Children Need Pit Bulls: A Picture Book

[DirkGently]

208. "These dogs" = "those people." Judging by looks is just bigotry.

No different in logic than racism. A short-circuit to thinking. Anecdote A = genetic defect of group B.

A relative was once savagely attacked by a man of another race. Broken bottle. I was told, although he never showed any such inclination to me, that he was forever wary of "those people" for the rest of his life.

In one sense, it's a normal feature of human psychology to generalize by looks based on one experience. But overall, it's a maladaptive strategy and poor thinking, particularly with beings as vastly varied and individualized as people or domestic dogs.

There ARE of course a lot terrible dogs out there that fall into the vast, ambiguous, looks-based category reported as "pit bulls." You have the Michael Vicks of the world to thank for that, however, not the fact that a dog has "bull" somewhere in its name. Bulldogs, terriers, and all their vast and sundry varieties and mixes simply comprise a form factor from which a dangerous animal can arise. Many other breeds and looks can be equally dangerous. Years ago all the badasses and drug dealers had Shepherd or Doberman mixes. Same mythology of the Unstoppably Murderous Dog.

Do away with everything people call Pits today, and tomorrow the headlines will scream about the savage Malamute attack, and a few will conclude that Malamutes have locking jaws or were "designed to kill people" or what have you.

Concluding that there is something inherently wrong with a dog based on the way it looks or what it is called is simply irrational.

Can't state it any more simply than that. You are of course entitled to disagree.