Pitbulls Revisited

[Gaspar]

I have met some really nice pitbulls, but I have to share what I learned over and over and over again as a paramedic.  There are just some things that you can't unsee.

I ran hundreds of calls for dog attacks over about 6 years.  Almost all of these only involved two breeds of dog, and many involved children.

The most common dog for attacking children was the chow.  They have very poor eyesight and are extremely territorial.  The story was typically the same, a child walked up behind the dog and grabbed it or just made a loud noise.  Chow attacks were bad, but probably about as bad as any other med/large dog attack.  Most resulted in stitches and a very frightened child. They would snap, but release once they realized who they were biting.

The worst, and it's almost hard to type this, was the pitbull attacks (I can still see them all in my head).  Pits are playful and intelligent, but they frequently have difficulty determining the line between play and fight, and sometimes a scream or smack, or just pulling on a toy can make them cross that line.  Once they attack they are single minded, very strong, and nearly impossible to stop.  They don't seem to feel pain or react to their own physical trauma. 

I have literally seen dozens of small children, toddlers, and babies utterly mutilated or killed by pits.  Faces torn off, arms and legs crushed or eaten, and necks chewed to the spinal column.  Most of the time it started as play, or the child just tried to take a toy back.  Most of these animals did not belong to trailer-dwelling idiots.  Most were family pets, purchased because dad or mom thought pit bulls were cool. 

You can pound their skulls in with a Maglight and they will not release a child's mutilated arm, or so much as flinch from the pain.  Almost all of these incidents involved TPD or a sheriff shooting the dog. There is something physiologically different about that breed that was developed over many decades of breeding, and cannot be undone.  When the adrenaline hits and they are in fight mode, their nervous system shuts down the pain response.  Somewhere in my garage I stil have a dented Maglight.

Every case involved a parent(s) who swore up-and-down all the way to the hospital that the animal had "never acted like that before" or that Jake "was such a gentle dog."  On one occasion in 1993, the precious family pet removed and ate the face of a 3 year old little girl.  When we got to the very nice home, the dog was gone, and mother accompanied us to the hospital with her daughter who had now been condemned to a lifetime of pain and disfigurement.  I asked if she wanted me to contact her husband, and she was silent.  After a couple of hours in the ER, several TPD officers came in and demanded that the women tell them were the dog was.  She remained silent.   I asked one of the cops, and he told me that this is the second time this dog has attacked a child, and that the husband had fled with the animal because the couple didn't' want it to be euthanized.  They won the parenting award that year.

No, it was not the dogs fault, and lots of people have happy healthy lives with pitbulls as pets.  All breeds have predispositions and genetic differences that specialize them towards certain behaviors.  If you have small children, please consider a lab, or a Vizela or any other breed than a pit bull or a chow.  If you are single and want a great dog to guard your property, than a pit is an excellent choice.   I have no freekin idea what a chow is good for!

[guido911]

And the people that turn these dogs into the vicious animals they are will still want to turn dogs into that, and will just move on to another breed.  How long until the only dogs that are left that are considered "safe" are chihuahuas?

That is some slippery slope there. One breed restricted, ONE, will lead to canine apocalypse.

[Townsend]

That is some slippery slope there. One breed restricted, ONE, will lead to canine apocalypse.

Like guns.

[guido911]

Like guns.

Now you are coming around..

[Townsend]

Now you are coming around..

I have guns and I have a pit.

I have an affinity for both and I haven't harmed anyone/anything* with either of them.

  * - other than paper targets and chew toys -

[custosnox]

That is some slippery slope there. One breed restricted, ONE, will lead to canine apocalypse.

No, it's not a slippery slope, it's pointing out that banning the breed is treating a symptom, not the problem.  As long as the problem still exists, the symptom will return.

[Vashta Nerada]

Pit Bull Guards Children in Road

Children, in diapers, found alone in the street, in the middle of the night.
Just after midnight last Thursday, a 20-year old Tulsa man, driving south on Sheridan just before east 25th Place saw a dog standing in the middle of the road.

"I slam on my brakes, I come to a screaming halt ... there's an infant child in a diaper, not wearing any other clothes, just sitting in the middle of the road. So, I pull my car over into the oncoming lanes, to make sure no other cars would hit him," said Chase, he did not want to give out his last name.

The pit bull was circling the boy; Chase said he was guarding him. He said the dog snarled at him...

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Man-finds-toddler-in-middle-of-road-alone/lhZ6dloNaUa2FczNe1CN8g.cspx