the following was printed in an African newspaper. If anyone has form letters or the like that can possibly be emailed to this paper...they might do so. They do need to be educated as to their faulty sources of info. There is some fact in this but also a lot of Urban Legend.
The history of the American pit bull
LAURI KUBUITSILE
Correpondent
11/28/2006 2:42:52 PM (GMT +2)
On November 20, 2006, three American pit bulls belonging to Tesmi Holdings in
Mmamashia killed their second human victim and the veterinary officers had no
option
but to destroy them. The question now is what to do about this breed of dog in
Botswana. Knowing more about the history of the breed might help to understand
why
this particular dog is so deadly.
The American pit bull breed can be traced back to the bulldogge used in a bloody
sport called bull baiting, which was common in the 1700s and early 1800's in
England.
The bulldogge was put in an enclosure with a bull and it was allowed to tear the
bull
apart until it was killed. At the time, this appears to have been some sort of
morbid
entertainment.
In 1835, the authorities in England put an end to the inhuman activity but its
fans
would not be thwarted. They moved on to dog fighting in which two dogs were
thrown
into a pit and they fought it out until one was horribly maimed or killed.
Spectators
gambled money, betting on which dog would win the fight. It was a cruel and
inhuman
practice which, unfortunately, is still taking place, albeit illegally, in many
parts
of the world, especially in the United States
Breeders at the time crossed the bull-baiting bulldogge, with their killer
instinct,
massive skull and powerful jaw muscles, with various breeds of terriers of the
time.
The terriers were chosen for their tenacity and bravery. The result was what is
today
the American Pit Bull Terrier. This history helps us to understand some of the
unique
characteristics of the breed.
The American Pit Bull was bred to fight other dogs. Unlike other breeds, it will
fight with little or no provocation. Dogs are normally controlled by the "dog
pack"
mentality. There is a strict hierarchy that is tested during fights. The victor
is
now the boss and the loser there after will show submissive behaviour, such as
rolling onto its back and showing its stomach, to the winner if they meet again.
They
needn't fight again because the hierarchy in the "dog pack" had been decided.
This is
not so for the American Pit Bull. If it fights a dog and loses, if they meet
again,
it will fight again. Also, there are stories of submissive dogs showing their
bellies
to an American Pit Bull only for the pit bull to maul them. It was bred to fight
and
that is exactly what it does.
Besides fighting with hardly any cause, unlike other dogs, it will give no
warning of
attack. Other aggressive breeds, such as Rotweilers or German Shepherds, would
growl
and bare their teeth before attack to warn the other animal or human that an
attack
is imminent. A pit bull will suddenly attack without any warning at all.
The American Pit Bull has been shown to have insensitivity to pain and some
scientists believe they may even be addicted to the endomorphins released when
the
body is subjected to pain and may go in search of pain because of it. They can
withstand high levels of pain. American Pit Bulls also are much quicker to anger
because they appear to have higher levels of the neurotransmitter L-Tyrosine.
The tenacity of the American Pit Bull can be seen in the length of a typical
attack.
Attacks last fifteen minutes or longer and nothing will stop the dog from
continuing
to attack. Most dogs that are fighting can be stopped if water is thrown on them
or
they are beaten, not an American Pit Bull. There are stories from people who
have
been attacked by American Pit Bulls who talk of beating the dog with various
objects
but it still held on and continued to attack.
Most dogs will either bite or hold the victim in some way. When American Pit
Bulls
attack they are intent on causing maximum damage, that is what they've been bred
to
do. This is the reason why most attacks by pit bulls will end in severe injury
or
death as compared to other dog breeds.
The original American Pit Bull was bred only to attack other dogs. In fact, a
dog
that attacked humans was killed. People running the dog fights had to ensure
that the
dogs could be handled safely inside and outside of the pit.
But then something went wrong. In the 1980's the American Pit Bull became the
pet of
choice for tough guys and thugs. How macho you were could be determined by how
mean
and vicous your pit bull was. People owning such dogs choose them for the very
reason
the rest of us fear them. In New York City, for example, police have found that
drug
bosses have taken to using pit bulls to protect their drug stashes- the meaner
the
better. In 1997 alone, 83 American Pit Bulls were captured and destroyed during
drug
busts.
Supply and demand economics came into play and irresponsible backyard breeders
sprouted up, crossing pit bulls with guard dog breeds such as Rotweilers, German
Shepherds and Doberman Pinschers, long bred to attack humans. And to make
matters
worse, they bred them in the typically American fashion of bigger is better so
the
American Pit Bull breed of today is much bigger than the one of 15 years ago.
Voila! Now you have a big, tenacious dog, addicted to pain, with a short fuse
and
which will attack without notice; and it has human beings in its sight. You now
have
a problem- a deadly one.
And indeed the world over the American Pit Bull is quite successful in what it
has
been bred to do. From 1979-1996, 279 people were killed by dog attacks in the
United
States, and, of that, the highest number of killers was the American Pit Bull
breed,
with 60 deaths credited to them. In Australia, from 1991-2000 there were seven
people
killed by dogs, four of them met their deaths in the jaws of an American Pit
Bull.
The recent deaths in Botswana just add to the American Pit Bull's curriculum
vitae as
a killer.
What Can Be Done?
In the United States, they have found it difficult to pass laws against American
Pit
Bulls with dog enthusiast challenging them in court when laws are passed.
However, in
April 2005 in the city of Denver, Colorado, the American Pit Bull was banned by
law.
Two hundred and sixty pit bulls were confiscated and destroyed. Many
municipalities
have passed laws that require pit bulls to be muzzled and on a leash in public
places. New York City is in the process of requiring owners of American Pit
Bulls to
have US$100,000 (P618,000) in liability insurance to get a dog license that is
needed
to keep a dog legally in the city.
Most states in Australia have passed laws requiring American Pit Bull owners to
keep
their dogs on a leash and, in most cases, muzzled outside of their property.
On August 29, 2005, after a particularly horrific attack of a 2-year-old boy and
his
parents by an adult American Pit Bull and its two puppies, the province of
Ontario
(Canada) passed a law that banned all American Pit Bulls. They could no longer
be
sold, bred or imported. The ones that lived in the province were not destroyed,
but
their owners were now required to muzzle and leash them in public.
The most comprehensive law was passed in the United Kingdom. The Dangerous Dogs
Act
of 1991 banned American Pit Bulls. All pit bulls were confiscated and destroyed.
Anyone found in possession of an American Pit Bull in the UK can now face up to
six
months in prison and an unlimited fine.
Dog lovers like to say that the problem is not with the American Pit Bull breed
but
with irresponsible owners who do not train the dogs properly. They claim dogs
are
dogs; it is the owners with the problem. But Katherine Houpt, the director of
the
Animal Behavior Clinic at Cornell University in New York, was quoted in an
article
written by Brian C. Anderson on City Journal website as saying, "Different
breeds
have genetic predispositions to certain kinds of behaviour, though they can be
influenced by how they are raised.
The pit bull is an innately aggressive breed, often owned by someone who wants
an
aggressive dog, so they're going to encourage it".
The question now is whether the individual's right to own the dog of their
choice,
even an American Pit Bull, is outweighed by the protection of the public? Time
will
tell us the answer to that question in Botswana.
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About Mmegi
Mmegi is published by Dikgang Publishing Company (DPC). The newspaper was
established
in 1984. Mmegi is the only daily independent newspaper in Botswana. The
newspaper is
read by a cross-section of the population including students, policy makers,
intellectuals and the business community. Over the past 10 years Mmegi won the
prestigious Institute of Bankers "Newspaper of the year Award" nine times.
During the year 2000 the publishers of Mmegi added a new title to the stable,
called
the Mmegi Monitor. With a circulation of about 16,000 copies a week the Monitor
is
the fastest growing newspaper in Botswana. The Monitor comes out on Mondays.
Both publications are printed at the DPC printing factory in Tlokweng, just
outside
Gaborone.
P/Bag BR 50, Gaborone, Botswana
Telephone: 267 3974784
Fax: 267 3905508
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