Number of people killed in America every year

by

Cigaretts:  440,000

Automobiles:  42,366

2nd Hand Smoke:  35,000

Pit Bulls:   3

Which would you BAN?

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"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."
On the 8th day, God created MARINES!
~Melody Cook

Dear DamnMonkey,

I can totally understand your feelings after seeing such horrible things. I have toddlers and I can honestly say that I would want to kill somebody if my child was torn apart by a dog. My kids mean more to me than I can describe with mere words!!

However, if ANY dog attacked my child. I would not be driven to attack the dog in anger... I would want to KILL the people who own that dog. The dog is merely a tool, much like a gun or a baseball bat. Unfortunately the dog is also a victim, whether it's cruelty on the owner's behalf, or possibly just ignorance. But the dog is a victim of its human owner. If the dog has been purposefully trained to violently defend it's territory, or quite possibly the dog has been trained to violently attack in general, then I can't blame the dog. Dogs always want to please their owners, try to remember that.

I believe that the penalties for animal cruelty are pathetic and almost pointless in their weakness. Furthermore, I believe the penalties for dog attacks should be extremely severe FOR THE HUMAN owner. Put them in jail for manslaughter, or attempted murder and I guarantee you will see a dramatic decline in dog attacks, no matter what the breed. If our congressmen would consider the severity of the crime to be the human's responsibility -- as it should be -- then people will probably take the issue more seriously.

Dogs can't be reasoned with, you can't have a discussion with them, they can't go to classes to learn things -- like how to get along with the neighborhood kids, or how to ignore a stupid owner's misdirection -- so they shouldn't receive the penalties.

Again, this is just my humble opinion. And I feel badly for you to have had to witness such misery.

Best wishes to you. Your job is not an easy one, but the public appreciates your help.

 

DamnMonkey:

there is a huge difference between getting bit by a chow, and being bit by a pitbull...the difference is needing a bandaid and needing stitches

 im an EMT, and i work for a childrends hosptial..so i have seen more than my share of dog bites...and pits are always the worst...over the years, iv seen a lot, and now there isnt much that realy phases me, but not too long ago i saw a 4 year old girl have her face turned to shredded beaf by the family pit...a dog that was a gift from a family friend as a puppy...and with no provocation, just went ape ***

now, im not saying a strict ban and kill program is the best way to deal with the issue, but the people who are elected into office are charged with the safety of the people who elected them...and when things like this happen, they have to act. are they making the best possible solution? doubtful, but then again, when do politicians ever? so the best course of action would be to attend the local counsil meetings and writing directily to your representitives and not only expressing your distaste for the ban, but offer other suggestiongs that they can do instead..because in the end they have to do something

now im not a pitbull hater, my aunt has a staforshire terrier who is the sweatest thing ever...but with everything iv seen, i would never get one for myself

DamnMonkey:

 im an EMT, and i work for a childrends hosptial..so i have seen more than my share of dog bites...and pits are always the worst...over the years, iv seen a lot, and now there isnt much that realy phases me, but not too long ago i saw a 4 year old girl have her face turned to shredded beaf by the family pit...a dog that was a gift from a family friend as a puppy...and with no provocation, just went ape ***

 

I would just like to say as a parent of both a 4 year old and a 3 year old, the terms 'no provocation' and '4 year old' shouldn't really be used together.  Children of that age do not fully understand cause and effect yet.  It is the responsibility of the parents to make sure that any dog is submissive to the child from the get go.  Obviously this family did not do so.

 

Just my $0.02

melody14:

Number of people killed in America every year

by

Cigaretts:  440,000

Automobiles:  42,366

2nd Hand Smoke:  35,000

Pit Bulls:   3

Which would you BAN?

 

umm... the cars? <cough, hack> ;)

I didn't pick up on the fact that the Pit in question was owned by the parents of the child.

That's a whole other issue! If you don't want to take the time to train your dog how to behave properly around your children, and you don't take the time to teach your children how to behave around your dog, then you should NEVER have a dog.

Even if you get a Golden Retreiver or a Labrador (both notoriously gentle, loving, family dogs), you STILL need to take the time to teach the children and the dog how to behave with eachother. Having a dog is as much a responsibility as having a child. People quite often don't realize that. Ignorance is a huge problem with devastating results.

damnmonkey, i respect what you have to say i just wanted to mention that by saying the 4yr old was attacked with no provocation might feed the fears people have that pits just snap. there was probally symtoms that no one picked up on. some kind of imbalance or behavior issue that had been developing unnoticed by the humans. dogs and pitbulls for that do not just attack for no reason. i've recued over 80 pitbulls and not one of them would attack without reason. their aggression was always traceable to lack of human understanding and leadarship. occasionally i've come accross medical conditions that has caused the dog to react poorly. sad for the little girl but more sad the dog probally lost its life. a 10lb pomaranian ripped the throat out of a 6week old infant....we don't usually hear about that though......thanks for your input, going to council meetings can be succesful. i took some of my pitbulls along with a ton of statistics to a meeting where i used to live. instead of baning pitbulls because of a few bad cases , they reviewed changing their laws on dog bite offenses of any breed . not isolating the laws to only pitbulls. thankx again and take care

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26 dawgz 1 fortunate human. thank you DOG.

Most people don't see (in ANY breed) what goes on before the fight.  I have stopped many fights between my Geman Shepherd mix and my puppy because I pick up on the silent conversation before the attack. The lip twich...the stiff tail...the starring...  When I see any of these things I correct, and move on.  My family reems my out for being harsh and correcting the dogs for no reason, and they tell me to let the dogs work it out themselves.  But they're too stupid to know that if you let them "work it out by themselves", someone's going to end up injured or dead.  I'm sorry, but I love my dogs too much to let that happen.  

In my many years of dog sitting I have had several breeds growl or snap at me, and I've had to break up a fight between my GSmix and a neighbors black lab, getting myself bitten in the process.  People think it is "cute" when a pom or a toy poodle is aggressive, yet at the first sign of aggression in a pit bull they draw back in fear and condem the dog to death.  It makes no sense.

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"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."
On the 8th day, God created MARINES!
~Melody Cook

I live in England and when they banned Pit bulls here they did round up every pit bull in the country and destroy it, a lot of people lost beautiful loving dogs because of a small number of idiots that find it amusing to train dogs to kill, I have seen some vidoes of pit bulls that have been bought up properly and I have to say they are one of the mots gentle loving dogs I have ever seen, why blame the poor animal for the failings of the stupid owners.

***People think it is "cute" when a pom or a toy poodle is aggressive***

Right melody, thats exactly why I have made sure my 7 mo old stud chi is submissive!!! last thing I need is to go on a walk with my friend and her pit and have the chi start a fight with HIM!!! or her rottie, or her mastiff... and must I say out of all three of her dogs... her pit is the most non-aggressive dog I have ever met... he greets everyone at the door like cesars dogs do!! (she really needs to work with the mastiff!) I would defend every breed on the planet even the ones i dont appreciate much, not to say that I judge them by breed, just some are too much for me (why I have chi's I dont know).

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Rachelle Shpeley's home for neurotic dogs

I live in Ontario Canada.

I have never agreed with breed legislation. Here pitbulls, pitbull mixes, staffs, am staffs... basically anything that resembles a bull breed is banned. No importation allowed and no intacts animals allowed. All dogs must be muzzled when out in public.

They did not go so far are to remove the dogs currently owed but it still sickens me that this is allowed. 

It's racism for dogs.

I find is ludicrous that we ban bull breeds bred for fighting, however we allow people to continue to own terriers. Last time I checked, terriers were bred to kill.

There should just be restrictions placed on anyone owing any dog. License people just like you license people to drive. Simple as.

Anyone who lives in Ohio I suggest starting a petition against the legislation NOW. Many petitions have been made here in Ontario since the ban, but as far as I know, no leeway has been made.

 

Still this all falls into the category of **New dog owners/inexperienced dog owners/bad dog owners**. socialization, discipline, and some good obedience training is always a good way to ensure no dog will become a statistic! I had this arguement with my mother who doesnt even know what a pittbull even looks like...(lmao)

and I know it doesnt really matter what I say about the pittbulls I know but I have another story. My friend owns a 78lb pitbull... overly tall pit actually... but anyways.. he was in Vancouver B.C working... got jumped but some gang members... for reasons I dont know but im sure it had something to do with wanting the pittbull for dogfights... the pitbull scared out of its head took off.... okay so um.... he got his thumb chopped off... hes screaming and the dog ran away!! does this tell you anything? pittbulls are only what you make them... as a slightly more experienced dog owner myself (still have alot to learn) I took in a wolf cross years ago... had a hard enough time dealing with him but if my hub slightly raised his voice this wolf cross would stop at nothing to get between me and my hub and stare my hub down.... but when outdoors he greeted everyone playfully... I was not his pack leader and neither was my hub. After alot of work we had him to the point where he would listen... its the same with any breed I know of!

Petitions dont make much difference and Im sorry for saying this... there is alot of people afraid of dogs period! it does not matter what breed... when the pitbulls are few and hard to come by... thier fear will be projected onto another breed... and another.... and another.... and so on. Not many non dog owners will ever understand. The people who have brought these laws into affect, are not looking out for other people... they are looking for those people who agree with the law to gain another vote so they can stay in office. its politics, plain and simple.$$$$$$

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Rachelle Shpeley's home for neurotic dogs