@Regalis I grew up with great family friends that were huge into hog hunting with dogs. ANY dog that ever bit someone, even a nip, was culled. As they should be. Too many good dogs out there deserving of homes to put up with man biters. All of these dogs were sweet as can be to people, and when in the field they were outfitted with leathers and gps.
Exactly! But dear God don't let the animal rights fruit loops know that culling is a GOOD thing. It always kills me when people rally to save a dog that has attacked/killed/maimed a human being when we don't even have homes for all the stable dogs to go to.
But they are then ok with killing a dog that has killed another animal. It's really perplexing to me.
Human aggression that is unwarranted is my number one big NOT ACCEPTABLE. Nipping while playing or as a puppy? Whatever. Because they are seriously injured or in pain? I can even be ok with that. But unwarranted biting or aggression? Nuh uh. It ends with a bullet. And I only let the being sick one fly to a degree. I've had two dogs now that had cancer that ended up getting into the brain and seriously altering their temperament. Both were euthanized before it could escalate to a point that I couldn't return from or forgive myself. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my dogs. They're spoiled brats. But they are still very much animals and capable of doing animal things. Like these two did. I personally know several dogs that can not be trusted around other animals/dogs but are completely fine with all humans. Which is a very important thing to note when talking about "put bulls" in particular. My old boy was totally fine around both humans and animals of any sort (he got his ass kicked by a devil cat
) he was pure game bred from old family red lines. I could take him ANYWHERE. He went to pet stores, big indoor flea markets, fireworks, you name it. He was a rock star. UNLESS another dog instigated a fight. The first time he was just a teeny little 12 week old puppy, relatives Bassett bitch nailed him as he walked by (she had issues with other dogs and I didn't know this at the time) he turned around and laid her nose wide open. A 12 week old puppy! Any other puppy would have run away whimpering and crying. But he never ever started a fight and I could put him in a sit/stay in sketchy situations with off leash dogs coming at us. Wish I could say the same for the dobermutt
I really do wonder what actually transpired to trigger the dogs into attacking. Was she passing out treats and due to their recent care it went south? Were they just that hungry? Anyone who's been around abused/neglected dogs knows full well that until they are safe, stable and realize they will no longer starve, it's pretty sketchy and you have to be extremely careful. Some dogs never rebound from it.
I'd also like to see DNA done (even though my understanding is that it's not all that accurate) because from the pictures I've seen, I'd say they are mixes at best. Which goes right back into my poorly bred thing. I'm not sure how it is in other areas, but around here, even in the city where dig fighting occurs, true pure bred APBTS are pretty rare. Most are what I call Detroit Bully Specials. A mix of God knows what that just so happens to look "pit" to the general public. Some of them are fantastic dogs. Some of them are flat out insane. Not only are they poorly bred, but in an attempt to make "guard" dogs, people have purposely bred in human aggression. For obvious reasons, that doesn't end well. The typical dog owner has no business owning a working dog, let alone one bred to be human aggressive. We're talking people who don't exercise, don't feed well or properly, house outdoors, don't train (or train in hideous ways), don't contain, etc their dogs. I always wonder, if instead of bully breeds they were using malinois or dobes or similar breeds - would anyone really be shocked when the dogs snap and attack?
And journalism. Ugh. I think the media and publicity around "pit bulls" is partially to blame for this mess. We have folks running around declaring that if you just love fido enough, his genetics don't matter. As long as you don't abuse or neglect them, they'll never ever attack a human or animal. The dreaded "nanny dog" myth. FFS, dog men didn't breed game dogs to be babysitters. It's just not true. Genetics matter. Yes, how a dog is raised and handled/managed also matters. But a herder will always be a herder. The fluke collie that doesn't have herding instincts is just that, a fluke, not breed norm. And many, many many bully breeds have similar histories to the APBT. They were bred as sporting/hunting/working dogs. We see it in smaller terriers all the time - the jack that kills mice with expert precision despite zero training to do so. But suddenly when we talk about bully breeds their genetics don't matter and they MUST have been abused/neglected/trained to kill.
Just ugh. News like this is why I will likely never own another bully. As horrible as it sounds, I was slightly relieved when my old boy passed. It's crazy enough owning a dobe. But with a bully, no matter what, your dog will be blamed and it won't be pretty. The liability is insane. Hell, even if your dog isn't the guilty party at all, it may be blamed if something happens in your neighborhood.
