Today is National Pit Bull Awareness Day but the whole month of October has been National Pit Bull Awareness Month and Adopt a Pit Bull Month.
I'm probably not the right person to talk about Pit Bulls seeing as it is illegal to own one in the UK under the Dangerous dogs act but I will try my best.
A list of dogs illegal to own in the UK.
Pit Bull Terrier.
Japanese Tosa.
Fila Brasileiro.
Dogo Argentino.
I found this paragraph on the ASPCA website which has got lots of useful information on Pit Bulls.
Pit bulls were genetically selected for their fighting ability. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that they can’t be around other dogs, that they’re unpredictably aggressive or that they will always fight to the death. These are all common myths about pit bulls. It does mean that they may be easily encouraged to fight with other dogs.
I think that says it all really may be easily encouraged to fight you could probably say the same about other breeds in the wrong hands.
Who encourages them to fight Morons, Idiots definitely not normal human beings, so why should the dogs suffer is it because they haven't got a voice and can't speak up for themselves so the authorities think they're an easy target instead of getting to the root of the problem and going after the gangs or would that mean to much paperwork, it winds me up when healthy, innocent dogs get euthanized through no fault of there own, the next time the vet sticks that needle in the dogs leg they should question themselves and ask the question am I putting the right one to sleep.
I don't know how the authorities determine dangerous, but there have been unconfirmed reports of Pit Bulls licking people to death and stealing there heart BOL
Since I've been blogging I've been fortunate enough to of met some lovely people, and a lot of them own Pit Bulls and can't sing there praises enough for being faithful, loving, caring dogs not once have I heard the words evil, monster, aggressive, out of control mentioned and why not because they've been brought up to love and not fight.
My good friend Ann from Pawsitively Pets has very kindly gave me permission to use her photo of her and her Pit Bull Shiner.
As you can see Ann is really scared of her big scary Pit Bull BOL
Pit Bulls where used during World War 1 Sergeant Stubby (1916 or 1917 – April 4, 1926), was the most decorated war dog of World War I and the only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat. America's first war dog, Stubby served for 18 months and participated in seventeen battles on the Western Front. He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, found and comforted the wounded, and even once caught a German spy by the seat of his pants, holding him there until American soldiers found him. Back home his exploits were front page news of every major newspaper. Excerpt taken from Wikipedia.
Pit Bulls used to be America’s darlings? Before the mid-80s, stories of pit bull attacks are practically non-existent. There is even some confusion over exactly which breed of dog is a pit bull — the definition includes the American pit bull terrier, the Staffordshire terrier and, at times, the bulldog. This confusion seems to have dogged the breed from the beginning, as there is some disagreement over the origin of pit bulls. Excerpt taken from Cesarsway.
In the 1980s it all went wrong for the Pit Bull before then there where hardly any reports of dog attacks by Pit Bulls until dog fighting made a come back and the Pit Bull was the dog of choice, It is also the preferred guard dog for drug dealers and gangs.
I think it's safe to say BSL ( Breed Specific Legislation ) isn't working and it's time for change, it's time to stand up and be counted and be there voice. There's lots of Pit Bulls in shelters looking for there forever homes and finding it hard because of there reputation and unfortunately not all shelters are no kill shelters with the senior dogs being euthanized to make way for puppies who are easier to re home.
Amazing Parkour Pit Bull TreT.
Awesome post, Sheba and Ian! We LOVE pitbulls here, and know so many of them who are sweet, gentle, smart and so eager to please. They truly are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time people judged the deed not the breed.
DeleteSheba.
Ditto above. It is never the dog but some owners and as you said they are idiots. Have a serene Sunday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Thank you Molly.
DeleteSheba.
Pitbulls get such a bad rap and it is the humans that are the problem!!!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Brian I agree 100% it's the humans that create the problem.
DeleteSheba.
Some of our BEST friends are PITTIES and they are super. The problem is POOR BREEDING... POOR OWNERS... and the MEDIA that wants RATINGS so they report the SENSATIONAL rather than the SENSIBLE.
ReplyDeleteBSL's are IGNORANT... but what we need to remember is that you can't LEGISLATE... INTELLIGENCE. THAT would be GREAT wouldn't it.
I agree with everything you say. Thank you for stopping by.
DeleteSheba.
As a dog groomer, you'd be surprised to know that pitbulls as a breed do not rate high on the list of breeds I'm worried about. Generally speaking they're more likely to pee on you than anything else. -.-
ReplyDeleteI just got finished reading "Lost Dogs" which is about the fighting pits from Michael Vicks kennels who were rehabilitated. An interesting fact that stuck out at me was that even with all the "Right" training and opportunities, and every effort in the world made to get the dogs to fight...80% of them won't do it.
And out of all of the fighting pits that were removed from the situation, only one had to be put down for aggression. I highly recommend reading the book. It's a real eye opener into the world of dog fighting, and what a fighting dog actually is---a victim. :(
Hi Andrea, Thank you for visiting us, Thank you for reccomending that book I will have a look on Amazon.
DeleteGreat post Ian and Sheba! Thanks for sharing the picture too. I researched about pit bulls a little bit in college for a paper and learned that they are good for fighting because they are not typically human aggressive and very loyal. And they really want to please their humans, so if they are trained to fight then they will.
ReplyDeleteHi Ann, Thank you for that extra information and for letting me use your photo.
DeleteGREAT post, Ian and Sheba. Thank you for raising awareness on this important subject. I don't have a pit bull myself but I used to pet sit for one, and she is the sweetest/gentlest girl.
ReplyDeletePeople take advantage of a dog's desire to please humans....kind of along the same lines as beagles being used for laboratory research because of their gentle nature. It all needs to stop!
Hi Jan, Thank you for the extra insight.
DeleteWonderful post. We didn't know about pit bull awareness day but it seems like a perfect thing to do to help educate about these misunderstood dogs.
ReplyDeleteI think the more that's done to educate the better.
Delete