Pitbulls and Fox News Grrrr

[Jadenlea]

Hey all,

I am a loyal Fox news channel viewer but I just saw something that really fried me. In Mass they are enacting a law where residents can only have one pitbull and they must be muzzled anytime they are outside. Fox news decided to do a story and "Fair and balanced' debate about it.

So for their panel, they pick a regular everyday person who has owned pitbulls...not a dog person, just a regular family mom. A radio talk show host, and a old woman who is on the council who helped create the law.

NOT ONE DOG PERSON!!!! No Vet, no trainer, no groomer, no person who works in an animal hospital, no breeder. Three people who have ZERO clue what they are talking about. Then they proceded to beat up on the mother who dared to own a pitbull while having children and called her an "irresponsible mother". The radio talk show hosted talked like a total expert saying how the breed is a dangerous weapon and that if you own a pitbull its only a matter of time till it bites. He said people who own them are stupid. ect. Oh and that they should be outlawed. It was ridiculous.

How does FOX (or any of the countless news organizations who have these debate stories about dogs) justify doing stories like this and bringing in dog no experts at all? Would they do a story on cancer without talking to a dr or a story about airplane crashes without an airplane expert or a discussion about the war without some defense guy? course not!

grrrrr sorry for the rant but Im home alone with no one to rant to so I had to come to you all. I tried explaining it to my Jack Russel Terrier, but since she has attacked 2 pitbulls and gave THEM stitches, coming out herself unscathed, she didnt understand what all the pitbull fuss was about. lol.

[Ruggins]

uggg!

If anything is stupid, dangerous and should be outlawed it is reporters who are so very clueless!! I'm more scared of your jack russel terrier than any pit bull around here!!!

[goldiphlox]

my mom has a pit bull. he is a pussycat.....no wait... he can't be a pussy cat...sometimes they are vicious.....lol let's just say he's a pansy....she has a 4yr. old grandson(my nephew) that practically rides him around the house and the dog loves it...he's such a bonehead...he has never shown aggression to anyone.....p.s. your jack was alot luckier than poor George from New Zealand, huh.....you know they said the owners of those pits gave them meth, to make them vicious. to keep people away from their home...it's the stupid owner's that usually create the problem animal.

[baddog]

I love pit's. but I think the problem is, they can tend to attract the wrong owners, you know what they say...one bad apple spoils te barrel.....I'd trudt a pit over a chow or rottie ant day!!!!!!!

[rapuzzled]

They've tried to ban pits in my state, but it hasn't passed. You are absolutely right that they should have had some kind of animal expert on there. How can they have a "fair and balanced" debate without an expert?! Geez.

[Pap lover]

This subject always make me mad

This subject always make me mad. Any dog no matter the breed can bite or be aggressive. Its the owners that cause the dogs behaviour problems. And over here in ontario the majority of pitbulls u see here are owned by some real rough neck people and have huge massive chains on their necks so yes if I were a pit bull I'd be aggressive too.

[PAWS]

This pisses me off. I'm sorry, but ANY dog can be a danger to children, big or small! I have met a few scary pit bulls, but they are still one of my favorite breeds because I have met soooo many with a fabulous personality! I have a Lhasa that I groom that scares me more than ANY of my big dogs!

[diamienono]

Yeah, just a matter of time huh, well how come in almost 15 yrs Diamienono never bit anyone? They can blow it out their azz. It is irrisponsible owners and breeders that are the problem. Lets talk about all the Lhasa's that try to kill me. Sorry that they can't do as much damage, but they are much nastier than pits IMOP. Maybe they should all be muzzled.

[Raggs]

I've owned a Pit and Pit mix. They were both sweet. But one I got out of the pound so who knows what he was trained to do and the other I got from my sister who neglected to tell me he was trained to kill other animals. Yes both were TRAINED.

My mom's cousin owns a Pit and he's the biggest baby until someone comes in that he doesn't like. But any dog is like that. I've groomed several Pits that were just the sweetest dogs in the world. One was named Jaws and he was such a baby.

I hate people that jump to assumptions about one breed because of what they are capable of doing because of people who train them to be that way.

[SiotehCat]

POPULAR opinion is that pit bulls are dangerous. More people believe them to be dangerous than not.A lot of people that own pit bulls also feel that way. Thats why a lot of those people buy them. Throw a spike collar on them and make them carry around weights, NOW you are a bad ass. Right.
They are capable of being very dangerous animals. Are they the only dog capable of causing serious damage? No. But you cant deny that they can be dangerous.

My neighbor, who happened to be my best friend, had a pit bull. Well, her brother did at least. He had total run of their fenced in yard. We were playing basketball one night in that yard, and the pit bull came running and jumped on me from behind. That thing knocked me down and pretty much knocked the wind out of me. All he wanted to do was say hi, but he could have easily killed me. If he wanted, of course.

I know that in some states, you are required to have a permit when owning certain reptiles. I think thats the way it should be with some dogs. I know thats not going to go well with some people here, but its about the publics safety.

[Jadenlea]

lol I dont know why it hit me as so funny, but I almost spit coffee on my keyboard when I read about the Pitbull named "Jaws"

As for needing a permit to own certain dogs.. how do you know which dogs you need a permit for? There can be bad dogs of every breed. Any big dog?

[SiotehCat]

lol I dont know why it hit me as so funny, but I almost spit coffee on my keyboard when I read about the Pitbull named "Jaws"

As for needing a permit to own certain dogs.. how do you know which dogs you need a permit for? There can be bad dogs of every breed. Any big dog?

There have to be statistics for which dogs do the most attacking. Which dogs are the most aggressive. I wouldnt know where to find these, but im sure they are somewhere.

[Fur Elite]

Unfortunately because pit bulls were (at one time and also currently in some areas) bred for fighting and ferocity, those genetics remain in a large percentage of descendent dogs in the pet population. Chances are, most of the dogs on the market today have an ancestor with tendency toward that temperament. You simply cannot know if your pet has those genetics in them and how strong they are. Two pit bulls from the same litter raised side by side in a loving home may be completely different in their temperament. Whereas one remains a loving pet who wouldn't harm a flea, the other may trigger and tragedy may ensue. I am not anti pit bull, but I do believe it is irresponsible for families with small children especially to have one in their home. Something about tempting fate. Sure, any dog can be vicious given the right scenario or the wrong upbringing. Many fewer dogs will become vicious when raised in a loving home and trained correctly. Yet we see it happen with pit bulls quite frequently...what is that statistic...twice as frequently as with any other breed. I groom a couple who are real sweet hearts, but I always wonder...could something I do trigger this dog to go off on me? One of my neighbors pit bulls went bad...suddenly, for no reason when she was about 3 years old. And one of my clients pit bulls went bad suddenly, for no reason...and the client has had over 17 surgeries to become presentable. Said if her husand hadn't been home she would have been killed. You just don't hear those stories with other breeds. Each of these dogs were acquired as young puppies and raised in wonderful homes. Just because it hasn't happend doesn't mean it won't.

[borzoimom]

How and who decides which breeds should require a permit. If you are saying that because that dog knocked you down, he was dangerous, then you would have to include in that list half of registered breeds of dogs because their weight means they can knock a person down. What do you do about mixed breeds that weigh 70+ pounds? Breed specific laws don't work and are unfair. My borzoi has bit when strangers came in his yard, my Belgian terv. will attack someone if they walk through the fence. Neither of these breeds are "aggressive breeds". But they are very territorial. A 30# dog can kill a child if it is aggressive, you can't outlaw certain breeds.

What bugs me as much as stupid owners of these dogs is the people that tell you the pits have jaws that lock and can't open until the teeth meet. (I even heard an animal control officer say that on Animal Planet! The newest one I've heard is that the pitbulls are inherently mean because they have a certain enzyme in them!?!

I love the breed, my friend has one that is the biggest baby. She went to a reputable breeder that was breeding for sound temperments. I would have one except my husband is of the mindset that they are mean and would endanger our children. (oh brother..)

[HoundLover]

basically the reason why people are afraid of rotties and pitbulls are because they have a tendency for those big huge blocky heads. and that means they can cause MORE damage than a smaller dog or a dog of the same size but with a smaller head because they have more PSI amount of pressure. NO pitbulls dont have lock jaw either...again the WRONG people are attracted to these breeds of dogs because they are BULLY looking breeds. i mean how can they be sure its even a pitbull? am. bulldogs do look similar to them!
i mean comeon now....you ask any person if you had 9 breeds in a lineup.
say a chihuahua, a shih tzu, a cocker, a american pitbull terrier, a rottweiler, and a collie , a great dane and an old english mastiff and a st. bernard....which do you think they would rate the scariest? lets see....you have 3 smaller breeds, you have your three large breeds and your 3 extra large breeds. personally which would I be the most afraid of catching in the dark if i didnt know the dog personally? 1 would probably be the shih or the cocker, 2 would probably be the collie and probably the rottie, (even though i LOVE rotties i have seen some aggressive ones out there), and 3 would more than likely be the st. bernard and the old english mastiff. (love mastiffs too!).
most people buy these dogs because of their INTIMIDATING SIZE AND LOOKS!
now as for people broadcasting it on the news and then bashing the mother saying she was putting her children in danger...buncha crock of ****! if you ask me! people dont think twice when its a smaller dog going around biting people or attacking other peoples dogs...most think its CUTE! OH HONEY LOOK! FLuffys attacking roscoe! (fluffy being say...a yorkie and roscoe a big ol rottie). ISNT THAT CUTE!!! YOU GET HIM FLUFFY!!...now if roscoe were to turn around and attack fluffy or put fluffy in its place...WELL THEN we NOW have a DIFFRENT situation on hand dont we?
i cannot begin to tell you HOW MANY PEOPLE treat there small dogs like they cannot walk! they have 4 legs with feet attached you do not need to carry them! ever see anyone carrying their 100 lb rottie around or carting it around in a stroller everywhere? when you do please send me a picture ID like to see it!
Done with my rant now
Hound