Breed Bias

We have had some wonderful 'Pits' around here.
One escape artist used to get loose all the time and we'd round her up.
Sweet sweet dog.
Looked and acted just like Petey from 'Our Gang'
They have wonderful owners.

Then we have had some horrible 'Pits'.
Two of them broke out of their kennel and mauled 3 cats to death.
This in front of the cats' owner who was them penned against a car by the dogs.
She wasn't bitten but was rightfully about scared to death.
The dogs' owner was cited, fined and made to pay restitution.
Also had to remove the dogs from his premises.
(I'm about 1/4 mile from the Cincinnati City limits where they are Banned.
http://www.pittiesplace.com/cincinnati.htm )
And of course they have horrible owners.
Their 'Pits' were from the aggressive fighting lines.
Aggressively trained and by idiot owners.

Sadly it only takes a few attacks to poison a breed's reputation for decades.
Especially w/ the media these days.
And banning is a cheap political fix.
Person gets bitten.... then another.......someone brings up a banning law.......you want to be the politician voting down banning them?
It's political suicide.

Shell no judgement taken.
LOVE the shots of Luna and your Dad!
And sadly Pits have become the focus of this Thread.
Here are a few more facts.
The two dogs slipped the kennel and were across the street and several houses down when the cat incident took place.
The owner came out of her house and tried to get to the cats. Who were in their own front yard.
They then turned on her and barking , growling and snapping they penned her against her own car.
Luckily she wasn't bitten.

The dogs' owner came running out and corralled them. Lead them off and back to his yard.
Police got there several minutes later.... Animal Control was then called.
The dogs' owner was cited on a 'leash law' violation as the first step, then the courts took over.
These dogs are definitely NOT representative of the Breed.
The are the product of bad, but selected, breeding for aggression and fight training.
Dog fighting is still big here unfortunately. That's where they ended up I'm sure.

I merely cited this incident as I can actually see the house where the attack took place from where I am sitting.
Breed Bias usually has a basis in fact..... might be an over-blowing of the facts on a slow news day ......but also is usually the owners fault.

I love Pits. Not my cup of tea but beautiful and I certainly have no fear of them.
Unfortunately forums like these are populated w/, by and large, responsible owners.
The bias comes from the irresponsible ones.
Google 'dogs NFL' you get links to some cool doggie gear for your dog.
Google 'Pit Bull NFL' and you get Micheal Vick, Derrick Burgess, etc.....

Just lost a Shar-pei (#1 Mailman Biased Dog) at age 11 last year and currently have an Akita which we adopted 3 months ago.
Big prey driven dogs.
In my 60 years I have owned dozens of dogs from many many Breeds and many Muttleys.
Also we have had cats since the day I was born.
We have never had an incident w/ the cats and dogs.
I'm not a big fan of the 'Prey Drive' defense.
To me it's a kind of 'Dogs will be Dogs' thinking and which in turn leads to more bias.
"Oh our (insert breed name) was just chasing/mauling the cat because (insert breed) do that...."
"Oh he knocked your kid down when he was running because.....etc..."
Notice I didn't add a Breed there but if it's a Heeler, Collie, Shar-pei, GSD, Lab (and we've been owned by all these breeds) the person affected will.
And the Breed Bias starts.

Our dogs are socialized from day one.
Cats, kids, other dogs, other people, we don't stand for any nonsense here at home or out in public.

I agree w/ Sharky and you Shell.
If you have a Breed that is suspect in the Public's Mind then it's up to you to change some minds.

Raise it responsibly, socialize the hell out of it and get it out there where you can change people's minds.
People are AFRAID of Pits, but respectful of Rotts, GSD's, and Dobbies.
And Pits are by far the least people aggressive of all of them.
I have come to realize that people want to pet our Akita.
Luckily he's so big they ask first, so far.
It's our job deal w/ that to train him to that fact.
If he bites someone it's on us.
But the Akita breed will ultimately get the blame.

Cool discussion!
BTW my Breed Bias is against Dachshunds.
At age 10 I got a chunk of my heel removed when one, whom I'd known since birth, darted out from under a car and nailed me.
She had just had pups under there.
Not the Breeds fault but I don't turn my back on the little buggers.... LOL!