Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
By the way... Does anyone know if Broward County FL has banned "pit bulls"? I know that when I lived in South FL Broward County (which is where I lived) was where all of the "pit bulls" from Miami/Dade were taken so they could get a chance at being adopted instead of just being put to sleep. Like I said, we are in Utah right now, and will be for several more months, but my best friend and her husband, who are also "pit bull" owners/lovers/advocates, just moved down to West Palm and said that they heard that now "pit bulls" are being banned in Broward County!? If that's true, that's horrible! Not to mention, we would have to fins another place to live because we were going to move back down to Broward County when we leave Utah!
There is no ban in Broward County. Representative Perry Thurston from Plantation wanted to get a bill changed, in 2008, so it would be up to each county or city to be able to have bsl. It died. Oh boy did I write my letters and voice my opinion about that! Here's a link to it Session :Bills : flsenate.gov
I am from Denver, was there when the ban went into effect, and I for one could not be happier. Mind you I do not hold animals responsible for their behavior-unlike humans, they cannot subdue their instincts. Point is: Pits are sired variations on english bull dogs and terriers, both hunting dogs. however pits are not hunters: they were bred exclusively for dog fighting (when it was legal) and were therefore purposefully inbred. Pit Bulls do not attack MORE people, the issue is that Pit Bull attacks are, more often than not, deadly, especially when attacking a young child. Im all for having pets, but if your pet is a statistical danger to humans, than please move to a rural or suburban area, where they will not be tempted by their instinctual urge to kill. I believe it is quite hypocritical to have a dog in the city, and then get defensive when he bites someone. Much like guns, they COULD hurt someone, and that very fact is enough for a ban, even if some "innocent" dogs are euthanized in the process.
Last edited by TheBletch-PortlandOR; 07-05-2011 at 10:38 PM..
Reason: Mis typed
From the Denver article: Prior to Denver's ban on pit bulls, there was a highly publicized case in which two dogs*, (neither of which was identified as a pit bull or pit bull-type dog) attacked a Colorado boy, injuring him so severely that doctors needed thousands of stitches to repair his life-threatening wounds. Denver either failed to notice, or assigned less significance to the extent of the injuries inflicted in this incident.
* Interestingly, one of two breeds of dogs involved in this attack is of the same breed as that owned by Kory Nelson, Denver's most radical and outspoken proponent of the city's pit bull ban.
I remember this. Talk about hypocrisy.
It was interesting reading about Portland's breed-neutral approach.
To me, identifying a dangerous dog according to its behavior--makes a thousand times more sense.
Again, from the article: The City of Denver continues to squander public resources defending its breed ban against legal challenges filed on behalf of the City's responsible dog owners. From 2005 to 2007, Denver killed 1,667 pit bull-looking dogs.
If nothing else, you would think that the municipal government would consider Portland's method a more fiscally responsible strategy.
Yeah I live in Portland, and it does seem like a good way to weed out dangerous individual dogs. problem is, we have no leash laws, no laws regarding dogs are followed, thus ANY dog can be considered dangerous. The main problem is that it is not in any way a preventative measure, and the idea of the city verifying good behavior in a dog before they harm someone is ludicrous, therefore a dog has to seriously hurt someone before they are removed from the owner's care. People are very easy going about dogs here, but I have found there are many more dog attacks here than in Denver.
I am from Denver, was there when the ban went into effect, and I for one could not be happier. Mind you I do not hold animals responsible for their behavior-unlike humans, they cannot subdue their instincts. Point is: Pits are sired variations on english bull dogs and terriers, both hunting dogs. however pits are not hunters: they were bred exclusively for dog fighting (when it was legal) and were therefore purposefully inbred. Pit Bulls do not attack MORE people, the issue is that Pit Bull attacks are, more often than not, deadly, especially when attacking a young child. Im all for having pets, but if your pet is a statistical danger to humans, than please move to a rural or suburban area, where they will not be tempted by their instinctual urge to kill. I believe it is quite hypocritical to have a dog in the city, and then get defensive when he bites someone. Much like guns, they COULD hurt someone, and that very fact is enough for a ban, even if some "innocent" dogs are euthanized in the process.
You have a tremendous amount of inaccurate information in your post, as do most uneducated people on this subject.
Pitbulls were used to fight in dog fights, that's correct. They were also bred to NEVER EVER bite a human, and those that did - even if by accident or in the heat of a battle - were culled immediately. So they are not pre-disposed to attack humans. As a matter of fact, they're the only breed that was intentionally culled for attacking humans. So if you're using that as an arguement as to why they should be banned, the truth is all other breeds should be banned, not the pitbulls.
Second, pitbulls in this country were once called nanny dogs. When families had a baby, they would bring home a 'pitbull' because of their well known love of children. They were incredibly loyal to their families and would put their lives on the line to save them, something that is still common in the breed today.
Pitbulls have been used in law enforcement, the military and in SAR work, including at the Trade Center and OKC bombings. They are used daily as therapy dogs in day care centers, hospitals, retirement facilities, etc. They score every year in the 80 and 90th percentiles in temperament testing by the ATTS, a non-breed specific, non-biased group. They score higher than Golden Retreivers, but I've yet to see anyone grab their child and cross the road because a Golden was walking toward them on the side walk.
While so many politicians will tell you that pitbulls attack more than any other breed, they can't tell you where they get those statistics. And if you break down numbers you'll find a ton of discrepancy. I've walked into more shelters than I care to count and found dogs of dozens of different breeds labeled as 'pitbulls', including labs. So if the people that work with dogs on a daily basis can't accurately label a dog's breed, what makes you think that any victim of a dog attack, under a tremendous amount of stress, pain and anxiety can? And who labels these dogs? My vet couldn't score more than 70% on a name the breed test. Few people can nail that entire test perfectly. So who gets to decide what breed a dog is?
And from a personal stand point, I'm proud to share my home with two 'pitbulls', an APBT / Great Dane mix and a female Staffie. The staffie is the mother hen in my rescue, the first to greet any other dog we bring in and make them feel at home. I just brought in an American Bulldog tonight that I'm fostering for a while until he goes to his new home. After 17 years of doing rescue, I've never had a single pit or bully breed that's had a single temperament issue. However, I've never had a single doxie that didn't bite. Don't see doxie's banned though do you? And they were at one point the most likely breed to bite.
My daughter has 2 pitbulls as well, and an 8 month old daughter. Those dogs don't leave that baby's side. And no stranger goes near her.
There's no such thing as a bad breed of dog, not even a doxie. There are however dogs that irresponsible and uneducated pet owners tend to be drawn toward. Sadly, these days those are the pit type breeds. They're highly intelligent and loyal to a fault. They'll do anything they're trained to do, so when the criminal element figured this out, there was a problem. Just like there was about 15 years ago with rotties. And years before that with dobies and before that with shepherds. But none of those breeds were the problem; it was the owner.
So sure, you can 'ban' a breed. But the criminal element isn't going to abide by your laws. They'll continue bringing them home, training them to be aggressive. And when they get sick and tired of having to go find another because theirs were taken, they're going to go get a mastiff that's going to hit 200 pounds easily. You think a pit at 45 pounds does damage? Think of what a 200 pound mastiff will do to a 3 year old child.
Banning a breed doesn't work. There are some amazing dangerous dog laws out there that DO work, and work well. Most cities that pass breed bans don't see any drop in the number of dog bites. Eventually, when the community gets smart and the politicians realize it's time to not be stupid, they repeal the laws. Hopefully, if the community has a brain, they'll push for a dangerous dog law. Push for leash laws. Push for bans on dog ownership by convicted felons. Push for benefits for dogs that are spayed and neutered. Push for a ban on chaining dogs. There are plenty laws that DO work. Why in the world people continue to pass laws that are ineffective, and honestly leave the community with a false sense of security is beyond me. It's just people having a knee jerk emotional reaction that has no base in education or reality.
GReat post mrs1885 I didn't know some of that stuff on pit bulls. Almost makes me wish I had one. Almost I'm realistic and know I don't have the time and energy to properly own one.
Thank you very much for your very informative and positive post on pit bulls. There is so much misinformation out there regarding these awesome dogs. Reading the article originally posted just broke my heart, seeing all those terrified and confused faces in the shelter.
Below is a picture of my sister's pit bull Wylie. Who can resist that kissable smooshy snout?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here's a link to it 
I didn't know some of that stuff on pit bulls. Almost makes me wish I had one. Almost
I'm realistic and know I don't have the time and energy to properly own one.
