Pitbulls are not the only breed of dog who attack people and other animals, yet cities and towns
create laws specifically aimed at this breed. A local town here, Merrillville, Indiana, passed an
ordinance this year due to ONE incident where a 6 yr old boy antagonized and teased a dog, and
continued to do so after being repeatedly told to leave the dog alone by it's owners, until the
point which the dog jumped the fence it was in, in it's OWN yard and attacked the kid. The dog
was a German Shephard/Pitbull MIX...why is it that they created ordinances against pitbulls and
not Shephards? How do they know that the pitbull in him is what made him attack and not the
shephard?? Shephards have been bred to be human aggressive for protection and use as police
dogs. Why not create an ordinance saying that if your kid provokes a dog, the kid's
parents get fined?? I would vote for a politician who created THAT law!
In my opinion, they need specific laws saying that certain children need muzzled and
harnessed in public to prevent them from tormenting anyone, or any dog! And yes, I have kids,
two daughters who know not to go up to a dog without asking it's owner first, not to tease
dogs, especially one's that they don't know...no matter WHAT BREED the dog may be!
Anyway, this page is to hopefully educate anyone who pops by to let them know that the media
plays up any pitbull-related attacks, and only does small pieces on any other breed, or if
it's a different breed of dog, they won't mention what it is! Though I must say, not only
pitbulls are targeted, but many large breeds of dogs: rottweilers, shephards, any bull type
dog, huskies. Kids are the main victims of dog attacks, but it isnt just because of their size.
I am seeing a lot of cases where the kid teased the dog. Not only do dog owners have to be
responsible in this...PARENTS need to be accountable too!
I also have 3 dogs in my home, a collie, a pomeranian, and a boxer/shar-pei/pitbull looking
mix. It's the pomeranian, Rosie, who has snapped at neighbor kids, attacked the other 2 dogs in the
house, and whom I can't take to picnics. The mix, Boo, has been surrounded on walks by
6-8 neighbor kids petting him...and he loved every second of it, making the rounds "kissing"
each one and trying to lick their hands and faces. If Rosie was surrounded like that, she would
go off on someone, and a LOT of dogs would be nervous in that situation. But Boo LOVED the attention
he got! He also loved going to the park and climbing on the play equipment with the kids. If anyone
asks what he is, I say he's a boxer/shar-pei mix, which is what he was sold to me as, and what
all his records show. I say he's pitbull because I've compared him to many pics I've found of
American Pitbull Terriers and Staffordshire Terriers. No one really knows, but I know that if
I mentioned the word pitbull out in public, people would automatically fear him.
Another reason that you hear so many large dog attacks is that they do more damage than
a small dog would...and we know how the media loves blood and guts. If a pomeranian bites
someone's leg, they'll have quite a few stitches from it's tiny mouth, but no one calls the newspaper.
But if a large dog bites...there's gonna be blood. Plus large dogs tend to "knock down" their victim
and that's always an added event in a news story, plus more areas for them to bite. And if it
is a pitbull or rottweiler...people RUSH to call the papers because of their automatic bias
against the breeds. It's much like racial profiling. "Jeffrey J. Sacks, a CDC epidemiologist. "If you
start selecting bigger dogs, you'll get bigger bites." But we can't ban all large dogs just because
they can do more damage than smaller breeds...that's rediculous. That would be like banning SUV's and
telling everyone they can only own compact cars, just because SUV's can do more damage in an accident
than a small car can!
I'm not writing this page to say that pit bulls don't bite, or that all are sweet little puppies. They
are large dogs, with a history of being bred for the wrong reasons...but so are other breeds. If you
own any breed of dog, educate yourself on how to train it the right way, socialize it with animals and
people...and then hope for the best!
First -Educated reading:
Find the Pitbull
Think you KNOW what a pitbull is? Would you be correct if you told a reporter that a PITBULL attacked
someone? I bet you'll guess wrong at least twice!
Debunking the Pit Bull Myth "Admitting to owning a Pit Bull in some places is akin to admitting to be a serial killer."
A very good page, with the same theme as I am trying to get across to people.
Pitbulls In the News A pack of maruading pit bulls went on a licking spree yesterday...
Rehabilitating the pit bull's reputation ""It happens all the time with other breeds. Chihuahuas, poodles and chows bite more people than
any other dogs in the world. It's a proven fact. But you never hear about it because they never go to the hospital," he said."
Dog Attacks
& Children Informative article "Dog attacks are a problem, but like all causes of accidents to children are preventable and manageable. "
Pitbull Positive Press Positive stories
about pitbulls that you don't hear on your News Channel. Pit bulls are also: K-9 Police dogs, Search & Rescue dogs,
Nursing home residents, blood donors, and dogs for the deaf.
Mass Slaughter of Dogs in Germany "Over 2 years ago,
a 6-year old Turkish boy living in Germany was killed by a pit bull. The owner was apparantly raising the dog to be aggressive, and was
a known criminal but still allowed to keep it. Germany's response to the incident was to ban the import of pit bulls, american staffordshire
terriers, and bullterriers into the country." "The number one biting dog of Germany is the German Shephard, which is not placed upon the race
lists, while the number five biting dog, the Pit Bull, is on the lists."
Hillside Saves Dog Scheduled to be Euthanized at Another Shelter
"the dog was to be euthanized because of their breed specific policy, even though it was an adoptable dog - not mean, or a killer or any other
issue that would prevent it from having a good, permanent home."
Dog ban sought after child savaged This one was a Bull
Mastiff one of the many breeds included in the generalized term or "pitbull". But just as other states are learning, there's no strain of dna that tells certain
breeds of dogs to suddenly attack, as this article will tell you. "A spokeswoman for NSW Local Government Minister Tony Kelly said the idea of banning dangerous breeds had been
rejected because there were no DNA tests to accurately identify species."
From Dogbitelaw.com: Although pit bull mixes and Rottweillers are most likely to kill and seriously maim, fatal attacks since 1975 have been
attributed to dogs from at least 30 breeds.
The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictibility is the October 2000 death of
a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family's Pomeranian dog. The average weight of a
Pomeranian is about 4 pounds, and they are not thought of as a dangerous breed. Note, however,
that they were bred to be watchdogs! The baby's uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed
while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the
baby, who died shortly afterwards.
On to the stories so that you can see, it isn't just one breed that bites! I do not condemn any of the
breeds listed here just because of these attacks...I wont stoop as low as pit-haters!
When Dogs Attack- Postal workers
Stories from postal workers being chased by dogs, including Chow-chow, little terrier, rottweiler and chihuaha team with the postal working laughing
about hitting the dog, doberman, french poodle actually biting the worker twice, black pitbull, cocker biting worker on the rear
and owner saying "honey don't worry he's bit lots of people", and lots of stories of postal workers hurting animals, sending
sniper supervisors in the night to shoot them, even one who poured out antifreeze and possibly KILLED a dog who had never bitten
him!
As I looked for stories by putting in "dog mauled child" and "dog attacks" type search terms, I was going to try to weed through
pitbull attacks to find non-pitbull stories...but after 60 news story links, I only saw TWO that were pitbull. Just thought you should know.
New Rep as Killer Drives Up Demand for Presa Canario
The massive, boulder-headed Presa Canario is gaining in popularity as a result of the publicity surrounding the gruesome attack. They are the dog of choice
for those who want the most explicit symbol of ferocity the pet kingdom has to offer, breeders and trainers say.
Md. Infant Critical After Mauling by Family Dachshund
"A 6-week-old St. Mary's County boy was in critical condition yesterday after being dragged from his playpen and mauled by the family's dachshund, police said."
Dog that mauled tot will be killed
"A male Doberman pinscher that mauled its owner's 16-month-old son in an apparently unprovoked attack last month will be euthanized" If it was a pitbull it would've been
shot by the officers taking the report at the scene that night.
Boy mauled by dog "The boy had wandered into a neighbours driveway where the large Akita dog was tied on a long lead."
When I was a kid, we were taught early on not to go in someone's yard without being invited, and not to go up to dogs without asking their owners.
Neighbors
on edge after dog attackMastiff jumps a fence and kills a Pomeranian. I know anyone should be able
to walk their dogs anywhere they want, but when I know there's a big dog at a certain house, that does have
problems of going crazy when people walk dogs past them, me and my
dogs go for walks on the other block. Guess I have too much common sense.
One of mauled children released
"But brother still critical after attack by what’s believed to be wolf hybrid" The picture looks like a white german shephard
to me.
Would-be Police Dog
Kills Boy, 4 Couple owned a kennel training shephards as police dogs, have no idea why this one killed their child, but
as of the writing of the article they didn't know if the dog would be destroyed. "An investigation was continuing, Jarrett said,
but he did not expect criminal charges." That's probably cus it was a police dog. "He said the department was in negotiation to
acquire the dog, which had been imported from Germany in January. Those negotiations are probably over" PROBABLY????
Police probe dog mauling report
"Police continue to investigate a report of a bloodhound mix mauling a 3-year-old boy" and ""I can't tell if charges will be filed
or not," Coleman said. "There is no indication the dog was ugly. He may have been playing and his actions misunderstood." if that was a pit,
that statement wouldn't have been included in the article.
Plaintiff granted extension in suit over library-cat attack
OK...this one is very different, a library CAT attacked a 50 lb Lab. "the city violated his rights by putting the welfare of its "dangerous cat" above people with disabilities"
Ads promoted by companies like Nike, which showed a pitbull and a rottweiler preparing
to fight do not help the bad rep that these two dogs have, plus Nike is PROMOTING dog fighting now??
Here's a message to them, posted with permission from copyright owner:
See Breed Rescues or the main page of
Katz Dawgs & other Critters for pitbull links
and rescues and shelters. Most rescue's spend time with the dogs in their care and can
tell you the temperament of a dog, and how it is around kids and other pets before you
adopt.
A portion of revenue from advertisers above will be donated to the local humane society, who have been working in the red for 3 months. If you're going to buy
gifts or supplies for animals, please choose to use the links on this page and help this no-time-limit shelter. They keep animals, as long as theyre not too sick to live, for as
long as it takes to find them a forever family.To donate to them directly go to: Their Contact page for the address.
Kathy Huish, PO Box 14114, Merrillville, IN, 46411
