Pit Bull Attacks 6-Year-Old Girl

Originally Posted by Klaus

I would certainly shoot a creature actively attacking a child. That includes 2 legged ones.

:right: Amen !

Choking back tears, the mother of a 12-year-old boy killed by his family's pit bulls called Friday's fatal mauling an accident involving "happy, friendly pets" that had never acted violently before.

"We never trained them to do any kinds of vicious things. ... This is just a devastating tragedy," said Maureen Faibish, the morning after her son Nicholas was attacked while home alone in their Sunset District apartment.

While Nicholas' family and investigators struggled Saturday to understand what turned two supposedly loving pets into killers, dog experts said a confluence of factors may have created the potential for an attack.

The family was moving to Oregon, with their apartment nearly empty and their belongings boxed up, a change in the environment that can stress animals. Nicholas' father, Steve -- the dogs' primary master -- had already been gone for weeks in Oregon. The dogs reportedly were not neutered, which can cause aggressive behavior, experts said. And the boy was alone with the dogs for at least two hours.

"There's always a trigger. It can happen with any kind of dog," said Robert Arrick of Park Animal Hospital, a veterinarian who had treated the dogs, Rex and Ella. "But with pit bulls, the damage is much worse."

San Francisco police said Saturday that determining the circumstances of the attack was the focus of their investigation. "Our concerns are for the family,'' police spokesman Neville Gittens said.

Mother gone 2 hours

Authorities said Faibish, who had been shopping for about two hours, came home about 3:15 p.m. Friday to find her son bloody, partially clothed and lifeless in a front bedroom.

His face was mauled, and he was covered with bite wounds and had a hole in his scalp from the attack.

Next-door neighbor Raisa Akinshin said she ran to a balcony and called to Faibish through her closed window. When Faibish opened her shade, Akinshin saw both Faibish and the room drenched in blood, which she described as "a scene out of a horror movie." She called 911.

Ella was blocking the door when police arrived and was shot. Rex, who was eventually found hiding in the backyard, was taken away by animal control officers and remained in custody Saturday.

Based on the evidence, it appeared that Nicholas had struggled to fend off the attack and had put up "a !!!! of a fight,'' a law enforcement official said.

Outside the home across from Golden Gate Park on Saturday, votive candles and bouquets of roses and daisies were laid on the worn steps in front of a metal gate. A shred of yellow police tape lay on the sidewalk near a square of pavement where the family had traced their names in wet concrete last year -- the parents; children Nicholas, Ashley, 10, and Christopher, 9; and the two dogs.

Nicholas' maternal grandfather, Colm Brennan, who owns the small apartment building on Lincoln Way, walked by with his Jack Russell terrier, pausing at the shrine.

"I'll tell you what I would do: kill every pit bull in San Francisco," a red-eyed Brennan said earlier between sobs. "I don't like pit bulls, never have."

'Don't trust them'

"This is a lesson for people who have pit bulls and children. Don't trust them," said Brennan, adding that he hopes his grandson's death will start a movement against the breed.

Brennan said he had told his daughter his feelings about the pit bulls, although he had never seen the family's dogs act aggressively.

A woman sitting by the shrine in a wheelchair identified herself as Maureen Faibish's sister, Cathy French. She said the dogs had never given any indication that they might turn on the family.

"They had these dogs since they were puppies, and there was never a problem," said French. "It doesn't make any sense."

French said the only thing she can think of is that Ella may have been in heat at the time, causing the animal to lash out at Nicholas.

Reached by phone, Maureen Faibish called her son a bright, gentle boy. "He did not do anything wrong," she said. "He was a 12-year-old boy who was very loved by everybody. He was the greatest kid in the world."

She asked that people pray for the family.

The dogs were familiar on that stretch of Lincoln Way, often tied up with rope outside their garage, being walked by Steve Faibish or even roaming the street unleashed. Neighbors described them as friendly, but rambunctious and poorly trained.

Randy Geyer, who lives two doors down in a cottage that faces the Faibishes' backyard, said he frequently saw Nicholas and his two siblings with the 80-pound dogs in the yard.

He said the children often hit the dogs in the face, but they never reacted aggressively.

"This whole thing is so bizarre. I'm just shocked," Geyer said. "They're all nice people, and the dogs were so sweet."

Neighbor Akinshin said she never saw the children mistreat the dogs. She said the family got Rex about a year and a half ago as a 4-month-old puppy.

Ella came a few months later. Geyer said Steve Faibish told him he planned to breed the dogs. Geyer assumed Faibish, a construction framer who was often out of work, hoped to earn some money selling puppies.

Female in heat a catalyst?

Arrick, the veterinarian, said he last saw the dogs on a routine visit at Park Animal Hospital nearly a year ago. There were no signs they were mistreated, but at the time, they were not neutered. He said that can cause male dogs to be more aggressive, especially if the female is in heat.

Dog experts also said the situation -- with the family moving and Steve Faibish, the dog's master, out of town -- could trigger an attack.

"Whenever you have an environment that's changing, it creates stress in animals just as it does in people,'' said Gail Golab, a spokeswoman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Trish King, director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society and author of the book "Parenting Your Dog," said a dog's behavior can change if a primary caretaker is away.

"If the dogs were roughhousing, for instance, and (Nicholas) tried to break them up, they might discipline him. And they can get carried away," King said. "There's a huge genetic tendency to behave in certain ways. Herding dogs tend to herd. Dogs bred to fight each other, like pit bulls, tend to get aroused very quickly, unless you breed it out of them."

Dr. Patrick Melese, an animal behavior specialist in San Diego, said it can create a volatile situation to leave a boy alone with dogs when their dominant owner is gone for some time.

"Often at dangerous risk are people who are not seen as the highest- ranking members of that social group, such as children,'' Melese said. That's because dogs seek to dominate lesser members of the group.

"The dogs say, hey, there's no one to stop us.''

[Andrew]

I love dogs and it would take a lot for me to kill one but if it's attacking a child?KILL THE DOG!!!!!!!!!If theres a gun in the area shoot it, if I had a blade I'd use that, If all I had were my fists I'd fight 'til the dog died or I did.And pity any idiot that tries to stop me from saving a little kid's life.Give even more pity to someone who says to me that I shouldn't have killed the animal because a rat is a pig is a dog is a man.( Even if this absurd PETA @#$%&*! slogan was true I wouldn't care because I'd kill a man to save a child's life too.)

yeah man ! :right:

[toolman]

Pits are very much like unexploded ordnance. They can lay around for years not bothering anyone and then some kid comes along at the wrong time and they die. I personally think the dog should die and the owners imprisoned in any case where there is injury or loss of life due to an attack.

[burd1959]

got dog attacked while on deer hunt on leagal property shot the dog got arrested had to go to court 6 thousand dollars worth in attorny fees so on found out it was judges dog what a mess but would do it agin any dog that bites a child should die on the spot and shoot lady in knee cap that steped in the way

Child, mom mauled by family dog


February 15, 2003 - The Chicago mother and child who were viciously attacked by the family dog remain hospitalized.
16-month old Layla McLaughlin is in critical condition. The child's mother is listed as fair.

Animal control says the rotweiler responsible for the mauling, along with two other family pets removed from the home Friday, are still alive. No decision on the animals fate will be made until results from rabies test come in -- that could take ten days.

Police Chief Terry Hilliard commented on the attack saying, "I think its irresponsible owners. These dogs get that way for a reason and they get that way because the owners of the dogs have been totally irresponsible in training them in an irresponsible manner."

The dogs owner, who is the baby's father, was cited for not having a dog licenses or rabies tag for the animals.

The family claims they do have the right paper work, but as of Saturday night, animal control would not confirm that.

[Kurtis]

We have four MinPins and a Rotti, they all get along great. To say we are dog lovers, you bet. ANY dog attacks child, dead dog. My father shot a couple years ago while hunting deer. They were running deer and came across a very angry man with a 12 gage. He told me later that he actually waited for someone to come looking for the dogs. He left it at that.

From 1979 through 1994, attacks by dogs resulted in 279 deaths of humans in the United States. Such attacks have prompted widespread review of existing local and state dangerous-dog laws, including proposals for adoption of breed-specific restrictions to prevent such episodes. To further characterize this problem and the involvement of specific breeds, CDC analyzed data from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and media accounts in the NEXIS database *. This report presents three recent cases of dog-bite-related fatalities (DBRFs), summarizes characteristics of such deaths during 1995-1996, and provides breed-specific data for DBRFs during 1979-1996. The findings in this report indicate that most DBRFs occurred among children and suggest approaches for prevention.

In January 1995, a 2-year-old boy in South Dakota wandered into a neighbor's yard, where he was attacked and killed by two chained wolf-German shepherd hybrids. In September 1995, a 3-week-old girl in Pennsylvania was killed in her crib by the family Chow Chow while her parents slept in the next room. In March 1996, an 86-year-old woman in Tennessee went outside of her home to check the weather and was fatally mauled by two rottweilers owned by a neighbor; the dogs had attacked and injured the woman 1 month before the fatal attack.

The HSUS attempts to identify all DBRFs and maintains a registry of these incidents. A DBRF was defined as a death caused by acute trauma from a dog attack. Case reports in the registry include details such as date of death, age and sex of decedent, city and state of attack, number and breeds of dogs involved, and circumstances. To supplement HSUS reports, CDC included data from the NEXIS database and death certificates. However, death-certificate data were not available for 1995-1996. Deaths associated with infection secondary to dog bites were excluded.

Data from HSUS and NEXIS were merged to maximize detection of cases and avoid duplicate reports. Because news media accounts can inaccurately report breeds of dogs involved in DBRFs, only breed data from the HSUS were used. When multiple dogs of the same breed were involved in a fatality, that breed was counted only once. When crossbred animals were involved in a fatality, each breed in the dog's parentage was counted once. Dogs were also classified as on or off the owner's property and whether they were restrained (e.g., chained or leashed) at the time of the attack.

During 1995-1996, at least 25 persons died as the result of dog attacks (11 in 1995 and 14 in 1996). Of the 25 DBRFs, 20 (80%) occurred among children (three were aged less than or equal to 30 days {neonates}, one was aged 5 months, 10 were aged 1-4 years, and six were aged 5-11 years), and five occurred among adults (ages 39, 60, 75, 81, and 86 years). Most (18 {72%}) DBRFs occurred among males.

Of 23 deaths with sufficient information for classification, seven (30%) involved an unrestrained dog off the owner's property, five (22%) involved a restrained dog on the owner's property, and 11 (48%) involved an unrestrained dog on the owner's property. Of the 25 deaths, nine (36%) involved one dog, nine (36%) involved two dogs, two (8%) involved three dogs, and five (20%) involved six to 11 dogs. All the attacks by unrestrained dogs off the owner's property involved more than one dog. Of the three deaths among neonates, all occurred on the dog owner's property and involved one dog and a sleeping child.

During 1995-1996, rottweilers were the most commonly reported breed involved in fatal attacks. Fatal attacks were reported from 14 states (California {four deaths}; Florida and Pennsylvania {three each}; Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, and South Dakota {two each}; and Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington {one each}).

Reported by: R Lockwood, PhD, Humane Society of the United States, Washington, DC. Div of Unintentional Injuries Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC.

Escaped Pit Bulls Attack Six in Illinois

CARY, Ill., Nov. 7, 2005
(AP) A 10-year-old boy was in critical condition Sunday after three pit bulls escaped from a home and went on a rampage, attacking six people before police shot and killed the dogs, authorities said.

No charges had been filed Sunday, but McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said it was being investigated as a crime scene.

Neighbors said the attacks started late Saturday afternoon when children going door-to-door for a fundraiser arrived at the home of Scott Sword, 41, who owned the dogs.

"We had music playing, and I heard this bizarre sound," said Debby Rivera, who lives three houses away. "I looked out the window, and I saw a young boy. The dogs were just jumping on him."

"The screams were horrible," she said. The dogs were "relentless, like they were possessed."

The pit bulls attacked the two children, and when the dogs' owner tried to stop them, the dogs turned on him and bit off his thumb, Nygren said. The boy's father also tried to protect his son and was attacked. The dogs went after another neighbor as well.

"The scene sprawled over a couple blocks, it was a very chaotic scene," said Lt. Michael Douglas of the Cary Fire Protection District.

Residents threw rocks at the dogs and honked car horns to try to distract them from attacking before police arrived and shot the animals.

Jim Malone said he and a neighbor tried to beat the dogs back with baseball bats. "He'd hit them, they'd run, and they'd come back," Malone said. "This went on for 15 minutes."

The boy who was attacked, Nick Foley, was hospitalized in critical condition Sunday. His friend Jordan Lamarre, also 10, was in serious condition. Nick's father was listed in good condition. Sword and two others were treated for injuries and released.

Last week, another 10-year-old boy in Colorado was mauled by a pack of pit bulls that attacked him in his own back yard. The boy was in critical condition after the attack, and the hospital said Sunday his family had requested no further information about his condition be released.

The attack in the Denver suburb of Aurora came two days after the City Council banned pit bulls and other "fighting dogs." Owners who already had the dogs could keep them if they paid a $200 annual license fee.


MMV The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Charges won't be filed against couple who shot dogs
Prosecutor says case 'does not justify the using of the criminal-justice system'


By DAWN SHACKELFORD — police/court reporter

ROLLING PRAIRIE — LaPorte County Prosecutor Robert Beckman told The Herald-Argus Tuesday that criminal charges will not be filed against the Rolling Prairie couple who shot two of their neighbor’s Jack Russell terriers on Oct. 13.

“I do not feel this case justifies the expenditure of very limited criminal-justice resources,” Beckman said. “Taxpayers simply can’t afford for this type of conduct to end up in the criminal system.”

Beckman explained that if the parties choose to, they can file a civil lawsuit.

“I’m not suggesting they will or won’t, should or shouldn’t,” Beckman said. “But all parties have full legal rights in the civil side of our court system.

Regarding his decision in the case, Beckman said: “It is illegal for dogs to run at large in this county, and if the dogs hadn’t been running at large, none of this would have happened.

“It created a situation for us (regarding) at what point does a pet owner have a right to protect the life of their own pet. It’s a call we have to make. It just does not justify the using of the criminal-justice system.”

The couple told LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department deputies that they shot the terriers — killing one and seriously wounding the other — because the dogs chased their cats. The woman who shot one of the dogs also said that dog had threatened her.

During an investigation, several other neighbors told deputies of incidents involving the terriers in the neighborhood during the past two years.

According to deputies’ reports, the couple who shot the dogs claimed they’d called the dogs’ owners, Mark and Michelle Hutcheson, of 4892 E. Scholl Rd., Rolling Prairie, several times during the last year, asking the Hutchesons to keep their dogs out of their yard. The couple told police they’d thrown rocks at the dogs, shot BB guns at them and shot near them with other guns before taking the measures they did on Oct. 13.

On that afternoon, the neighbor woman stated she walked into her shed and found Patch, the Hutchesons' 12-year-old terrier, had chased one of her cats up onto a ladder before coming at the woman aggressively. She shot Patch with her .357 Magnum, killing him instantly.

According to the reports, the woman's husband came home later in the day and found Lilo, the Hutchesons' 9-month-old terrier, going after two more of their cats. He shot the dog in the head twice with a rifle. Although Lilo lived, she sustained serious injuries.

[troy2000]

Jack Russel terriers can be as obnoxious and aggressive as any dog in the world (ex-meter reader, I know from experience).

That said, they're also downright small. I don't think I'd have to shoot one instead of just kicking him..

[Outriderdark]

Why do these ancient posts keep cropping up?
If there's something new out there, can't we just start a new one instead of having to read through stuff that's 2-3 years old?

[inuyasha]

personally ive always had problems with those types of dogs. i hear often on how "they are the sweetest things in the world" and all that. bull. my neighbors in texas had about 11 in the time i lived there.. always had 3, which inbred with each other, some would be sold and 3-4 or more stayed. darned things came at my dad and i a couple times, had to use a chair to block them. friend of mine owned 2 and the one had a bunch of puppies.. needless to say they werent the nicest dogs either. (both cases im talking about rotts) i cannot agree that they are a good breed; my dad worked as a vet and has his own share of stories. see, im not against having "pets" in general so long as they arent obviously dangerous breeds and are restrained as they should be. i LIKE dogs...i had to go through having my dog run over by a semi a week from my birthday while i was around 13, needless to say thats hard to go through but i would have no qualms about putting an animal down that was threatening life.

i just dont agree with being allowed to have those types of animals in residential areas, let alone more than one. as a younger kid i was riding bike to the library and had some breed of fighting type dog come after me on the bike biting at my heels.. i was peddling as hard as i could and was scared enough my throat tightened enough not to yell for a bit.. finally yelled and the arsehole owners LAUGHED at the dog doing that to me, never once attempted to stop him verbally or otherwise. had another time my friend and i were walking each others dogs and had a pitbull come tearing out of the owners yard and start scrapping with my friends dog (which i was walking, lucky for me *eyeroll*) and had to go get a bunch of people to beat the dogs apart with thick sticks. just so happened his had done it 3 times earlier that month alone.. this was jumping over his fence and coming out of a chain.

friend of the family worked as a cop and saw a rott bite down on someones arm and lock its jaw.. they shot it in the head and the thing died... but its jaw was still locked on the arm -- they had to get the jaws of life to pry the jaws apart. when you have an animal like that you DO NOT PUT IT IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS if anywhere. argue logically or not however you will, ive had enough experience in this not to be swayed.
thats enough of my minirant. to make outrider happy... BUMP! ^^

Council hesitant to get involved in neighbour's spat over pet p

By RONALD ZAJAC

Staff Writer


City councillors were reluctant Wednesday to recommend a ban on pit bulls in Brockville.

Members of council's finance and administration committee heard from Windsor Drive residents Leo and Florence Bernier, who are distressed by a neighbour's pit bull and want to have the breed banned in Brockville.

But after hearing from the dog's owner, Councillor Jason Baker, committee chairman, reiterated his belief there is no need for urgent action to remove the controversial breed from the city, arguing provincial legislation limiting pit bulls goes far enough.

"I'm not going to remove any family pets until I'm told to," said Baker.

Committee members agreed to wait until early next year, when city clerk Sandra Seale is expected to present a report on Brockville's animal control bylaw.

The province's restrictions on pit bulls, under the Dog Owners' Liability Act, came into effect August 29.

The new provincial law allows pit bulls that were born by November 27 to exist, but they must be muzzled and leashed in public, and sterilized to prevent offspring.

The Berniers last week told The Recorder and Times they are worried about a pit bull living at the house next door to them at 20 Windsor.

On Wednesday, they said a second mixed breed "bulldog" and pit bull lives at nearby 28 Windsor Drive. Florence Bernier added the owners of that animal tried to intimidate her when she approached them.

When interviewed later by a reporter, the owner of that animal, Stephen Henry, said Florence Bernier approached him about the dog at 20 Windsor and he told her "to mind her own god!!!! business."

His own dog is a boxer mix, said Henry, who was not sure whether it has any pit bull genes.

As his sons petted the dog, named Toby, Henry said it is not an aggressive animal.

The Berniers submitted an information package to the committee that included an e-mail from Leeds-Grenville MPP Bob Runciman saying they are "doing the appropriate thing" by going to the city about the issue and municipalities have the right to ban pit bulls.

The couple is worried about the safety of children walking to nearby schools and Florence Bernier said the principals she spoke to shared her concern.

Vanier Public School principal Jo-Anne Smith, St. John Bosco Catholic School principal Sylvia Shackles and Thousand Islands Secondary School principal Arlie Kirkland were all away this morning and could not be reached for comment.

Leo Bernier recounted an incident on Monday in which the pit bull at 20 Windsor briefly escaped from its owner.

Although the animal remained on the owner's property, it was momentarily beyond the latter's control, he said.

Leo Bernier wondered how many unlicensed pit bulls are in Brockville and suggested that, were the city not to ban the breed, Brockville could become a dumping ground for people in other cities who want to get rid of their animals.

"It's better to prevent than to try to cure," he said.

While the Berniers do not dispute the legality of the dog at 20 Windsor, or the fact it has not hurt anyone, they argue pit bulls are unreliable and can turn on an innocent person.

The committee also heard from Dan Berry, the owner of the pit bull at 20 Windsor, who said he and his family are doing everything they can to remain within the law and he feels "singled out" in this issue.

Pit bulls have been given a bad reputation by media coverage of some high-profile incidents, but in fact the behaviour of any dog depends on its treatment by its owner, said Berry.

"A dog is only as bad as you make it out to be," he said.

Seale reiterated that a proper leash and muzzle are being used for Berry's pit bull and the city is "working with" the owners to have the animal sterilized, the only point on which they are not in compliance with the law.

Under the provincial law, if an animal bites someone or acts in a menacing way, the city can remove it and hold it until the case appears in court, said Seale.

Although municipalities have the right to order an aggressive dog destroyed, the common practice is to wait for the matter to be decided in court.

One problem is that the term "menacing" is subject to interpretation, said Seale.

There are currently nine registered pit bulls in Brockville, she said, but officials believe there are many more out there that are unlicensed, in particular in the north-end apartment buildings.

Yet city figures show that, out of 40 reported dog bites in Brockville this year, only two were by pit bulls.

Only two western Ontario municipalities currently have a breed-specific ban on pit bulls, said Seale.

Baker suggested licensing fees for pit bulls might need to be higher than for other dogs and the fine for having an unlicensed pit bull might be raised from the current $40.

"If a pit bull gets away from somebody, I think it's a little more serious than the neighbour's poodle."

But Baker said law-abiding pit bull owners such as Berry should not be penalized. His own children go to nearby Vanier Public School and he does not feel they are unsafe because there is a pit bull nearby.

Councillor Bob Huskinson, meanwhile, said he will call in the new year for a newspaper advertisement making sure everyone is aware of the law.

The Berniers did find an ally in Councillor Stu Williams, who said his daughter-in-law was attacked by a pit bull in Elizabethtown Township seven years ago during a visit with friends and she required plastic surgery to repair her face.

"The dogs are unreliable," said Williams. "They seem to snap like that."


Published in Section A, page 4 in the Thursday, December 15, 2005 edition of the Brockville Recorder & Times.
Posted 4:30:15 PM Thursday, December 15, 2005.

Portsmouth — Bear the dog was put down Wednesday, 24 hours after the city’s animal control committee declared he was a public threat and voted to have him euthanized.

The 120-pound Newfoundland mix had been reported to police for running loose several times before he got into a fight with a smaller dog last month and bit its owner when he intervened.

That incident led to a hearing two weeks ago with Bear’s owner, Tina Hickman of Islington Street. Then, and yesterday, the Portsmouth woman acknowledged responsibility for her dog’s misbehavior; her other dog, Sport, has also been known to escape their yard.

But Hickman says she thinks the city acted hastily and didn’t give her the chance to find her pet a new home.

“I think there were other ways of doing this besides having him put down,” Hickman said. “I’ve talked to an attorney because I want to make sure they did it right. I don’t want this to happen to someone else.”

Part of the committee’s finding was based on a lack of cooperation from Hickman, Police Chief Michael Magnant said Tuesday. Hickman, during the initial meeting, hadn’t been able to offer a satisfactory solution to the dogs’ escaping her control.

What’s more, as ordered after that first meeting, she refused to turn Bear over to the animal control officer. After rendering the decision to euthanize the dog, Magnant said Hickman couldn’t be taken at her word.

Yesterday she argued she hadn’t handed Bear over because at that point no one could tell her where he would go or what was going to happen. The original order called from him to go the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for evaluation.

But Hickman learned by calling the SPCA that they didn’t make determinations on animals. That’s when she asked animal control officer Patti Tate when it was she would take Bear.

“The dog officer couldn’t answer my questions, so I wasn’t about to give her Bear,” Hickman said. “I called the chief and he said he didn’t know who would do the evaluation.”

Hickman contends Bear had never been a threat to anyone and that he only bit Henry Perron because he admittedly jumped on top of the big dog when he was fighting with his pet, Beau.

“If Bear was so vicious, why was Mr. Perron chasing him down the street afterwards? So, if two dogs are seen fighting now, are they going to be put to death? He should not have had to die,” Hickman said.

City Attorney Robert Sullivan said yesterday he could only remember one other dog the city had to destroy and that happened several years ago.

[gunney_m]

Yep, BOOOOOM

[Coeloptera]

Originally Posted by ScottD

I want to pass on a personal story that affected me. First I want to say I have always had dogs from Beagles, Shepherds, Drathaars and of course a Pit Bull. With that said I was offered a Pit puppy at a time in my life when I had no dog and though I knew about the breed I have always raised my animals with kindness. So the viciousness of the breed was known, but I always wondered how much is breeding and how much is taught.

In less than a year I saw signs that this dog was not going to be a dog that I would keep as a pet. The dog was not a social animal and was sneaky in many aspects of it's interaction with me and others. So I decided to put it in the dog run at my business, where I already had a Rottweiler(sp) that ran the perimeter at night as a guard dog.

And that was the smartest way to handle it short of putting it down.

I love dogs about as much as anyone here. My grand-uncle bred Dobermans as guard and attack dogs and we never had any problems with them.

You know who I blame? Not the dogs.

The gods-damned mills.

Unlicensed breeders are absolutely to blame for the apparent streak of instability you see in the three "Pit Bull" breeds nowadays. Time was, any of the three breeds that showed even the slightest hint of aggression towards humans was culled immediately, as a puppy. They were fighting dogs. Fighting dogs cannot be aggressive towards humans in the least little bit, because trainers have to often get down in the fighting pit with two dogs and pull them apart.

Never, ever, ever purchase an Amstaff, Staffordshire Terrier, or Pit Bull Terrier from an unlicensed breeder. If you're unsure of the dog's origins, do not buy it.

Inuyasha, your neighbors were idiots and they were breeding dangerous animals. Not because they were breeding these particular dogs, but because they apparently had no clue what they were doing.

Dogs aren't toys. They're highly intelligent, extremely social animals. Neglect and abuse does many of the same things to them as they do to humans. Remember, we're looking at tens of thousands of years of human/canine interaction, co-evolution, and selective breeding. No one who doesn't understand this should ever be breeding dogs.

You never let a dog out without some sort of supervision. You never breed animals that show any innate aggression towards humans. Guarding, attacking, and defending should be learned behaviors built on innate tendencies.

Frankly, I always believed that nonlicensed breeding should be made illegal, because it causes stuff like this.

And I do love dogs, but I'd kill one in a heartbeat if I had to.

- Coeloptera

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by Coeloptera

Frankly, I always believed that nonlicensed breeding should be made illegal, because it causes stuff like this.
- Coeloptera

And can you explain to me exactly how making it illegal for my wife to breed her Pomeranian to my mother-in-law's dog will cure the problem of idiotic, irresponsible gun...oops, I meant dog... owners breeding Pits in their back yard and selling them to their homies?

[gak906]

Coeloptera.. Kudos, your post was knowlegable and well written.
<< even our dogs are not "aggressive" towards humans, although an important part of their job , when called for, is aggressive action. But these animals are 1 in thousands.And just about all police dogs come from overseas because knowledgable breeding there. They aren't bred for looks but for quality traits (proper drives).if a puppy will pass on the wrong traits they cancel christmas on it without regret.
I agree with you completetly with licensed breeding atleast with dangerous breeds( i'm really not worried about a pack ankle biters running loose). But with the bigger dogs 2 can kill or gravely injury an adult much less a child. My dog is not allowed to interact with anyone outside of the family (her pack) without me being around.Cause afterall she is a dog and is prone to do what dogs do.