Lee Dresselhaus / L’Observateur / July 5, 2000

So….hooo boy, this is gonna make some people mad.I see that Germany has enacted a law banning the dog breed called the Pit Bull after a couple of these cuddly family pets mauled yet another child to death. They’ve introduced a law forbidding the breeding and importing ofthose animals so that the breed will eventually fade away. Being the curiouskind of guy I am I got on the internet just to look up attacks by the breed. Iwas wondering if Germany’s reaction was the political knee-jerk response that often accompanies sensational news stories or if that breed has enough of a history for people to start thinking that it should be outlawed.

Well, based on what I read on the ‘net and based on some of the local news stories from the past couple of years I have reached this conclusion.

The breed should be extinct.

OK, I know a lot of pit bull owners out there are gonna cry foul over that.

They say that their pit bulls are loving family pets who wouldn’t harm a fly, much less rip the face from a young child like in the incident that just recently happened in this area. Lassie should be so tame, they say. Or theysay that their pit bull, the one they keep secured in their back yard with a log chain, is for home protection. Yeah, OK. The fact is that pit bulls are the Saturday Night Specials and the assault rifles of the dog world. There is really no good reason to have one. The entirebreed exists only to intimidate, impress, and in the more extreme cases, injure or kill other dogs and sometimes, people. They were originally bred forfight bulls, bears, and other dogs. The jaw pressure, or bite pressure theyexert during a solid bite is incredible and does massive damage to flesh and bone during an attack. And when they do get loose and attack, with orwithout the endorsement of the owner, they can be unstoppable. Even theowner with the best of intentions who tries to interfere or stop the attack can be subject to severe injury by their pit own bull, Petunia, the family pet.

Another issue is the sudden resurgence of dog fighting as an underground spectator sport in which the pit bull is the undisputed star. The animals whoparticipate in dog fighting, and I’m not talking about the dogs, I’m talking about the animals who own the animals, are generally young thugs who see their pit bull as an expression of their own toughness – and their conception of manhood – the same way they and other thugs see the threatening wave of a gun as a means to enhance their thug status. And here’s a realinteresting piece of pit bull trivia. In order to train their pit bulls to fightthese charming young citizens will allegedly sometimes use other less aggressive breeds of dogs as the fighting dog’s chew toys.

Home protection? Sure, they’re good for that. The pit bull is the drugdealer’s choice for home protection. And a fine, logical choice it is. Another argument from pit bull advocates is that, hey, other dogs bite people too. Yeah, well, I wonder just how many people die from the randomdog bite as opposed to the number of people who are savagely mauled to death by pit bulls and breeds like them each year. Especially children whooften simply don’t know any better than to stay away from the nice doggie next door that’s nailed to the tree by that log chain.

So, yeah, I think the breed should be extinct. Am I advocating killing off thedogs? No, of course not. Even someone as politically incorrect as myselfwouldn’t take that approach. I don’t endorse brutality. But, I think France hasthe right idea. They recently enacted a law requiring all existing breeds ofdangerous dogs, including and especially pit bulls, to be sterilized. This willstop the dogs from reproduction and the breed will die out, as it probably should. According to the internet and a recent article in a local paper Britainhas had a similar law for sometime and Italy is about to create one. I think weshould, too.

I can already hear the howls of righteous indignation from pit bull owners and pit bull clubs everywhere. Their dogs, their beloved family pets, never hurtanyone, so why should they give them up? I’m not saying they should give them up, I’m saying that they should allow the breed to go quietly into the night.

I told you this column would make some people mad.

And one final thing.

Earlier I mentioned a local incident in which one of those loving family pets mauled a child, ripping her face off. And that’s not an exaggeration. The childlost an eye as a result of the attack as well. If I’m not mistaken I believe thatloving family pet’s name was ‘Satan.’Sort of says it all, doesn’t it?

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