Pit Bulls and kids!!! If you own either, please read.

Also, my friend is a city cop and has had to pepper spray and shoot several pit bulls in his duties. He is probably the biggest dog lover you will ever meet but that doesn’t mean he won’t shoot a pit bull that attacks someone. His girlfriend was attacked by a pit bull while doing her job which is animal care and control for the same city.

There is evidence that pit bulls are a particularly dangerous breed or at least can be under the wrong circumstances. They enough of a reputation that they are treated differently and will be shot if they appear threatening. That fact alone dissuades me from ever owning one. I don’t want my dog taken away and destroyed or shot. For that reason, I would never own one.

Speedsix, your brother should have never been the one that had to deal with that. Any dog that bites a child should be put down, period. You stated that this dog in particular had bitten several children and chased them regularly. Grounds for the police to take action after that first bite, why in the world did they not do this? I agree with your brother that something had to be done. If the dog is loose and on his property I fully support his shooting of the animal. My own Yellow Lab gets out all too often and while I seriously doubt he’d bite anyone I fear he’ll get shot being on someone else’s property. My ex-cop neighbor will do that, quickly, as he does not like dogs and especially on-the-loose dogs.

It’s always a shame when people are unable to get past their personal emotional responses to an event.

And the few I know are staunchly opposed to breed specific laws. Either of our anecdotal stories aren’t of much value.

That is verifiably untrue. Her numbers come from searching news reports she finds online. If you go to her ‘statistics’ page she states as much in the first line.

You are allowed to carry weapons there in the USA.
Shoot the fng dog before this happens again, and the owners walking such breeds of dogs without muzzle must be in jail.

Thanks all, Sam will be fine aside from a couple of small scars and I hope a dislike for Pit Bulls. The other boy that was bitten may not be so fortunate as he is missing golf ball size chunks. Sam just recounts scars affectionately when she tells the story of where they came from, but I do not think these will be viewed the same way. She is a very trusting child that just grew up a bit, I am glad I was with her.

Our family has always had dogs from Shepards to Newfs. We currently have a newf / flat coat retriever mix and we have found that newfs are just the most trustable dog out there. I think we will always have a newf or newf mix in our lives.

I will be working through channels to see that our little town does something about Pit Bulls, it is to bad as they are attractive dogs and what they do is not their fault, it is breeding and many times the owners that contribute to this problem.

Matt

Matt, the breed exists for a reason, as working dogs many of the traits exhibited are necessary for the job they were bred to do. The problem arises when a dog owner fails to take the breeds “portfolio” into account and gets the wrong breed for their purpose.

It was confirmed by our local police that I would not have been charged if I had shot it, due to the fact that it was restrained by a lead that was so long that it would have allowed further attacks. But, I was unarmed at home… may not happen again.

I was asked, more than once, why I carried at home. Very simple answer. Because that’s where everything I wish to protect resides…

Yup, and this has changed my outlook on the process! I will be from now on.

For the record I know it’s a complicated subject. Not all pit bulls are dangerous. Some are very sweet and docile. They can be so gentle and nice. It’s a combination of bad owners and certain traits of the breed. When you get a pit that has aggressive tendencies owned by a idiot, it a recipe for disaster.

I have been around dogs my whole life and there are certain breeds that just never seem aggressive. For example, I’ve never seen a Saint Benard be anything other than a big sweetheart. It’s a big powerful dog that could hurt people if it wanted to but they just don’t. I would trust a 200lb Saint Benard around a child more than 50lb pit bull. It’s breeding, temperament and owners. I’ve never seen a gangster walking a Saint Benard on a logging chain. Just saying. Lol.

Yup, the most danger our newfs pose is the possibility they will knock you over and lick you to death or drown you in newf slobber. I have personally never trusted tiny dogs, you know the bid dog syndrome and I have never trusted rots or wolf mixes. I have had some time around a couple of wolf mixes, they just always want to eat something and display way to much aggression.

Matt, are you going to press charges against the owners?

Is the dog not put down yet?

If not, then who can guarantee it won’t happen again (to other people/kids, etc)

Sorry to hear about the attack(s).
I grew up in an area where staffies, rotties and dobermans were used as status symbols and attack tools.
I am a dog lover, never owned any “dangerous breed” though I have played with them, looked after some. You can feel the sheer power in these compact muscular packages with sharp bits and know what they can do. Had a rottweiler bite me on the wrist once when I was wearing a 6mm leather cuff, went straight through to bruise & bleed. Would have been severe permanent damage had the stiff leather not been there.

It comes down to common sense, I soon learned that I would never own a dog that I could not kill with my bare hands and if I was to be in an environment with such dogs to be armed with an easily accessible fixed blade, knowing how to use it.
Playing with them is a dangerous gamble for a fully grown man, kids got no chance.

Never fully trust any dog (or owner)

I like jack russels :slight_smile:

First of all, let me say that I’m sorry for the tragedies that have occurred with dogs. Some of you have been through some real bad stuff. I don’t claim to know anything. But I hold a general distrust toward all dog breeds. I’m not prejudiced toward any one more than another. I’ve known lots of “good” dogs, and I’ve also known some that were not so “good” after all. And, I’ve never seen a breed that to me was either consistently “good” or consistently “not good”.

A friend of mine has a pure bred Pit bull dog that he bought as a pet. He did a lot of research to find the “right one”. Some people do still breed them for dog fighting, so that they are very violent, mean, aggressive dogs. This happens a lot, even though dog fighting is illegal. They sometimes mix other breeds in to make them bigger, or stronger, or have some other advantage. This friend of mine wanted none of that. He says that there are two types of aggression to look out for. There is human aggression, and there is animal aggression. He said that the dog could have one type and not the other, or could have both. He also argues that there can be a Pit bull dog that has no aggression at all. So, he looked all around and found one to buy and finally settled on one from a breeder a couple states away. The dog has since had professional obedience training and is kept on a leash when not in the house or fenced in yard. My friend believes that this dog will never be a problem to any person or animal. I also knew a guy years ago that had a Pit bull. That Pit bull was as gentle as a breeze for her entire life, so I guess it is possible.

On the flip side, my brother had a Pit mix (I don’t know what the other breed was) that had a very specific loyalty system. Or at least, that’s the best way I can describe it. I suppose most of you have heard of the “one person” dog. Well, my brother’s dog went just a bit further. This dog was generally aggressive toward people and animals. But, he was loyal to my brother in this unique way. If/when he saw you with my brother (in a non-threatening way), then he would at once consider you a ‘friend’ and would never be aggressive to you after that, even if my brother wasn’t around the next time(s). Then, if one of those ‘friends’ was around, even others could be there and be okay (without my brother). So, the owner (my brother) could infer friendship, then the ‘friends’ could infer relative safety/friendliness to a degree. But, they couldn’t pass on friendship. So, the third person could not be left alone with my brother’s dog, or the dog became aggressive toward them. My brother moved to another state and couldn’t take the dog with him, so I kept the dog at my house, hoping that once the brother got settled in, he would come back and get his pet. He ended up living in a situation where pets weren’t allowed, so I kept the dog for several months and finally had to have him put down, because of his aggressive nature. He was a very loving dog - if you were a friend.

We are still trying to figure that out since we have medical expenses and they have not even offered to pay those. Unfortunately they are not well paid and the owner may not even be a documented immigrant. The dog was also technically in our yard with their 30 foot lead. I doubt the dog will be put down, our state does not have much of a stomach for that, since nobody was killed. As I said, had it been my dog it would have been dead in minutes. I will not tolerate owning a dog that is not trustworthy, especially since my big dog comes in around 110 to 120 pounds depending upon the season.

The odd think about dog bites, the owner always blames the person who gets bit. Glad I was standing there beside her… I do not let her play with other folks dogs when I am not there.

I would have put a bullet or two in it…especially if it happened to a kid. In these days you’ll do more time in jail for killing a dog than you would for killing a person :person_facepalming:

I agree with this. Tiny dogs can be much more likely to bite out of fear. They won’t kill you though so the danger is limited. I would never bother to shoot one because it nipped my hand or something.

Rots were a breed I used to think were really nice until I had a few scary moments over the years with them. Now, I don’t trust them. Never been bit but I have seen Rots act very scary at times.

Wolf mixes are not in the same category as other dogs. They probably shouldn’t be legal to own. Why mix a domesticated dog with a wild animal? Makes no sense. A wild animal can never be trusted in the same way as a domestic dog. A hybrid is unpredictable because you don’t really know what traits you are getting.

There are so many things that can set a dog off. Fear, desire to protect, breeding, training, seizures, confusion, etc. I love dogs but they are animals and there is a risk with even the nicest one. I don’t understand why people intentionally add more danger to owning a dog by choosing breeds that are known to be aggressive or unpredictable.

I don’t have small children in my home but if I did, I wouldn’t have pit bulls, wolf mixes, Chows, Rots, Pomeranians, or Grayhounds. There are lots of good breeds, too many to name but it seems you can pretty much choose any sporting or gun dog and be safe. You almost never hear of a Golden retriever attacking people or other dogs and they are one of the most common dogs out there.

I’d shoot the dog if it had bit my kid. No matter what the cops or neighbours say.
It could have been the girl’s throat as well.

Recently couple of large dogs dug under the fence and scared my daughter (7yrs old) in my garden.
Happily I heard the barking and kid screaming and ran out and scared them away. I don’t know what could have happend if I hadn’t.
Next time I see them in my garden, I’ll stab or poison them. I don’t care.

I don’t want to argue semantics, but half her stats are available CDC stats. Law enforcement is evolved in virtually every incident, which is how news reporters find out about them. If the indecent is collected by news report, doesn’t make it untrue like it never happened.

My Veterinarian Brother has no public opinion on “breed specific laws” as he treats all animals, even though he has euthanized a few that police have brought in through court order. His personal opinion, is that they can be extremely dangerous dogs along with Rottweilers, chows, and a few others, and doesn’t recommend them as family type dogs.

Lots of misinformation here. I’ve had two pits starting when I was 3 years old ( I now have a Doberman). Sweetest two dogs I’ve ever had, never even heard that pitbulls were a “killer breed” until I was in highschool and some of my friends came over and told me to watch out (for what I don’t know). I remember when my first one ran in front of my 5 year bro and shielded him from 2 big strays and how she would always take the lead when we would walk by the house with the crazy akidas (persumbly to protect me). I’ve took in a stray Chihuahua mix and it bit people constantly (small breeds like that are way more aggressive then big breeds, we should ban them too).

All dogs can bite! Tell your kids not to mess with dogs. Most of them don’t have a sense when they’re pushing the dog too far. When kids come up to my Doberman and start “petting” him (randomly slapping his back, face etc.) I Wana slap the shit out of the parents, he will never bite them though that’s just how he is. And I could give a f about what a cop says they shot dogs and black folks on the daily, like I trust what they say. Stop spreading misinformation with heresy! Remember “Fake news! Bad!” No alternative truths either please.