If you were told a story about a woman who was mauled so viciously by a dog that she had to undergo the world’s first face transplant. What breed would initially come to your mind? If you said a Pit Bull, you are among the majority, but you would be wrong. It was a Labrador retriever, which is currently the most popular breed of dog in the United States, and among the top ten in several other countries according to the UKC (Dorsey 4). Why do you think so many people would assume it was a Pit Bull? In the 1900’s the American Pit Bull Terrier was commonly portrayed on American war propaganda posters to represent the country's strength, determination, and dignity. The loyal and loving breed has been a companion to people such as Helen Keller, President Theodore Roosevelt, President Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison, and General George Patton. Today, the American Pit Bull Terrier is commonly looked at as a violent, aggressive and an unpredictable breed of dog. What is the truth about the American Pit Bull Terrier? Are they truly the monsters described by Oklahoma State Representative Paul Wesselhoft as “gargoyle appearing animal with claws and fangs the size of a tigers” (Bellamy 10A) or are they simply misunderstood? How has this breed’s image gone from one extreme to the other over the past years?
The American Pit Bull Terrier can be traced back to England in the 19th century where initially the breed was created to combine the gameness, speed, and agility of a Terrier with the strength and athleticism of a Bulldog (Bolhafner 39). According to Stahlkuppe, “gameness is the willingness of a dog to continue fighting, or hunting, or pulling a cart, or defending its owner, through great stress, intense pain, and even until death” (61). Sta...
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...her it is to be a loving family pet, household protector, competitor, or fighter. It is up to the owner to properly train and socialize their dog, show them what they want and the Pitt Bull will be sure to meet whatever demands we place in front of them.
Works Cited
“American Pit Bull Terrier” ukcdogs.com. Revised 1 Nov2008: Web. 22 May 2012.
Bellamy, Louise. “Pit bulls are loyal, loving dogs” The Oaklahoman 18 July. 2005: pg 10A. Print
Bolhanfner, Stephen.“ Meet the American Staffordshire/ pit bull terrier” St. Louis Post dispatch 7 May. 2005: pg 39. Print.
Devlin, Mike. “ Top 10 banned dog breeds” Listverse.com. 24 Aug 2011. Web. 23 May 2012.
Dorsey, Jannie. “ Pit bull earns top dog rank in bites” Tampa Tribune 28 July. 2009: pg 4. Print.
Stahlkuppe, Joe. The American Pitt Bull Terrier Handbook. Hauppauge, New York: Barron’s, 2000. Print.
Their family-friendly reputation changed “around 1976, when animal-fighting venues were added to the Animal Welfare Act, according to Donald Cleary of the National Canine Research Council. Pits—often trained as combatants—came to be seen as dangerous. Throughout the next two decades, stories about vicious pits mauling innocent children appeared in news outlets across the country” (Tullis 3). Interestingly enough, pit bulls were not always the breed under fire by society. In the 1800’s, bite reports by bloodhounds, which were often used to hunt down escaped slaves, flooded the Northeastern newspapers.
...ports Illustrated cover photo of a pit bull (Pit Bull Rescue Central, "Breed Information”). Dog fighting made a comeback during the 1980s and the pit bull became the favorite macho dog for dog fighters. The dogs were trained to kill or be killed. Pit bulls were also the preferred guard dog for gangs, thugs and criminals. Since the supporters and detractors of pit bulls hold such disparate opinions regarding the ferocity of the breeds, it is only hoped that further discussion and education will help resolve the sad fate that awaits these unfortunate animals. Simply placing all the blame on the breeds will not solve the problems of dog fighting, overbreeding, aggressive training, and excessive euthanizations. Lastly, the biased, sensationalistic publicity of horrific dog attacks which has destroyed the reputation of the once beloved All American Dog must cease.
In recent years it has been the pit bull which has come under the scrutiny of legislative bodies, as their reputation becomes more and more sullied by street crime. To say “pit bull,” however, is a vague reference to several pit bull types, which are considered separate breeds by registries like the American Kennel Club (AKC). Each type has a slightly different breeding history; many began with the breeding of bulldogs with terriers to produce a loyal, compact and tenacious breed (“American Pit Bull Terrier”). The three standard pit bull types most often mentioned by name in breed-specific legislation include the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. That is not the extent of the legislation, however, which also includes dogs that “substantially conform to the breed standards established by the American Kennel Club” (Melvindale)....
"United Kennel Club: American Pit Bull Terrier. " Ukcdogs.com, 2013. Web. 27 Nov 2013.
When most people today see a pitbull they see it as a monster who could snap at any moment. Something that they should protect themselves and their family from; but that is not necessarily true. Is any one man or woman exactly like the last? A human being’s personality along with their capacity for violence is molded by their past and how they were treated growing up; pit bulls are no different. In today’s society pitbulls are unfairly discriminated against because they are favored among street gangs and dog fighting rings, leaving a staggering number of loyal and loving dogs homeless or mistreated.
Draper, Bill. "Attitudes and Laws against Pit Bulls Soften." Boston.com. The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
...ociated Press published an article “Pit Bulls are A Danger to Society,” yet this year, the same publisher issued an article “Attitudes and Laws Against the Pit Bull Soften – The Big Story” in which the Pit bull advocates hail the changes as recognition that breed-specific laws discriminate against dogs that are not inherently aggressive or dangerous should not be discriminated against or victimized. The debate puts millions of pit bull owners up against a relatively small group of activists against the breed and challenges the notion that Pit Bulls that are well-cared for had any history of aggressive behavior in the first place, closing the argument by again stating what the Canadian Encyclopedia explained, that their actions were just a park of the cycle of favorites and least favorites that has always been and always will be in the history of ownership of dogs.
The Web. The Web. 28 Apr. 2012. The. McNeil, Anna. A. A New Pit Bull Study.
Khuly, Patty, Dr. "This Veterinarian's Take on America's Purebred Lust Problem."Vetstreet. Vet Street, 19 June 2012. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
It is the bad owners that give the pit bull a bad name. Contrary to that popular belief, dangerous animal behavior is the function of inherently dangerous dog owners, not inherently dangerous dogs. One fact that supports this is that pit bulls are the dogs most often shot during drug raids(TELLINGS v. Toledo). Besides the pit bulls that are owned by drug dealers for status symbols and protection, many pit bulls are owned by people that breed them for fighting. These poor dogs have a very slim chance of living a normal and happy life. This is not the fault of the dog, but the fault of the owners that should not have the dog, or should care for them better. The dogs that are forced to fight and are conditioned to defend themselves or die. When these dogs get loose, everything is a threat to them and they defend themselves in the name of survival. If golden retrievers were bred and raised with the sole purpose of fighting to the death, they would be just as dangerous as pit bulls. On the contrary, if all pit bulls were bred and treated as family dogs, they would have the same reputation as golden retrievers, if not better as the statistics found in the temperament test above
...ed they are extremely people-oriented. Pit bulls are loyal to their owners and eager to please, and they also have a high pain tolerance which is perfect for a household with rough and tumble kids!
b. “Many people have a difficult time properly identifying a true Pit Bull, so added to the statistics are those dogs that have been misidentified. Considering these factors, the actual number of attacks attributable to American Pit Bull Terriers is considerably lower than represented,” according to the real pit bull. i. Do you think a 4 pound Pomeranian dog would hurt anybody? ii. Stated in the Dog Bite Law, “The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family 's Pomeranian dog.” a. The American Temperament Test is a test that measures a dog strong avoidance, unprovoked aggression, and panic without recovery. “American Pit Bull Terriers passed the test at a rate of 85.3%,” according to Pitbulls.org. They have the highest test scores, and they out beat the golden retriever “family dog” by 7.7%. iii. I identify the justice of my rival’s claim, but I disagree with my rival’s 100 percent about pit bulls having the highest attacks. c. Now you can see how my rival made a mistake because they didn’t evaluate and understood the facts as clearly as they
Daily Progress Staff. “Pit bulls: vicious or victims?” The Daily Progress 07 July 2008. 15 December 2010
According to Source 4, the ASPCA claims that "News outlets constantly tell animal control officers that they will not cover a dog attack unless the situation involves a Pitbull". With the media not reporting all dog-related injuries, regardless of the breed, the public thinks that pit bulls aren't the only dogs that cause injury. All this is doing is making pit bulls seem like horribly vicious dogs, but in reality, other dogs are the same way, while the media may be trying to help "good dogs'' keep their good reputation. But all they are doing is worsening one breeds reputation and that’s not alright. In conclusion, not all pit bulls are vicious.
The American Pit Bull is considered as a genuine breed because there are various breeds of pit bull that could have been mixed with other dogs. Pit bulls were raised for baiting larger animals during the hunting seasons. With the faithfulness of t...