Violence Against Pit Bulls
Here’s a good piece on the pending pit bull ban in Canada. Sadly, it details how some people are abusing the dogs as they’re out in public:
But now, Reid is more afraid for her dogs than we should be of them. Last Sunday while walking George and Fred near their Riverdale home, Darlene and her daughter were assaulted by two men.
It’s just the latest attack. Two years ago, while the dogs were tethered outside a Danforth café, a man beat them with a stick. Last summer, some guy stubbed out his smoke on George’s back.
“It’s terrifying, and it’s terrorizing my daughter,” Reid says.
In each instance, George and Freddy stayed calm. Why? Because, even though they’ve been drafted as fighters, pit bulls and their cousins, the American Staffordshire and Staffordshire bull terriers, have been bred to be gentle to humans. Their handlers had to be able to safely stay in the pits and stop fights.
So, someone is out in public with their dog and someone puts a cigarette out on it or beats it with a stick? Dear lord.
Also, the article mentions this fun little game that you can play called Find the Pit Bull.
Some more snippets:
“I am much more afraid of a cocker spaniel than I ever am of a pit bull,” says Mychelle Blake, an animal behaviourist and pit bull owner in Lancaster, Penn. (http://www.AllEarsDogs.com).
According to the American Temperament Test Society (http://www.atts.org), beagles, border collies and bloodhounds, to name just three much loved breeds, score worse than pits.
But pits have the bad luck of being the most popular breed in urban North America, mostly because of backyard breeders out for a quick buck.
“If you looked at the sheer number of these dogs, if they were really that dangerous there would be attacks every day,” observes Blake.
She says that you can’t trust statistics such as that cited in Tuesday’s Star, which claim pit bulls account for “almost half of all dog attacks … yet they make up less than 1 per cent of the canine population.”
That’s because pit bulls are not registered with the American Kennel Club. And backyard breeders don’t keep books.
And, on identifying the real problem, there’s this:
“It all has to do with ownership,” says Barclay, who advocates education and licensing for owners. “I train people; I don’t train dogs.”
As Darlene says, “Look up the leash. See who is attached to it. Then judge the dog.”
