GameInformer

Everyone know the reputation the Pit Bull has.  I'm sure everyone here knows of or has heard of a story of pit bull attacks.  If there were a new countrywide law requiring a special license to own a pit bull would you be in favor for or against it?  Why?  Remember, such a law would do more than just reqiuring of a license, it would also require the dog to be muzzeled anytime it is off the owners property, signs must be posted outside the property warning of a dangerous dog, and they can be seized anytime the dog acts "threatening".

I'll post my thought on the subject later.

I think I'd need to see hard statistics that indicated that pit bulls were actually more dangerous to people than other dogs before I supported this.  Dogs are dogs; they're all predatory animals and they all bite.  Pit bulls can be more dangerous than, say, dachshunds, because they are larger, but they are not the largest dogs.  Before we single out pit bulls and their owners, we ought to bring some science to bear.

PheonixDav:

I think I'd need to see hard statistics that indicated that pit bulls were actually more dangerous to people than other dogs before I supported this.  Dogs are dogs; they're all predatory animals and they all bite.  Pit bulls can be more dangerous than, say, dachshunds, because they are larger, but they are not the largest dogs.  Before we single out pit bulls and their owners, we ought to bring some science to bear.

Very true.  Science and hard statistics need to be mentioned.

Here are some dog attack statistics:  Dog Bit Law, Dogs Bite, and Dog Lawsuits.  Does that help any?

This is so messed up. The breed gets a bad wrap because of it being used in dog fighting. Also, most dogs of the breed involved in bite "attacks" were undernourished and owned by abusers. It's ridiculous.

omg what dog deserves to be treated as such,

People should have back grounds checks performed on them before they buy any pet imo. Some pretty retarded/abusive people out there that don't treat animals the proper way.  Same goes for having kids!

Kyate:

This is so messed up. The breed gets a bad wrap because of it being used in dog fighting. Also, most dogs of the breed involved in bite "attacks" were undernourished and owned by abusers. It's ridiculous.

It does suck that this breed got a bad wrap.  But here is a question; Truthfully, do you get just a little bit nervous when you are gettting ready to pass a pit bull on a leash on the sidewalk?

Well, we certainly shouldn't base our policy on how safe we feel.  It should be based on how safe we actually are.

Yeah, i've had one bite me before. It had a nice owner, they're just really territorial. I'm for the licence. I'm not knocking the breed, they're just really unpredictable.

And considering how many little kid's see a dog on a leash on the sidewalk and go up to pet it, muzzle's aren't such a bad thing.

We already have this law in place in part's of GA.

It's probably a good idea to regulate these dogs more; I say this having studied up a bit.

I know in California a few years ago they where throwing the idea around in 2005 of having you pay a yearly tax on like 10 of the most aggressive breeds of dogs. That never took off after people swarmed the state legislator with angry email/letters.

PheonixDav and LunarFox:

Take this test by trying to find the Pit Bull.  It took me 4 tries.

The point of that test is to show that people are usually mistaking other dogs for pit bulls.  And that when these dogs attack people or other dogs they blame the pit bull.  Thus, aiding in their bad reputation.

Also, would your minds be changed if you knew what the three most aggressive dog breeds are?  They are the dachshunds, chihuahuas, and the jack russel terrier.  Basically, the smaller the dog is the more aggressive it can be.  They have that Nepolian complex.  The difference?  People don't report when they are bitten by these dogs, only larger dogs because of the damage they cause.  Have you ever been to someones house who has small, yappie dogs?  They growl, bark, lunge, and even attack and bite.  But because they are so small people just laugh at them.  The point is, you are probably 10 times more likely to be bitten by a chihuahua than a pit bull.

There are a lot of pit bull myths, one being that they are unpredictable.  Even by the ATTS standards (American Temperament Test Society) pit bulls outscored the golden retreiver! 

Alright, but let's look at this from another perspective.  Specifically, the perspective of Siegfried and Roy.

These were two guys who made their living working in very close quarters with dangerous tigers, and for most of that time, were able to do so in a way that was safe and productive.  Then, Roy had his famous accident.  Even if you subscribe to the most charitable version of the events, that the tiger was simply trying to carry Roy to a safer place, you simply have to conclude that being around tigers for a long time carries an elevated risk of being mauled.

Now, a tiger is just a big cat, and cats have all the same instincts as tigers, but we don't regulate cats like we do tigers because cats are mostly harmless.  A cat, in the same situation as the tiger at the Siegfried and Roy show, could not possibly have caused that much harm to a person, because it is small and relatively weak.  Tigers are simply too powerful to be trusted, and their "unpredictability" has nothing to do with it.  An animal, wild or tamed, is always unpredictable, and  should only be handled by people who possess the requisite level of training to do so.  The fact that even those people can be seriously harmed in some cases only underscores this principle.

Now consider dogs.  The dog is classified as Canis lupus familiaris, which means that for all intents and purposes, it is a kind of wolf.  But we don't let people keep wolves as pets the way they keep dogs, because handling a wolf is beyond the capability of most ordinary people.  Even the humble chihuahua is genetically close enough to a wolf to be considered of the same species, but we still make the distinction.  Anyone can keep a chihuahua, but only a select few people and organizations are allowed to keep wolves.

A pit bull is by no means as dangerous as a wolf, nor is a wolf, in absolute terms, as dangerous as a tiger.  But if that information you gave me earlier is correct, then pit bulls are more dangerous than most other dogs; together with rottweilers, they account for two thirds of human fatalities in dog-related incidents.  Just as wild wolves are more dangerous than dogs, it appears that pit bulls are more dangerous than dogs in general, at least as a threat to human life.  Our policy ought to reflect this; people who keep pit bulls ought to be qualified to do so, and they ought to observe proper safety procedures.  What those are is a matter for debate.

Now, there is the counterargument that small dogs are often much more aggressive, and can pose a threat to small children, but that simply goes without saying.  A baby or a toddler is not qualified to handle anything that has fangs without adult supervision, and many tragedies would have been averted if people had kept that in mind.  I have known many small dogs that were very, very aggressive, but that did not make them dangerous to me, because they were simply not powerful enough to seriously injure me.

That's a very, very good point.  I'd like to explore the point of the tiger you bought up.

There is a difference between "taming" an animal and "domesticating" an animal.  The famous white tiger owned by Siegfried and Roy was tamed, not domesticated.  In fact, not all animals can be domesticated.  Some wild animals, like tigers, zebra, and bear, can be tamed but not domesticated and still leaves them very unpredictable.

Household dogs, pit bulls, are domesticated animals.  Through selective breeding we "create" the type of domesticated dog we want (that's how all pure bred dogs came to be).  Certain types of characteristics of dogs can be bred out of, as well as into, these breeds.  Size, color, strength, instincts, bone structure, etc., are taken into consideration when breeding dogs.  This includes aggression.  And aggression is one characteristic that is being bred OUT of certain dogs like the Doberman (ohh how I love my doberman!!).

I know what pit bulls are capable of, I'd be a fool to say otherwise.  They are smart, fast and extremely powerfull dogs.  And I know that poor and irresopnsible breeding occures.  However, I think that passing such a law is an admission saying that it is impossible to breed characteristics into and/or out of them.  Basically, we'd be saying that pit bulls are wild animals, not domesticated.

Small dogs are far more aggressive than pit bulls.  But like I said, people think it's funny to see an aggressive chiauhaua who is trying to bite someone (they even show them on Americas Funniest Home Video).  But they can still carry and pass diseases like any other dog.  When I was 19 I was bit on the hand by a chiauahua and had to get stiches.

The problem isn't the dogs it's the owners.  Even people who are the nicest in the world aren't always equipped for a pit.  People forget different breeds where bred for different things.  Each dog has it's own personality but when you look to certain breeds there are characteristics that should show up.

Don't forget that pits use to be called nanny dogs because they are great family dogs.  The problem is people seeing 'free pit' or '20 bucks for a pit puppy' and going to buy it.  They don't know the parents, they don't know how the puppies were raised or what conditions they were exposed to.  

I think back ground checks and follow ups should be done when someone gets a pit. just to make sure they can follow through.  Pits need stern training *i'm not saying beat the crap out of them but they do need consistent training.  Not a 'oh he's cute let him do it' and then when he's bigger it's all the sudden 'OMFG whack him when he does it.'

And really no I don't get nervous when I have to walk by a pit.  Even if I have my dog with me.  What I'm nervous about is walking by a small dog that's going insane, lunging at my dog.  Because all it would take is my dog stepping on the smaller or a nip from my dog to get the other dog to calm down and the small dog owner will go insane on me and blame my dog for trying to kill fluffy or whatever small dog owners name their dogs now.