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The headlines in the paper read-
"Pit bull attacks three year old child, the breed is born to kill."
"Children in park mauled by pit bulls"
"Pit bull breed banned from city limits."
"Innocent woman attacked in the middle of the night by the man killer breed."
John 7:24
"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
The last couple of months it seems that society has put out more awareness on the "danger" of pit bulls than ever before. Unfortunately many people are ignorant about the Pit Bull Terrier breed. Because of the false accusations and sketchy reports the media has published, the breed has become unfairly judged. The unfair stigma has caused a lot of unrealistic fear around the world. In return laws are being made to keep the breed banned and the innocent dogs are being euthanized.
I am writing this article only in the hopes that some people will look at the statistics and realize that not everything the media tells you is true. Pit bulls, along with other breeds can be dangerous in the wrong circumstances, but they are not born killers as some of you may assume.
"To date, every shred of empirical evidence suggests that pit bulls are the same as, if not better than, other breeds when it comes to human interaction. Each year, the American Temperament Testing Society holds evaluations across the country for dog breeds and gives a passing score for the entire breed based on the percentage of passed over failed within total number of the particular breed tested. As of 2008, pit bull breeds achieved a combined passing score of 85.5 percent. To put these figures into context, the combined passing rate of all breeds was 81.6 percent. The Collie, an icon of obedience, passed at a rate of 79.4 percent, and the beloved Golden Retriever scored at 84.2 percent. According to the American Temperament Test Society Pit Bulls rank better in temperament than many other breeds including but not limited to The Airedale Terrier, Basenji, Beagle, Bichon Frise, Border Collie, Chihuahua, Collie, English Setter, Lhasa Opso, Pomerian, Shar-Pei, Shiba Inu, Shih Tzu, Schnauzer, and Toy Poodle."
Many believe that the Pit bull breed is constantly looking to attack. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The media never publishes that many highly respected individuals were the owner of the breeds such as President Woodrow Wilson, President Theodore Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, and Thomas Edison. Nor do they hardly ever publish when Pit bulls act as heroes. Over the years many Pit bulls have served doing the following-
■Search and rescue
■Therapy dogs visiting hospitals and senior communities
■Working in law enforcement as narcotics and bomb detection dogs
■Educational dogs teaching children about canine safety
■Service dogs
The problem with the Pit bull breed is not the breed itself. It is the ignorant morons that want to own the breed because of the look of the animal. Pit bulls look aggressive and if you force them to be aggressive (just like any other breed) there are consequences. Unfortunately for the Pit bulls in today's society we see a lot more "bad people" owning them than years ago. They are often sought after by drug dealers, gang members, and other criminals. The bad behavior of the owner is a negative reflection on the dog. I have yet to read an article about the good of the breed and the fact of the matter is THEY ARE DOING GOOD THINGS.
In the 1940's and 1950's Pit bulls were known as the "Nanny Dog." Surprising isn't it? It's true. Families believed that Pit bulls had the best temperament around children. They were level headed and protective. They would guard their families while allowing children to crawl all over them and pull on their ears.
I believe we live in a society where people want to be victims. Today in 2011 people take less responsibility for their actions than ever before. If they are bit by a dog (especially one labeled as a man killer) they will rarely ever consider their own lack or responsibility or that the bite may have come from their own negligence.
Let’s put the media hype into perspective and get to the root of the problem – the overpopulation of this breed, the mistreatment of this breed, and the myths about this breed. The bottom line is that the breed is misunderstood. None of the statistics or information above was written to try and convince people that this is the breed for them or that the breed is not at all dangerous. Any animal can be dangerous in the wrong circumstances. This blog is only an attempt to publish some truth along with the multiple lies society speaks about with this pit bulls. "What you speak about you bring about."
The dogs are not the problem. People are the problem.
