[Anne Bryant-Hamon]

Steve,

Pit Bulls are banned in many cities. Because they have shredded and eaten a good number of people who crossed their paths. There is something within the breed that cannot be trusted, something that makes them unpredictable and untrustworthy as pets. I know that Pit Bull owners will argue about this till the cows come home -- until their dog eventually does something awful. People mistakenly think that it is only an improperly trained pit bull that will attack out of the blue - but that has not been the case, sadly. I was rather stunned that Sarah Palin immediately (on her first public introduction to the world) likened herself to a Pit Bull with lipstick and that so many "faithful believers" are just fine with that. What a shocker this choice has been.

Anne

[Laura Heidy-Halberstein]

Originally posted by Stephen Collington:
They are illegal in Ontario:

Not just in Ontario, Stephen:

There are 250 cities in The United States which have various laws regarding the breeding and owning of pit bulls.

Regardless of the city specific laws, virtally all animal shelters which receive the breed are prohibited from offering them for adoption.


Q: What's the best thing we can do for communities and pit bulls?
The best thing we can do for communities and pit bulls is to limit their ownership and population. Fewer pit bulls means fewer human maulings and pit bull euthanizations. Animal People News reports that in 2007, US shelters killed about 1.4 million dogs; pit bulls and their mixes made up 750,000 of them.12
Most metropolitan animal shelters are plagued with high occupancy rates of pit bulls. Because of behavioral problems and liability costs, shelters won't adopt these dogs out. Instead, they are forced to euthanize them. Many pit bull advocates ignore this injustice, even though they claim to "love" the breed.

Over 250 cities have adopted breed-specific laws to address the pit bull problem. Such measures include mandatory sterilization laws and banning pit bull breeding. The most progressive legislation bans new pit bulls from entering a community at all. In just a few years, these cities see a significant drop in pit bull bites, euthanization rates and abuse.
http://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dogs-pitbull-faq.htm

It's not that they're more likely to bite than other dogs - it's that they're much more likely to refuse to let go once they do. I've seen first hand the damage they can do.

I've yet to figure out why anyone, male or female, would be proud to be known as either a pit bull or a barracuda. Neither have very many redeeming qualities.

Lo

P.S. Just as an aside, I grew up on the South Side of Chicago - not too very far from where Obama did his community organizing. I gotta tell ya, he went willingly into an area where very few men or woman were willing to go. Even the residents were desperate to get out. No one went there - NO ONE. You didn't even drive past it if you could avoid it. It made my own neighborhood look like Disney Land and believe me, I didn't grow up in Disney Land.

I'm pretty sure even the pit bulls feared and avoided it.

And he changed it.

[Tim Murphy]

The only loveable pit bull was the one on the leash of George C. Scott's General Patton, who hid under a table when a Chihuahua barked. Descended from the mastiff, the Legionary guard dog, they have been bred for all their history to fight and attack. They should simply be extirpated, down to the last puppy. Remember that young woman writer in SF who was killed by two of them in her apartment foyer? Nonetheless, Palin was making a joke, and by the reaction in the Xcel Hall, in my apartment, and across the nation, it was a good one.

[Laura Heidy-Halberstein]

Originally posted by Tim Murphy:
Palin was making a joke, and by the reaction in the Xcel Hall, in my apartment, and across the nation, it was a good one.

Possibly, but if a man had made the same joke it would have been deemed immediately sexist.

And rightfully so.

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Originally posted by Tim Murphy:
Ah, but Kevvie, you have nothing of the frisson of the pit bull, nothing of the varieties of hockey moms, in your characterizations. Try again.

Different joke, Tim. I was answering Palin's "How is a raven like a writing desk?" style query. The humor is in varying the answer, not the question.

But the true benchmark of humor is whether you get a laugh. (Thank you, Anne.)

What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?

You can spay a pitbull.

What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?

You can muzzle a pitbull. Actually, you can do that with a hockey mom too. When's McCain going to let Palin schedule a press conference?

[Donna English]

Tim, Patton's dog was a bull terrier, a completely different breed. The breed of dogs that killed that woman were not pitbulls they were Canary Pressarios (sp?)bred purposely for size and aggression toward humans and other animals--much bigger and even more unpredictable than pitbulls. Shar Peis and Chow Chows are notoriously aggressive as well. Purebreds of all kinds and the community both suffer because of indiscriminate breeders and irresponsible owners. Did you know that Labradors, especially black ones--are some of the most common dogs in shelters? They are the mutt of this decade. Jack Russells rank up there with pitbulls when it comes to their numbers in shelters. People pay hundreds heck even thhousand of dollars for a dog and at the first sign of trouble toss them out like trash. The community pays the bill. Maybe a community organizer could help.

Donna

[Robert J. Clawson]

"Palin's totem dog would be an elegant English Setter."

Tim, aren't they near as dumb as an Irish Setter.

She's a redhead, right?

How come you picked all those hairless dogs?

Curious O'Clawson

[Robert J. Clawson]

Originally posted by Tim Murphy:

What is the difference between a community organizer and a Shar-pei?

Both are considered Chinese delicacies.

Uh, what's the difference?

Shameless

[Mark Allinson]

Well, I have never heard such breedist slander in all my life!

Ha! The very idea that different types of dog, or even different individual dogs, have their own essential or inherent nature is patently absurd.

Dogs, being “man’s best friend”, means that like us, dogs are all born entirely blank slates. It is environment and environment alone that determines a dog’s nature. Everyone knows that.

And Googling about, I found many who support this view. And quite likely these are university educated people:

“Just like people, dogs are all blank slates at birth. How you socialize, train and treat your dog determines that dog's personality.”

“Aggressive dogs are MADE and not born. All puppies come into this world completely innocent. They are like blank slates that have yet to be written upon, and they become products of their environment and training, or lack thereof.”

So why ban pit bulls when it is obvious that with the right upbringing they can be trusted as pet guard dogs at play schools?

And Shih Tzus can be trained as fine hunting dogs, too, I believe, Timmy.

[Robert J. Clawson]

Originally posted by Tim Murphy:

Get over ANWR. It's only a friggin wildlife refuge, not the Grand Canyon. Nobody's ever even been there!

Peter Matthiessen, one of our finest writers, has:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19430

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20835


Anyone who claims to be close to nature should read Matthiessen.

Bob