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San Bernardino County Sun

Are all pit bull owners this stupid?

Regarding the article about the pit bull picked up by a stranger, I am uncertain who deserves the majority of my anger about the entire sequence of events.  I'm a dog owner who has taken time to understand how dogs should act around children and has trained my dog to do so.

 

Let's start with the owner.  Your dog is not to be trusted with your own grandchildren, but you have no qualms about releasing the dogs in public?  What if I'm walking in that area with my two toddlers?  What nerve, to be upset how animal control handled YOUR stray unsafe dog. 

 

Next: animal control's purpose is to protect the public from strays.  A stray chihuahua represents a very different level of risk than a pit bull.  The issue is not what rights a claimant nor original owner have -- the issue is that this particular dog represents the absolute worst possible case, a powerful dog with known issues with children, but animal control completely failed in its mission to protect the public.  Should this dog bite someone, given the history here, I would say the county is clearly at risk of a major lawsuit.

 

Which leads to the genius who took in a stray pit bull, with no knowledge of its background or history.  Given the false identity he provided, he likely doesn't care and this particular dog is probably already dead. 

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You bring up some very good points. I do not own any pets, and nothing irritates me more then a person who is irresponsible whether they are a pet owner or someone that doesn't know the first thing about animals yet thinks they are an expert on this subject. The story that still bothers me has to do with the woman who had a chimpanzee as a pet and mauled her neighbor. It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be. Perhaps dolphins are smarter then certain humans.

Free as a bird, it's the next best thing to be. Free as a bird.

Its sad that people always down talk pit bulls. They are product of the enviroment in which they are raised in. My grandparents have owned nothing but pit bulls their whole life and they are in their late 50s. Not one of these dogs have ever attacked me or any of my siblings or family members. These dogs shouldnt be talked down on cause the ones who did attack people were in fact poorly trained and neglected in the case of any dog treated that way. They are loyal, playful, obedient gogs if given the time they need to learn these traits. Now i personally have took in a stray pitbull and was it obedient and never once attack anybody or anything at that. Proven fact: Smaller dogs for example, a chihuahua is more likely to try and attack you then a dog twice its size. If your so understanding of a dogs nature you would feel sorry for the way the pitbulls are treated and labeled. So dont belittle these dogs, mister i-am-a-dog-owner. Just keep walking around with your little dog in your handbag and let real dog owners handle these so called "beasts".

In regards to Man_from_berdoo's reply, just because you have never had a bad experience does not mean Pit Bulls are a family-safe breed that should be entrusted to all.  I too, raised Pit Bulls for many years and never once had a problem with them biting or attacking anyone.  I bought both my male and female from families that bred these dogs as family dogs.  I bred mine over the years and at one time had two litters totaling 24 puppies.  All were sold to approved families only.  I kept an albino female out of one of my own litters.  She was raised in a loving, disciplined environment, yet she was somewhat different than the others I owned.  I could not trust her around children.  She shredded my neighbors poor dogs who dug under my fence one day and created a tizzy among my other Pits.  All but one female (my original female) joined in the shredding.  When animal control arrived, all but my female showed major signs of aggression to the neighbors and the authorities.  Imagine my shock when I arrived home to find this blood bath and reports of my precious Pits snarling and baring teeth at people.  I was pregnant at the time with my first child.  I knew then that this might happen again and at first found new homes for all but my female.  One by one, the new owners experienced problems with all of my wonderful family dogs.  Over a period of six months I destroyed all of my former family dogs, except my original female. 

Pits are a wonderful, loyal dog.  However, the years of fighting and aggression that has been bred into them can and usually does surface at one point.  I raised my daughter around my original female Pit because I knew she was different than all the others that I raised.  My other four were destroyed one by one.  After getting the taste of blood, their aggressive side surfaced and no amount of love and discipline could take out what a century of breeding had put in.

Taligat was not belittling this breed; only be realistic.  There are exceptions to every rule.  However, just because you have had good luck (as I had...to a point) doesn't mean these dogs are a breed to be trusted in public.  Over the past 30-40 years they have been bred to be fighters and that is something that will take hundreds of years to breed out of them, and then only if the entire blood line is controlled by upstanding breeders.  THAT will never happen.  I love this breed, but the truth remains that they are a dangerous breed and can be a menace to society.  The owner who let that dog loose should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and never be allowed to own another Pit.  Letting those dogs loose in public, knowing they had aggression towards children was irresponsible and dangerous.  The animal control officers that allowed strangers to take those dogs home with them should be reprimanded.  Taligats response was perfect all the way!

I can't believe how irresponsible people can be that live near me in Fontana. Within the last 5 weeks, we have had two incidents occur where pit bulls came onto my property. The first was a neighbor down the block, his two pitbulls ran up the street towards my property, as he was yelling for them to sit, which they didn't follow his command. They stopped next to my husband near our garage. What would the owner have done if they attacked my husband? Then last week, another two pit bulls came into my garage, while I was having a family gathering. Children were present. I went to the garage, after they left I shut the garage door. They continued to stay in my front yard, and I had to call the police. When are people going to get the message, BE RESPONSIBLE FOR GOD'S SAKE!!

I just want to prove that there are smart people here in San Bernardino.  That's the name of this city....NOT "Berdoo"  The only people that still call this city Berdoo are gangbangers, drug dealers and wanna be types that dress up thug style, talk the talk but don't walk the walk. 

Now pitbulls may not show aggression outwardly but anything can trigger them.  Small children tend to trigger reactions because they are just as unpredictable as the dogs themselves.  They'll pet an animal gentley at first but then might get rough.  As soon as they do that just about any breed of dog, cat, bird, horse, goat, or anything else will respond.  In the case of a pitbull, they respond by maiming and killing, not just a simple nip like from a "beastly chihuahua".  Sure a little dog may be more aggressive but is it going to kill you?  Heck, I'm not condoning it but if it got really bad you could always kick the little annoying chihuahua like a football.  A pitbull is a little harder to get off of someone than that.

If you're wondering if I've ever owned dogs....I have.  Many different breeds from little to big.  When I say big I mean big....an English Mastiff was the largest breed I've had.  He was 250lbs and he could put his paws on my shoulders and stood at about 7 feet tall when he did so.  A great dog, always acted like a puppy even full grown.  That dog once got attacked by a small dog, chihuahua of course, all he did was nip its tail annd barked at it.  It was hilarious, the chihuahua peed right there.

I had a pitbull before as well and for the most part it was friendly but it went after neighborhood cats and birds....messy.  Although it was handy when some gophers showed up, wasn't for long though.  After the first cat we gave the dog the benifit of doubt....maybe the cat attacked the dog?  After a 2nd dead cat around the yard, yes, around the yard (kinda some cat here and some there) it was time to get that dog put down.  I had gotten that dog from a licensed breeder and had it from a very young age.  Even though I loved that dog, I knew better and had it destroyed.

With a breed of dog that was bred for its aggressiveness you have to use your head.  There are leash laws for a reason.

Ignorance is not an option

Good reply cyberwolfman.  I saw two black guys being pulled by their pit bulls down a touristy crowded boardwalk this week.  I thought to myself, 'You can't fix stupid.' 

i raise pits and agree that the owner of pits or any dog that has the strength to do damage to a  or neighbor's pets can not run free.it is my irresponsibility to keep any free from a threat.any dog can get into a scrap over any thing but dogs of my breed don't fight, bite like a lab

The fact of that matter is if there is a Pit Bull walking down my street, and when children are anywhere outside playing, it would not get anywhere close to me or my family members.

It WILL be shot.

If it is not a stray, the owners should take better care. if it SI a stray, it's a threat. I won't take any time to see if it is "friendly" or not. If it approaches, it's dead. We have too many dogs as it is and you can get another one. My child will not be harmed.

Grow up.

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