D.C. gun owner saves boy from pitbull, now investigated for "discharging firearm"

[Alaska444]

The primary reason pitbulls are so dangerous is because of a segment of the population attracted to them.
They are stout strong dogs, but so are some other breeds that would be just as dangerous.
The difference is plenty of young men want a weaponlike dog and go for a pitbull because that is the breed they associate with a weapon.
This includes both gang members and hip hop culture thugs, as well as just young naive macho men that give little training and so end up with an out of control dog that just happens to also be strong.

So it is more of a cultural thing.
The breed people associate with being a dangerous weapon is the breed guys that want a dangerous dog are attracted to. Such guys include a higher percentage of bad owners.

If such animals didnt exist and we had a culture that made mastiffs out to be dangerous tough dogs, they would have the same segment of men attracted to them and be responsible for most attacks.


Beyond just young men is the segment of the population that gets the dog they think is dangerous as a guard dog. Once again it is the association with being a dangerous dog that causes such people to seek out and obtain the breed. People looking for a dog that can be a weapon.
A higher percentage of people that get a dog solely as a guard dog also make poor owners percentage wise. Motivated less out of wanting a loving companion and more out of wanting something tough to deter or defend.

The belief that pit bulls are dangerous dogs is as a result what actually makes them dangerous dogs.

(That said a terrier is not something you want things smaller than itself around, without extensive socializing. Pit bulls being essentially a large terrier are something I wouldn't want around small children, but plenty of other breeds without the pitbull stigma would be just as undesirable to have around small children.)

In our neighborhood in CA, we had several HUD/Section 8 homes where one had nearly 30 people in the home. Several were arrested for gang activity, drug dealing etc.

They had a dog they kept in the backyard, yup, a true pit bull. One day, a family was walking on the sidewalk immediately behind their house. The dog jumped a 6 feet wall and attacked all of them, fortunately, no one was killed. More and more, that is what I see the gang bangers walking around with all the time. I would suggest that these folks are not using them as show dogs or training them not to bite, just the opposite. That is the concern for me. I have seen it right in my own neighborhood with a vicious pit bull attack.

Once again, if folks want to have them, more power to you, not my cup of tea. Just my opinion.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

A pit bull is not a firearm.

Since this thread seems to about pit bulls now, I'm closing it.