Should Pit Bulls be banned

Recently there have been several high profile pit bull attacks where people have been killed or seriously injured. Miami and Denver have banned them. San Francisco requires that they be neutered or spayed. I also know Ontario Canada bans them. As does the Netherlands and the UK (I think).

Is banning them valid or just a knee jerk reaction?

I say banning them is crap. While you do hear about a few highly publicized incidents 99.999% of Pit Bulls are not dangerous to people. The vast majority are not dangerous to other dogs either (I regularly encounter Pit Bulls when I take my dogs to the dog park and there has never been a problem).
Those pits that are dangerous have been trained to be. To be sure some will argue they were bred to be agressive but so have a number of other breeds. Rottwieliers, Dobermans, German Sheperds, just to name a few, have been bred to be aggressive. It's $%$#@ to single out one breed.

I DO think owners of any animal, not just pit bulls, who injure another person, or their pet, should be held accountable.

Pit Bulls are actually not agressive when in the right hands. My friend has a pit bull who is the sweetest dog I know.

It is the owner of the dog who is usually to blame for how aggressive the pet becomes.

Banning them is stupid.

any dog can be vicious

No, bad pet owners should be banned.

Originally posted by BackFire
No, bad pet owners should be banned.

I like that idea.

We used to have a dog who was half-pit bull and half-golden lab. He was such a sweet dog, even though he was massive (he liked to sleep on my lap on the couch, which meant I was stuck there until he felt like moving...). Right now we have a Rottweiler, who is, I swear, the biggest chicken on the face of the earth, and is also a totally sweet dog. It's all down to the owners - neglect or be nasty to the dog and it doesn't matter the breed, the dog will be mean. Be nice for it, pay it attention and play with it, care for it....and it will be fine.

doggie!!

OMG viszlas! Bam I had to put my little red pointer to sleep 2 years ago🙁

Pit Bulls are ok once again its just a knee jerk reaction to irresponsible owners as well as the media looking for something to put into print to drive numbers.

What, exactly, do you consider a Pit Bull? It's a very vague name used to describe any dog with big jaws and short hair.

I know Detroit (and most news orgs) consider anything that looks like an APBT a pit bull. But, normally it's something totally different or a mixbreed.

APBT are, by breeding, non aggressive towards humans. The same can't be said for small animals, which they are naturally aggressive against.

American pit bull terrier, english Staffordshire terrier and maybe I cannot recall I read an article on this about a month ago bull terriers........

Funny thing is labs actually have more bite cases in the USA over pit bulls............although thats because there are so damn many of them.......

Pitbulls arent dangerous as long as theyre socialized and have a responsible owner. I used to have a german shepard/ pitbull mix and she was the sweetest dog ever!! ^_^

Just a few quick thoughts directed to the pit bull lovers of the world.

Why does everyone say that Pit Bulls are not aggressive? When Golden Retriever retrieves it is not a suprise because that was what it was bred to do. When a sighthound takes off after a squirrel or rabbit it is not a suprise because that was what it was bred to do. When a Shepard is protective of those around it it is not a suprise because that was what it was bred to do. When a Water Spanial swims with amazing skill it is not a suprise because that was what it was bred to do. So why do people deny the very character traits that were bred into pit bulls in their defense?

People say that Pit Bulls are bred to attack other dogs and not humans. That is a bit incorrect. They are bred to be aggressive, relentless, strong and determined. You cannot breed specified targets of aggression into a dog. For example, I used to have an Irish Wolfhound (which is a sight hound), he was a superbly trained dog (as any that size should be) and you know what, he was just as happy to chase a bear, deer, rabbit, coyote, dog or person as he was a wolf. If I allowed him to chase it, he'd chase it. So a pitbull is bred to fight other dogs, it's trained to fight other dogs, if it does not fight anything, it's tendancies for aggression build up andhave to be feleased somewhere.

As for people who say, "other dogs bite too", well, that's true. But most dogs cannot apply the same force behind their bite that a Pit Bull does nor are most other dogs as vicious at the moment of attack and cause as much damage as they can.

Other issues are at hand in this issue as well. Poor training and mishandling of a dog capable of this level of violence is ridiculous, as are the breeding practices that have been occuring to meet demand resulting in inbred populations of Pit Bulls that are quicker to "snap" than other specimens.

You may love the breed of dog, but with that also comes the responsibility of being aware what that dog is capable of and accepting those traits. To say they don't exist is foolish, ignorant and extremely dangerous.

Agree.

Originally posted by BackFire
No, bad pet owners should be banned.

no...this is stupid....the pets are only as bad as their owners.... i've worked with dozens of pit bulls and they're naturally not aggressive...I've worked at the vetenarian hospital for 7 months and i've yet to see an aggressive pit..

Originally posted by AdventChild
no...this is stupid....the pets are only as bad as their owners.... i've worked with dozens of pit bulls and they're naturally not aggressive...I've worked at the vetenarian hospital for 7 months and i've yet to see an aggressive pit..

No offense, but pit bulls were bred to be aggresive. Whether that aggressivenes was intended to be directed to dogs or not, it was a desirable trait that was bred into the dog. To deny that it exists is ridiculous.

Also you are speaking from personal experience, and you have only worked with a small fraction of the dogs that are out there in a very controled situation. By that train of thought I could say that I've worked with thousands of people in the last couple of years and i have never met one that killed anyone, therefore humans get a bad rap are not as dangerous as some would have you believe.

I have no doubt that they can be great pets, but anyone who is willing to overlook the intended purpose of the breed and it's nature and capabilities towards violence is either letting their bias overtake common sense or is not able to face reality.

I have to agree with KharmaDog here. Sure, its true that a dog is only as good as its trainer, but either way Pit Bulls are still naturally agressive. Any dog could be trained poorly and become violent, but its not like anybody is gonna get maimed by an unruly chihuahua.

Originally posted by BackFire
No, bad pet owners should be banned.

However, pit bulls are bred killers. When attacking, they are doing what they were bred to do and are excellent at it. Unfortunately, this translates into serious injuries and/or death. I think that restrictions should be placed on the owners of pit bulls, such as that they have to be licensed dog trainers or something.

As a side note, people who use pit bulls as fighting dogs and use golden retrievers to train them--as goldens lack the killer instinct and can't defend themselves well--should be castrated with rusty shanks.

Originally posted by FeceMan
As a side note, people who use pit bulls as fighting dogs and use golden retrievers to train them--as goldens lack the killer instinct and can't defend themselves well--should be castrated with rusty shanks.

My first dog was a golden retriever and it was the most gentle animal I've ever seen. Goldens are amazing family dogs for this very reason. The thought that people would to that to a dog is barbaric. The thought that they would do it to a dog that doesn't have a chance in hell is horrific.

Originally posted by KharmaDog
No offense, but pit bulls were bred to be aggresive. Whether that aggressivenes was intended to be directed to dogs or not, it was a desirable trait that was bred into the dog. To deny that it exists is ridiculous.

Also you are speaking from personal experience, and you have only worked with a small fraction of the dogs that are out there in a very controled situation. By that train of thought I could say that I've worked with thousands of people in the last couple of years and i have never met one that killed anyone, therefore humans get a bad rap are not as dangerous as some would have you believe.

I have no doubt that they can be great pets, but anyone who is willing to overlook the intended purpose of the breed and it's nature and capabilities towards violence is either letting their bias overtake common sense or is not able to face reality.

😆 😆 😂 😆 😆 you got me...Good point...

There are definitely bad owners, which have the potential to cause a lot of harm, and should be dealt with. And, after living much of my early life on a farm, I know there are also animals that can be right bastards, regardless of how good or bad the owner is, but this doesn't reflect on the whole species, or even breed.

And it is a good point that KharmaDog makes, various breeds do have inherent traits, including personality, to various degrees, and the Pit Bull is not excluded, and such traits do make it questionable how good a pet they make, but I don't think that alone should be enough to ban them entirely, provided the owner fully understands and respects the breeds potential, and in recognising that treats them right.

Still, all out ban? Why not do something a bit less over the top, like making muzzling compulsory or something if the dog is out in public? Or making it a more restricted kind of animal - which would mean an official recognised controls, like how they were contained (to stop the risk of them getting out of a back yard), muzzling and the like?