You choose to own an Irish setter which is, IMO, on of the most feather-headed dogs on the planet. You are happy to own a beast which is best suited to taking up room on th eliving room couch and nothing more. Ask this dog to do anything more in the show ring than conformation, and the breed AS A WHOLE fails miserably. Since this dog is useful for nothing, why should it continue to exist? It adds nothing to society. I have NEVER, EVER seen an Irish as a therapy dog, a service dog, a Search and Rescue dog or anything else BUT making its owner happy. Sooo, should this breed be allowed to continue its existance since it's not contributing anything useful? Perhaps not.
I have owned two irish Setters and both wereexceptionally smart, loving, gentle, never even growled at another dog. They loved people and especially children and even all our other animals, cat, chicken, rabbit. And you are wrong about them not being good for anything. Many are still used for hunting, and tho I have never heard of any being used for S&R, there are many used as therapy dogs. I now own golden retrievers due to some kind of allergy problems here on the coast with irish setters, but i think irish setters are the most regal, elegant dog breed there is. Of course there will be stupid ones--just as their stupid goldens, labs, pits, collies, cats, horses, and HUMANS. But there are also extememly smart ones, just as there are extremely smart goldens. labs, pits, collies, cats, horses and HUMANS.
Now on to the OT and my experiences with dogs. First i was only ever bitten once and it was by an irish setter no less. A hunting dog belong to a friend of my dad and I just wouldn't leave him alone and according to my Mom, I was trying to get him up by pulling his ears. He didn't even break the skin on my 1 1/2 year old hand.
Both of my boys have been once, and each time it was a german shepherd. The first was food agressive and was brought to the COMPANY PICNIC. Five year old son was sitting on ground in front of me, the dog was walking by, someone tossed a chicken bone and it landed almost on my son and the dog turned and bit him in the face. STUPID OWNERS FOR BRINGING IT TO A PICNIC. My older son was delivering papers from his bike in the middle of the street when the shepherd jumped the fence and got him on the back of the leg, requring several stitches. Ron was the THIRD child the dog had bitten, one on a trike, two on bikes. After it bit the 4th child a coule of months later, it was PTO as each bite was worse than the one the time before.
There was a rottie on a chain in an unfenced yard that lived on my "walk route" and when I had one of my dogs with me, it would run towards the street snarling--til it hit the end of the chain so hard it was yanked from it's feet.
A few months ago hubby was walking our 12 year old golden and a pittie came running at our dog snarling. Hubby got between them as the owner came running out to grab his dog--who continued to try to break free and get at Buck, snarling showing those teeth. owner apologized and said he didnt' know how the dog got out of the back yard. About 4 years ago a pittie/boxer mix around the bend of our horse shoe shaped street attacked the little 9 year old girl from 2 houses down. He had every intention of killing her--he got her arms, legs, head, face. he was killed that day. Her Dad was at sea and was flown in to be with her & wife.
Where our yard, the one behind us, the one to our left and the one behind it join, there is a gap because of utility pole. Is about 1 1/2". There were people living there a while back that had pits and any time my goldens went to the corner--which they loved because of grape vine arbor--those dogs were doing their darndest to get thru the fence at them. I mean they were snarling and digging at the fence. My dogs finally stopped going down there. The lady behind me does foster work for the little local branch of humane society and she was terrified those dogs were going to come under the fence and get her dogs. And she was almost right. She happend to be in the yard when they dug under and got her dogs to safety. Called the dog catcher, he came out, the pits went under her raised shed and made such threatning noises at the dog catchers they left. She had to keep all her (and fosters dogs inside until the pit owners came home and got their dogs. My nighbors on the left were so scared they would get under, over, or thru the fence (we all have 6 foot wood privacy fences) that they let their chi's out front to do business (and hope they didn't get into the street) rather than risk having them "eaten" by one of the pits.
Now, here I gotta say we do think those pits were used for fighting. I never saw this, but heard from neighbor on left and one behind me, that those people would put a roast or hambone, etc on a chain and attach it to tree limb. The dogs would jump up and grab hold of it and swing back and forth. neighbors thought this was for strengthning the jaws. I don't know, but sounds logical to me. And I do know there was some serious fights happened over there between those dogs.
My one daughter-in-law owned a pit that she loved with all her heart. It did bit 3 children--after the 2ed one they moved into another county. It also bit her when she tried to make it go out and it didnt' want to. My DIL was terrified of it. Owner was heart broken when he died from pancreitis last summer. My neice owned a rottie that you did good to get it to bite a piece of bread much less a human or another dog.
I will honestly admit there are dogs I am nervous around that they includ rotties, pits, german shepherds, dobies and other breeds I know have fighting tendencies. But I am not sure a ban would be the ansswer as there are good and bad in every breed. You watch Animal Cops, etc and you see that many drug dealers, etc do use pitties to keep cops, etc away and to gaurd their "stash." These dogs aren't gonna lick the cops, etc "to death". On the other hand, I have seen pitties that were just bones with a little fur covering them wag their pitiful tails and give licks to the rescue folks.
Actually, the best thing, probably, would be to BAN all these stupid owners who just want a bully dog to act like big shots, who wants a dog for fighting, who wants to dog a "guard" theie stash of drugs, etc, etc.