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Originally Posted by FlDebra  I explained in the very post you quoted why I think it is a crock. The list is compiled by a self-proclaimed group with no credentials -- the "Responsible Dog Owners of the Western States" and they say there are two ways to get on the list: either by the breed being named or a description fitting the breed being banned. They are using their very broad and loose interpretation of the description fitting these breeds to put them on the list. The states are not putting all of these breeds on a banned list. This group is trying to over-generalize the description so that they can say all of the breeds are banned when they know full well the intent of the law was never to ban all of them!!
Saying the list has some sort of credence because it has been repeated on several dog forums is ridiculous. That does not make it so! Your next reason for the list being true is even more inane -- just because it is NOT mentioned on SNOPES, then it must be true??? Really???? I can think of millions of things that are NOT on SNOPES, does that make them true? NO!
You say that the list means the breeds listed are banned somewhere. I say that is NOT TRUE. By their own admission, they have included dog breeds that THEY believe meet a "description" listed somewhere of dogs that are banned. In other words, in trying to further define a pit bull, authorities have included descriptions and then this group has wildly exaggerated the description to include most of the breeds they listed on their list. You have to be very careful when you start believing everything written on an internet site is true! If they did the actual research to show all of these breeds were really banned, don't you think they would list the law/municipality/etc. to back up their accusations? They don't list them, because they have exaggerated this article so much, that it no longer has any resemblance to the real laws on the books.
I am guessing that you are using an analogy of the Jack Russell Terrier since I own one. But your analogy is not fitting the situation. There is a HUGE difference in a dog being annoying and a dog being a KILLER! My JRT's mouth will not open enough to be any real threat. As far as starting fights? What are you using to substantiate that accusation? I have not seen any JRTs that start fights, and have seen no statistics verifying that. For a dog lover to say to another dog lover that a breed they own are "annoying, barky, hyper spazzes" seems very insulting, disrespectful, immature, rude, and not very animal-loving at all. I am sure you are doing it intentionally so you can say, "now you know how pit bull owners feel" but I have NOT insulted the pit bulls or any other breed. I have made it quite clear I thought MAN was the problem. So, why would you do this to me? Truthfully, I find this beneath you.
I will reiterate that the main difference is that of fatalities! Those who do not want any bans or restrictions on pit bulls usually like to bring up another breed that has bitten ..... but it is not a simple dog bite that makes a dog a danger to humans! It is the fact that some can kill. That is my objection to continuing breeding programs for pit bulls. They kill people! There are verifiable statistics that are legally mandated to show when human lives are taken by dogs. These are not some made up crap from a group calling itself "Responsible Dog Owners of the Western States," these are government-kept statistics which have been put in the system by doctors who are legally responsible for doing so. We do not treat assassins/murderers the same way we treat someone who got into a high school fistfight, do we? Of course not! We MUST have laws that fit the situation. We cannot have the same penalty for a man who murders as we do that high school boy who punches his buddy. So, we cannot have the same penalty for a dog who KILLS PEOPLE as we do for one that occasionally bites someone.
Concerning the analogy of a black person.....you are right in that it does "sound dumb" but I will NOT further dignify such preposterous words with a reply! Same with the Hitler comparison. Using them to compare with the subject of spay & neutering for pit bulls is just a horrible racial insult! We are so far off track here......and that is usually what happens when there are no intelligent answers to a problem other than what the writer is against.
I am saddened that you have decided to personalize this debate. There are always going to be two sides to this topic. Each can feel strongly and relate their beliefs WITHOUT insulting one another, their dogs, or entire races! I think of you as too good of a friend to continue down this path. I know you are passionate about your stance as I am about mine. I think most who have seen the horrible disfiguring results of a pit bull attack on an innocent child feel as I do. But let's agree to disagree, state our beliefs maturely and leave the insults and disgusting, far-fetched comparisons behind. |
As for the article, fine, let's dismiss it. My point was merely to say that by allowing govt. to ban one breed of dog is opening it's doors to ban MORE breeds of dogs. I stated I didn't know the credentials behind it and when I researched further, I found none. So you are probably right... it's far fetched and biased. I realize you can't believe everything on the internet -- I'm not saying everything you simply read is the truth or that just because it's not on Snopes it's NOT true or something... I think you took my post out of context. I was just trying to say that usually there's some other evidence against such an article being bogus and I could not find any online. Both sides are going to have far fetched statistics and biased facts... it's what happens in any kind of argument really. Both sides have valuable points.
I really don't see how the comparisons used were that far fetched from what is being used to say all Pit Bulls as a breed should cease to exist. I will reitirate that I did NOT write the analogy, I simply copied and pasted from somewhere else. I don't find it offensive and I'm sorry for those who do... it was
not meant as a personal attack. It is not in my character to personally attack people. I am a very open minded and for the most part non judgmental person, and yes, I do have strong opinions on certain subjects. It was mainly posted to show how foolish it sounds to ban a breed of dog because of a FEW of them attacking/killing.
Actually, I didn't say JRT's because you have one. I honestly forgot that you even owned the breed. So it was definitely not a personal attack towards you. It's simply a breed I've *always* had bad experiences with and my dad owns one as well. She is the hardest dog we've ever had and it's their fault for not researching the breed enough, not hers, just like irresponsible people who buy Pits w/o researching... it's just in my experience with going to the dog park for the past 2.5yrs every week or more and dog events, dog sports, being a dogwalker, and just being involved in dog things in general, that I tend to not really like the breed. It's not the dogs themselves, I'm sure it's the bad breeding and the owners. It's just another breed that I don't see very well-bred JRT's and they have unstable temperaments. Just like Pitties... anytime any breed is overbred and bred irresponsibility, it happens. But it doesn't mean that I want the breed as a whole to die or that there are specific JRT's that I don't absolutely adore. There are two that come to some of our Yorkie meet ups who are awesome! I just don't see how me saying that I've had bad experiences with JRT's is any different than people in here saying they've had bad experiences with Pitties and don't like them? Everyone has breeds that they are not fond of.
I don't see how I personally insulted any race. I was using an analogy, that I wasn't the author to... and am far from a racist person. The analogy made sense to me, simple as that. It wasn't meant to offend and I had no idea it would... so sorry for that...
I think we can all agree that SOMETHING must be done and that Pitties are a very strong breed. I am super compassionate to the people who fall victims to such an attack, because I honestly can't imagine... I'm sure it would make me feel more strongly towards them but for now, I stand my ground. I just don't think it's any more fair to blame an entire breed for something a few of them have done just as I don't think it's fair to blame an entire race on something a few of them have done...
Sorry for any misconceptions or miscommunication I caused. Never meant to be a personal attack towards anyone in this thread and things always tend to spiral out of control or get too heated in threads such as these so I'll just skip out of them from now on and give an apology to those I offended. It was never my intention! I am not an ill-hearted person and I was simply trying to give the other side of the fence... that's all.