Pit bulls maul pony in CT - link to story

[CATransplant]

I absolutely HATE, I mean really HATE pits. Totally useless breed IMO. They are dangerous and unpredictable and known to attack, more so than any other breed of dog. My brother in law was mauled by two pits while on duty last year. He was lucky to get away with his life. I am a dog owner myself, but I would never, ever bring a pit into my family, near my kids or animals. Don't waste your time trying to convince me otherwise, I have always hated and always will... no matter how "sweet" your pit is...... We catch a pit on or near our property, its as good as dead.....

[Riley0522]

I absolutely HATE, I mean really HATE pits. Totally useless breed IMO. They are dangerous and unpredictable and known to attack, more so than any other breed of dog. My brother in law was mauled by two pits while on duty last year. He was lucky to get away with his life. I am a dog owner myself, but I would never, ever bring a pit into my family, near my kids or animals. Don't waste your time trying to convince me otherwise, I have always hated and always will... no matter how "sweet" your pit is...... We catch a pit on or near our property, its as good as dead.....

I don't really care about your opinion, you are entitled to it by all means, but what does your dog do that makes it so much more useful than a Pit Bull? Do you consider yourself enough of a breed expert to be able to ID a Pit Bull from far away and then kill an animal simply for being near your property and being what you think is a waste of life Pit Bull? I'd like to see you tell that to a judge or a little girl who's best friend you killed.

[Ajierene]

.

I was just curious to why it seemed like it happens so much more often with the Pits- but then again, everyone loves to villify them...maybe you only hear the stories b/c their pits? Like, nobody thinks its newsworthy to have to kill a poor innocent cutey Lab b/c it was (of no fault of its own) a little imbalanced. Oh the shock! lol

It happens more often with Pitbulls because people do not know how to raise pitbulls. Pitbulls are popular because of their look and the idea of them being mean, but unlike other popular breeds, pitbulls need different training and different environments. Many pitbulls are nice, but they are usually because people either NEVER let them near other dogs/animals or the pitbull has been properly socialized.

They are not labs or shepherds or collies.....you MUST socialize them 24/7 from the moment they are weaned until the moment they die.

They are not breed for hunting or protection, they are breed for fighting. Because of this, they also have 'rage' breed into them. It has been breed into them to latch on and not let go and movement and fighting makes them more crazy. In a dog fight, it is VERY hard to call a pitbull off of another dog, which is why one is usually dead.

A friend bred pitbulls. He would try to sell them only to appropriate homes. This man wanted two pitbulls. My friend cautioned him about taking care of pitbulls and did a site check, he was told to get rid of the monkey (the man owned a small farm). The buyer agreed. A few weeks later my friend received a phone call that there was a problem with the pitbulls and he had to come over. The scene was carnage - one dead, the other almost dead....and a dead monkey. My friend yelled at the owner.

What happened was these puppies were 'harassed' by the monkey, teamed up to kill the monkey, but when they were done, they were in rage (adrenaline coupled with genetics) and turned on each other (puppies from the same litter).

Other dogs do display aggression and there are anomalies in all breeds, but pitbulls were bred to be aggressive, couple that with people that don't know how to raise them (they ARE NOT housepets) and you have an issue.

[MistyBlue]

I don't hate the breed...I'm not fond of it either but I don't hate the breed. I distrust strange ones...especially loose strange ones. Same with a few other breeds...and frankly I remain semi-cautious with any breed loose and roaming dog because to me anyone who owns a dog and lets it roam free probably didn;t have enough brain cells to socialize it either.
I don't think banning the breed across the country (which it would be at state level anyways) is a solution though.
I do know some cities have banned them...with good enough reason since inner cities seem to have more than their share of irresponsible pit owners.
IMHO...an idea that might work would be to choose certain issue breeds and require special "extra" licenses to own one. The breeds that do have genetic dispositions or traits that make them "not for beginner or fools" dogs. Pits would be included in that. Some sort of extra license stating that the breed can be owned as long as:
*they are neutered of spayed. (breeders to have separate license for breeding purposes so only decent breeders remain legally)
*they complete a certain level of obedience training
*the owners agree and sign off on the dogs having certain containment rules such as a certain level/height/type of fencing and leashed at all times off property with the violation being instant seizure.
*That each owner and dog is tested as to socialization levels and training.
*No cross breeding allowed.
*approved dogs to be chipped and ACO/PD to have scanners and to confiscate any non-chipped dog at any time whether it's terrorizing something or not.

And whatever other things to be added or changed...not sure what would work best overall. Something like that shouldn't be an issue for the responsible owners at all...a good "problem breed" owner will be doing these things anyways and the fees involved would be nominal. The less responsible owners wouldn't want to go through the hassle and would rather have an "easy" dog to own that they didn't have to work towards. And the thugs wouldn;'t go for that at all since it "ruins" the purpose of having a big bad dog with a set of fleshy danglies to parade around.
I'm just thinking of having a special wildlife or exotic license and how that's done and why it couldn't be modified for certain breeds of animals...there may be a way to do that somehow.
That way it doesn't affect the good owners or good dogs of certain breeds out there and it does remove the potential problem dogs from the public and it ensures that only approved breeders can produce more...which would hopefully return the personality, traits and even appearance back to the beloved family pet of the 50's. And if most or all of the potential issue breeds had the same type of licensing...then there's not much left for the thugs to screw up. They will find something I'm sure...but hopefully not.
Does this sound like it might have some merit?

[Sansena]

Sansena...the dogs were two pits. The owner also has a boxer. The two pits have killed 2 cats and are responsible for 3 more attacks in the lst 16 days. The owner of them has a construction company and he keeps the pits as "property protection dogs." And they are pits according to animal control who went out on the other calls. The entire Candlewood Hills community have been trying to get those dogs seized for weeks now, other pet and livestock owners have been terrorized by these two dogs. (just made a quick phone call to verify)

You are correct.. Thank you.

[CATransplant]

I don't really care about your opinion, you are entitled to it by all means, but what does your dog do that makes it so much more useful than a Pit Bull? Do you consider yourself enough of a breed expert to be able to ID a Pit Bull from far away and then kill an animal simply for being near your property and being what you think is a waste of life Pit Bull? I'd like to see you tell that to a judge or a little girl who's best friend you killed.

Totally a waste of space. I despise the breed and usually the folks that own them and adore them....

Our neighbors have pits, they are fully aware if fido comes to our property, he won't be coming home.... we've done it before a few times actually... wouldn't hesitate to do it again... here where we live, its legal to protect your livestock, no questions asked.
My dogs, have a job, thats to protect our property and our children, I don't let them roam around off the property, which is more than I can say for most people out here, they are specifically trained to do their jobs and stay on our property and not harm livestock. And its not just pits that will get shot if they come on our property, that goes for any breed....

[SaturdayNightLive]

Totally a waste of space. I despise the breed and usually the folks that own them and adore them....

Our neighbors have pits, they are fully aware if fido comes to our property, he won't be coming home.... we've done it before a few times actually... wouldn't hesitate to do it again... here where we live, its legal to protect your livestock, no questions asked.
My dogs, have a job, thats to protect our property and our children, I don't let them roam around off the property, which is more than I can say for most people out here, they are specifically trained to do their jobs and stay on our property and not harm livestock. And its not just pits that will get shot if they come on our property, that goes for any breed....

You must be super fun to live near.

[Pirateer]

Breed regs are a) stupid and b) wouldn't work, since 80% of the non-APBT owning world can't even identify them.

[WorthTheWait95]

Breed regs are a) stupid and b) wouldn't work, since 80% of the non-APBT owning world can't even identify them.

It always amazes me how many can't actually identify a pitbull. When I worked in an animal shelter we'd have people thinking everything from american bulldogs (that one is understandable at least) to bull terriers to shepards were pits!

[Trakehner]

Years ago my mother had a pet sheep. She put a dog collar on it, staked it on a long rope and moved the stake around the 4 acre yard. It was a lawnmower and a pet . Then one day, a pack of neighborhood dogs, led by a golden retriever and collie ran the poor thing down and ripped its throat off. The neighbors confronted with the bloody evidence on their dog and the carcass said "Are you sure? My little poopsie.. yes..I'll admit that he/she was loose.. but he/she would never do such a horrid thing." Something about sheep/fear element brings out the wild in a dog running in a pack.

And I would have demanded every one of those dogs be killed...or if I could, I would have done it myself.

[MistyBlue]

And we do realize that what the media portrays and what the BBs portray is not the majority? Just the most publicized.
And the general public wouldn't have to identify them as long as ACOs or LEOs could.
But then again...far better to dismiss things out of hand rather than offer constructive criticism, advice or suggestions.

The system works for wildlife and exotics. Not 100%, but very well. (no system is 100%)

[Rivermeer]

i am really disgusted to read the uneducated discrimination towards the bully breeds, or "pit bulls".

In my experiance, they are a clean slate when they are born. They bad ones are the same as cocker spaniels, poodles, labs, and golden retrievers. I have owned most of all the "deadly" dog breeds in my life. Mainly because I prefer large dogs, and do rescue.

I years ago posted a picture of my now deceased pit "Hunter" with our kitten curled up sleeping with him. Certainly not a viscous dog. Hunter I received as a 6 week pup, because his dirt bag breeders. His mother was bred to her son,so he was certainly imbred. But was not to smart as he was, his only issue was food aggresion with other dogs only. I rescued 3 ferrets, from a really nasty home. He would literally stand like a statue, afraid to move when they were out jumping around him, on him and whatever, he was afraid to move and step on them. He would sit at the doorway of our bedroom and moan if there was a cat laying there in front, and he couldnt figure how to get in, to lay on the bed. He was a good citizen, regardless of his breed or his inbreeding. In fact when I went to pick him up his mom and father weren't to friendly. RIP to Hunter who lost his life to cancer.

Since, I have other dogs in my life, I have one I want to tell you about. She was a rescue pitt named Mustang. Story on her was that she was owned by a deaf man, and he had to rehome her. She basically landed in the hands of a drug dealer, who fought her( It was a major bug drust in our city). She was incredibly really smart, smartest dog I ever owned. One time when I was walking her down the stairs from the house to the dog run, I missed a step and fell on my tail bone, I sat down on the step and started crying of the pain. Mustang came back up to me and laid her head into my chest. She knew I was hurting, and was trying to comfort me. Also a situation with a boyfriend, we were wrestling around in the dinning room and she was just sitting and watching. And when she thought he was getting too rough, she went and grabbed his pant leg, released and just sat down to see if he respected her. Pretty smart girl! Unfortunately she died in her sleep, the vet thought she had a stroke at age 12.

I am not at all against euthanizing these dogs that did that horiffic damage to the poor pony.

but please dont't say these breeds are the devils spawn and should be done away with. I can even tell you stories about the rotties I have that are rescued

Heather

[CATransplant]

And I would have demanded every one of those dogs be killed...or if I could, I would have done it myself.

Amen to that. As gruff as it may seem to shoot a "dog" that wanders on our property, its our right to protect our livestock or pets or whatever... I've had it with neighbors dogs or strays coming onto our acerage and harrasing our cattle, horses, goats, chickens... its the only way. I wish people would be more responsible with their dogs. I have large dogs, but we go to great measures to keep them confined to our property and train them. We use to chase the dogs off or take them back to the neighbors and ask them to keep them out, but after countless attacks and several losses, we had to take matters into our own hands.

[twobays]

Totally a waste of space. I despise the breed and usually the folks that own them and adore them....

Our neighbors have pits, they are fully aware if fido comes to our property, he won't be coming home.... we've done it before a few times actually... wouldn't hesitate to do it again... here where we live, its legal to protect your livestock, no questions asked.
My dogs, have a job, thats to protect our property and our children, I don't let them roam around off the property, which is more than I can say for most people out here, they are specifically trained to do their jobs and stay on our property and not harm livestock. And its not just pits that will get shot if they come on our property, that goes for any breed....

You regularly kill dogs just for coming onto your property????

[Rivermeer]

Ya know what Ca, I can respect your last response, but your attitude towards "pit bulls" is scary. If you have said that you protect your property from a "menacing" dog what ever the breed than that would have been in my eyes respectible. Your views on pits are not in my book.

Heather

[CATransplant]

You regularly kill dogs just for coming onto your property????

if they pose a threat to any of my animals...... absolutely.

[Rivermeer]

I understand and agree with protecting your property and livestock from nusiance dogs, but your aggression and hatred towards pits are totally off the wall.

Heather

[twobays]

if they pose a threat to any of my animals...... absolutely.

How do you determine if they're posing a threat?

[Rivermeer]

And for infor: pits are a medium sized dog, not large. I can't remember what post I saw that referred to.

Heather

[CATransplant]

How do you determine if they're posing a threat?

Chasing livestock, stalking, being chased off once and returning shortly after, growling or barking at cows or horses in pasture.
It's not really hard to determine at all. Most are up to no good, there is no reason whatsoever to come onto the property other than cause rukus.