You all know by now that I love Jack, the giant pit bull. If you haven’t read my post, The Day Thor Came To Visit, you won’t understand that reference.
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It’s because of him that I try so hard to educate people about this breed of dog. Pit bulls are not aggressive dogs – unless they’re raised that way. Unless they’re taught to be mean. There was a time when I would have added ‘unless they’re abused or neglected,’ too, but that was before I sort of got addicted to animal rescue videos on YouTube.
My favorites are by Eldad Hagar from Hope For Paws. This is a rescue organization from California, and many of his videos that might just break your heart. There are several pit bull rescues, including this one…
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They believe Cadence was used as a ‘bait dog.’ No offense to anyone, but may anyone involved in dog fighting rot in prison forever. If they will do that kind of thing to a defenseless dog, what’s to stop them from hurting people? They have no heart.
Okay, mini rant over. Back to Cadence, who is a pit bull.
If any dog ever had a reason to be vicious, it would be this poor thing. But as you can see in the video, she was very gentle, very docile. And that’s been the case with most every pit bull rescue I’ve seen … and I’ve seen quite a few. The one I remember as not being docile just kept his distance and barked a little. But not once did he try to attack Mr. Hagar.
Quite honestly, it’s been the smaller dogs that have caused the most trouble. They’re the ones who bark excessively, bare their teeth, growl, and resist rescue attempts. Smaller dogs as in the kind that everyone thinks of as sweet tempered, safe animals. But I haven’t seen a single pit bull that was remotely close to mean.
So I can only encourage everyone … if your state is trying to pass breed specific legislation (aka BSL – and they sure got the BS part right, because that’s what these laws are), please call your representatives and tell them you’re against it. It will only take a few minutes and that little bit of time might save the lives of dogs who don’t deserve to die just because of their breed.
I agree Kristy. It’s just that after having a dog viciously turn on me, I high tail it out of there. Pit Bull or no Pit Bull. Before that, I was never afraid of dogs. Now, that’s another story. My nephew has Pits and he loves them. But yes, I think any breed can be dangerous if they are trained to be that way. There are some really scary people in this world. The abuse is unfathomable. And inexcusable. 🙂
That happened when my siblings and I were in grade school, Karen. We were all playing at a neighbor’s house and two horrible German Shepherds half a block down managed to get out of their yard (not sure how since they had a six or eight foot wooden fence. We were all screaming, hiding under the picnic table, trying to climb trees. They got a few of the kids, one of my brothers included. He had a huge bite on his back. That experience has made me cautious of most dogs.
But in my opinion, it was all in the training – and the fact that the dogs lived in the yard and weren’t really part of the family.
I don’t blame you for being afraid, but you’re right. I don’t think any dog is dangerous unless their owners make them that way. 🙁