All About Pit Bulls and Bully Breed Dogs
UPDATE 7/12/12:
Via CNN – A CNN anchor has confirmed that Calicoe’s home has been raided by the FBI and the animals have been removed.
There’s been a lot of speculation the past few days surrounding a video featuring Calicoe, a Detroit area Battle Rapper, and a tour of his property. [Read more…]
The title of this post is directly taken from an article written by “journalist” Dan Rodricks, a man who apparently prides himself on perpetuating stereotypes and writes for The Baltimore Sun. In an unabashedly biased, non-factual report titled: “Pit bulls: Own them at your own risk“, Rodricks talks uses his experience as a judge at a costume event for animals as a pedestal to speak out against pit bull ownership.
I realize this article is written as a commentary and Mr. Rodricks is certainly entitled to his opinion. However, most leisurely wanderers of the internet will see this article’s placement on The Baltimore Sun’s website and mistakenly assume that what he has written is a factual account of the pit bull breed, instead of an admittedly skewed perspective.
Prejudice notwithstanding, Rodrick’s poorly constructed article misses the point. The fact that the recent findings of the Maryland Court of Appeals are in agreement with his negative opinion of the pit bull breed does not prove, or even suggest, that there is anything wrong with responsible pit bull ownership. The “if we get rid of the pit bulls no one will get hurt“, brand of logic has grown tired considering its serious lack of factual supporting data.
Want to know the truth?
In places where pit bulls have been banned, dog bite statistics and mortality rates have remained unchanged, as demonstrated in balanced and scientific studies done in Denver, CO, The Netherlands and Spain. Getting rid of the pit bulls didn’t solve the problem, but I guess Maryland wants to find that out on their own. [Read more…]
In the early morning hours, a quiet residential street was jolted awake by the sound of a domestic dispute spilling out onto the street. One neighbor was opening her door slightly to see what was going on, and her pit bull blitzed into action.
Sensing the danger, he rushed over to the aid of the woman screaming for help. Relying on brawn rather than resorting to physical violence, this pit bull hero did not bite, but he did frighten the man enough to cause him to lose his grip and retreat back to his property, giving authorities time to arrive and take him into custody.
How many stories like this do we need to see before people begin to understand the intelligent, empathetic, caring nature of pit bulls?!
Ohio Signs Bill to End BSL
Today is an exciting day for pit bull owners in Ohio and anti-BSL supporters worldwide. Earlier this morning, Governor Kasich signed Ohio House Bill 14 into law – effectively ending 25 years of discriminatory breed specific legislation geared toward pit bull-type dogs. Click here to read a background on BSL in Ohio
Ohio’s HB 14 not only reverses the previous law, but helps to strengthen current dangerous dog laws by focusing on irresponsible owners, instead of innocent family pets. Dog wardens and those working in animal rescue will now be able to use their time and resources to protect the public from verifiably dangerous dogs, instead of wrongly targeting family pets that simply “look the wrong way”.
Prior to today’s passing of HB 14, Ohio was the only state with laws that permitted the declaration of a vicious dog based only on the dog’s appearance, without taking temperament or other behavioral criteria into consideration.
It is my hope that other states and countries that have looked to Ohio to set the precedent for BSL will now re-evaluate their existing or proposed laws. As Ohio has shown, BSL is an expensive, ineffective way to prevent dog bites and other acts. At the end of the day, as reinforced by Ohio’s new legislation, the only way to truly keep the public protected and safe from the acts of dangerous dogs is to punish the careless, ignorant owners that have allowed and/or encouraged the behaviors.
This amazing video was put together by the Humane Society for Hamilton County in celebration of their upcoming pit bull education month festivities – including the “Parade-a-Bull“.
Kudos to the proud pit bull owners from all walks of life showing their support for the breed they love including a police officer, fire chief, pediatrician, pastor, humane society director and sportscaster.
A few favorite quotes from the video:
“A combination of myths, biased media reporting, exploitation of these dogs by criminals and irreponsible pet owners, has created an inaccurate stereotype of the breed and also the people who own and love them.”
“The American Pit Bull Terrier, a dog that has played an important role in american culture and history for over 200 years before falling victim to those who would use their strength and loyalty against them.”