You are absolutely right… and
unfortunately, those same unthinking parents are the very ones who would sue
you in two seconds if your dog did anything!
-----Original Message-----
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Rachel
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
10:19 AM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: Find the Pit
Bull--problems w/ legislating
Just another comment on this problem.
People don't know how to properly watch or restrain
their kids!!!
My husky-mix is wonderful with children - Thank
God! I had her out one day and faster than I could blink there was a pack
of 4 or 5 small children hugging & petting my dog. Sunny loved it but
as I glared at the parents I told the children that if they don't know a dog
they should ask the owner if it is OK for them to pet the dog before coming up
to it.
It is because of irresponsible parents that I cannot
take my other dog - Nicholas - into situations where he might encounter
children. He's not crazy about them and I don not want to risk him
scaring a child by growling or snapping at them.
Melbeach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Dogs have their own body language that makes it quite
clear, BEFORE biting is EVER an option that tells another dog or a person,
"Hey, man, I'm not too keen on you being so close to me." We do
dogs a huge diservice by not recognizing their subtle cues and we do our
children an even worse diservice by not teaching them how to properly approach
a strange dog.
So we all need to take
classes to learn dog body language, just in case someone's pitbull gets loose?
> I'm willing to bet
that many of the victims of these attacks were children who were never around
the dogs on a consistant basis.
Exactly. Again, the big
difference here is the ability to kill. It's very rare to hear about other
breeds actually killing someone. Every damn time it's a pitbull or similar.
There's simply no way to justify breeding or purchasing one of these animals.
Benefit = the joy of
owning a good pet. Probably nobody gets killed. Pretty high benefit, I
agree.
Cost = potential death
for poor shmuck that doesn't know dog body language. Off the charts cost.
Completely voids any benefit.
> See, the problem
with trying to legislate based on breed (ie. special licensing, expensive
insurance, etc.) is that the crappy owners, the owners who breed their dogs to
fight, aren't exactly the kind of people who are considered "law-abiding
citizens," see what I mean?
That's the same excuse
people use for keeping hand guns legal. You gotta start somewhere don't
you? I agree it's not a simple issue. I'm sure there's plenty of factors that
would make legislation unworkable anyway. I just really believe that anyone
buying or breeding a pit is contributing to the industry and adding to the
problem.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday,
March 30, 2005 9:30 AM
Subject: RE: Find
the Pit Bull--problems w/ legislating
Obviously, these owners
(whose dogs attack) who claim their dogs are the sweetest things ever
aren't telling the whole truth... ;) My guess is that they knew very well
their dogs' tendencies, but are they going to admit that to the media?
Unfortunately, no. What these dogs need (and what every dogs needs,
regardless of breed) are responsible owners well versed in "Doggie
Behavior 101." I'm 100% confident that dogs don't just suddenly
"snap." Dogs have their own body language that makes it quite
clear, BEFORE biting is EVER an option that tells another dog or a person,
"Hey, man, I'm not too keen on you being so close to me." We do
dogs a huge diservice by not recognizing their subtle cues and we do our
children an even worse diservice by not teaching them how to properly approach
a strange dog. I'm willing to bet that many of the victims of these
attacks were children who were never around the dogs on a consistant basis.
Don't get me wrong, I'm
not defending aggressive behavior, only responsible ownership! Socialize
your dogs!! :) Legislation is such an "iffy"
endeavor...Unfortunately, dogs are still considered "property" in the
state of Texas...but what happens one day when pets are no longer considered
"property of their owners?" We can't tell the parents of the
child who kills another child that they can no longer have children...what do
we do? See, the problem with trying to legislate based on breed (ie.
special licensing, expensive insurance, etc.) is that the crappy owners, the
owners who breed their dogs to fight, aren't exactly the kind of people who are
considered "law-abiding citizens," see what I mean? It will be
the responsible owners who will unfairly be punished this kind of legislation
and vicious dogs will STILL be bred in spite of the law. I just don't see
how it's going to work... :(
-----Original
Message-----
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Melbeach
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
7:24 AM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: Find the Pit Bull
[Interesting and Scary]
Wow, I can't believe how many of you
cat folk are pit bull fans. You guys obviously don't live in Florida. It seems
like every week there's a new story here about a pit bull mauling someone
to death. And every time it's the same exact story. "My dog is the
sweetest dog. She's great with the kids." Then one day... Problem is,
these breeds were originally bred to kill. It's in their genes and it's well
documented that they can snap at any moment. It's like having a loaded gun
sitting around the house. Sure it might protect me, but...
Now euthinizing dogs based on breed,
that's a different story. I could never defend that. These dogs can't help who
they are. But if you have children and you're mixing them with a breed that's
known to kill, that borders on child abuse IMO. I don't care how sweet the dog
is today. And sure a lab or schnoodel can snap also. But if a lab bites me,
it's not a death sentence. Bottom line is there are plenty of other breeds out
there you can choose from. If you have kids, there's absolutely no way you can
justify buying a pit bull or similar breed. The possible cost (death of a
child) far outweighs any benefit.
IMO, owning any breed of animal
that's easily capable of killing somebody should require a special, extremely
expensive license. To get the license, you would need to complete many
hours of education on how to keep said animal from killing someone. Maybe that
would slow down the breeding of such animals. That's the real
problem. Just my opinion of course. Like I said, here in Florida things
are different. The stupid people far outnumber the rest of us here. And
sometimes you have to legislate to protect the rest of the population from the
stupid people.
Oh yeah. Which was the pitbull? Was
it number 20? I didn't see a link for getting the answer.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday,
March 29, 2005 11:07 AM
Subject: OT: Find
the Pit Bull [Interesting and Scary]
This is an interesting test that I failed miserably, it's scary to
think how dogs are wrongly classified as this breed and are wrongly persecuted.
-----------------------------------------
Take
the test and see if you can pick out the pit bull out of this page of
pictures. It's amazing how many other breeds look similar.
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