Pit bulls running loose

So many people underestimate the responsibilities of proper dog ownership. Some people impulse buy the cute puppy and don't think ahead about what it will grow into. Some people think they can handle the responsibility and are sadly mistaken. For others, situations change, death, moving, allergies, etc. And are forced to give the dog up. You are right Dennis, too many times the dog is the one to pay the true price.
It is a shame.
Not sure about rescues in your area but it may be an option, especially if they have to go to the pound. Maybe the owner will voluntarily give them up to a rescue organization.

Irresponsible dog ownership is a BIG problem. Pittbull's are dogs that take entirely different level of responsibility. One must know how to handle them and train them. They are not your average dog, they require strict discipline(not discipline as in punishment type). Its much like owning a loaded gun. A loaded gun by its self is not dangerous, however when handled carelessly bad things can and do happen. These dogs have gotten a really bad rap mainly from people owning them that can't take care of them selves let alone anything else. I'm not for a ban on them but there should be stiffer/quicker penalty for irresponsible owners.

I have a friend that has between 15-20 pits at any given time. He breeds them for a living. He chose Mind Changing Kennels for a name beacuse he wants to change peoples perception of these dogs. I currently have a lab but i Will have one of his dogs someday and it will be treated with the respect and discipline it deserves and requires.

Marauding dogs are my biggest fear with my chickens loose in my yard. As for pits, I know they can be wonderful dogs. I've had one. But the statistics on unprovoked attacks, including on other animals, are chilling. no easy answers

Yep, I live in the city and have quite a few neighbors with pits, I don't mind the breed itself but the people that raise them are the issue. I had a mother pit and a her pup come in my yard several times and threaten both me and my wife and kids, snapping at me when I try to back them away, if I shoot the dogs then I have ghetto retard renters that will blame me and try to sue me. I call animal control and all they can do is fine the owners and make sure the dogs are put back inside, it really is a sad situation, animal controls arms are tied by law. If the dog bites one of us the owner gets fined and the dog has to be be quarantined for 30 days, AT HIS OWN HOUSE. The dog will not be put to sleep unless it causes severe damage and is a threat to society, a bite single bite is not considered a threat.

As with my other dog related post, animal ownership is a big responsibility that too many people take lightly.
Any animal i have ever had was spayed or neutered. It's just part of having a pet. I am no pit bull fan, i have seen good ones but they have great owners and have been trained.
Forgive me for stereotyping, but many (not all) pit bull owners are the types who cannot take care of themselves let alone a ferocious animal.

BrotherBart said:

Never had a pet in my life until the woodpile kitty showed up three years ago. But I have always been convinced that three that shouldn't be allowed are lions, tigers and pit bulls.

Opened the door to my apartment in 1967 and there stood a friend with a tiger on a leash. Chewed his ass up one side and down the other while he was telling me how well trained it was. Two weeks later I am reading in the paper about that same tiger mauling his trainer.

Some animals ain't pet material folks. And the stats and facts put pit bulls dead in that group.

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+1 BB. The stats and facts put some people there too. (Bad dog owners that teach their dogs to be mean because they think that means they are cool.) Combine those people with the those animals, and that has the potential to turn bad.

The scourge of lousy dog owners... I don't know about your own circumstances, but around here you pretty much have to be attacked before law enforcement will do something about it. The worst is when you hear, "he won't bite" (which on two separate occasions has been right before getting bit). I almost maced the owner the second time.

Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner or handler most often is responsible for making a dog into something dangerous.

An irresponsible owner or dog handler might create a situation that places another person in danger by a dog, without the dog itself being dangerous.

Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack.

That said, almost all of the most dangerous dogs are "protection dogs" most were never bred to be family pets. Its an ongoing battle to breed down the aggressive parts and make a more friendly, civilized dog.

The statistics do not support the sentiment that pit attacks are largely due to irresponsible owners.

Being on a ranch miles from anything including neighbors we do from time to time encounter dog packs. They travel together and prey on livestock. Standing rule is if you see 'em, shoot 'em. Neighbors feel the same way.

Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner or handler most often is responsible for making a dog into something dangerous. An irresponsible owner or dog handler might create a situation that places another person in danger by a dog, without the dog itself being dangerous.Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack.
That said, almost all of the most dangerous dogs are “protection dogs†most were never bred to be family pets. Its an ongoing battle to breed down the aggressive parts and make a more friendly, civilized dog.


Through many, many hundreds, and in some breeds, thousands of years, dogs were bred and trained to do certain things. That fact cannot be disputed. Bit bulls were bred and trained to fight. Period. You are correct about the owner being the biggest factor. But certain dog breeds are more likely to react in an aggressive manor in a lot of situations. People have to respect that and maintain control of there dogs. Some people however, are not as intelligent as some dogs, and are not as predictable as some dogs. Hence, Dennis has trouble. BB had a good solution. Small, and concealed. Need to protect yourself if there is this kind of a problem around your neighborhood. Imagine a defenseless kid, maybe yours, or any person for that matter, with these unsupervised, uncontrolled, mean spirited dogs running around.

We had some adjacent neighbors, very responsible pet owners whose dogs were obedience-trained and well-cared for. Their kids and dogs and ours flowed back and forth between properties and houses like the tides. Nonetheless, they had one female that just started randomly attacking. She'd sneak up behind someone, drop low like a cat, and nail them. Did it to my son, who was pretty short then, and I told the kids they couldn't go down there. Neighbors doubted their story, but then the mom was up in our yard and the dog sneaked around behind me and aimed a bite at my wrist. like a shark bumping before an attack. Her husband denied that it happened, and then the dog did it to a visitor of theirs. They tried a trainer to work it out with the dog, but couldn't fix it. Put her down. I know it hurt them a lot, and I respected them for that choice. I had a dog breeder tell me that that quality is unfixable--it's a fear-reaction that you can't reliably train out of a dog.

It's not always the owners.

OTOH, if she had belonged to irresponsible owners who let their dogs run for as a pack, that dog would have been extremely dangerous in that setting.

Heard about some dogs harassing the neighbors as did the ones described above. Second time he went home with a bull's-eye target spray painted on the side. Fair warning.

i like dogs.
dogs running in packs have changed "personalities".
not far from here, a few years ago, a mother and her infant were out for a walk (baby in a stroller) when two pits that were running loose got ahold of the baby. there was nothing she could do.

Very simple rule in our house, ALWAYS FOLLOWED: When Bear goes outside the house, he is ALWAYS on a leash or long lead and is accompanied.. We live in the country with the closest neighbor a 1/2 kilometer down the side road. My dog is my responsibility. This way, I and my dog are a problem to no one or anything else.
Simple rule with simple results.

My own sheepdog, if allowed to run loose in his formative years, would have been a menace to kids on bicycles, skateboards. Would probably have taken out neighboring cats and chickens. That herding/prey drive is very strong with him, and he had to learn appropriate outlets, which included not to go for everything that moves quickly. But like rottiman, he was either in the yard or on a leash.

rottiman said:

Very simple rule in our house, ALWAYS FOLLOWED: When Bear goes outside the house, he is ALWAYS on a leash or long lead and is accompanied.. We live in the country with the closest neighbor a 1/2 kilometer down the side road. My dog is my responsibility. This way, I and my dog are a problem to no one or anything else.
Simple rule with simple results.

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+1 Rottiman. It's that simple. Years ago I had two Rotts, they were never out of the five foot fenced in yard unless I had them on the leash. And when my life changed due to being laid off, I did not have enough time for them. Had to go back to college and work at the same time. Not home enough, gone for more than 10 hours everyday and no one else home. That was not fair to a dog breed that loves and needs affection. And a lot of it. So I found each of them a good home with a family that had someone home all the time and had experience with large dogs. They loved and spoiled each one of them. It was tough for me to give them up, but that is what was the right thing for the dogs.

I would serve those 2 beasts a nice hunk of raw beef laced with poison. If you shoot them, you will get in trouble. The owners clearly don't care about them and they have become a threat to society...not because the dogs are to blame, but because their owners are poor caretakers. A breed with aggressive traits like that cannot be trusted. It's unfortunate to do so, but the safety of humans outweighs the rights of that animal in my opinion. What if they attack a little kid or an older person? People want those exotic pythons in Florida and then let them go. Why...cause they didn't realize a 300 lb snake from Asia that has no place in the US was going to be difficult to raise. Then these things are killing all the wildlife cause they have no natural predators in this part of the world. Pets that can harm others should not be taken by those unwilling to accept the responsibility. If you had a couple of aggresive poodles running wild, it would be a different story altogether. Pit Bulls, Rots, etc. are all lethal animals bred to be super aggressive. I look at them differently.

I do not mean to say that there is no place for these types of dogs. For the owner who will be responsible, I'm sure they would make fine dogs. The problem is they have the potential to do great harm in the wrong hands. In this situation, I see more risk for the community because of the careless nature of the owner.

Leash laws were I live...if a dogs lose the owner is responsible for any damage human or other wise...you'd be surprise how quick they abandoned the dog when a bite happens. Sorry...love dogs but Family first and my neighbors know it.
md

Pit Bulls, Rots, etc. are all lethal animals bred to be super aggressive. I look at them differently.




You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but your "One Brush Paints All" logic is based on lots of opinion and not a whole lot of fact. Yes, breeding has alot to do with it. The idiot back-yard breeders who haven't a clue as to what they are doing are the cause of the problem, not the breed. These clowns have discovered that there are big $$$$$$$$$$'s involved in indiscriminate breeding. Buying a dog from one of these fools, as well as being an un-educated owner is a reciept for disaster. This goes not only for these breeds, but for a ALL breeds. If you don't agree, spend a couple hours on the Nat. Geographic channel watching the Dog Whisperer fixing the problems created in ALL breeds by un-educated and inexperienced owners.

With regard to Backwoods situation, the most humane thing would be to get these animals under control ASAP and euthanize them if no other alternative is available. Laying down poison bait for them would not be the answer as you have no way of being 100% sure they were the only ones getting it.

If you feel the need to own a dog, any dog, buy from a REPUABLE breeder, not some pet store @ the local mall or the cousin of some buddy who was lucky enough to be stuck with the results of an un wanted breeding. And above all have the animal spayed or neutered as well, if you do not intend to breed it.

Yes, imagine the statistics if Chihuahuas had a bigger jaw!