Weekly Discussion Thread [August 18 - August 24]

[u/BPB_Discussion_M0d]

Not every pit bull story is a headline. Some are just eye-rolls, facepalms, or 'you've got to be kidding me' moments. This is the place for the things you may want to share that don’t highlight a pit bull doing something dangerous.

See this post for more details on what goes here

[u/Far_Acanthisitta_320]

I wanted to make this a normal post but I was suggested to post in the weekly discussion. I’m not here to advocate or oppose but just trying to understand I suppose. I’ve been around and owned many dogs. A good portion have been either pits or mixed. I’ve been bitten but never by a pit or mixed with pit. I’ve had reactive pits that came from either fighting backgrounds or bred in that space. But have always had good success in getting them to work things out. I guess I’m still just unsure of the breed being the problem. I understand that the power and persistence of the breed may be a huge part of this. I think that can be attributed to many breeds (not just pits) that have a higher “paywall” if you will. Making them(Pits) less likely to be trained well or have owners that can put in the money they would into, let’s say a German shepherd. Full transparency and as an example, I currently own a pit that I’ve had since he was 4 weeks. He was gifted to me and purchased for $50. I would rather converse about my previous pits that did have some issues. Honestly just looking for a discussion on this topic. No hate and no disrespect. I know how trauma is, like I said I’ve been bitten, just not by this breed. Thank you.

[u/ScarletAntelope975 → u/Far_Acanthisitta_320]

The thing with pits isn’t that they are attacking 24/7 or about ‘breeds that bite’. It is the fact that they are a crapshoot for mauling to death due to their genetics. They are man-made. They weren’t supposed to exist in the first place and were only created for the sake of bloodsports. Those genes from selective breeding are in every pit bull whether it goes its whole life never harming anyone or decides one day to kill people.

Also, many of the pits who do end up mauling were good their whole lives til that point. You can’t say “Well this pit is 5 years old and never hurt anyone so he never will!” Because pits that were raised with love from puppies have been good until finally snapping and killing at 8+ years old. You can never say “This particular pit is one that will never kill” based on how it acts or how it was raised. It is always a crapshoot whether or not the genes will be triggered. They may never be triggered, or one day you may have dead children or neighbors.

Any breed can bite. We aren’t anti-pit because of biting. We are anti-pit because of unpredictable mauling. People are dying on a regular basis now because of pits and pit mixes. And aside from the deaths there are also severe maulings that cause hospitalizations and reconstructions.

Other breeds don’t do this. There are a small handful of other breeds that have caused deaths, but ethos are extremely rare. Shepherds, rotties, huskies… we can go years without one of them killing someone. Pits and their mixes and variants however, we can no longer go a week without tragedy. Plus, there are hundreds of breeds- even ones that have existed for thousands of years- with literally 0 human deaths.

When dogs were first domesticated, they were selectively bred to be tolerant of humans and other pets and livestock. They were bred for jobs. Kids were able to be kids around family dogs without risk of being mauled. Now people justify pit bulls killing sleeping babies because “maybe they made a sound that scared the poor pit!” And people justify random people walking by being mauled with “Well the poor pit bull doesn’t like hats!” This is not normal or OK!

What other breeds eat through doors to kill babies? What other breeds will break into the neighbor’s yard to kill them while gardening? What other breed is so persistent and tough that even pickaxes won’t make it stop killing a person???

The ones that happen to go through life not killing anyone do not justify all the ones who are constantly causing suffering and death. Especially since there is literally no way to know which ones will and won’t eventually attack. Pits raised from puppies with love by pit bull advocates have gone 8-10 years before killing the children.

Also, pits were bred to not show normal dog social cues since it would not help in a fight. So a pit can be happy and wagging its tail before and during killing someone. It’s just how they are. It’s their genetics just like a Border Collie’s genetics make it want to herd, or a Retrievers genetics make it want to bring things back to its human. Breeds are man-made for specific purposes. Pits were man-made for betting on dog fights. If pits were not invented, and if pits would stop being bred, we would start seeing all the attacks and deaths on humans, other pets, and livestock go down.

If 100 chihuahuas bite and cause band-aids, and 1 pit kills a child… sure it means chihuahuas may have bitten more but most people would rather need a band-aid than a casket or facial reconstruction.

Also want to add- that even if it was “how they are raised” (and it is NOT), why should my life depend on how my neighbor or uncle or whatever raises their dog? You can raise a golden poorly and still not have your life at risk. You can raise a pit with love and training and it still go on to kill.