- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Stay at Home Moms
coromble
member
Pit bull question
coromble
member
Ok, so I realize that this post may cause some controversy…I'm really not trying to spark anything, just want some help.
For a bit of background…I live in a townhouse community and the house a few doors down from us has about 8 adults in one house and at any given time, 6-8 pit bulls because they breed them. My friend lives next door to them and the dogs have gotten through the fence and onto her property, damaged her gate, etc. She cannot let her small children play on their deck or in their back yard.
Yesterday, I arrived home to find police and animal control at the house. Evidently, 3 of the pit bulls broke through the fence gate and were very aggressive towards a man walking his dog. After the man try to fight off the dogs with a large stick and large rock. They charged him and he ended up shooting and killing one of the dogs. His dog was pretty beat up after the incident.
It saddens me that this happened virtually in my back yard and makes me extremely nervous to take my 18 month old outside to play. Has anyone dealt with this sort of thing? Do you have suggestions for anything that I can do? I know laws are different in different states…we are in VA.
**Side note - I don't mean to specifically call out pit bulls. I know pit bull owners are usually huge advocates for their pets. But these animals are not pets. They are being treated like dogs in a puppy mill. Their living conditions are awful and they are not cared for as a pet. We actually have two houses on the street that are like this…I know there are pit bulls out there that are friendly, but these are not. So please, don't flame about the pit bull issue. If you own one, you should certainly be aware of the stigma that comes with that.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Pit bull question
My pitbull is laying on the couch right next to me all cuddled up in a blanket and snoring.
Im not sure what you can do. I would call the cops tho and see what they can do for you. And make sure they are aware and that you are nervous because you have a small child.
Other then that im not sure its really sadwhat happened but I feel safe to say that my dog would run up to another dog barking too because she doesnt get along with other dogs. But she wouldnt attack anyone, she would bark her head off. But if someone through a rock and sticks at her I think she would respond to that as being attacked. Im not sure its never happened.
I'm also severely rolling my eyes because of the pitbull "stigma". There should not be a stigma against a specific breed--there should be a stigma against shitty owners. unfortunately the media tends to pick a specific breed to make people intolerant against. in the past it was dobermans and rottweilers now its pitbulls. the reality is any breed of dog can be dangerous. the year ds was born a baby was killed locally by a golden retriever yet that didn't get quite the same attention if the dogs breed were pitbull.
We had a kid locally was DD was a baby killed by a Pomeranian.
Our city has a 4 pets per household unless you have a permit for breeding rule. Now, it isn't really enforced unless someone is reported but it's there none the less. Also, any dog who attacks or bites someone is immediately quarantined for 10 days and under investigation.
I would call animal services in your area and see if they can tell you how to proceed.
ETA: @Hav=Faith check out "beyond the myth" on netflix. It's a really good documentary about pitbulls. I actually used to think the same thing.
I don't know why that guy hit them with a stick. I would have just run away or gone in the house. I'd like to flame him for having a gun but it sounds like he needed it if they attacked him.
Actually, she does the say thing to the lawn mower...
There's a lot of interesting information in the documentary I mentioned.
"Pit Bulls do not have locking jaws. Their jaws are anatomically similar to other canines. Further, their jaw strength is similar to other dogs their size. National Geographic did a bite force study of canines and dispelled the myth completely with concrete evidence. The study found that the domestic dog can produce about 320 pounds of pressure when it bites down on an object (compare that with humans at 120 pounds). In a test between a Rottweiler, German Shepherd, and Pit Bull, the Pit Bull bit down with the least amount of pressure of the three (it also happened to be the smallest of the three dogs)."
Our dog has a firm bite when playing tug. She used to refuse to let go of the frisbee when we played with her. We taught her a "release" command to get her to stop. She's an Aussie.
And of course a growling, snarling, charging teacup poodle is less scary than a pitbull doing the same things. The teacup is a fraction of the size of a pitbull. I'd be equally scared of a charging Golden or lab or Aussie. I don't think the OP did anything wrong but it's really easy for breed specific bans to spiral out of control.
OP- their living conditions are awful? Hopefully this issue will spark some kind of investigation & they will see these dogs aren't under the best care & remove them.
We have a German Shepherd. She's the sweetest dog you'll ever meet. She's afraid of plastic bags & barks at sunlight reflecting off water. Our neighbor has a rottie who's the biggest baby I've ever met. People cross the street when they see her out on walks.
I agree no sane responsible gun owner wants to shoot a person or dog. I would be more concerned about an armed crazy man living by me than a pit bull.
Hav, here's what you need to understand. Pits were bred to fight other dogs, and sometimes to bait bulls, or participate in other "sports." This is something that good owners have to be aware of, because bully breeds as a whole are definitely more predisposed to dog aggression. That doesn't hold true for each individual dog, mine loved most other dogs and only had a problem with intact males, but it's something owners should always be aware of. It doesn't make them "bad," it was a necessary component of their original function. If a man was trying to breed a fighting dog, it didn't do him any good to produce one that wanted to romp around and play chase with it's opponent. In a lot of today's pits, that's something reputable breeders are trying to mitigate, but there are still the crappy breeders who either intentionally breed for it or else breed for other things like head size and could care less about temperament.
The other thing is, pits were originally bred to be extremely affectionate and tolerant of people. A man needed to be able to pull his dog out of a fight without worrying that it would turn on him, so this was extremely important, that they not be people-aggressive. If you look at the number of pitbull bites vs. the number of pitbulls who are in this country, I think it's fairly obvious that the vast majority of these dogs have retained that characteristic. The ones that attack people without provocation are, IMO, probably the result of horrible decisions regarding breeding first and foremost, because shelters and rescues are full of pits who were horribly abused at one point in their lives, but are nothing but forgiving and trusting and go on to be excellent pets.
As far as the OP, I wouldn't let my 18 month old out of my sight if a group of large and aggressive dogs was anywhere near.
I'm trying to figure out what you're saying here. As far as "trusting" a dog, I don't think that's possible, and people are kidding themselves if they think it is. Trust implies a relationship where both parties understand what's expected of them and agree to certain behavioral expectations. You can't have "trust" with a dog, because he's a dog, and he goes by dog rules and doesn't understand human codes of ethics. You can have faith that your dog will behave a certain way based on the training you've done with him and his previous reactions to things, but no, it's not hard-and-fast.
On the other hand, of course you can be responsible. I was hyper-vigilant with my pit, not because I thought he was aggressive, but because I knew the sterotypes and I knew that a wrong move on his part could get him put down, just based on his breed. So I wanted his behavior to be exemplary, and aside from stealing food off the counters for all his life, it was. But I made a point to remove him from potentially bad situations. Like I said before, he was pissy with unneutered male dogs. So I didn't ever let him off leash around them, ever. When my SIL visited with her toddler (we had no kids at that time) my nephew wouldn't leave the dog alone, and after an hour of this my dog started getting up and moving every time the kid came within a foot of him. Clear signal that he'd had enough. So I put him upstairs away from the kid, problem solved. That's being responsible, recognizing that a dog has his limitations and making sure that you aren't putting him in a position where he potentially feels he has no choice but to act in a way that's going to hurt himself or someone else.