Animal Person’s Solution to the Pit Bull Dilemma

Apparently the people in Massachusetts don’t have access to the Internets and haven’t heard about what has occurred in the UK as a result of their Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991, or even right here in municipalities of Denver, where the 2-year old ban on pit bulls (which is a term covering the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier) is estimated to be responsible for the killing of 2,000 of the dogs. Note that Aurora County’s dangerous dog legislation covers nearly 20 breeds in addition to any dog displaying the majority of physical traits of those breeds!

Hundreds of people attended a hearing regarding H.B. 1948, a proposed dangerous dog law that is not breed specific, as there was talk that the committee would also add a ban of certain dogs to the bill. (Here
is the text. Also pending is S. B. 512, which would, among other things, ban the breeding and sale of dangerous dogs). H.B. 1948, if passed, would require restrictions for people who own dangerous dogs, but wouldn’t ban them. (Take the Breed Ban IQ Test to evaluate your logic and knowledge regarding this issue, no matter where you stand).

The funny part of the story is that pit bull characteristics have been bred into the Boston Terrier, which is the Massachusetts state dog. The not so funny part is, well, the rest.

Let’s deconstruct:

• As in the UK, it’s often difficult to identify pit bulls.
• Most attacks on humans . . . are the result of careless breeding that produces antisocial dogs or of owners encouraging their dogs to be aggressive. Most dogs that bite are males that are not neutered.
• At the hearing, most of the veterinarians and animal behavior specialists who testified said a pit bull ban would not protect people from attacks. Instead of focusing on the breed, they said, the state should hold breeders and owners more accountable for vicious dogs.
• One solution is a mandatory spay/neuter of all pit bulls. I have no problem with that if Massachusetts includes all other breeds, as well.
• One witness recommended a strong leash law and "weeding out" breeders who breed for aggression.

I have a solution to the pit bull dilemma that’s a sure thing. Stop breeding dogs. Not just pit bulls–all dogs. When millions of dogs are "euthanized" each year simply because they don’t have homes, I am completely baffled as to why we allow the breeding of one more. To me, it’s morally repugnant, and certainly profoundly hypocritical, to claim to love dogs or want the best for them, and then to breed them.

Furthermore, I’ve experienced more annoyance from my neighbors’ tiny yippy dogs than I ever have from a pit bull, but I realize the dogs are such a nuisance because they are allowed to be. They don’t get enough and/or appropriate stimulation or exercise, and no one has bothered to teach them that jumping up at an 80-pound dog’s face–teeth first–might not be okay. I don’t blame the dogs–I blame the people.

Let’s put the responsibility where it belongs: squarely on our own shoulders, for creating this situation and allowing it to continue by breeding like we’re repopulating after The Flood, and by not taking the time to love, train, and exercise our dogs according to their needs (not ours).