I don't follow pit bull legislation at all, actually, but I also don't understand how banning a specific breed is possible. Is it only for purebreds (which would be possible, I suppose)? How would it work for mutts? I would think people with boxer/pit bull mixes, or rottweiler/pit bull mixes would be particularly worried because their dogs have that "look" that scares people who don't like the breed.

I personally have always had positive experiences with pit bulls. I think they're great dogs (but again, that's just my experience with them ... I know other people have differing views).

I would rather have resources put toward stiffer penalties for dog fighting, inhumane breeding conditions, and things like that. That type of legislation seems to me to be easier to enforce, and a better use of tax dollars.

On the other hand, having a bad experience with a great aunt's toy poodle when I was young has soured me on that breed ... can we legislate against them?

What an unintelligent person this Brian must be. It angers me greatly that anyone could feel this way. Banning a breed of any animal is like banning a race of people, it's just plain wrong. Was Hitler justified at attempting to wipe out another race simply because the majority ruled? I think not. I personally invite Brian to come to my house to meet my two intensly sweet, powerlicking pit bulls. Maybe then he'll change his mind.

Ban pit bulls? Absolutely not. Next, they'll want to ban attack rabbits. (Remember Jimmy Carter?) The old saying is that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Enforce whatever penalties you need to to destroy the dog fighting culture. We all know about destroying breeds--we have two retired greyhounds.

I do. I hate pitt bulls.

Breed-specific legislation doesn't work. It's been shown not to work. It's almost impossible to tell which breed of dog is responsible for most attacking and biting because most municipalities don't keep records of that information when people are bitten.

Then we have the issue of the bad-dog "flavor of the month." At the moment it's pit bulls. In the past it's been Dobermans or German Shepherds or Weimaraners (gee, three German dogs...) or any one of a number of others. We've read in this blog that there's a municipality that wants to ban Labrador Retrievers among others. The "bad, dangerous" dog is whichever dog people choose to be afraid of at the moment. I'm assuming that by "Pit Bull" we mean not only the dog people call the "American Pit Bull," but we're also talking about Staffordshire Terriers (American and English) and Bull Terriers (which come in "colored" and "white" varieties). People who start up with this don't even know what kind of dog they're referring to, and more and more dogs get pulled into the dragnet.

Finally, there's the problem that people charged with enforcing this legislation often don't have sense enough or training enough to know what kind of dog they're confronting. So if your Boxer or your English Bulldog or your Fox Terrier or your Greyhound looks like a Pit to the officer on patrol, you've got a big problem on your hands. A "where are your papers?" sort of problem.

We need to keep hammering on the idea of responsible ownership.

I don't particularly like pit bulls, but I am against banning them. Pit bulls are first, then they will go after german shepherds, rottweilers, or anything else they don't like. Wait, they might ban all dogs because any dog could bite. And cats must go because they could scratch. Snakes could constrict, turtles could give you salmonella, and the list goes on...
We have too much government intrusion in our lives as it is.

About two years ago I relocated to Maryland from Michigan. When shopping for an insurance policy for my new Maryland home, I was stunned to be asked by different agencies about not only whether I had dogs but what were their specific breeds. "Big and goofy shelter mutts," I'd say, irritated but trying to be polite. No, they replied, I needed to confess the breeds even though my four dogs were not purebreds. I was as honest as I could be: some Rottweiler and Saint Bernard in one, some Rott and Australian Shepherd in another, one Collie and German Shepherd mix, plus a golden retreiver mix. The first agency told me that they could only insure my house if I kept only the golden retreiver mix. "The other breeds make you uninsurable," she said. What rubbish! So I learned quickly: "I have four golden retreivers," is what I told the other potential insurers. Having spent a lifetime around dogs and shelters, I have seen both gentleness and aggressiveness across all breeds, pure and mixed, male and female, young and old. Ban pitbulls? Absolutely not. The subjective hysteria about pitbulls, or in my case about random mixes of Rottweiler and German Shepherd, is propelled by sad stories that relate the gory details of a dog attack but which rarely address the quality of that dog's life and training, or that owner's sometimes outright declaration that their dog was "trained to protect," i.e. taught to be aggressive and mean. Let's instead ban negligent owners from having dogs at all. Let's make it a law. Some people, because of their histories, cannot carry nor own a gun. Let's add dogs -- of any breed, including pitbulls -- to that list.

Love. What is love.
You can not touch it.
Or can you.
A loving wife can be touched.
My 2 dogs Pandora and Cypress can be touched.
My past girl friends who I was in love with could be touched (one of them by my friend with out me knowing, but thats another story).

Love. Can you hold it in your hand?
I can hold my dogs in my hand.
They are pure bread American Pit Bull Terrier.
The breed is very smart, strong and loving.
No other breed has been temperament tested (by way of 2 dogs in battle with
2 dog handlers with in inches of the fight knowing that the dog would never
bite them) the way the APBT has.
Love.
I would never, ever, ever even think about fighting my dogs.
I have never seen, wanted to see, or been to a dog fight (or a cock fight for that matter).
Does that mean I can not respect how someones grandpa can win The Ultimate Strong Man competition,
or be boxings' Heavy Weight Champion of the World?
Love.
Does that mean that you love unconditionally.
Can I say "I love the way I see your grandpa Swartz in your eyes to your Jewish grandson
wile being in front of Nazi guards looking for Jews to exterminate and throw in jail?
I love my Jew.
I love my American Pit Bull Terrier.
Hear me scream.
Here me Thomas Jefferson!
Here me god!
Here me you people on the "left" trying to take away my rights.
Here me people on the "right" trying to take away my rights.
Here me fellow amputees who are in pain!
Here me single people who have no family but there pet!
Here me!
Here me!
Here me! The humane society openly hired ALF members and claim to want to help the APBT -
by putting them to sleep.
The rights that are the most important are the ones you don't believe in.
America here me!
America I cry for you.

I am 34 years old.
What has happed to our freedom loving ways?
Is it just the "headline mentality", or are we as a country judging people way to much?

Punish the deed, not the breed.

Any one remember Our Gang.
The Little Rascals?
The dog Pete was a match dog.
He was an APBT.
Did you ever see him act mean toward the kids?
Were they scared, or did they love the dog Pete with his big black circle around one eye?

My dogs have been on TV to promote kids to be good people.
It was a 3 minute Character Education Program that ran on many cable channels.
We should have made one for the "adults",
I think they needed it more.
They wanted to pay me for the use of them, but I said no.
Its my duty to help make the APBT more respected and loved.
It helped!

My photo of my dog Cypress was chosen to be displayed at a local museum in a photo contest.
She did not win, but the breed did!
Among various photos was mine.
"Cypress at the Salmon".
A older lady asked me at the opening night show "where is the Cypress tree".
I told her the dog was named Cypress.
Cypress and her puppies were the only photo used in the American Dog Breeders Association magnet
handed out at the Las Vegas Dog Convention in 2003.
They were used for the cover of the ADBA Spring 2003 gazette.
Our girl Addy is helping mentally disabled children at a school in San Francisco.
The parents and kids love their Addy.

Come and kill her.
Come and take Addy away from the children in the Bay Area.
She is Vicious!
She is a pure bread American Pit Bull Terrier.
Thousand of family members killed off in Denver!

I will die for her.
I will die for America.
We fought (along with our dogs, some of which were APBTs') to long for our rights to loose them in
my life time.

Cypress is love.
Pandora is love.
A strong marriage, thats love.
The bond between myself any my family who live 720 miles away, thats love.
Willing to die for your family, that is love.

Good luck America.
I still love you.

a guy trying to keep the SS away

Yes

Michelle-

Unfortunately the banning of "pitbull" mutts relies solely on the judgement of the Animal Control officer at the time. If that particular AC officer "thinks" your dog "looks" like a "pitbull", your dog is doomed. (Research the requirements for becoming an AC officer and this becomes a really scary concept.)

Can you find the "pitbull"? Try here:

http://www.members.aol.com/radogz/find.html

I blame a huge part of BSL on the media. Day after day I see stories about "pitbull" maulings and attacks. I only hear about attacks by other breeds through my doggie grapevine. And yes, not that you will ever see it on the news, but Labs, Poodles, and other breeds have killed people.

I will say this to anyone who owns ANY dog or who wants to get a dog of any breed:

Dogs are a part of the wolf family. Wolves are wild. Therefore dogs are born with INSTINCTS. You, as the owner, have a responsibility to learn about their instincts, know how they will react to certain situations, and do everything in your power to protect them (sometimes from themselves) and the people that come in contact with them. It is also your responsibility to educate people who are coming in contact with your dog. It doesn't matter if it is a child, adult, family member, or stranger.

Parents have a responsibility to teach their children about dogs and how to approach them properly. They also have a responsibility to stop their child from running up to a strange dog.

Unfortunately our world is full of alot of irresponsible people and that's why this topic is even being discussed :)

For those of you who "hate" pitbulls or "really don't care for pitbulls", I question how much time you have actually spent interacting with the breed, and not just watching the "mass hysteria inducing clips" on the news. I'm assuming not much...otherwise, it seems you "hate" or "don't really care for" intelligent, loyal dogs who tend to snuggle and lick with the best of any breed of dog you care to suggest. You must also "hate" or "really not care for" dogs who are fantastic with kids. I am so tired of people making snap judgements based on over-emphasized clips on the news. Do your research. Check your facts. You'd be surprised to see the dogs that are in the top 5 nationally for bite rates---pitbulls aren't even near the top 20. You'll also be surprised to see that pitbulls have a higher pass rate in temperment than the average of all breeds by far, and even top Golden Retrievers when examined by breed. So, not only is breed-specific-legislation ridiculous and proven to be ineffective, it is targeting breeds that have no FACTUAL reason to be targeted.
Let's take the most public example...the dogs saved from Michael Vick's disgusting "kennel". Those dogs, who have endured some of the most horrific abuse ever made public, have been evaluated and are safe for human interaction. I believe out of 49 dogs, only 1 was deemed unsafe to be around humans, and was put down. One dog had her teeth FILED DOWN TO NOTHING and was used repeatedly as a bait dog for the other Pitbulls. She was starved and beaten and attacked on a regular basis. Guess what? Even she is safe around humans---scared, but safe. Pitbulls are forgiving to a fault as a breed, and I would take my chances with a rescued (Pitbull) fighting dog ANY DAY OF THE WEEK over an abused Cocker Spaniel. Hands down, no question. And this comes from someone who works with rescued dogs of all breeds, with all kinds of abuse and neglect records. Guess which breed has stolen my heart based on their kind and courageous spirit? You got it, the American Pitbull Terrier. The original breed of the American people. Check your facts and look into your history books. These dogs will surprise you...if you think for yourself and avoid the lemming mentality.

No, BSL is not the answer. Saying my dog is bad because some loser wasn't responsible for theirs is not fair to me or my dog. what is this the "pit-bull" (thats twenty-six dif. breeds) holocaust? I am shocked at the ignorance of the media, and the knee jerk reaction they have caused among politicians trying to gain the favor of their constituents. I dont see how the means (killing my dog and millions like him) justify the ends. It is just plain wrong to exterminate a breed because they happen to be the in thing amongst criminals. Put heavier restrictions on all pet owners,and start enforcing the laws that are already in place. Good Riddance!

BSL is not the answer. Banning an dog or any breed is not the answer. For every "bad" dog, there is thousand more that are SO good. I don't think it's fair for me to have to lose my dogs because someone else is irresponsible. It's not the dog's fault who took them in. It's not the dog's fault that they were trained to fight -- they had no choice and it's the only thing they knew! But there ARE responsible "pit bull" lovers out there who take care of their dogs, raise them, and train them properly and are very responsible with their dogs. THE ONLY answer to this is to put heavier restrictions on all pet owners, especially multiple offenders. This is horrible and I can't believe that there are so many disgusting people out there that want to do this. None of us think that the holocaust was a good thing, correct? THIS IS THE SAME THING. You're putting a living being to death for simply being a pit bull, regardless of that individual's nature. What if the world decided to kill you SIMPLY because of your religion, or your race, or your eye color, or your hair color, etc. What if it was said that "Because you have blonde hair, you're a horrible person and therefore must be put to death." I don't think you would like it very much. Any of you.

To all of you who truly believe that pit bulls should be banned, please tell me how many pit bulls you have personally met and have spent time with? I would like to know.