[yorkietalkjilly]

Well, we certainly spend tax dollars on more ridiculous things than saving human lives when you hear some of the stories and read some of the articles to see the fanciful things we do pay for all the time. But I do think some type of laws are going to have to be made to enact some type of retribution on the owners of dogs that cause severe injuries that require medical treatment or that kill.

I haven't heard about the locking jaw being a physical feature of pitbull types but I do read in numerous places that bully breeds, particularly those bred to fight, are prized for their tenacity to hold the victim after clamping down. With the natural tendency of any dog to shake things they bite teamed with a strong genetic predisposition to hold the bite despite pain or other distractions, this type of an animal is potentially very dangerous to any bite victims. I think that is what the fighters breed for and just like terriers and their aggressive/tenacious ways that make up part of the terrier type of dog's temperament, that pitbull type breed tendency just goes on and on through the generations. In a big, powerful breed, bite-hold tenacity is certainly scarey. My son playing tugowar with his American Bulldog actually broke the high-test tugowar toy! His dog would bite and hold and continue to bite hard in the same place as they were playing and during one very long contest, his dog bit through the huge tugowar toy! I think he's replaced more than one of those since and he gets the biggest, toughest ones they have so these bully breeds' tenacity and ability to bite and hold is ferocious.

I know that if you can't roll up into a ball facing downward and protect your ears and sides of your face, offer them a forearm to clamp on as you try to otherwise disable the dog and scream for help. I know the least damage they can do in the long run is the outside of the forearm, as there is less critical arterial structure, etc., there and just letting them have that part of your body may save your life. If they don't get something to bite and hold, they will go after other critical parts that are far harder to lose, repair, etc.