so that is a totally loaded question...however, I mean it in regard to this story...I gasped outloud when I read it...so sad and so preventable...our poor, sweet helpless babies http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/5903187/
I dont think it is the pitt bull that is the problem-- it is that they keep letting Idiots reproduce.
I think it is from inbreeding of the animals. If you breed related animals it will bring out the bad trates of the breed. It is also the way the animal is raised by the owner, some people like to make them mean....
Just how doped up did she have to be NOT to hear that baby? :evil: If you are going to be that incapacitated, you need to have another responsible adult around. I just don't have any words. That poor little baby.
I would never leave a small child (4 and under) unattended around ANY dog. Dogs have teeth...from the smallest to largest. Dogs have a pack mentality. No matter how much they seem like a human at times, they are not. Put them with other dogs and they will follow the pack and get into trouble. Most recognize this to mean that sometimes family dogs see a baby or young child as a follower and submissive. So, its not the pit bulls fault totally. That said, however. I do not trust pit bulls. They are very muscular dogs with strong bites. If they snap, your child is in for physical and mental scars. As with any dog, they can be aggressive. The problem is a toy poodle won't do the kind of damage that a pit. If a person chooses to own such a dog, they bear a lot of responsibility to insure the safety of the public around such an animal. There is a woman I know of who swears her pit is a sweet dog. However, when the owner was not at home, I've seen the same dog scale a 4 foot tall fence in order to attack other neighborhood dogs that were being walked on a lease in a public thoroughfare. One such dog being walked with a small child in tow with the parents. Owners often become blind to the potential dangers of their own dogs. However, its not just pits. I had an unleased boxer try to get to my son on his bike. Both we AND the dog were very lucky that the aggression stopped because it was just a few feet away from seeing its last day.
I have to concur with Jester on at least one point: all dogs bite. One of mine is a big, goofy, cuddly lab- which is, IIRC, the breed responsible for more dog bites than any other. We (that is, homo sapiens) created the pit bull -and numerous other breeds-through selective breeding to be particularly adept at a specific task. In the pit bull's case that task is killing. A person familiar with the sociology of a particular breed can regulate certain behaviors, but one cannot unprogram that which is imbedded in the animal's genetic code- it's foolish to believe otherwise. The real stink of it is that the animal loses it's life for doing what we programmed it to do while the owner gets little more than a slap on the wrist.
Well, this was a puppy and was probably doing what is instinctive behavior. It was probably sucking as if to feed. At 12-weeks, it lacks any real aggression, except its still going to grow up to be an adult pit, which I would not even want to cross myself, let alone have to deal with one with my child. My son and I were out walking one day and encountered two VERY BIG pit bulls in a pickup truck beside the road. We turned and walked the other way instead of passing that truck. There is no way an adequate parent allows this to happen. They probably did not see the dangers of a 12-week old pup in the midst of their child, but still common sense says not to leave any animal alone with an infant. At least that's what it seems to say to me.
:iagree: Growing up I remember it use to be German Shepards that were the dogs of choice to say were aggressive. Then it was Dobermans, then Rotterweilers and now its Pit Bulls. Its not the dogs but the idiots that own them.
Dog sitting? "Medication"? Didn't notice until changing diaper next morning (ie: 4 mo sleeps through night)? Didn't this happen in Florida last year as well? I think it is a combination of inexperienced/uneducated dog owners and the fact that some of these dog breeds simply have this tendency. There should be classes and licensing to own some breeds, and then there are the exotic animals that people keep as pets. If I wanted to go and get a pet tiger tomorrow, I could. Do you want your uneducated and inexperienced neighbor to have a pet tiger?
Once upon a time all human agression was bred out of Pits and people used to leave them in nurseries to protect children. Dog fighters ruined this in many of the pit breeds looking to use the dogs high tolerence for pain. shame. and actually the worst are Collies(lassie) for attacks, go figure.
I can't argue that some dogs(no specific breed) are aggressive, espciallly if they are raised/trained that way. But the full responsibility and blame has to be put on the parents of that poor child. The parents could be the best parents in the world, and this is an isolated incident, but this could have been prevented and is their fault.
Here's a story about of Fayetteville/Cumberland about a pit Bull dog deflating a sheriff deputy's patrol car tires. http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/5909008/ The dog did not display aggressiveness toward the deputy, however can you imagine the damage done to a leg or arm, comparably speaking, when a dog has the strength and tenaciousness to bite hard enough to pop four radial tires. I'm not anti-pit bull. However, owners of such dogs should make absolutely sure that such dogs are secured and can handle it. I've seen dog owners before that I'm sure could not control an aggressive dog should the animal decide to attack. Animal control certainly has their hands full, but I think residents in municipalities should have to have a license or permit to have such a dog and be required to have the animal obedience trained. I think also animal control should have to make an annual inspection of containment of such dogs to make sure they pose no threat to other citizens. I heard that a Wilson boy had to be rushed to Pitt Memorial yesterday due to a Rottweiler attack. The boy received over 1,000 stitches to close the wound(s). That is the epitome of a mauling that will leave permanent scars, both physical and mental.
