So why?

A couple days ago, I watched the first episode of the new season of "Dogs 101" on Animal Planet with my grandmother.  One of the featured breeds was the American Pit Bull Terrier, and though they mentioned that yes, it is a strong dog, very tenacious, very energetic, and when trained to fight it can be dangerous (like ANY dog) all the pits they showed were loving, sweet, well-trained dogs. (Of course.)

So my grandma said, "So why do they have such a bad reputation?"

I replied, "Media hysteria."

I just read a post on No Kill Nation that got me thinking a little deeper.  Of course, media hysteria is number one reason pit bulls have a bad rap.  Whenever a dog attacks someone, if it is even a POSSIBLE pit mix, it will be labeled a pit bull. And any dog with short, smooth hair and a blocky head will be labeled a pit, even if breed-experienced people can see that it is a mix, or a completely unrelated breed.  More people get killed by lightning than dog attacks, but even the small number of serious dog attacks has thrown the nation into a panic.

No Kill Nation's point of view (and I think they are correct) is that intact, unneutered dogs, and chained, neglected dogs are responsible for almost every fatal attack.  The mix of hormones and frustration, plus the complete lack of social contact, lead to crazed killers. (Rarely!  Think of how many neglected pitbulls there are, and how FEW go bad.)   Pits are the number 1 most neglected dog in America, I feel.  And legislation is NOT HELPING.  Stricter dog control laws lead to MORE dogs being neglected, because if you can't take your pit bull out in public without a muzzle, and he must be kept in a maximum-security enclosure when he's at home, who's going to bother with socialization?

Pits are not my cup of tea when it comes to dogs, honestly, but that's mostly aesthetic.  All the ones I've met were sweet-as-pie goofballs, not killers.  It really hurts when I hear people say bad stuff about them. For example, my ex-boyfriend has a dog that's 1/2 pit, 1/2 blue heeler. She's extremely obedient and loyal, good with dogs, cats, chickens, kids, you name it.  But when he first got her, I told my aunt that he had bought a 1/2 pit puppy and she said, "Why'd he get a dog like THAT? A pit bull?" with a frown.  My dad has a dog that is (to me at least) obviously a pit mix, but his wife insists that it is a Mastiff or Ridgeback or Boxer mix instead of the dreaded "p-word," because such a friendly dog could never be part pit, no sirree! (insert sarcasm.)

And then you have people like Terrierman saying that only gangbangers and wannabes have pitbulls, which is so not true.  (Way to go! Perpetuating stereotypes again!  While he occasionally says something insightful, Terrierman has his head up his butt on the issue of pits.) Lots of normal people have well-behaved "pibbles", which of course doesn't make the news because it's not exciting.    

I don't quite know where I'm going with this, but it frustrates me that so many people, even dog lovers, have fallen for the media hype about these dogs.  They're just dogs, people! A dog is what you make of it, and if you neglect it and abuse it, sometimes they snap.  That's just elementary psychology.