A few months ago, I did a ten minute presentation at school about my research on pit bulls. I thought I should share my script! Here it is:
I’ve loved dogs for a very long time, and I’ve always wanted to do some sort of volunteer work with dogs. Unfortunately, at most shelters you have to be 18 to work with the dogs, so I’ve never really been able to do any type of service with dogs before, which is why I picked this topic as my capstone.
One dog that I’ve been especially interested in is pit bulls; they’re known as a particularly vicious breed, even to people who generally like dogs (there just seems to be a sort of stigma against pit bulls) and they have been banned in many places. I wanted to see if these claims against them are actually true, so I did my capstone based on the question, “Why are pit bulls thought of as the most vicious breed, and are they?”
Currently, pit bulls are thought of as the worst type of dog. People believe that they are violent, untamable, and unfit to live with humans. However, their reputation used to be a little different. In the first half of the twentieth century, they were one of America’s most loved breeds, at one point even earning the nickname “America’s Dog.”
They were known for their loyalty and bravery, and they were placed on World War II posters as a symbol of the United States’s position in the war. They were on the cover of Life magazine several times, and were even thought of as family dogs for a long time. But somehow, in less than half a century, “America’s dog” become one of America’s most feared and hated breeds.
Things began to change in the 1980s when dogfighting started to become popular. Dogfighting is a sport where dogs are forced to fight and kill each other for the entertainment of viewers. This is one of the most inhumane things that I can think of, and it’s now a felony in all 50 states, but somehow it continues. And the most common dog fighting breed is, unfortunately, the pit bull — they’re naturally a little more muscular, so they have been sort of unofficially designated as the breed of choice for dog fights.
To make the fighting dogs more aggressive, they are kept on short chains for most of their lives, usually in complete isolation and filthy conditions. They are given steroids to make them disproportionately strong, and, to make them as vicious as possible, they are often subjected to various forms of torture such as being beaten, starved, and dragged behind moving cars. Their ears are docked (which means cut shorter) without any anesthesia to keep them from being able to communicate with other dogs as well. “Bait dogs” are often used to get the fighting dogs to be more aggressive — the snouts of bait dogs are often taped shut to prevent them from fighting back, and the sole purpose of these dogs is to be mauled or killed in the process of training the fighting dogs.
One of the most well-known examples of pit bull mistreatment is through Michael Vick, current quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. People seem to have adopted the “forgive and forget” mindset when it comes to him. He was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, but that was cut short when he was arrested for leading a large dog fighting operation. Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring was called Bad Newz Kennels, and he hosted many fights over his career. Most of the fights would last several hours and put both dogs in excruciating pain by the end. The audience loved the fights, and they would place bets on who the winner would be. The losing dog, if not already dead, would be examined, and if their injuries were severe or if they were determined to be weak and unfit to fight, then they would be executed by various manners such as drowning, hanging, electrocution, or having their head smashed repeatedly into the ground until their skull broke. One dog that was eventually rescued from Vick’s fighting ring had had all 48 of her teeth forcibly removed without anesthesia.
I think most dogs, and most people for that matter, would be hardened and mean after going through years of this abuse. Pit bulls don’t start off bad; they are just raised until they know no other way of living.
Now, however, Vick is back in the NFL, and pit bulls are still thought of as the bad ones. I don’t know about you guys, but that doesn’t really seem fair to me…but I guess it’s okay, because he’s good at football, right?
The media has also supported this negative image of pit bulls starting in the 1980s. People love having a scapegoat, and the story of vicious pit bulls sells. Sometimes, when a dog attacks or kills a human, it will be reported as being a pit bull even when it is not actually a pit bull, just to support the public image of pit bulls being the “bad guys.” However, no matter how the media wants to spin it, you are statistically more likely to be struck by lightening or killed by a falling coconut than you are by a pit bull.
It has been proven that pit bulls are not “genetically more vicious” than any other dog. The myth that their jaw locks so their bite is stronger than other dogs is literally just a myth; it has no factual accuracy. As a matter of fact, 86.8% of pit bulls passed a temperament test during a case study, making them the fourth most temperate breed out of 122 breeds. They placed higher than even golden retrievers in the case study (and everyone knows that golden retrievers are thought of as the sweetest dogs).
Yes, pit bulls, like most animals and probably most people, will be aggressive if they have been subjected to years of torture, but if they are raised in loving homes they can be some of the sweetest animals out there.
However, today, because of their image, the entire breed is subjected to so many restrictions. Nearly a million pit bulls are euthanized per year in the United States — that means that 2,000 - 3,000 pit bulls are euthanized every single day (and that’s just in the U.S. alone). Breed-specific legislation has become very prominent over the years, especially for pit bulls (who are currently the most restricted dogs). They aren’t allowed in many apartment complexes and neighborhoods, and in some cases, whole COUNTRIES have put bans on them.
For example, I found this one really sad story about an ex-veteran named Dan in Denmark whose dog, a pit bull named Zanto, was helping him recover from the trauma of military service. Denmark does not allow pit bulls, and Dan was given eight days to prove that Zanto was not a pit bull (which he obviously could not do because Zanto was a pit bull), and then Zanto was taken from him and euthanized. The dog had never hurt anyone, had never shown any signs of aggression; he was killed simply because he was a pit bull. Dan killed himself soon after his dog was taken, because he could not recover from the trauma of the war without Zanto.
It has been proven SEVERAL times that breed-restrictive legislation does not reduce the risk of dog attacks. Studies have repeatedly been done on it, and organizations like the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Animal Control Association, and even Animal Planet have researched and discussed and found that it ultimately doesn’t work. Also, it makes sense that it doesn’t work, because it’s punishing dogs that haven’t done anything yet, so obviously it shouldn’t work, and yet the discrimination still continues.
So, throughout all my research I definitely found the answer to my original question of “Why are pit bulls thought of the most vicious breed and are they”; they’re clearly not. I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying “blame the owner, not the breed” and this is really accurate.
This issue is really important to me because it’s not fair; pit bulls haven’t done anything other than be subjected to ridiculous amounts of abuse over the years, and yet somehow they’re seen as these horrible, dangerous dogs that shouldn’t be around people.
I’ve loved dogs for a very long time, and I’ve always wanted to do some sort of volunteer work with dogs. Unfortunately, at most shelters you have to be 18 to work with the dogs, so I’ve never really been able to do any type of service with dogs before, which is why I picked this topic as my capstone.
One dog that I’ve been especially interested in is pit bulls; they’re known as a particularly vicious breed, even to people who generally like dogs (there just seems to be a sort of stigma against pit bulls) and they have been banned in many places. I wanted to see if these claims against them are actually true, so I did my capstone based on the question, “Why are pit bulls thought of as the most vicious breed, and are they?”
Currently, pit bulls are thought of as the worst type of dog. People believe that they are violent, untamable, and unfit to live with humans. However, their reputation used to be a little different. In the first half of the twentieth century, they were one of America’s most loved breeds, at one point even earning the nickname “America’s Dog.”
They were known for their loyalty and bravery, and they were placed on World War II posters as a symbol of the United States’s position in the war. They were on the cover of Life magazine several times, and were even thought of as family dogs for a long time. But somehow, in less than half a century, “America’s dog” become one of America’s most feared and hated breeds.
Things began to change in the 1980s when dogfighting started to become popular. Dogfighting is a sport where dogs are forced to fight and kill each other for the entertainment of viewers. This is one of the most inhumane things that I can think of, and it’s now a felony in all 50 states, but somehow it continues. And the most common dog fighting breed is, unfortunately, the pit bull — they’re naturally a little more muscular, so they have been sort of unofficially designated as the breed of choice for dog fights.
To make the fighting dogs more aggressive, they are kept on short chains for most of their lives, usually in complete isolation and filthy conditions. They are given steroids to make them disproportionately strong, and, to make them as vicious as possible, they are often subjected to various forms of torture such as being beaten, starved, and dragged behind moving cars. Their ears are docked (which means cut shorter) without any anesthesia to keep them from being able to communicate with other dogs as well. “Bait dogs” are often used to get the fighting dogs to be more aggressive — the snouts of bait dogs are often taped shut to prevent them from fighting back, and the sole purpose of these dogs is to be mauled or killed in the process of training the fighting dogs.
One of the most well-known examples of pit bull mistreatment is through Michael Vick, current quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. People seem to have adopted the “forgive and forget” mindset when it comes to him. He was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, but that was cut short when he was arrested for leading a large dog fighting operation. Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring was called Bad Newz Kennels, and he hosted many fights over his career. Most of the fights would last several hours and put both dogs in excruciating pain by the end. The audience loved the fights, and they would place bets on who the winner would be. The losing dog, if not already dead, would be examined, and if their injuries were severe or if they were determined to be weak and unfit to fight, then they would be executed by various manners such as drowning, hanging, electrocution, or having their head smashed repeatedly into the ground until their skull broke. One dog that was eventually rescued from Vick’s fighting ring had had all 48 of her teeth forcibly removed without anesthesia.
I think most dogs, and most people for that matter, would be hardened and mean after going through years of this abuse. Pit bulls don’t start off bad; they are just raised until they know no other way of living.
Now, however, Vick is back in the NFL, and pit bulls are still thought of as the bad ones. I don’t know about you guys, but that doesn’t really seem fair to me…but I guess it’s okay, because he’s good at football, right?
The media has also supported this negative image of pit bulls starting in the 1980s. People love having a scapegoat, and the story of vicious pit bulls sells. Sometimes, when a dog attacks or kills a human, it will be reported as being a pit bull even when it is not actually a pit bull, just to support the public image of pit bulls being the “bad guys.” However, no matter how the media wants to spin it, you are statistically more likely to be struck by lightening or killed by a falling coconut than you are by a pit bull.
It has been proven that pit bulls are not “genetically more vicious” than any other dog. The myth that their jaw locks so their bite is stronger than other dogs is literally just a myth; it has no factual accuracy. As a matter of fact, 86.8% of pit bulls passed a temperament test during a case study, making them the fourth most temperate breed out of 122 breeds. They placed higher than even golden retrievers in the case study (and everyone knows that golden retrievers are thought of as the sweetest dogs).
Yes, pit bulls, like most animals and probably most people, will be aggressive if they have been subjected to years of torture, but if they are raised in loving homes they can be some of the sweetest animals out there.
However, today, because of their image, the entire breed is subjected to so many restrictions. Nearly a million pit bulls are euthanized per year in the United States — that means that 2,000 - 3,000 pit bulls are euthanized every single day (and that’s just in the U.S. alone). Breed-specific legislation has become very prominent over the years, especially for pit bulls (who are currently the most restricted dogs). They aren’t allowed in many apartment complexes and neighborhoods, and in some cases, whole COUNTRIES have put bans on them.
For example, I found this one really sad story about an ex-veteran named Dan in Denmark whose dog, a pit bull named Zanto, was helping him recover from the trauma of military service. Denmark does not allow pit bulls, and Dan was given eight days to prove that Zanto was not a pit bull (which he obviously could not do because Zanto was a pit bull), and then Zanto was taken from him and euthanized. The dog had never hurt anyone, had never shown any signs of aggression; he was killed simply because he was a pit bull. Dan killed himself soon after his dog was taken, because he could not recover from the trauma of the war without Zanto.
It has been proven SEVERAL times that breed-restrictive legislation does not reduce the risk of dog attacks. Studies have repeatedly been done on it, and organizations like the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Animal Control Association, and even Animal Planet have researched and discussed and found that it ultimately doesn’t work. Also, it makes sense that it doesn’t work, because it’s punishing dogs that haven’t done anything yet, so obviously it shouldn’t work, and yet the discrimination still continues.
So, throughout all my research I definitely found the answer to my original question of “Why are pit bulls thought of the most vicious breed and are they”; they’re clearly not. I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying “blame the owner, not the breed” and this is really accurate.
This issue is really important to me because it’s not fair; pit bulls haven’t done anything other than be subjected to ridiculous amounts of abuse over the years, and yet somehow they’re seen as these horrible, dangerous dogs that shouldn’t be around people.