Did you know that (with special permits) you can own a tiger in Alabama? Pretty crazy, right?
Did you know that it's illegal to own a pit bull in Alabama?
Pretty crazy, right?
Though, I'm sure half of you think that it isn't and that owning either animal is equally dangerous. A quarter of you will be neutral, thinking that the tiger is definitely dangerous, but a little skeptical on the pit bull part. The last quarter of you will stand with me and think it is outrageous that in certain areas of the country you cannot own a pit bull, but it's perfectly acceptable to own a freaking tiger.
In areas where breed specific legislation, the banning of a specific breed for public safety, is permitted, some families are forced to move or surrender their dogs to be euthanized just because of their breed. You can go onto your state or county government’s website and look up what animal ownership is allowed and whether you partake in breed specific legislation. According to animallaw.com, breed specific legislation is perfectly legal in 38 states.
A pit bull is a type of dog. The Humane Society categorizes pits into three different breeds: American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and American bulldog and any pure-bred or mix of those breeds. A medium size, short-length hair, square muzzle, muscular body and tapered tail can classify them. With such a broad list of characteristics, this describes a lot of different breeds of dogs.
I have two. I adopted both of them from an animal shelter. I am a little bit of a sucker for misfits, and that's exactly what these two were. Despite being pit bulls, both of my dogs would probably have never been adopted even on a good day.
Amelia, my five-year-old brindle, was badly scarred from being set on fire and used as bait in dog fighting. She had mange — 80% of her body was hairless. When we adopted her she was set to be euthanized at midnight that same night.
Jackson, the most recent addition to our family, was just a couple of weeks old and had been found in a garbage bag that had been thrown into a dumpster. His back right leg had been shattered and he required three surgeries as well as many veterinary visits afterwards until he was about a year old.
When I look at my dogs and think that someone could have inflicted that much pain onto two, then, puppies, I feel a mixture of rage and sadness. This happens every day to dogs in shelters. This happens even more frequently to pit bulls and other bully breeds alike.
The media depicts this breed as vicious and unpredictable. People like Nancy Grace call them devil dogs.
I talk about my dogs as if they're my actual children – which of course they are. They even have human names (you won't catch me naming my dog Fluffy or Sugar). So when social media and state governments discriminate my dogs, I get a little angry about it. I mean if you think that just because you ban one breed of dog that it will stop all dog bite fatalities around the world, you are surely mistaken. If you ban one breed, they'll ban another. You cannot blame the dog, but you can blame its owner and the way it was brought up.
If a dog bites someone, the number one reaction from the public is that you should immediately euthanize it and ban the breed. I think this is a serious misjudgment on how to solve the problem. Dogs must be taught properly. They must be raised properly. What they know is what they grew up with. I have raised my dogs with love and care and they show the same to me, my family and any person they come in contact with, as well as other animals.
I don’t understand why society blames a dog for a behavior that is controlled by its owner. Why should we punish loyal dogs instead of the true threat that raised them to be vicious and fight?
Behavior in dogs cannot be predicted because like humans, they have specific individual behavior that develops over time. Instead of punishing an entire breed, we should focus on actual factors that determine why bites and attacks occur. Every dog is capable of biting, whether you are dealing with a pit bull or a Chihuahua. A dog’s temperament depends on whether they are fixed, as well as their supervision and training.
A majority of children involved in dog bites or attacks are unsupervised and too young to actually know how to behave around an animal. The American Humane Society reported that 82% of emergency room treated dog bites involved children under 15 years old, because children don’t know how to act around dogs, how to play with them, when to leave them alone and how to properly meet a dog.
It is time to rehabilitate the name of the pit bull so that they are no longer discriminated. We need to instead focus on laws that hold irresponsible owners accountable for their actions.
