While it has become common for cities and counties to ban pit bulls, Oregon is considering a bill to ban the dogs from the entire state. Oregon may be the first state to declare owning pit bulls a crime, if the legislation passes.
Pit bull owners insist that their dogs are not more vicious and that it is the fault of the owners. However, the Oregon legislation may become a model for other states. While I do not expect dog smugglers to follow this prohibition, it could lead to some interesting challenges. However, such cases would likely fall under the low rational basis test for states to satisfy.
For the full story, click here.
[Update: The Oregon legislators have indicated that they may pull the bill for further study this year]
My son was bit in the face by a rotwieler he was at the sitter’s house i was at work. it was a 8 month old pup that was kept in a dinky apt. with a bunch of wild kids. my son was only 3 at the time he didnt know your not supposed to put your face by them when they are eating. Of course he needed stitches was very lucky it just missed his eyeball and he has gaping scars by his eye socket and his cheek and chin. i find that 90 percent of owners that get these dogs do nothing to discipline them they don’t study the breeds and they don’t understand how to train them. This leads to the dog taking charge instead of the owner due to boredom from lack of exercise and uselessness from having no job or purpose, big dogs need to keep busy, period! if you dont have the time dont buy the dang dog.
I just want to say that I own two American Pit Bull Terriers, and I also have 6 small children and another on the way. My dogs are very sweet, and loving to everyone they come in contact with. They have been trained to be that way. My daughter got bit by a blue heeler when she was 1, at the play ground because, well the dog wasn’t a “pit bull” so the owners let their dog just run loose. I didn’t even get an apology from the dog owners. Both of my dogs have been attacked by other dogs in the town I live in, while they we’re being walked, on a leash by my husband. Both seperate incidents, and all of these dogs we’re different dogs, and all of them running loose because how could they be dangerous, they aren’t pit bulls. My dogs did nothing back to these other dogs, they just kind of looked confused. Again, no one in my town thinks that it’s a big deal because they couldn’t possibly hurt anyone because they aren’t pits. I am tired of the ignorance that people have towards these dogs. Like Laurie Bell wrote, please remember the Michael Vick dogs. I am so proud and happy that they we’re all re homed! I knew they would be, because I know the breed. My moms little mini dachsund has bitten my daughter. My dogs get down on their bellies when people come up to them. They are sitting pretty waiting to be loved on. People who are responsible for aggressive dogs, of any breed, need to be held responsible for their actions. I wish everyone would stop trying to make this breed responsible for their own ignorance. This breed, like any other will be as loving as we allow them to be. They are big goof balls! Don’t get me wrong, if either of my dogs attacked someone, I would put them down, but that can happen with any animal, dog, cat, bird, horse, whatever animal you may own. Knowledge is power, and a lot of people in this world need to learn more about this breed. Also, a lot of “pit bull” attacks, aren’t even really pit bulls. There are a lot of breeds that look similar to pits. Mine are UKC registered, Purple Ribbon dogs, so I know they are APBT. So the statistics aren’t completely accurate on how many attacks are really Pits.
2:1
Do we all need to be reminded of the micheal vic case? Out of all the dogs that were confiscated, only ONE had to be euthanized (and that was because she was so far gone with cancer that it would have been cruel to keep her alive). All of these dogs were, YES, rehabilitated and adopted out to homes with children, other dogs and cats. These were deemed “fighting dogs”, and under other counties and cities “bans” would have been all put to death! Some of these dogs even went to DEA and Search and Rescue organizations as well as becoming therapy dogs for the elder and disabled community. I have owned and been part of this spectacular breed for many years and would not own any other dog. I find it crazy that people go on and on about what the dog was “bred” for. If you do your research, the dogs were originally bred for hunting, not fighting. They are in fact, still used today in many areas for what they were intentionally meant for which is mainly bear and boar hunting! They as well do NOT have “locking jaws”, but more pounds per square inch bite force than other breeds (although they did a study for national geographic with three breeds, a german shephard, rottwiler and pitbull, and the german had MORE bite force than the pit bull, the pitbull coming in last)! So what I am saying in closing is “knowledge is power”!
OK BRENDA BUT LETS MAKE A COMPARISON ABOUT HOW MANY OF THOSE 9 OUT OF 10 ATTACKS ARE DO TO POOR TRAINING AND IRRESPONSIBILITY ON THE OWNERS PART. HOW MANY WERE DO SIMPLY TO NEGLECT OR ABUSE. LETS ABUSE YOU FOR A LITTLE WHILE, MAYBE MAIM YOU, STARVE YOU, BEAT YOU UNTIL YOU BECOME CRAZY AND HURT SOMEONE. THEN JUST FOR KICKS LETS BAN WHATEVER RACE YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU’RE AS OF NOW “DANGEROUS”. THAT WILL BE REALLY FUN. YOU AND THE REST OF THE WORLD COULD HAVE A HELL OF A TIME TRYING TO FIGHT THAT.
I PERSONALLY OWNED TWO, YES TWO MALE PITS IN THE SAME HOME. FOR A DOG THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY AGGRESSIVE TO OTHER BREEDS, IT WAS NOT. URINATION ON OR NEAR EACH OTHER TO SEE WHO WAS MORE DOMINANT WAS AS FAR AS IT EVER GOT. WE ALSO HAD 3 CHILDREN ALL TEENAGERS LIVING IN THE HOME. ALL WHOM HAD FRIENDS COMING AND GOING. JUST YOUR TYPICAL FUN LOVING FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT WITH 2 PITBULLS HANGING OUT WHILE PLAYING XBOX.
you people who defend these blood-thirsty dogs from Hell make me want to just PUKE!How many people have to die or be permantly disfugered by this pyschotic breed,How many innocent animals have to die at the hand of these monsters till they are banned?It is always a pitbull doing it!Nine out of ten fatal dog attacks are pitbulls.They are proving their own reputation.Incidently Sally since you seem to be their fan,I hope you come acroo one.Maybe you’ll lose that stupid arrogance!It’s people like you that make this country as screwed up as it is!
Here’s a sad story about dogs attacking people….
This one is about a chow attacking a two week old baby
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29530295/
2:1
What? A Rot can’t do the job?
How long till they ban ALL scary-looking potentially aggressive breeds? Dobermans, Rottweilers, Mastiffs, German Shepherds, you name it. And what breeds are NOT potentially dangerous? For Pete’s sake, former French President Chirac recently had to be hospitalized after being mauled by his tiny pet Maltese poodle: http://tinyurl.com/7ts93c. The doggy was “clinically depressed”.
People, it’s the training, not the “breeding”, that makes an aggressive dog. A Pit Bull raised like a Cocker Spaniel will be as sweet-tempered as you please. Maybe more so; I’ve known some nasty little Cockers.
They’re going for the easy solution here, banning the breed instead of keeping an eye on the breeders/trainers. If my super-friendly Korean Jindo goes nuts and bites a kid I’m liable, just like a Pit Bull owner. There should be no general verbot.
It’s a similar picture with gun ownership. A semi-automatic rifle that looks like your grandfather’s deer gun works exactly the same way as a semi-auto AK-47 (full auto guns are already illegal unless you jump through some very tight hoops, and no, contrary to urban myth it’s NOT easy to convert from semi to full). But there’s again a move afoot to ban so-called “assault rifles” primarily because they LOOK sinister. Yet I can assault you just as effectively with a gun that looks like it should be hanging over a rustic mantelpiece.
Let’s get away from simplistic solutions that go by appearances. There are many responsible Pit Bull owners with perfectly behaved dogs right here in my neighborhood. The Nanny State should worry less about breeds or gun styles and – well, in fact, the Nanny State should just go away and stop trying to protect everybody from everything. Life is risky. Get used to it.
I think something should be done for the dogs’ own good. We’ve been looking to adopt a dog and the shelters around here are overflowing with unwanted pits and pit mixes. They far outnumber any other type of breed or mix in need of homes and they seem to either be bred or allowed to breed way in excess of any demand for them. Add to that the fact that homeowners insurance will often penalize you for owning a pit or certain other breeds and they’d be better off if there were fewer of them in the future.
Budda
“I’m a huge proponent of the idea that there are more bad owners than there are bad dogs”
One could make the same statement about parents, auto drivers, bicycle riders, buffalo owners, rodeo livestock owners, Boer hog owners (they can run faster than a horse(so says my dad)), Billy goat owners, and I could go on and on. Just where do you stop protecting the public and suggest the individual has some responsibility for his own protection. But at that suggestion you would not be involved. Is that not the real issue???
“We can just put all the animals in a huge zoo and you can go there to see your old dog or cat and remember the good ol’ days.” But Sally??? What about those drunk Mary Jane smoking dudes that climb the fence and then get eaten by the zoo animals… No zoos??? Gotta keep the natives safe??? Whata ya call that one for the tort lawyers… Not zoo ambulance chasers but funeral parlor opportunities???
http://forums.mercurynews.com/topic/san-jose-family-of-teen-killed-by-tiger-sues-san-francisco-zoo
Survival of the smartest or is that the thinkinst???
Learned the reality of that from Bullet my neighbors collie named after I seem to recall Roy Rogers collie after I antagonized him and he grabbed me and pulled me outa the tree I had climbed which bent over from my weight where he could reach me after I antagonized him. Got the scars still.. And he licked me in the face when he hung on and pulled me outta the tree after all that… With me a bleeding too, crying and screaming bloody murder… He missed the family jewels that I had no clue I would later for sure learn so really appreciate… Whewwww… Since then I ALWAYS carry big boneS in my pocket when biking and ah walkin to have POSITIVE influence with all the big dogs…. Littlins ones too…. They can get it to ya bike spokes… Kinda sounding like the survival of the fittest/thinkinst(my word)???
Yes, Virginia, we now have a President Doofus:
‘Fuzzy Math’ on War Funding.
Obama Begs Moscow “We will scrap missile-defense for help with Iran”.
Dow drops another 300 points; off 2,500 just since Obama inaugeration, 3,500 since Obama election, and 6,500 since Obama nomination – investor message – WE DON’T TRUST or BELIEVE IN Obama’s fruitcake answer to our problems.
I think we can all agree that there are several layers to this problem: Owners who have little to no experience with a more protective\aggressive dog breeds; owners who try to bring out the aggressiveness so they can use the animal as a guard dog, but don’t know enough to train the dog properly; backyard breeders who either have low breeding standards or try to cater those seeking junkyard dogs. When you combine bad breeders with bad owners, and pit bulls seem to attract both, you’re always going to end up with a breed that gets known for having many undesirable traits.
Although I never tried training a pit bull, I have little doubt that I could train one to be as gentle as I wanted and still be an effective watchdog. A dog’s personality most often reflects that of his trainer and/or owner.
Bear in mind the nature/nurture aspect of behavior when considering whether a particular breed of animal is doomed to certain *undesirable* traits.
Every breed of dog has intrinsic value and must have every opportunity to exist. The owners are the responsible parties in this human/non-human animal partnership that has culturally evolved over some 14, 000 years.
If breeders created a Pit-weilers or Dober-bulls, would they be legal under this proposal?
Or will the courts know it when they see it?
I think another avenue would be to compel homeowners to carry $2M in liability insurance to get a pet registration for a Pit Bull, thereby making registration nearly impossible.
I’ll admit Buddha, there are certain types of dogs that I don’t like, most of them are those little bitty yappy ones.
I’m not fond of pit bulls or german shepherds either. I do feel that both of those types of dogs are agressive.
A friend of ours used to have a german shepherd that was extremely protective of her. Then she and I each had a baby and of course, the dog became protective of her son. I always feared that the dog would attack my daughter if she took a toy away from her son and made him cry. So to avoid such a problem, the dog not was near the children when they were playing. The dog died shortly before our kids each turned one year old. Although I was sad for my friends loss, I was secretly relieved.
I do see your point though
Sally,
Please. That’s just reflexive. Not all animals are suitable pets. Keep in mind that pets, by their very nature, have to interact with more than just their “immediate family”. The owner has a responsibility to make sure the animal remains under control. The evidence points to this being a difficult to control AND dangerous breed (due to bite characteristics). Fair has nothing to do with it, safe does. I’d love to be able to have a Siberian Tiger as a pet. Beautiful animal. But I wouldn’t do it. Forget that it’s cruel to keep a wild animal as a pet. Forget that it’s illegal in many places. I wouldn’t do it for the assumed risk alone. Even if that tiger LOVED me and I was fully confident it would not harm a hair on my head, I could never be sure it wouldn’t take exception to another human and attack. It’s his nature. To quote Chris Rock, “That tiger didn’t go crazy! That tiger went tiger!” Just like aggression is the nature of pit bulls as evidence by their frequency in being involved in fatal attacks. I’m not suggesting people get their pets taken away. That’s just mean. I’m suggesting not allowing any more of the breed into circulation. How is that not fair?
Let’s just make things all the more safer and ban everyone in America from owning any type of pet, except for goldfish. Then no one will get hurt.
We can just put all the animals in a huge zoo and you can go there to see your old dog or cat and remember the good ol’ days.
That should make things fair, right ?
May be correct Buddha, but isn’t thát exactly their main selling point? I don’t think too many buy them for their looks, not considering the wisdom of the buyers.
I’m a huge proponent of the idea that there are more bad owners than there are bad dogs, but this is an inherently dangerous breed precisely because of how they were bred. As evidenced by the CDC, they are a disproportionate risk to the public. From Wiki – “The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a study concerning deaths from canine attacks in 2000. According to the study, between 1979 and 1998, one-third of all fatal dog attacks were caused by Pit Bull type dogs. The highest number of attacks (118) were by Pit Bull type dogs, the next highest being Rottweilers at 67.” That’s nearly twice as many attacks as the next most aggressive breed. The original CDC report can be viewed here (.pdf) – http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf – but that kind of number makes it hard to argue they are not intrinsically a dangerous animal. 2:1 is statistically significant. While it makes perfect sense to let the legal onus fall on the owner for attacks, it also makes sense to ban or limit ownership of such an animal as a matter of public safety just like you would expect big cats, primates and other dangerous animals to be prohibited from private ownership.
I love animals of all sort, but not all of them make good pets.