It should be illegal! (dog, prevent, good)

[texaschic]

a rehabilitated animal is a nice thought... however noone can guarantee the animal won't bite again. Is that a chance you want to take with your child... or any child for that matter. Education of the owners is key... but it's not enough once you have a dog with "biting" history. Trust me... i love dogs and just recently lost my dog of 15 years. She was a very sweet american eskimo... and never bit anyone. There are far too many well mannered dogs out there that need homes.... why on earth would you keep one around that you can't trust?

[Upstate Dave]

Sorry, I disagree. While I did agree that there are dogs that could never be trusted, I don't believe for a minute that there could ever be any reasonable method of judging which animals are to be considered a future threat. Therefore- all animals with teeth will eventually become a potential threat to our children. An extreme response to be sure, but maybe not so extreme several years from now.

[Justme2010]

To me, words like "trust" and "judge", are usually used for or against people, and probably the word, determine, may have a neutral connotation for non-human category.

On a separate note, if a group of people are singled out and there's some secret policy of putting them at a disadvanage or even active behavior sabotaging their work or the like, according to the way I was raised that is absolute evil, way beyond unfair, the being(s) setting up that sort of policy/directive and its followers are sheer scambags. Trust me, evil doers will not end well.

[breeze823]

I don't think the dog is a "beast", it's the owner who trains him to be mean. That's the problems with Rottweilers and Pit Bulls, unfortunately the breed has became popular with the wrong crowd who use them for the wrong reasons.
We've owned Rottweilers for 20 years and have never encountered a mean one. They have been wonderful family dogs but thanks to the people who have abused them, they have sent the wrong message to others who don't know about this breed and how sweet they actually are.
In my opinion, I'm more scared of yappy little dogs who nip at you for any reason.

[texaschic]

Originally Posted by breeze823

I don't think the dog is a "beast", it's the owner who trains him to be mean. That's the problems with Rottweilers and Pit Bulls, unfortunately the breed has became popular with the wrong crowd who use them for the wrong reasons.
We've owned Rottweilers for 20 years and have never encountered a mean one. They have been wonderful family dogs but thanks to the people who have abused them, they have sent the wrong message to others who don't know about this breed and how sweet they actually are.
In my opinion, I'm more scared of yappy little dogs who nip at you for any reason.

the rotty that bit my son was a family dog.... the owners did nothing to provoke dangerous behavior and no abuse was involved. They did in fact ignore previous biting attemps.. which does make them irresponsible dog owners.

so what then is your explanation for his behavior? was he just a "bad apple".... or can any sweet dog have the ability to bite?

on another note.... rott & pit bites can do so much more damage than lil yappy dogs... when they bite they clamp down and don't let go.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Actually, for some time I have suspected that some Human Beings are the nastiest breed of dog alive.

[breeze823]

Originally Posted by texaschic

the rotty that bit my son was a family dog.... the owners did nothing to provoke dangerous behavior and no abuse was involved. They did in fact ignore previous biting attemps.. which does make them irresponsible dog owners.

so what then is your explanation for his behavior? was he just a "bad apple".... or can any sweet dog have the ability to bite?

on another note.... rott & pit bites can do so much more damage than lil yappy dogs... when they bite they clamp down and don't let go.

Well I wasn't directing my answer at you as I didn't read your story, but yeah, I think there can be a "bad apple" in the bunch sometimes. Same with people. But normally I think they react in the way they've been treated in the past.

[ablanco]

Apparently the piece of Tidewater Trash that everyone in Blacksburg used to adore hasn't taught some people a thing! It is the OWNER NOT THE BREED! Please watch DogTown, the episode that features Vick's dogs and I know it will change your opinion. Also, pick up a copy of the Sports Illustrated issue that featured his dogs and read it. Animals that have been abused are just like abused children, it's their fault. They are taught and forced to be aggressive, fight, etc. The sad thing is most of the time they are never rehabilitated, simply put down. What is even sadder, people continue to buy large breed dogs and train them to be aggressive. I do not believe in eliminating a breed. If you want to do that, maybe we should try stop breeding people like Michael Vick and other people who are harmful to society.

[texaschic]

Fact: there will always be idiots out there that turn their dogs into dangerous monsters. I don't debate that fact and believe that these people should be held accountable.

Fact: there are certain breeds of dogs that are more prone to biting than others and many times these bites occur with NO previous show of aggression.

I don't believe that ALL Rotts or ALL Pitts are bad dogs... I'm sure there are many sweet dogs within this breed. I do believe however that these breeds do have a higher threat of being aggressive. Rotts have a very keen territorial instinct resulting in their reputation for being aggressive. That's why many people love them for guard dogs.

On that note.... again I will say that ALL dogs or any animal for that fact can bite. I just choose to lower the risks to my family by not owning one of these particular breeds or having them around my family.

[ladypaints2play]

Did anyone read the story of the biting pit in Florida I think...Now I want to ask ya'll, if you knew the babysitter had a pit bull, and you had a young child, would you leave your child in that house? Now I know people need good cheap daycare, even if these people were related, and you really trusted the sitter, you can't trust the dog...have ya'll noticed that it is sometimes the really young children, I mean months old, that the pit bulls attack? I don't know what it is, maybe the crying that sets them off, it can't be that that child in Florida done anything to the dog, not that that would justify the mauling that the child got,but do ya'll think it is something about the crying indicating helplessness or what.....I would like to ask the dog whisperer about that....Now I think the dog that mauled that child should be put down....or with a couple with a dog cage, that would never see freedom again, without a muzzle or some kind of restraint. Even that did not help that woman that time out in Cal. People need to be proactive with these type of dogs, not reactive. Even with those dogs that came to our house to live, when we got our precious in our house to raise, I NEVER left those dogs alone with her, I did not have a reason to suspect the dogs, when those dogs bite someone, it is only in the buttocks region, and like a nip, but a bad nip, any bite is bad, the people that these dogs bit, knew the dogs for the most part, and knew the dogs former home life, and are dog lovers....we now keep them on a run or let them out to run late at night...we are more watchful of them and rarely have people come to our house that do not know the dogs...but they are still not mean....precious has dominion over these dogs somewhat....but after a dog bites like that one in Florida, No I would not want that dog around my baby...AT ALL. The only way I would let those people off the hook, is if that dog had never shown the smallest amount of agression, and that is highly unlikely...My condolences go out to the family of that child....but that was a preventable thing, if someone had of used some good old common sense.....People should come before the dogs....