Pit Bull Cases Jumping on the Lennox Bandwagon?

[Sweet72947]

I think the objection is to the use of the word "deserve,"-at least that's my objection. No dog, even one that has killed "deserves" death. The use of the word implies the dog is being put to death as some sort of capital punishment or administration of justice, when the fact is that dogs don't live by those rules and codes, only people do. Dogs can't form criminal intent, they are animals acting on behavioral impulses. Yes, it may be necessary to euth a dog for aggression, but it should not be done out of administration of justice (as the term "deserves to die" implies), but for the safety of the public and the breed itself.

Thank you Sillysally, this is what I was getting at with my post. I see it way too often, people think dogs or animals in general, are difficult just to be jerks, but it isn't true. APBT owners especially seem to take it personally whenever a member of their breed exhibits undesired behaviors, and I do understand why, but we all must remember that dogs can't be evil and don't do things because they want to be bad. A lot of the time aggressive behavior happens because of fear. And actually, with all the dogs I've met, I've never met a single APBT thus far who was dangerous. I have met several dogs of other breeds (mostly mixes) who are quite dangerous, who bite unpredictably, who are just wrong in the head. I absolutely believe dogs can suffer from mental illness just like humans.

The biggest challenge we face today is the hordes of the clueless yet well-meaning dog owners who do not understand dog behavior as they should, not even the behavior of their own dog. People understand what barking, growling and baring teeth mean, but they often do not notice a dog's discomfort when the dog is just sitting quietly, licking his lips with ever expanding whale eye. Even people who work in professions where they SHOULD at least know the basics (such as veterinary hospitals, dog daycares, etc) often do not. There needs to be a massive campaign launched at educating the masses about stress signals and how to read them. I think that would go a long way toward preventing bite incidents in all breeds.

 

[Renee750il]

My problem with the Zero Tolerance for an "aggressive" pitbull is that it's the flip side of the BSL contention.

One of our platforms in the fight against BSL is that every dog should be looked at as an individual and evaluated as such, but then we turn around and say that all pitbulls MUST be absolutely good, no consideration for the individual, no examining the circumstances, nothing.

We also contend that there is no such breed as a Pitbull -- true.

So how can we hold a type to a breed standard as we're fighting to get the other side to recognize that the type is NOT the breed?