AGAIN- Pitbulls attack yorkies

[yorkietalkjilly]

My dad used to say hating an attacking dog is just like hating an SUV that ran over a person or the gun or knife that killed one. Big dogs barking ferociously to protect their property are usually highly praised and encouraged by their often proud owners, encouraged to act aggressively to protect the property and anything that approaches it, teaching the dog anything outside it and the immediate family is a natural enemy. That is all too often the story of big, powerful dogs. Many breeds have long been bred to kill, hunt and guard for centuries so that aggression is part of their very brain-cell content. They are often praised and rewarded for their ferocious attitude and actions by their owners.

Dogs don't have our values - they are just simple animal reflections of what people make them by breeding, environment, training and interactions with them. Canines have an affectionate and loyal nature with humans when left to their own devices. Heck, their ancient ancestors, wolves, don't even attack people - are actually scared of us, timid around us. The poor pitbull, as scary and ferocious as they are and the breed who most often stays with its attack through to a kill, was once known as the nanny dog since it was so gentle around children! What changed them? Humans! Breeding the occasional aggressive dog to another over and over for years and years has produced a monster, it is true. But the breed didn't do it to itself - mankind did it.

I imagine if pitbulls listened to or read our evening news and found out what people do - humans who do know better and can make better decisions if they want - kill, maim and seriously injure each other and innocent dogs and cats daily, they wouldn't think so much of us. They could very well look over to their next door, neighbor dog and say, "You know, I hate humans - they are always doing terrible things to each other and to us dogs. They kill and hurt each other daily! Have you seen how many of us dogs wind up filling shelters when they are done with us? They starve and abuse us, over-breed and train us to be tough and mean and then kill us by the thousands every single day! Have you heard of serial killers, dictators, rapists and puppy mills - humans are behind all of that. I'm sick of humans - they are out of control. Humans should be outlawed".

That's not to make light of a terrible, traumatic attack by a pitbull, GSD or a human on an innocent. All are tragic. But it shows where the real blame for all this carnage really lies.

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

The breed isn't the problem. It's the people who do things to dogs to alter their temperament who are the problem.

All breeds attack; attacks happen every single day with multiple breeds. In fact, pit bulls attack/bite less than many other breeds, however, [I]THEY are the ones in the media[/I] - that's why people rally behind the pit bull hate. If all the German Shepard and Lab bites were in the media, it'd be the same story - with different players.

Again, breeds aren't the problem. People are the problem. You outlaw one breed, and those 'people' will just move on to another breed.

That is not true at all, I posted a ton of factual data here not long ago that repeatedly states how pit bulls account for more attacks against humans and pets than all other breeds combined. Most owner of Pits say after the attack, I don't know what got into him, he was so sweet.................. I am not buying the fact that every pit bull that attacks has a piece of crap for an owner. I think all of us know how many abused dogs their are in the world, how many of them are killing and maiming other pets and humans at the rate pit bulls are.

[DBlain]

this report says something like Pits account for about 70% of the bites and attacks yet only make up 5% of the dog population. Can you imagine what the number would be if they accounted for about 25% of the dog population

2011 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities - Dog Bite Statistics - DogsBite.org

[DBlain]

Posted below are facts not my emotions and what I use to form my opinions. I have no idea or do I care, what pit bulls were like 100 or 50 or even 25 years ago or what made them more aggressive, all I know is that for several decades a higher percent of them compared to other breeds are ticking time bombs that could kill or severely hurt your child, your parent, your pet or yourself.





Attacks on Humans

See also: Dog attack and List of fatal dog attacks in the United States

One 9-year (1979–1988) review of fatal dog attacks in the United States determined that, of the 101 attacks where breed was recorded, pit bulls were implicated in 42 of those attacks (41.6%).[31] A 1991 study found that 94% of attacks on children by pit bulls were unprovoked, compared to 43% for other breeds.[32] One 5-year (1989–1994) review of fatal dog attacks in the United States determined that pit bulls and pit bull mixed breeds were implicated in 24 (28.6%) of the 84 deaths where breed was recorded.[33]

One 15-year (1991–2005) review of dog attack fatalities investigated by the Kentucky Medical Examiner determined that pit bulls were implicated in 5 of the 11 fatal attacks (45.4%).[34] Another 15-year (1994–2009) review of patients admitted to a Level I Trauma Center with dog bites determined that pit bulls were involved in most of these attacks: of the 228 patients treated, the breed of dog was recorded in 82 attacks, and of these, 29 (35%) attacks were attributed to pit bulls. All other dogs combined accounted for the remaining 65% of attacks.[35] In 44.8% of the attacks, the dog belonged to the victim's family.[35] The authors state:


Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs. Strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the US mortality rates related to dog bites.[35]

One 5-year (2001–2005) review of dog attack victims admitted to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia determined that pit bull terriers were implicated in more than half of bites. Of the 551 patients treated, breed was identified in 269 cases. Of these 269 patients, 137 (50.9%) were attacked by pit bulls.[36] The authors write:


...the overwhelming number of bites involving pit bull terriers in this study and others certainly has some degree of validity when it comes to identifying bite-prone breeds. Pit bull terriers, German shepherds, and Rottweilers were the offending breeds implicated in our study and have accounted for the majority of dog bites according to other investigators.[36]

One review of the medical literature found that pit bulls and pit bull cross-breeds were involved in between 42 and 45% of dog attacks.[37] Fatalities were most often reported in children, with 70% of victims being under the age of 10.[37] Some studies that have been performed on the number of human deaths caused by dog bite trauma have surveyed news media stories for reports of dog bite-related fatalities. This methodology is subject to several potential sources of error: some fatal attacks may not have been reported; a study might not find all of the relevant news reports; and the potential for misidentification of dog breeds,[2] although courts in the United States[38][39] and Canada[40][41] have ruled that expert identification, when using published breed standards, is sufficient for the enforcement of breed-specific legislation. It is possible to distinguish dogs by breed using DNA testing,[41] but test results for any one dog can vary widely depending upon the laboratory that performs the test and the number of purebred dog breeds in the laboratory's DNA database.[42]

[DBlain]

Jeannie, I am really surprised how after the pit butt attack on your son's dog and how he could have been hurt did not change your feelings. I did not read the thread in debt but I did get the feeling that the attack on your son's dog was unprovoked, was the owner of the other pit an abusive owner?

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-finally.html

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by DBlain

Jeannie, I am really surprised how after the pit butt attack on your son's dog and how he could have been hurt did not change your feelings. I did not read the thread in debt but I did get the feeling that the attack on your son's dog was unprovoked, was the owner of the other pit an abusive owner?

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-finally.html

No, it didn't change my mind. The dog is the result of years of unscrupulous breeding for aggression and fighting tendencies, as other breed for herding or intelligence and training propensity to lead the blind. The dog is the reflection of what mankind has done to a once gentle breed. Had the dog attacked and killed Tibbe, I would hate that dog but understand that what he'd done was pretty much if not all from highly aggressive, fighting genes bred into him and he was just following his instincts. Terriers are ratters but few of us get upset when they kill one. Pits have for years been bred to fight and kill, with many of those pups getting into the public realm and bred, producing dogs that go as pets to homes. When they kill, we all get very upset as it is usually a child, dog or person they've killed - of more value to us than a rat obviously. But the killing was from the same tendencies.

The dog that attacked Tex was a rescue but he had a very strong, pit-experienced, wealthy owner who has an experienced dog rehabber working with him almost daily. He didn't try to kill Tex so he's come a long way in his rehab against his instincts. Most pitbulls aren't as fortunate as he is and not all attack victims of pits have experienced men around to stop the attack before it escalates - that, and Tex knew from instinct and training to remain still and not fight back once he was bitten.

But if I had my wish, it wouldn't be to outlaw the pitties, I would go after the true cause of the pandemic of pit killings and all of those breeders who have or do presently breed for fighting and aggression. If I had my way, they would be taken out and given a city-limits trial and subjected to a little citizen justice myself to repay for the misery, death and suffering they have brought to the world via their weapon of choice - the pitbull. I'm being silly and ridiculous, of course, but I do think the answer lies in bringing severe penalties against fighting pit breeders and the owners of big, powerful dogs whose animals kill or injure people or pets.

If we outlawed the pitbull, those guys would still breed them underground and they would still find their way into the mainstream as "lab/boxer" mixes. Only if we go after the people who made and are making this breed this vicious will be ever hope to stop it to some degree.

[brezofleur]

Jeanie, that was very well said.

Another point is that Pit Bulls ARE terriers. Just as you mentioned about small terriers hunting and killing rodents today, the Pitties are the same. Only they, unfortunately, go after larger prey, like a child, cats, small dogs, etc.

Even small terriers are prone to attacking others their own size, only we as guardians are able to QUICKLY separate before any real damage happens. Its much, much harder to do so with large breeds.

[Belle Noir]

Originally Posted by DBlain

I will say it again, I hate pit balls and am glad my town has an ordinance against them, if I see one in the neighborhood I will report it. I could care less that some are nice and gentle, they are living breathing accidents waiting to happen. With all the dog breeds in the world there are plenty of other breeds for people that like that type of a dog to choose from, so I have to say this is one breed that we can do without.

And when you put some family through hell because of your bias, because their dog happens to look enough like a pit bull to raise your ire, but hasn't a drop of pit bull in it, then what? When the owners of that black lab/rottie cross have to jump through hoops because of your hatred, what then? Or the people with the Boxer/GSD? But I guess it's OK, because it makes you THINK your safe, even though cities that have enacted BSL typically have NOT had a drop in dog bites, just a drop in bites from the targets breed, since the irresponsible owners more on to breeds that are not on the banned list.

I will freely admit that some breeds have a propensity to be dog aggressive. I admit that most of the people that own pit bulls have no business owning them. The thing that bothers me more, though, is the hatred towards a breed of dog. Not the individuals, but the whole breed. Even while knowing that a number of the breed are good and wonderful dog. It willfully denying that a number of the breed are good and wonderful dogs.

I guess it troubles me, because I have seen no one saying how much they hate labs or GSDs when they're involved in a mauling. Recently a JRT killed an infant, but no one is screaming about that... Even though just as many breeds are identified in dog attacks, and the pit bull is greatly OVER identified, even though news stories show the dog in question to have very little to no pit in them, even after IDing the attacking dog as a pit bull, even though news stories will have headline screaming about pit bull attacks, and the dog in the story ends up being a boxer or american bulldog or some kind of mastiff.

Because of my current research into AR/AW, that willingness to destroy, that hatred based on breed is especially troublesome, as I know that AR fanatics are using breed banning as a way to push their agenda, and they really don't care if innocent dogs get caught up in the breed sweep, since they want to end all pet ownership anyway.

I'm sorry you hate a breed where in MOST of the dogs of that breed have never done anything to you, and would never do anything to you. I hope one day you're able to let that hatred go. It's really not healthy.

And maybe when you get your statistics, you get them from somewhere other than a site that has a known vendetta against the pit bull breed.
The FACT is maybe med sized short hairted dogs are misidentified as pit bulls. That pit bull attacks are grossly over reported in the media, and that BECAUSE there is no proof of breed other than the victims word that it was a pit bull (usually), who is to say that the dog in question WAS a pit bull?

Dog Bites
A study* was conducted of 40 children (aged 0 to 16) who had been admitted to two hospitals in Washington State and a hospital in Missouri for severe dog bite injuries. These admissions had taken place over a period of nine years.
Dogs identified as other than "pit bull" dogs were responsible for 36 of the 40 incidents of death or hospitalization due to severe dog bite injuries.
Further, none of the dogs involved in the three fatalities were identified as "pit bull" dogs.

I like the reports here.
It says this about most of the cases.. Photographs were submitted to NCRC’s expert advisor who concluded that the breed of the dog could not be reasonably determined from the photographs. At least one of the cases I know to have been reported as pit bulla or pit bull mixes as it was a local incident, that one being the Christine Staab case, which most people feel was justified, all things considered.
http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/2010%20DBRF%20Report_Final_7.pdf
More can be found here
Dog Bite-Related Fatalities | Canine Research Council

Do I think them unbiased? No, I don't, but I think they present a more balanced picture than the anti pit bull brigade. They have a free download that makes for interesting reading called The Pit Bull Placebo, found here
NCRC Publications | National Canine Research Council

Look, in a nutshell, several mix type dogs LOOK like the generic pit bull, anything with boxer, rottie, lab, or shar-pei in them can look to the untrained eye to have or be a pit bull, especially when MOST PEOPLE HAVEN'T A CLUE WHAT A PIT BULL LOOKS LIKE.

Here is a good example.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../Dogs/Kuji.jpg
I can't tell you how many times I have been told that this CHAMPION SHOW DOG is NOT a pit bull.

Whatever, you have made up your mind and like anyone with a bias, nothing will change it, and you will look for proof for your point, and anything, no matter how erroneous will do. In the meanwhile I will continue to fight against breed specific legislation and promote the enforcement of current dog laws, which are MORE than enough IF they're enforced, as I recognize that BSL is just a camels nose way of preventing dog ownership of any kind, as more and more breeds are targeted one by one.

@yorkietalkjilly Excellent point. I wish that everyone was as rational as you.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I may sound rational and I am a doglover of all breeds but I know that dogs are animals and subject to instincts and urges we can never understand. As such, the pitbull is potentially a highly dangerous animal and should one attack a loved one of mine or my dog, I would likely want it put down or given a lifelong warrant for pitbull rehab living only, as opposed to most other breeds, because of the strong likelihood it has some very dangerous genetic predispositions from the recent history of this breed's fighting lingeages. I'd fear that once it had engaged in a truly aggressive attack, those fighting/killing genes could easily predispose it to future attacks on humans or animals.

Border terrier owners say once their dog has herded sheep on a weekend outing for herders, they are forever herding things instinctively with more intensity than ever before. Once a terrier has killed a mouse, those of you that have one who has done it know, they are always looking and sniffing for another - from then on!

Most of those who have worked for years rehabbing abused/fighting pits say it is usually true of a pit that once they attack, they aren't to be trusted in a normal home setting again. From what I know about dogs with strong prey-drive instinct, I tend to agree with those that work with the pitbulls in trouble. Pound-for-pound and all things being equal, they are far more deadly in an attack than any other dog according to most who work with Rotties, Pitties and GSD/Malinois breeds. Today's pitbulls' shorter, faster size, overdeveloped musculature, reaction time and bite-force & bite-ratio plus ability to sustain an attack outmatch most other dogs whatever their size.

But the pitbull didn't do that to himself or his breed. Humans carefully, deliberately, ignorantly bred them to be that way. A pitbull is just doing what he has fairly recently mostly been bred to do, be a highly prey-driven, aggressive, ultra-fast fighter who can grab a victim with his mouth, wrap them up with his forelegs and sustain a vicious attack until his victim is no longer moving if it takes an hour. Most breeds won't sustain an attack - they hit, bite, withdraw and many dogs are anxious to run away after a bite.

It is not the pitbull's fault - he's just being his doggie self and doing what in his bulldog/terrier instincts he's strongly led to do, like my Tibbe would chase a mouse or rat if he ever saw one. And knowing Tibbe, he would catch it and do his grisly job!!!

All that being said, I know some wonderful, loving and loyal pitbulls with wonderful temperaments in family homes today who are as fine a pet as ever could be. To know one of those is to love the breed for what it was and still can be again.

[Verbena]

We had this same problem with the Rottweiler. And before that is was the Doberman pincher. And before that is was the German Shepards. We do no see them all gone. We need to educate.

Pit Bull breeds have become famous for their roles as soldiers, police dogs, search and rescue dogs, actors, television personalities, seeing eye dogs and celebrity pets. Historically, the Bull Terrier mix Nipper and Petey from the Little Rascals, are the most well known. Lesser known, but still historically notable pit bulls include Helen Keller's family dog "Sir Thomas", Buster Brown's dog "Tige", Horatio Jackson's dog "Bud",President Theodore Roosevelt's Pit Bull terrier "Pete", "Jack Brutus" who served for Company K, the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the civil war and Sir Walter Scott's beloved "Wasp

Modernly significant pit bulls are: Weela, who helped save thirty-one people, twenty-nine dogs, three horses and one cat; Popsicle, a five-month-old puppy originally found nearly dead in a freezer, who grew to become one of the nation's most important police dogs;Norton, who was placed in the Purina Animal Hall of Fame after he rescued his owner from a severe reaction to a spider bite; Titan, who rescued his owner's wife, who would have died from an aneurysm and D-Boy, who took three bullets to save his family from an intruder with a gun.

[Wallee]

Here in Ontario, Pitt Bulls are banned. I do know a lady who has one though and it is a very well behaved dog. She even lets her young grandchildren play with it. I don't believe that it is actually the dog, but rather the owners who have created this situation. The problem being that there are so many irresponsible dog owners out there who refuse to keep their dogs controlled so they are not able to attack other small animals. I am aware that many breeds are also responsible for attacks, however the problem with the pitts is that their bite is so much more lethal.
I have seen many of those "sketchy" owners here who own the large breed dogs who beat them, and treat them very badly in order to make them more vicious. These low lifes use the dogs as a "tough guy" status as they obviously have some inferiority complex problems.

[Belle Noir]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Most of those who have worked for years rehabbing abused/fighting pits say it is usually true of a pit that once they attack, they aren't to be trusted in a normal home setting again. From what I know about dogs with strong prey-drive instinct, I tend to agree with those that work with the pitbulls in trouble. Pound-for-pound and all things being equal, they are far more deadly in an attack than any other dog according to most who work with Rotties, Pitties and GSD/Malinois breeds. Today's pitbulls' shorter, faster size, overdeveloped musculature, reaction time and bite-force & bite-ratio plus ability to sustain an attack outmatch most other dogs whatever their size.

I have done pit bull rescue and I agree with this. I've learned some terrible things in my pit bull rescue time, but these things help me evaluate the dogs that I dealt with.

There are some dogs that are cold, and there are some that are on. the cold dogs worry me the most, since they show no dog aggression and yet can be "on". You don't really know with the cold dogs.
On dog are easier to redirect, since they let you know when they're targeting.

Then there are the trainer dogs, there seems to be two kind, rolling dogs teach the dogs to fight, they come right out full bore attack, then there are the bait dogs, which are used to teach the dog to bite.

All things being equal, I find the bait dogs easier to retrain and rehome than rolling dogs. The rolling dogs are even harder to retrain than actual fighters, since these dogs typically only fight for 10-15 minutes and in their minds they always win, whereas the actual fighters might fight for over an hour. It's like after they have been in a real fight, they're like OMG I'm glad to never have to go through that again. But the rolling dogs, all they know is they always win, and they want to do it again and again.

I read a line from one book, the guy is a professional K9 trainer, and he started that he has seen a suspect hopped up on PCP walk away with a 40 lb Malinois attached to his arm, but that with a 40lb pit, the perp was going down.

Mondo dog and schutzhund people love pit bulls because they have a ton of intensity, but are very in tune with their handlers, and actually tend to not lose it like some of the other protection breeds.

I have to say though, it bothers me on some level, pits being used as personal protection dogs, since that's not really what they were bred for. Originally, any pit bull that showed any human aggression of any kind was killed, and not only were they killed, usually their parents and littermates were killed as well. The reason given was that man biters were curs, or coward dogs that were not game or didn't have the heart to win when fighting. Because of the rep they have as a breed, I would much rather them NOT be used for biting people in any way shape or form.

You are right in that we have shaped them as a breed. Most "pit bulls" are not what I consider pit bulls. The story about the pit bull bigger than a 90 lb AB.. that had me cringing. The bitch whose pic I posted.. She was 27 lbs when that pic was taken. She showed at 23-25 lbs. Granted she is a bit smaller than the usual pit bull (and exactly what I was breeding for), but you typically do not see many pits over 40-45 lbs at conformation shows.

You have people that are breeding them oversized and grotesque, like the "American Bullys" that look like pit bull/English bulldog crosses, and are probably just that mix. Then before the ADBA banned merles, you had Platinum kennels (Howard Madison) crossing pit bulls and danes to get the merle color and hanging fake papers on the puppies. We in the APBT community actually blame him and his double merle defective dogs for causing the banning of the color within the breed that previously had no color restriction and a history of merles present for history of the breed.

Anyway, I can't convince anyone of anything, just stand sure in how I feel. I can't even see myself hating a dog that has harmed me or mine, even if I would want it put down if it was unprovoked. Example, my youngest child stuck her hand in a gate with a husky and almost got her finger bit off. She knows dogs, she knows how to read them and this dog was behind her own gate with a Beware of Dog sign that my kid was able to read.

Whose fault was it? My kids, completely and totally, but I didn't feel as though this dog should be killed because the dog didn't do anything that a dog should NOT do. It was my kids fault. Now had the dog JUMPED the fence, then the blame would be on the dog.

One thing that bothers me is had it been a pit bull that bit my kid, it would have been in the news as a pit bull attack, even though it was my kids fault for sticking her hand in a fence with several signs that said beware of dog.

But even then I would not be mad at the dog. I would be mad at the owner. I'm sorry, but none of these things happen in a vacuum. I have NEVER known a dog to suddenly turn for no reason, and with no cause. Of course the owners are going to say that this dog was sweet, and never showed a sign of aggression, they're covering their rear, while making it harder on the breed.

But I know these people think back and either they knew of a dogs propensity for being aggressive, or with hindsight pin pointed certain things that were a tell tale. Things like pulling on the leash with high tail is a red flag for me. Dogs that are very intense and "stand tall" around other dogs and even people. Even the slightest raising of the hackles, or even worse, a near total stillness. All of these things are markers of a dog that may attack.

This is why I blame the people, I blame the owners. They are the ones that either train the dog badly, or don't train the dog at all. They are the ones that don't neuter their dogs, even though most dog bites are caused by intact male dogs. They are the ones that breed the wrong dogs for the wrong reasons and the ones that pretty much are ruining my breed.
If I'm going to hate someone, I'm going to hate the people that own the bad dogs, not the dogs themselves, they're just as much a victim as the people they maul.

[DBlain]

Here is some history on the Pit Bull and an excerpt from the web site.

ASPCA | Pit Bull Cruelty
Pit Bulls are descendants of the original English bull-baiting dog—a dog that was bred to bite and hold bulls, bears and other large animals around the face and head. "Bulldogs" were bred to hang on without releasing their grip, until the animal was exhausted from fighting and from loss of blood. When baiting large animals was banned in the 1800s, people then started to fight their dogs against each other instead.

This is probably the reason you will often hear an owner after an attack say they tried to do their best to get their dog to let go, but the dog would just not.

If humans turned pit bulls into an aggressive dog with a jaw clenching bite, it was done 100's of years ago, just like yorkies were initially bred as ratters, and most still have that tendency today, the pit bulls were as it says in the article bred to bite and hold, and this was back before the 1800's. Of course I know there are other mean dogs and occasionally a dog might attack that is mistaken for a pitball, but the overwhelming statistics prove that pitbulls make up for a much higher percentage of serious dog bites and dog bite deaths.

Perhaps hate really is to strong of a word, because I really don't hate anything living, regardless if it is a human or an animal. However I do not like the breed, I do not feel comfortable around the breed, and I really don't see a reason to own a pit bull since there are l00's of other dog breeds to choose from.

[DBlain]

Anyway, I can't convince anyone of anything, just stand sure in how I feel. I can't even see myself hating a dog that has harmed me or mine, even if I would want it put down if it was unprovoked. Example, my youngest child stuck her hand in a gate with a husky and almost got her finger bit off. She knows dogs, she knows how to read them and this dog was behind her own gate with a Beware of Dog sign that my kid was able to read.

Whose fault was it? My kids, completely and totally, but I didn't feel as though this dog should be killed because the dog didn't do anything that a dog should NOT do. It was my kids fault. Now had the dog JUMPED the fence, then the blame would be on the dog.

One thing that bothers me is had it been a pit bull that bit my kid, it would have been in the news as a pit bull attack, even though it was my kids fault for sticking her hand in a fence with several signs that said beware of dog.

And like someone else said there is often a big difference between the bite of a pit ball and the bite of other dogs, perhaps if it was a pit bull, your daughter might be missing a finger or a hand. May I ask what happened when the husky bit her finger, did she pull away and he release it or did someone have to pry the husky's mouth loose from her finger.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by DBlain

That is not true at all, I posted a ton of factual data here not long ago that repeatedly states how pit bulls account for more attacks against humans and pets than all other breeds combined. Most owner of Pits say after the attack, I don't know what got into him, he was so sweet.................. I am not buying the fact that every pit bull that attacks has a piece of crap for an owner. I think all of us know how many abused dogs their are in the world, how many of them are killing and maiming other pets and humans at the rate pit bulls are.

You missed my point. The problem doesn't lie with the 'nice pit bull' owners or the 'used to be sweet pit bulls' -- it still lies with those who are breeding the negative temperament into this group of dogs (pit bulls aren't a breed, btw). In other words, that 'previously nice pit bull' likely traces back in its line to the humans that ruined the line. Again, the rise in 'pit bull' aggression originated with people.

At the end of the day, if we allow discrimination against any one breed - then we are allowing it for all breeds. I guess we all have to look within and decide how we truly feel, morally, about breed discrimination since it relates to ALL breeds. If we believe in discriminating against pit bulls, then we must therefore believe it's allowable to discriminate against yorkies and all other breeds. I'm categorically against breed disrimination. I believe in fixing the problem, not the symptom.