WyldHrt
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Joined: 6/5/2008
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Here's one that may help some people understand the words "breed misidentification" as regards dogs involved in biting incidents:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html
How many people are able to spot the real pit bull on the first try?
I used to use this "game" all the time when talking to people who believe everything the media says about pit bulls.
Fun with breed ID mistakes:
- The rescue I used to volunteer with got a call about 2 loose pit bulls and a chow chasing people at a park (animal control hadn't responded). The available folks loaded up, went to the park, and captured 2 jack russell terriers and a pomeranian that were, indeed, running loose and aggressively chasing children.
- On a trip to Morro Bay with a friend and our 3 dogs, this man comes up saying, "Oh, what a gorgeous pit! Is he friendly?" Ummm.... he? We looked at each other and I said, "Which dog are you referring to?" He pointed at Traffic, my friend's 115lb presa canario. Informing him that Traf wasn't a pit bull and that my 65lb female was started an argument, wherein he said things like, "You're wrong, I know a pit bull when I see one, and he's a pit." and "The girl is too small and doens't have the right ears." Oh, I see. My girl's ears were not cropped, and Traf's were, making him a pit bull and her, apparently, a golden retriever or something.
- A friend of mine is an AC officer in Washington state. She also happens to be a rather famous dog trainer, specializing in pit bulls. One day while she was answering the phones, she got a call about a blood covered, aggressive pit bull on someone's property that was threatening people and would not leave. She asked if the caller was sure the dog was a pit bull and got an emphatic "yes". All the AC trucks happened to be out at the time so, figuring the dog was a pit, my friend grabbed a leash, strapped a vari-kennel in her truck and took off. She arrived on the scene to find the caller locked in the house screaming... and a very large, mangy, and aggressive purebred dalmation (with a rash on it's throat, hence the "blood covered" part) on the front porch. Long story short, she captured the dog, but got bitten in the process. That was one of only two bites she received in her entire career, and she still curses herself for believing the caller when she said the dog was a pit bull.
To the OP- Online petitions mean less than nothing to gov't officials, as they are too easy to fake. Real paper petitions are a different matter, even if they have 1/10 the number of signatures. Better still are letters written to said gov't officials that are factual and well thought out. Here is a link to an excellent site with info that can be included in such letters:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legislation.php
Check out the full site and the sister sites. Veronique has done an excellent job in getting the info needed out there.
LAT had a very good point about offering solutions, as things like that tend to make those in charge more receptive. Personally, I know very few rescue folk or responsible owners that would not support a law requiring people who want to own certain breeds to take a class and pass a test. Not only would is assuage the pro ban idiots a bit, it would also help the breeds in question if they could be kept out of the hands of idiots who have not clue 1 about what dog owndership entails, or the requirements of the breed they THINK they want to own. While it would be lovely if this were a requirement for ALL dog owners, it's our breeds under the gun right now. Being proactive and supportive of things like permits, limitations on breeding, and bringing criminal charges against idiot owners whose dogs do damage because of their negligence shows the "powers that be" that most of us are responsible people who take animal ownership seriously.
As an aside, I noted a statement in an above post that said, in essence, that no dog suddenly becomes dog aggressive. This is untrue. Breeds with a tendency for dog aggression (pit bulls being one, but nowhere near the only one) will often get along with other dogs when young, but decide at some point (usually upon reaching full sexual maturity) that dogs of the same sex, or even all other dogs, become hard limits for them. This is common in several breeds, and something that owners should be aware of. Denying the nature of a breed does not help, understanding it does. That said, many people confuse dog aggression with human aggression, leading to statements like, "What if it had been a child on a bike instead of a man walking his dog". This is apples to oranges, really. While a particular dog may be both human and animal aggressive, one does not necessarily indicate the other.
Finally, I will suggest that the best thing for anti-BSL dog owners to do is get their well trained, friendly dogs out there and into the spotlight. I took my girl everywhere with me, and her awesome disposition and excellent manners changed many people's minds about what a "pit bull" really is. I took her to dog shows, obedience training demonstrations, and agility competitions (she was quite dog aggressive to other females from age 2, but desensitization training allowed her to walk comfortably and calmly beside me through the crowds of people and dogs) and had her temperament tested in public. I took her to the park and watched the kids crack up as she negotiated the slides and jungle gyms and then mob her when she was done, which she truly loved. I took her to eateries with outdoor seating, street fairs, fast food drive thrus (where she mooched extra fries whenever possible), parties (with the hosts' permission), anywhere and everywhere. I even took her to work with me once, and nearly pissed myself laughing while watching 65lbs of pit bull ooze her way onto my boss' lap so she could pin his shoulders with her paws and give him a good "face-erasure" licking (damned good thing he had an akita at home, lol). Our dogs are "positive press" opportunities with feet if we give them the chance. I had my girl for 13 years, and in that time she won many hundreds of people over to our side of the BSL fight by just being who she was, a real live pit bull with the proper temperament for her breed.
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RE: Breed Specific Legislation Own any of these? - 
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