I was pretty terrified of pittys til I met one. Sweet as pie.

Saw that one coming a mile away. Counter rallies are as old as rallies....it's very Zen that way...each concept creating and reinforcing it's own opposite, and all that.

Sorry, but animals that are known to ROUTINELY kill people do NOT belong in urban areas unless they are safely in a zoo.

@3: It's not routine, really. It's just when they're bored.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to test out that new dog whistle.

Michel Vis?

Is he the French Michael Vick?

Oh jeez, you guys. If you're an advocate for owning fighting dogs, DO NOT BE NAMED MICHAEL VIS. He's just lucky Taft is such a nutter, nobody will notice his unfortunate name.

To be fair, neither of those kids looked like they'd taste very good.

Ugh, pit bulls the most annoying of The Stranger's pet issues....HEY-OH!

The trick with pits is they're probably no more likely to bite than other dogs, but once they do bite they clamp down and never let go. It's what they're bred to do.

Was there a dog in the photo? All I saw was a cute DILF.

The idea of posing pit bulls next to cute little babies is sheer genius. If only politicians would pick up on this idea of posing with babies while declining to eat them, it would be pure political dynamite. I'd vote for that candidate!

I Love White Meat

The most important reason that breed bans are stupid is this:

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/…

There are other reasons also; another important one is that people who want to own big scary dogs are not going to stop wanting that just because you ban pitbulls. They are just going to find different big scary dogs.

It *might* make sense to have a ban on all dogs over a certain weight in a particular urban area. That law would at least be relatively easily enforceable, and people would not just go out and get a Fila Brasileira instead.
(And really, who needs a dog over forty pounds anyways?)

@4: Or hungry.

@14, I know! How about banning ALL big scary dogs! Big scary dogs have no place in a city. I support a twenty-pound limit on dogs allowed in the city, with a $500,000 fine per violation.

@16: I'd actually support that. Big dogs that need lots of exercise don't belong in town.

My first thought about the top picture was the woman has a strange embrace of the dog... almost as she expected it to lunge at the baby.

Well...young child flesh is every Pit Bull's favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a quick "between meal snack".

"Child! It's what's for dinner!!"

larger dogs often need less exercise than smaller breeds. My 65 pound dog was a perfect apartment dog...her favorite activity was lounging on the couch with people around, or taking walks around the hill. PLaying fetch? Running around in a dog park? 40 minutes, tops.

OTOH, my friend's 30ish pound cattle dogs go batshit crazy if they aren't worked hard for hours several times a week.

I'd eat that dad in the top photo right now so breed ban me, dammit!!!

@18: The thing about kids with dogs is that kids don't know how to be around a dog and kids have poor motor control, so they tend to lunge toward a strange dog's head with the hands outstretched while making some loud, often high-pitched sound, and the dog freaks out, either barking and/or nipping, which is how it'd treat a puppy, or other dog that was acting the same way. Nipping freaks out the kid and the kid's parents (understandably), and things can escalate in a bad way real quick.

Kids frequently want to 'say hi' to my Poodles, and I'm real careful about it, but a Poodle doesn't have the Pit Bull Jaws Of Death gene.

@3: Show me some solid statistics on how Pit Bulls ROUTINELY kill people, please. If you're going to be prone to hyperbole, back it up. I have yet to meet a single Pit who has been anything less than a total sweetheart, with great owners who have properly socialized and trained their dogs. Yes, Pits can be dangerous, but no more so than most other large dogs.

@14 That photo array is totally cheap. The only Pit Bull on it is a freaking puppy. I looked at the photos and didn't think any looked like a Pit Bull. I went for the one of two of the least worst options before clicking through all the photos in turn - finding the puppy.

The worst thing is, you might have a point. Pit Bull's have a less defined "look" than many breeds (Because they were working dogs bred for a job rather than appearance and confirmation, I guess? Kind of like border collies.) and they might be inaccurately blamed for some attacks. But that photo array was a REALLY CHEAP way of trying to make that point. In many breeds, the puppies look almost nothing like the adult dogs. I had both a Kerry Blue Terrier and an Airedale Terrier as a kid, and I think I would have a very small chance of picking either out of a lineup of breeds as a puppy.

The best way to undermine a good point is by being disingenuous. I was actually looking at the link because I was interested in your counter argument, but now I'm just pissed off because you wasted my time with that crap.

photo caption?
"BRAINS"

@16 I'd support that.

@25 I went back and looked at it again. It might not be a puppy. I was thrown off by the halter, which I associate with puppies. Now that I look at it in relation to the paving stones I might be wrong. In that case, your point is well made. It does look like a young dog, though.

quoting @20: "larger dogs often need less exercise than smaller breeds. [...] my friend's 30ish pound cattle dogs go batshit crazy if they aren't worked hard for hours several times a week."

My 120lb bullmastiff (an AKC breed, not even remotely related to a pit) takes a mile walk once a day, and that's his limit. Most heavy, stocky dogs need less exercise than their skinny counterparts. Boxers and cattle dogs need to run; mastiffs and danes need to walk a little and rest a lot.

There will always be exceptions to any "all ____ dogs should be banned" rule. The goal shouldn't be to ban any breed or size of dog; it should be to (a) educate dog owners, (b) regulate dog sales, adoptions and licensing to a greater degree, and (c) punish dog owners that neglect or poorly train their dogs to the fullest extent of the law.

Hold the owner responsible for their choices, including their choice as to what dog to own and how to take care of it.

...and this is from someone who was bit by a shar pei, another breed of dog that "bites and holds," when she was seven years old. I had to have stitches in my face and almost lost an eye.

I still don't think that breed or any other should be banned.

Oh look here, some REAL facts: http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/st…

@29 Bullmastifs are one of the few large canines I like. As much as I am against this breed banning, I personally don't like large canines, but I'm a cat person so meh. But there are a few I do like, just not around my computers! Those tails are dangerous .... and they are made happy too easy.

@32: So. True. There are baby gates galore in my house - not dog in the bedroom or near the computers/breakables. His tail is just above coffee table height!

I'm going to be one of those ridiculous dog owners that posts a link to a picture of their dog now. Snark away, Stranger.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph…

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph…

@33 aaaaaw ..... gotta gush, gotta gush.

People are too quick to stereotype, hell, Sigfried and Roy proved that tigers can care for us dumb hairless apes just as much as their own young. I had a medium dog growing up (had to rescue the poor guy from abuse, my first theft but it was for a good reason and I don't regret any decision I make) who actually earned the trust of the family cats, and my cat, AKA the "dog killer" (she actually fought large dogs for fun, and won) and they allowed him to even carry their kittens. He was a terrier mutt of some sort, but he HATED anything on wheels and attacked anyone (but me) who was riding a bike or even skateboard nearby, and he could drag me so restraining was hard. But the neighborhood knew he wasn't all there because of being beat in the head, so no one complained officially. So any animal is dangerous, really, my cat could kill anything she wanted, and she enjoyed hunting dangerous pray, would not surprise me if she had thoughts about hunting humans even, it's their nature, she was almost two feet long, pure breed calico, a rare cat breed, and that cat breed are also very territorial and powerful hunters. No one else could even touch her, that's ironically why I adopted her, her original owners said that if she went home with me she was mine, so I picked her up, purring for what they said was the first time ever, and she became my best friend. Raccoon bodies were what she left as gifts, not bird feet.

@33 - what a cutie pie!

Are those kids still alive? Are there any after photos?

@37 as the Humane Society stats showed, even size isn't an issue. Oh the cruel irony, small dogs hurt people just as much as large ones. Mostly because, if you noticed, the largest number hurt are kids. Of course anti-dog fucktards will turn this around next, and use it as fire power, it must suck to need to reload every debate.

I've been bitten twice in my life, both times by little yappy dogs.

The worst injury I've ever gotten from a pit bull is a bruise on my leg from her tail wagging so hard when she saw me. (She's my boss's dog, and has had stiches twice this year from wagging her tail too vigorously in the pen at the kennel when he's gone to pick her up).

@14, 25, 28: This is a good companion to that photo spread:http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/Pit%20Bull%20ID%20Poster.pdf
This is also an one, not about identifying pit bull mixes specifically, but about the difficulty (impossibility?) of identifying the breed in mixes by sight. http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil…

First link got cut off: http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil…

Wow, it is a miracle that anybody is still alive after all of those terribly vicious dogs were allowed in public like that!

Sigh.

Yawn.

It's really the Pomeranians that you have to watch out for:
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/09/…

My neighborhood is riddled w/ pit bulls. I've never had a problem with them. I am totally going to get one when I move into my new place. I find them adorable and from everything I've learned from a friend who fosters them, they are tremendous dogs. Any dog can be bad in the wrong hands and it's true that these dogs are the more common choice because of their strength but even Ms. Taft herself proves that point that any dog can attack seeing as how she was attacked by a Lab mix and a Collie. She admits she's never been even so much as growled at by a pit bull on live radio. I read the Examiner and there are so many stories of small dogs killing babies or at least causing severe harm. The big dogs are more powerful for sure but can only be dangerous when trained to be and not well managed or supervised. My friend who fosters has had so many of them in and out of her house but never a single issue, I barely even hear them bark and when I go to her house, they all sit and wait til one at a time she ok's them to come say hi, pretty impressive. Pit Bulls are not bad dogs they just have a sad history, some of them have horrible owners and thanks to media coverage like most done by this lovely paper...they haven't been given the best chance really. Still wish society would drop this issue because frankly, I'm burnt out. I love pit bulls and I will own one soon and already have her picked out :) Hate em all ya want, your choice to be afraid of a dog hahahahaha silly people. 1 in 33 dog owning American's own pit bulls. 1 in 4 own guns. What are you most afraid of? If we have to kill all the pit bulls to make you people feel safer then I really feel sorry for you.

@21 - Looks more like a gay uncle to me.

It's really the Pomeranians that you have to watch out for:
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/09/…

To Jeffy...Wait a little bit...I'm sure you will find that there was animal abuse involved in this case.

My point, inasmuch as I had one, was that if your goal is to have fewer big scary dogs around, banning a particular breed of big scary dog is demonstrably not the way to make that happen (partly because a lot of those dogs look pretty much the same to most people, and partly because there are so many kinds of scary dog available). But there probably is a way to accomplish the goal - and a size ban would do it. If your adopted puppy turns out too big, it's not the end of the world; there are plenty of options there. And a sensible law would probably include the possibility of applying for an exception based on demonstrated good training and appropriate housing for the dog.
But I'm just making that up as I go along.

If your goal, on the other hand, is to have fewer actual dog bite incidents, you have to approach it a different way. Because smaller dogs also bite when they're provoke, and people in general don't have a good handle on what constitutes provocation to a dog. It's true, as someone else mentioned, that most dog bite victims are children. These are children who have been taught inappropriate behavior towards dogs by their parents. I can't count the number of times I've seen a kid walk right up to a strange dog, staring right at its face, hand extended, when the dog is clearly in a posture of wary fearfulness. Because the family lab lets him stick his fingers in her ears and mouth and climb around on her, how would the kid even know better?
It's a testament to the good nature of most pet dogs and the good training of most dog owners that way MORE dog attacks don't happen.

And of course the oft-forgotten dimension of this issue is pack behavior. When two or more dogs are free together roaming around, they behave dramatically differently than they would alone - forget what they would be like with their owners. City people don't necessarily know it, but country people do - roaming packs of family dogs can and do take down livestock. Why wouldn't a pack of a few dogs also take down a small or weak person?
And you basically can't train this out of them.

I don't have a helpful suggestion about that last, though.

It's not that I think they look ugly. I think they look brutish. I don't get why people like them but there are a lot of things that people like that I don't get, from the Twilight books to heavy metal to being shit on by someone.

I'm glad the stranger is taking a stand against this violent and dangerous breed, as well as their negligent owners.

There should be a breed ban.

Its sad my dog has a bad name because of stupid ass gang bangers. Just because the pit bull is a strong and loyal dog doesnt mean its a bad dog. Instead of a breed restriction how about an application of ownership for breeds. Im sorry but the only dog ive ever been attacked by is a freakin poodle. Poodle attacks happen far more often than pitbull attacks however there isnt any light shed on those because of their none terrifying look. Seriously, dont ban the breed. Start applications for stupid ass people trying to own and train a dog to attack. My pit runs away from weiner dogs. Same breed+different loving owner= a very good dog. People refuse to realize it is their own doing making these dogs who they are. Blame the people not the dog.

@ 6&7: Michel is french for Micheal, and Vis is Dutch last name...It's clear that your ignorance goes further than just judging dogs and their owners.

Our "pit bull mix" (a misnomer since there is no AKC breed, breed test, etc) is routinely sniped at by other dogs in the parks. She usually just takes a defensive posture, or if really attacked will snipe back. Dogs steal her toys at least 10 times in each visit, and she just patiently, submissively follows them until they drop it, then she sneaks in and takes it back.

Much of the fears people have about pit bulls are based on 20 years of hype, stigma, cherry-picking, and over-reporting. What if the dogs that really attack people are (regardless of breed) those that are raised in an environment of neglect? What if these stories of dogs killing their owners are cases of animal abuse? Studies 20 years ago found German Shepherds to be the dangerous breed. For awhile the popular attack dog was a Rottweiler. Breeds will come and go, it is the mistreatment, misuse (for fighting), and failure to register all animals that should be punished.

@18 Yes, she is restraining the dog. Also, you'll notice that the dog is fixated on the child's face and neck. If I were the father, I would be extremely uncomfortable at that point.

Lastly, if the dog did lunge and bite the baby, how much damage would it do the the kid's face and/or neck?

@ 55 I would hold my dog soundly no matter what size or breed around any child that small. You can't predict what can happen in a matter of seconds between animals and bouncing babies.

@55 Look at the dogs face. Loose lips, soft eyes, relaxed body, and ears back and soft. That is a dog being happy and submissive. No tension in the body at all. And I would hold my aussies like that because they tend to poke kids in the face saying hello. Love the kids, they just aren't gentle with their hellos.

@18&55: I always hold my Bully that way when greeting a child because she will slobber all over their faces. I did in fact not hold a Yorkie/Poodle mix that way one time when a child approached, and the dog snapped at the child. What you are looking at is responsible and respectful dog owners.

OMG! Another "staged" picture of a Pit Bull with children!
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/…

@11 and 21...he is pretty hot. BUT his wife is even better looking

It's not the dog, it's the owner. Any unaltered dog poses a higher risk than a spayed/neutered dog. That's the crux of the biscuit.

Over the past 25 yrs I have cared for literally thousands of dogs while working for a major midwestern university for almost a decade, helping a friend raise and breed Siberian Huskies (I mostly took care of the pack while she was taking the others to shows), volunteering at the local shelter on occasion, and living with various dogs over the years.

I have only been bitten a few times (maybe 8 or 9?) and the bites were either from doing something for them in a medical situation, grooming (clipping nails) or they had been abused (shelter, university). Only one was neutered, and not (at some point) owned by an ignorant asshole.

Attitude-wise? The worst I've ever experienced were some Rotts back in the early '90s. But again, they were unaltered males raised by asshole owners (the meme is the same, only the breeds change). On the other hand, I've known several pits, boxers, bulldogs, dobies, rotts, and various mashups (even a couple dingos and a purebred Irish Wolfhound!) over the years owned by friends and have only been bitten once. That was while trimming the nails of a friend's purebred (fixed) pit.

This dog, as a puppy, had his paws squished in an unfortunate power window incident and had issues with anyone touching his feet. So I, knowing the dog, and being the 'pro from Dover', said I would do the trimming job. He gave me a couple light nips on the back (due to how I was holding him), but that was only his reaction to me handling his paws. He *could've* ripped my calf off, or tore a good-sized chunk out of my ass.

I completely sympathized with him, because I've had medical procedures done to me where I've wanted to start punching people because of pain/discomfort. That was the only time that dog was ever aggressive (if you could even call it that) over his 13 yr life. After the first time, he never had a problem with his nails again from me or anyone.

I know I'm just spouting anecdata here, but this is what I've seen: It's not the dog, it's the owner. Any unaltered dog poses a higher risk than a spayed/neutered dog.

For solutions? I'd suggest that owning a dog should be like owning a car or a gun. You should be able to prove that you can responsibly handle a potentially lethal object before they give you the license to do so. Tighten and enforce breeding regulations for puppy mills(!), purebred breeders, and individuals (i.e: your license costs way more if you do not fix your pet). To get a personal dog license, one should go through some sort of training (paid for by enhanced license fees) to prove ability to control a potentially deadly object (again, it's the owner that causes problems, not the object).

We do it with cars, we should do it better with guns, I wish we could do it with children. We can do it with dogs. The main difference is that cars and guns do not have minds of their own and do not need to be trained, disciplined, or cared for many times a day.

One more anecdata: I just took in a boxer/pit mix for a friend going through housing issues. Awesome, mellow dog, 3yo fixed male. He just wants to go on walks or hang out while I read or play guitar.

It's not the dog, it's the owner.

Device won't load the first picture, but second demands "Meals on Wheels".

This is why society sucks. Trying to gain positive views on something that has a bad reputation (much like we do for Vick and other animal abusers, child abusers and rapists that once sat behind bars and now walk the streets) and so many of you just poke fun at it or turn it into something evil. If we are so fast to forgive humans, then why not dogs? Why forgive the species that knows better but yet condemn the one that doesn't? Society makes no sense to me. Just thankful I am not the judgmental one that forgets about what having a soul really means, what compassion is and stands for. I love most of Seattle because like it or not, we are a very breed friendly area but as far as some of you on here go, you have a lot to learn about what it is to speak from education. Reading some of these comments, you wouldn't know a fact if you puked one into your own hands. Shameful. Spitting out dribble you made up in your head from some news cast you watched. People's priorities are completely insane anymore. Pathetic really...just shows we may never recover from what this Country has become.

Although many of you may never read this comment in response to the photos and your thoughts about it.... I'm the woman in the initial photo with the kind and calm white pit bull. This photo was NOT posed, was taken impromptu, and the responses you provided were trite in assuming it's posed. Further, my dog has NEVER been aggressive toward a human nor another dog, and to assume he would be, is prejudicial and racist. Let's not miss the fact that assuming ALL pitbulls are dangerous is no different than the way we assumed all minorities were dangerous at one time. Of course, there will be specific dogs who are aggressive, so are specific humans. To ban a breed and assume all pit bulls are dangerous is ignorant and discouraging to think humans, like most of you that responded above, can continue to be so narrow minded. My dog is over 3 years old, he is not a puppy, and I was holding him this way, because he gave the baby the sweetest kiss on his chin, a babyt he didn't know before this shot, not because he was aggressive. I'm happy to post numerous videos of my dog being the best ambassador for the kindness and affection of pitbulls.