Today is National Pit Bull Awareness Day …
The American Staffordshire Terrier (a. k.a Pit Bull) have been much loved pets to many families around the world since the 1890’s. Now, because of some BAD OWNERS these kind, loyal and beautiful dogs are being banned and treated like common criminals just because of the way they look and because of an unwarranted bad reputation.
Society has obviously NOT learned from History. Like the old saying says: “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
This kind of breed discrimination started for me when i was in my pre-teen years. In the 60’s and early 70’s ALL German Shepherd were considered dangerous. Then in the mid to late 70’s it was the Dobermans who were labeled viscous because a few people decided to turn them into guard dogs and attack dogs. They were villianized by Hollywood which further ingraining the fear into our minds. The fact of the matter is that the German Shepherd’s and the Doberman’s suffered from some very bad PR.
Again, In the 90’s, a few bad people turned a wonderful, loving and friendly dog into killers in the public’s eye. This time the same fate befell the Rottweiler. And now, it’s the American Staffordshire Terrier, (a.k.a. the Pit Bull).
If you are COMPLETELY honest with yourself, you must admit that no breed of dog has an inhairent viscous tendency. For the most part, dogs only learn this aggressive behavior from humans. The negative image of a unprovoked attacking dogs is rarely true. But it’s easy to see why it persists today. Dogs are often portrayed to be ferocious in movies and television because it’s scary. Scary sells, and we all like to be frightened from time to time. But these on-screen images sometimes effects our judgment in the real world.
If these misconceptions were actually true, none of us would be safe. After all, these dogs are in public everyday. German Shepherds are one of the most used dogs in Police work. Do you really think law enforcement would use them if they weren’t completely safe? Pit Bulls are also used in Law Enforcement. One of the most famous is actually a border patrol agent.
Yes, the American Staffordshire Terrier can be dangerous. In the 1800’s they were used for fighting. But not humans … they were used to fight bulls. Then someone got the idea that they would fight each other. That was 100 years ago. Unfortunately there are still people today that like “Blood Sport”. Thanks to tougher laws, it is thought to be on the decrease.
The American Staffordshire Terrier, is in truth, no more dangerous than any other breed. The real problem comes when irresponsible owners allow their dogs (of ANY breed) to run free in public, teach them to be aggressive, or don’t properly train and socialize them. Dogs and small children should NEVER be left alone with a dog … of any breed! They need to be supervised by a responsible human. That what the job of a parent is!!! That’s also why we have leash laws and other pet containment rules and regulations.
Do yourselves a favor. Before you make a judgment of ANY breed, do some research on your own. Don’t take the word of strangers. Not even me! Talk to breeders, owners, shelters and rescue groups. Ask to see public records about dog attacks. If you do, you will find that no curtain breed is any more dangerous than another. And in almost every case, it will be a human, and not the dog, that was at fault.
