What pit bull activism says about our culture

[XemaSab]

Last weekend in Saanich, B.C., a 16-day old baby was mauled by her family’s pit bull-Rottweiler mix on the same day as an elderly man was attacked by two pit bull dogs outside a Langley, B.C. dollar store. News like this is reported, but commentary-wise, dog-related public safety is virtually an orphan topic. Which is why I adopted it.

Public-safety regulation is usually linked to what is deemed a critical number of injuries or deaths. Between 1971 and 1980, for example, Ford produced three million Pintos. Due to a peculiarity in the Pinto’s structural design, its fuel tank was prone to puncture in rear-end collisions. Consequently, over Pinto’s 10 years in operation, 26 people died in fires that a better design could have prevented. Ford was forced to retire the model in the interest of public safety.

By coincidence, there are about three million pit bull type dogs in North America today, representing 6% of all breeds. But about 26 people die from pit bull type dogs in the U.S. every year (out of about 40 from all 400 breeds combined). Pit bull type dogs maul, maim, disfigure or dismember hundreds more. By no coincidence, when pit bulls were few in number — 200,00 before 1970, most clustered in marginal districts — dogbite-related fatalities in the general population were freakishly rare. In my youth, when middle-class neighbourhood dogs ran loose, and average families didn’t own fighting dogs, years went by without a single fatality. If pit bull type dogs were cars, they’d be long gone. But unlike car victims, pit bull tragedies don’t arouse public outrage.

They certainly outrage me. But in truth my engagement with the issue is mostly driven by what pit bull activism says about our culture.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2015/01/02/barbara-kay-what-pit-bull-activism-says-about-our-culture/

[Throd]

1. Pit bull activists are like open-carry morons.

Just 'cuz you can, doesn't mean you should.

[benz380]

2. Sorry, only 3 people voted for pit bulls in the flame war poll.

Repost this but everywhere you have "pit bull" change to "feminist/MRA". It got the most votes.

[uppityperson]

3. What is a "pit bull type dog"? What is " a peculiar rending style of bite"?

Do you remember when rottweilers had this bad reputation and were Known for being vicious? Then the children's book Good Dog Carl helped a newer generation see them as possibly good dogs? Before rotts dobermans were vicious dogs who'd attack and kill you. Before b them it was German Shepherd breed which was innately vicious.

And now it is "pit bull type" with their "peculiar rending style of bite".

[demmiblue]

4. You have an unhealthy obsession with pit bulls.

[NV Whino]

8. Hey, it keeps her off cats

[Arkansas Granny]

5. This sentence jumped out at me:

Dogs with a talent for fighting generally like to fight. When what they deem the right occasion presents itself, they will, with the same joy as greyhounds run and bloodhounds track, display the inherited motor pattern that gives them pleasure in performance.

When man has specifically bred animals for a desired trait, you never know when the breeding and instinct is going to override training.

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. I'll take my chances being incinerated in a Pinto, thanks.

[Thinkingabout]

7. I am a dog lover, have had several in my life, living on a farm we had working dogs which

assisted our daily lives. My father hunted and had his special dog for this. I am not sure those who have pit bulls, etc exercise the dogs enough, interact with them enough so it could be possible the owners are not responsible enough to own pit bulls. For these reasons I am not fond of pit bulls, they have the ability to do deadly harm to people and other animals.

[dilby]

9. Pit Bull owners are like Gun owners.

It's never the gun/dogs fault and they are never a bad gun/dog owner. And if you want to enact any type of regulation to protect the public they will fight you to the death.

[KamaAina]

10. The National Post is the Great White North's equivalent of the Moonie Times

eh?

[demmiblue]

12. Yep:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/National_Post

The National Post is a Canadian daily newspaper. It was founded in 1998 by Conrad Black (Canadian fraudster and answer to Rupert Murdoch) with the intent of countering what he saw as the "over-liberalizing" of editorial policy in Canadian newspapers, being built from the bones of the Financial Post, which Black bought from Sun Media (Canada's answer to News Corp) in 1997.[1] Given this pedigree, the Post's editorial stance tends toward the reactionary end of the conservative spectrum, but due to the sober (if not always neutral) tone of its news reporting, the Toronto Sun and its exclamatory headlines beat it for the title of Canada's answer to the New York Post.

Notable editorial staff

Barbara Kay

Kay is an anti-feminist and MRA[3] cut from the same cloth as Phyllis Schlafly. She has written pieces decrying all the requisite targets: oral contraception,[4] abortion,[5] and women not eschewing education and careers in favor of prolific maternity.[6] Of course, it's not complete without a good shot of denying rape culture.[7] Oh, and the whole "Quebecistan" thing.

She happens to be the mother of the Post's editiorial pages editor Jonathan Kay, who really needs to do his job better.

[Daemonaquila]

11. It's all horse crap.

Adamantly anti-pit people are blaming an animal for human behavior, and should be ashamed. It's non-scientific fear-mongering, no different than the ranchers who want to shoot every wolf, or the fish farmers who want to shoot bald eagles rather than spending money to protect their stock ponds, or cock fighters who leg-trap birds of prey because it's cheaper and easier than providing housing, and a thousand other disgusting blame-the-animal reactions.

What's wrong with our culture is that we've lost all sight of common sense and biology. Some people have taken a protective FAMILY breed and tortured dogs into violent reactions to stroke their own egos and claim as their "guard dogs," or to torture further in dog fighting. Instead of targeting both the human attitude and the activities, some want to ban the breed. What stupidity.

"Dog-related public safety" is a joke in itself. Yes, there are some injuries from dogs. And horses. And cats. And orangutans, tigers, and other exotics. Some types of animals cause more injury than others, of course. But to adopt a cause over 40 deaths per year - and all because of stupid human tricks, not the animals - is the act of someone with too much time on their hands. If a person wants to make a difference in animal related injuries as part of their activism, they need to instead make animal welfare and conservation their project. Keep crazy-ass stupid people from harming animals and breeding them without regard to how many are actually wanted and needed by responsible homes, increase spay and neuter numbers, jail abusers and animal-fighters, and you're going to see such injuries go down far below the already negligible number.

Yes, I'm calling it negligible. It's not a negligible event to the people who die, but the number overall is barely worth batting an eyelash over. There are over 126,000 accidental deaths each year in the U.S. from all causes. There are over 29 million ER visits from accidental injuries of all types every year. Making 40 deaths per year out of that statistic one's cause celebre, and blaming the animals, is mind boggling.

Quoting injury statistics from pre-1970 (and you have to ask yourself how well statistics were being kept at the time) only underscores that it's the humans who have changed, not the animals. The same breeds existed before. Pits were FAMILY dogs, not yet the accidental favorite of idiots with too much testosterone. But it's much easier to yell at a neighbor who has a pit about how they're endangering the neighborhood, than it is to work to get that dog-fighting ring in the area shut down. It's easier to blame then animal, while letting the tormentors off the hook. Anti-breed activism has ZERO risk. Solving the problem requires actual spine, brains, and resolve, to deal with some humans who are anything but nice.

[michaz]

13. This is the fault of the idiot breeders and owners

that make the dogs what they are. The dogs are not to blame...but the morons that do this to these dogs are. It is time to through the humans in jail for a bit and let them think about it.

[joeglow3]

16. Sweet. Will our friend's 5 year old's penis now grow back?

Thanks to a "loving family pit bull."

[GreatGazoo]

14. Some studies showed that people tend to seek out "facts" and sources that they already agree with.

The love of an animal engenders the urge to advocate for it. Love is not rational, that's how we know it's love and not just affection or something milder. So there is a strong emotional component to advocating for pit bulls.

I think some people identify with any animal that is neglected, abused or stereotyped. So it makes sense that they take it personally when society or individuals focus on that animal, or breed.

But, one more time, the best predictor of dog attacks is the presence of testicles. ~92.5% of fatal dog attack in 2005/2006 were done by intact male dogs of any breed.

"We know that an intact male is four times more likely to bite," said Hillsborough Animal Services spokesperson Marti Ryan. "It's not because they're mean. This is nature."

Karen Delise has extensively studied dog attacks and written two books on the subject. She had heard about Hunter.

Her research, which involved fatal attacks, shows the percentage of intact males involved is even higher — between 90 and 95 percent. There were 59 fatal dog attacks in the United States in 2005 and 2006, she says, involving 109 dogs. Just five of those were spayed or neutered.

An intact male is hormonal. Sexually curious. More likely to escape. Showing dominance. Territorial.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/neutering-dogs-may-be-kindest-cut-when-it-comes-to-preventing-dog-bites/983589

[flamin lib]

15. Dogs are dogs, nothing more.

Years ago I had a friend in VA who was a bit of an eccentric. He saw an English Setter at the pound, beautiful dog ideally marked with good confirmation.

He says to the poundmaster what's up with the dog?

Guy says, his master died and nobody wants him. Name's Duke. We put him down tomorrow.

I'll take him!

The poundmaster handed him the keys to the cage and then closed the door to his office. First clue that something was different about this dog.

Friend opened the door and the dog bit him several times tearing his shirt and pants. Finally got a leash on him and took him to the car, an MG Midget. Paid the pound and went back to the car. Dog wouldn't let him in. Half hour standoff and the dog finally relents. Got the dog home and couldn't get him out of the car. For three days he fed and watered the dog outside the car, moving ever closer to the apartment's front door. Finally go the dog into the apartment.

Came home from work and the dog attacked him as soon as he opened the door. From then on friend would unlock the door, crack it an inch or two and call out, Duke! I'm home! Good dog! and the dog would let him in. To walk the dog he'd tether him to a stake in the backyard, afraid that Duke would hurt someon. Getting him on the stake was no big deal, getting him off was another matter.

One day as he was taking the dog to the stake I happened on the scene and Duke broke free and ran at me. Jumped up on my chest and knocked me to the ground licking my face and making puppy noises. We spent the next few minutes rolling on the grass playing doggy games until the friend, white knuckled and visibly shaken retrieved the dog and staked him whereupon Duke offered to bite me.

After a little experimentation we discovered that Duke was a classically trained guard dog. Kind of unusual for a setter of any kind to take to this training so ardently but at 105 pounds Duke did it real well. Anytime the dog was confined he was at work. In the car, in the apartment or on the tether. Once free he was the quintessential setter, just an overgrown puppy that loved everyone. Friend went Xmas shopping and because the car's convertible top was in disrepair left Duke in the car with the presents while shopping store to store. Came back to the car and found Duke, tongue hanging out and looking particularly pleased with himself. Took more than an hour to clean the blood and bits of clothing out of the car but every single one of the gift wrapped packages was there. A bit messy, but untouched.

The moral of this story is that anyone can make any dog a monster if they want to. The more devoted the dog to their masters the more of a monster they become. "Pit Bulls" (a made up name) are no exception and when raised in a normal loving household are no different that an English Setter.