Pitbulls, the dog that was bred to fight
May 2001
Mike Murray, Another Viewpoint
I don't know about the rest of the country, and I'm not a Pit Bull breeder, but here in Florida dog fighting still goes on all the time, all over the state, and guess what the top dog is? It ain't Cocker Spaniels. Or Labradors. It is the dog that was bred to fight, and exists for no other reason. If I'm wrong, correct me. Was it bred to exterminate rats? Or herd cows? Protect children? Pocket plaything for the rich? Pull a sled? Nope, for generations it was selected for one reason only, to enhance its' ability to fight.
Before I get too wound up, let me take another tack. Everybody knows somebody who has a cat. Annoying creatures, hate the neighbor's cat tracks on my car in the morning, but we see them as basically harmless. That's because at some point someone had the good sense to realize that not all cats are equal. You need a permit to have 'dangerous' cats. You may love your pet mountain lion, but I would be very uncomfortable having one as a neighbor. It's one thing to have Persian kitty tracks on my hood. It is a different matter entirely to have a bobcat perched on my fence in the morning when my kids are going to school. So there are restrictions.
That's all that people are asking for with 'dangerous' dogs. If you wish to raise dogs that have been specifically bred for generations to be aggressive and are praised for their bite strength and tenacity, show some responsibility.
I'm probably a little touchy about this because of the timing. Last night another dog fighting ring was broken up and four people arrested, 23 dogs impounded, not 30 miles from home. Guess what, not a single Cocker Spaniel! Then tonight my wife and I go out for drinks. We go to our favorite place, a wonderful bar on the Intracoastal Waterway, caters mostly to the boating crowd. Hardly a redneck kinda' bar. And there sits some idiot with a Pit Bull on his lap. He's trying to make the dog drink some beer, which the dog is having no part of. And why this moronic behavior? Because it is cool to have a 'fighting' dog. It’s a play for attention.
I can say this, if I was breeding Pit Bulls, I would want to do anything I could to distance myself from idiots like this. I would not feel like it was 'violating my rights' for me to show a little responsibility. I would be proud of something that distinguished me as a professional, or an educated hobbyist, rather that a low-life boozer or pit fighter.
The thing that bugs me the most, and is the source of my ire, is that I have never once, ever, heard one single dog person stand up and accept responsibility. Or accept the fact that some dogs might be more inclined to bite than others, and that some are capable of inflicting more damage than others. Forget the 'Cocker Spaniels bite, too' and the 'I have a Pit Bull that's great with kids' stuff. If you went to pick up your kids from daycare a saw a couple of Chihuahuas running around, would you get upset? Would you pull your kids out, raising hell? Would you call the cops?
What if they were Presa Canarios? Now what if you weren't some highly evolved, breeding for fifty years kinda dog person? Would you worry? Or would you actually think like the rest of us? I see my kid with a Chihuahua or a Pit Bull, I'm thinking the Pit Bull just might be a problem.
Dangerous Dogs
- Responsibility 
