparently was not educated enough about the breed to realize how dangerous dog aggression can be. Now his neighbor has been permanently disfigured, his dogs may be destroyed, and the pit bull breed has another high profile black mark against it.

Twenty years ago, I saw a pit bull kill another dog in a completely unprovoked attack....as a dog lover, it was one of the most disturbing, traumatic, things I have ever seen. I had nightmares after that. To this day, I remember the sound of the other dog screaming and screaming, it was horrible. I remember the owner of the smaller dog, an elderly man, just sobbing, carrying his dog's limp body. The images are etched into my mind. This doesn't make me afraid of my vet's female pit who hangs out in the office....she is a great dog. But it does make me realize and respect the damage these dogs can do when in the wrong hands, and I use a great deal of caution when encountering those owned by strangers.

So, I would not automatically assume that your fears are foolish or misplaced, as long as you can keep some perspective about what the actual risks to you are. 

Amen to that, Anne. It is very important to know breed temperment and act accordingly. Unleashed, Shadow will run up the street at 30 mph and probably into traffic. Because his predominate breed has a strong alpha streak, I make sure he knows I'm alpha and I closely watch all interactions with other animals. That's why, out of the house, he is always in leash and harness. It's for his safety, mine, and others.
 
Sometimes, I wish I could go up to the homeowners who let their dog run loose and seize the dogs and place them in proper homes, where safety and training are paramount. When I was a kid, if you couldn't play with something nicely and the correct way, it got taken away from you until you learned better. And I have a neighborhood of 30-somethings that need that lesson and probably need someone to teach them how to wipe their butts, too. One day, I was walking Shadow and the police were dealing with no less than 4 loose dogs all at once. And this is a small town, one stop sign, six churches, and evidently, a bunch of open yards and ignorant and absent owners.

Thanks for sharing that. I've known for sometime that labs are among the most common biters, way more common than pit bulls but pits get all the press. And all that does is feed more ignorance. If city governments would spend more time eradicating dog fight groups than trying to ban a breed, they would accomplish so much more. Since dogfighting often includes druga and gang activity, they are too chicken to do the right thing. It's easier to pick on the dog, once again, then it is to pick on someone their own size. We need a jury to convict a dogfighter to 20 or 30 years, no parole to get the message across. Here, Grayson County has a bad meth problem. A jury sentenced a man to 99 years and now the message is getting across that it won't be tolerated by the citizens of this county.
 

Wow I have never seen that video before its really hard hitting, coming from the UK I have no experience whatsoever with Pit Bulls, dog fights etc.
 
But its like with all breeds it comes down to the way they are bred, trained and treated.
 
Pit Bulls remind me of STB's they are kind of renouned over here for being dangerous as are EBT's but I have only ever known good examples of the breed!! 

I would just like to add, that breed bans just don't work, IMO.  Ban one breed and folks will just move on to another.  Enforcing existing laws and increasing sentances for people that encourage dangerous behavior is much more effective, IMO. 

Hello everybody.  I actually came to this site after seeing that video posted somewhere else, because I wanted to find more information on the topic. I actually haven't watched the whole video yet because I'm not sure if I even want to see the contents. haha. I'm a big pansy when it comes to animals. I just want to help somehow. I'm going to have a look around the site, but I'm sure I'll be posting soon.

If seeing dogs in dire condition rips your heart out I wouldnt watch it.  I started crying really hard and was sorry I looked at it... but thats always the case with me I dont know why I keep watching them...
 
These poor poor dogs, its kills me to see those angels being hurt like that, why are these people not convicted like they would be if they had done that to a person?  Why is it any different to treat a dog that way?  Its not whatsoever IMO.  I wish I could take them all and give them the love they deserve and show them that life is better than that.

We used to have dogs running loose all the time, in my neighborhood. But I did just what you wish you could do. i took each of them and found them more appropriate homes. We no longer have stray dogs, I think the neighboorhood caught on.

Hey has anyone been to this site?
[linkhttp://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html]http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html[/link]
Many proclaimed pit bull attacks turn out to not be pit bulls. The site above is to help eduacte people on the different kinds of breeds. One of the biggest "pit bull maulings" which actually killed a lady in SF several years ago that started a lot of this hub bub wasnt even pit bulls. They were Presa Canarios. This isnt meant to deny the problem at hand but maybe give some people a better understanding about labeling dogs. As a pitbull owner I understand that I have a very headstrong powerful dog and that is why I take extra precaution, classes, and giver her extra care. I also feel that it is a pit bull owner's responsibilty to not take other people's fears lightly and respect it while trying to set example versus outright denial of their strength.

ORIGINAL: lillodawg

I would just like to add, that breed bans just don't work, IMO.  Ban one breed and folks will just move on to another.  Enforcing existing laws and increasing sentances for people that encourage dangerous behavior is much more effective, IMO. 
 
 
I couldn't agree with you more the sooner it is that this is enforced the better!
Much harsher penalties to these irresponsible owners will surely help clean this mess up. I am especially concerned with breed ban because after the pitBull then what dog are the owners going to change to? Will it be Rottis', Dobes Etc. the list could go on and on.
 You must punish the owners severely!!
Unfortunaltely these dogs get caught in the middle and because of the way they were handled have to be put down, It's just not right!! 

I just watched the video for the very first time, and it brought me to tears to see those poor dogs and how cruel  people can be!!
 
I might never be a pit bull owner, as I feel it's too much dog for me, but I think the breed gets a nasty nasty rep. they look like wonderful dogs in some of the family pictures.
 
It's disgusting what people will do to a dog......
 
Kristie