Pit bull terriers

[Freckle]

Can anyone explain to me the attraction of owning a pit bull terrier? Why would you choose that breed over any other? Especially when there are children around and the breed has a reputation for unpredictable behaviour - and don't forget that the breed was developed to take on bulls, so it's not going to be a pussycat in any circumstances.

Another child has been killed by one, apparently owned by her grandmother - here . I don't like flagging up bad news on here, but I'm struggling to understand the mentality of people who choose to own such dogs.

I think aggressive people like to own aggressive dogs. I also think owners of dogs who bite and especially kill should be held personally responsible.

I was attacked as child by an alsation.

People should not be allowed to keep a dog that they are unable to restrain.

How many more times will children be killed by these dangerous dogs, the owners ahould be ashamed of themselves.

I was chased by a pit bull when I was 13. I was babysitting a 3month old baby and had been asked to walk down the road to get the mail when it arrived. I was half way down the road(it was an old dirt road, nowhere to go) with the baby in my arms when it bolted out of its yard and chased me. Luckily the postman was just arriving and let me scramble into his jeep and he drove away. I was terrified. What if he had gotten ahold of me, what would have happened to that baby.

Poor little girl, how awful.

I was chased by what looked like a pit bull to me a few weeks ago. I think, actually, it was probably a staffie but that didn't really help matters when it was going for me. Only let me go when it spotted someone else to chase - an elderly lady. Thing is, whether it was a pit bull or a staffie, it was bloody powerful, with that muscular body they have. If ds had been with me, he'd have been knocked to the ground, if not worse.

My neighbours, who own dogs themselves and who have seen this one about, think it's a badly trained 'puppy' ie adolescent who was trying to play. It was jumping up as high as my chest, hate to think how powerful/scary it will be when fully grown. Thank heavens apparently the irresponsible owners are getting rid of it.

I had a German Shepherd as a child. She has the best tempriment, had 4 kids climbing all over her. Let me sit & pat her while she gave birth (only me tho). She was well trained, very much my dads dog.

Then my dad left. She bit 2 people.

1st was his own fault as he tried to get in the back gate, by puting his hand thru the posts, when there were 2 warning signs about there being a dog there.

2nd time, she bit the baker (we lived in a small village & the baker used to do rounds with fresh cakes etc). Just for coming into the garden.

She left that day. We were told she had been sold to a hotel as a watch dog....but I don't really know the truth.

Any dog can turn, no mater how nice/docile etc. The dog we had before we left the UK was lovely. He was very good with dd. But I never left them alone...to big a risk.

So it's still legal to have Pit Bulls in the UK? I was under the impression the Dangerous Dogs legislation outlawed them, but I must have the wrong end of the stick. The news report about this latest tragedy said the dog may have been upset by fireworks going off nearby so maybe there's also an argument for more regulation in that field too.

Any such law is a trade off between safety of kids and "unjust" treatment of dogs who are genuinely safe.
The media gets to play it both ways, apparently safe dogs may be put down and they get nice headlines from events like this.

There is a basic principle that efficient is the enemy of fair. Since there is no realiStc way of predicting a dog's behaviour, the only way you can make children safe from dangerous dogs is to outlaw any dog of a size and weight that is physically capable of killing.

You'd save half a dozen children's lives a year, and some brutal maulings.

But as we all know, Brits are more fond of their dogs than their kids, and any legistlation that cracks down on dogs is doomed before it starts.
That's why the government spin is that "the law has been broken, so no need for a new one".
The enforcement is random and manages to achieve both an inadequate level of safety but at the same time injustice upon "safe" dogs.

Extracts are from the Dangerous Dogs Act

1. The following dogs, and also cross-bred pit-bulls, are dangerous dogs under the meaning of the Act:

Pit Bull Terrier
Japanese Tosa
Dogo Argentino
Fila Braziliero
It is illegal to possess such a dog without a certificate of exemption, which is granted once the dog is neutered, insured, and has a transponder implant. These dogs cannot be "in a public place without being muzzled and ... being securely kept on a lead by a person who is not less than 16 years old."

A public place even includes locked inside a car which is itself in a public place.

1. If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place, or a private place where it is not permitted to be, the owner; and if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence.

I was out in the park today with my dogs and 3 15 year old girls were being pulled along by a fullty grown great dane on a normal lead. I asked if it was okay for my dogs to say hello and they said no as their dog was very aggressive...

Needless to say we all quickly moved away as there was no way they could have held on to him.

I remember when Dangerous Dog Act first came out and you would see pit bulls out in muzzles. You rarely see one wearing a muzzle these days. How do they owners get away with breaking the law like this? Surely it's a simple rule.... if you want to keep the dog, put it's muzzle on!

mean to say.... 'its'.

My neighbours have recently got a cross between pitbull and staff. I thought you couldn't get pitballs anymore in the UK. My sister used to own one and it had to be registered and tattooed. The dog next door did bark and growl at DS and he was only walking past their gate with me. I'm glad we have a high fence in our garden.
Its a lovely looking dog but I don't like it and I don't want it anywhere near my kids.

I completely agree that you can't trust any dog 100%. We have a lab/ probably greyhound cross who is the loveliest dog in the world - everyone loves him and all the kids at school want a dog just like ours. BUT, I walk him in the woods twice a day off the lead and there have been a couple of occassions where he has run up to other walkers without dogs and barked at them very fiercely. The people were obviously very frightened.

Now I know that the reason my dog barked is that something about these people startled him and he reacted agressively. He barks loudly if anyone rings the doorbell but backs off as soon as we open the door. I would love to say that my dog would never harm anyone - he is soft as they come with our 3 kids and all their friends, but my point is that you can never truly know if your dog is 100% trustworthy. He is a rescue dog and we know very little about the first 2 years of his life except that he had issues staying alone and would panic and chew furniture.

I would never increase the risk by deliberately buying an 'aggressive' breed. Isn't there a Mumsnetter who has a dog which must be kept muzzled and on a leash in public at all times?

This happened not far from where i live, i was only saying to dp that there seem to be a lot more pit bulls about, they seem to be "trophy dogs".

What give people the right to think they know their dog soo well that they can say "hand on heart" this dog will never turm om anyone "daft as a brush" is one term that particularly annoys me.

Dogs have characters, thay have bad days and good and they should be dealt with, with the respect they deserve. Dont put them in a position where they have to tolerate children and loud noise etc etc unless you can deal with the possible consequences. They only have to do it once to kill someone, i bet this particular dog had never shown any inclination toward attacking anyone before.

I do have a dog, its a yorkie. We have had him for 12 years and have had 2 children in that time. He has never shown any agression to them even when they dragged him around by his tail. I know he could turn but in all the years we have had him, I have never seen him turn against anyone at all, or even any other animals.

Are there lots of pitbulls about? I can't remember seeing one for years.

Is it me being thick or something but if the Dangerous dog act says that all these dogs have to be neutered how on earth are they still breeding.

Plenty of 'nice' dogs around without a need for these breeds that have been bred for thei aggression imo

I don't understand how they are still about either, my sisters dog had to be neutured and that was in about 1994. I don't see how there can still be pitbulls about but obviously there are.

I think the answer to the OP is that extreme low-life people are attracted to these dogs.

Nobody rational or sane could possibly want one of them in the house. It's illegal to breed them, so any that have been bought in the last few years have been bought by people who don't really mind if they're breaking the law or not, and don't really care if their dogs constitute a danger to others or not.

I hope the uncle of this poor child is really suffering pangs of conscience now, but I very much doubt it.

I was saddened to hear of this today, especially after the dog maulings in the latter part of 2006. I know of a Pit Bull living with a family with young children in Spain. We met the dog when we were over there in July. At the time the dog was 4 months old and had a lovely tempeament. In the wrong hands any dog can be dangerous. I have heard people say before that you're 'more likely to be bitten by a Golden Retriever.' I understand the statistics part, i.e. that there are simply so many more of them around, but I can't imagine a Goldie biting anyone. We have one, and he, like the other Goldies I've come into contact with, is so docile. Today we were out walking with our two dogs, and I had the tennis ball in one of those chucker things (looks like a long handled ice cream scoop) and this Labrador charged up to me and started leaping and snapping at the ball thrower, which I was holding at the time, to get the ball. He managed to snap my fingers in the process, luckily I was wearing leather gloves, and being a dog person, I knew how to, and how not to, react. In a situation like that, it's not aggression, but this sort of behaviour needs to be dealt with by the owner, they need to train their dog not to react like that when they see a ball. Hard, I know, with a very excited dog, but there are methods, and perseverance pays off. They didn't seem to have their own ball, that would have been the simplest way. To somebody else experiencing that, it could be very initimidating and frightening, and they could well feel that they were under attack.
I think it is high time for firework legislation too. Organised displays only. Too many people are letting them off willy-nilly all over the place sending many poor dogs into a state of panic, which can then result in out of character behaviour.

Sympathies to the little one's family. What an awful start to their New Year.

Back to the OP, I think it's more about responsible dog owning than about the breed itself.

Having said that, I have the strong conviction that people who have little or no experience in dog training should NOT be allowed to keep a dog breed that is in the list of dangerous dogs. However, many of these dogs look pretty and fashionable, and some idiots find it cool to have one even if they don't know what to do with them

Apparently there had been warnings about this particular dog's behaviour in the months leading up to this. In which case you have to ask why the parents allowed the child to stay there.

yes, why on earth would you let your child stay with a pit bull or any dog that has shown aggression before. To think on adifferent thread many of said they wouldnt let their child stay with smoking relatives.

I do think it is about responsible ownership and that rather begs the question, as a responsible dog owner, why would you choose to own a pit bull? There is nothing attractive about them, other than the macho image they portray - and anyone who is concerned about their dog reflecting their machismo is unlikely to be a responsible owner.

And yes, we have to ask why these breeds, which were banned by the 1991 Act, are still in existence in this country.

The news said that you needed a license to have one but didn't say whether they did.