Poll About Pit Bulls

This news station has a poll up asking whether pit bulls should be banned... right now the results are 58% yes, and 42% no.
The poll is in the middle of the right hand side on this page....


http://www.theiowachannel.com/

Thanks for posting this, and Welcome to Pet Talk! I, of course, voted "No, only poorly trained dogs are bad."

Welcome to the Pet Talkers! :) I voted the same as Karen, the ratio now is 57% Yes and 43% No.

Now its 55% / 45%

I can't believe more than half the people voted that they are inherently dangerous. I knew there were so many stereotypes but didn't think THAT many people believed them :(

54/46 now. I of course voted "no" also

I voted no, so now it's 46%.. c'mon people, let's vote more!!

Or course, I, too, voted "no!"! Come on people, lets vote! :) ;)

I also voted "NO"

51/49% now.. it's getting closer.

50% to 50%!!!!!!!!1 Come on people VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!11

i voted, but it is still 50/50.
can we vote multiple times? :)

Sorry this is off the topic, but Sarah I LOVE your new sig pic :) Is that Sadie or another dog?

At least I can vote on that poll, and I said NO. What made them think that ALL Pit Bulls are dangerous?? Not to be mean, but they have issues to work out.

Oh, and good news, it's 49% yes to 51%no!!!

Thank you so very very much to all of you for voting ... lets keep this vote going our way!!! Way to go Pits :)

i, of course voted "NO"....the yes' are winning at this point...but not by a great margin

1,403 people have voted no and 1258 people have voted yes :D :D :D :D . Ok thats enough smily faces ( :D )


GOOD JOB PET TALK!!!!

aSHLEY

53% NO 47% YES

Need it be said that I voted NO?

I think Pit Bulls are absolutely ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't own one tho, because I wouldn't want to listen to all the B.S. that my neigbors would give me. My friends uncles neighbor owns a beautiful Pit Bull. He had to get rid of it, because of his a**hole neigbors giving him too muh grief aobut the dog. It was 99% harmless. I voted "No...." on the poll. When I did the poll the "No" was in the lead (YEA!)

I voted "no"

We're at 1584 to 1288. 4 of those votes are purely mine. I'm still voting too, hahaha. Too much time on my hands. You can vote multiple times, just close the window and keep clicking "answer"

It was at 1580 when I opened the website, and now it is at 1600! Yay for me! lol. Actually it took me like 20 minutes to do that, because I had to vote like 5 times to get it to go up one vote...

It's still 55% no and 45% yes.

Quote:

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Originally posted by ChrisH
I voted the same as Karen, the ratio now is 57% Yes and 43% No.

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What a difference Pet Talkers can make. I voted no and now it's 43% Yes and 57% No. :D

Stupid Stereotypes.. :mad:

I don't see myself ever owning a Pit Bull, but I voted No too.
Once they start banning dogs, it'll be a slippery slope,
until someday the dog I have could very well pop up on
the list. So I'm against banning any breed of dog.

Par...

Welcome to Pet Talk, I hate that Pit bulls have such a terrible reputation. It is just so common for people to buy a pit bull for the purpose of training them to be mean and aggressive. I wish poeple would be more responsible.

I also voted no. Pitbulls are no more dangerous than any other dog not properly trained. I think they've gotten a bad rap to the point where alot, it not most, insurance companies refused to insure owners of pitbulls. It's sad because it's not the dogs fault, but the owners. There are some bad owners out there that train their dogs for dog fighting. When I lived in CT, I wrote a column called "Pet of the Week" and would visit many pounds and shelters. The number of pitbulls and pitbull mixes was overwhelming. I don't know how it is in other states, but most of the dogs that were euthanized and never got homes were pitbulls.

moosmom writes:

Quote:

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Pitbulls are no more dangerous than any other dog not properly trained

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Well this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but
realistically I don't think this is a true statement. A poorly breed
or improperly trained Pitbull is going to be much more dangerous,
than say a toy poodle. They have unbelievably strong jaws. My
boss's Lab was severely injured by a Pitbull attack. He was
walking the Lab at the beach on a leash and a Pitbull broke loose
of his owner and grabbed his Lab by the throat and took him
down. It took my boss and his friend to pry the Pitbull's jaws from
the Lab's throat. They had to rush the Lab to the vet for stitches
to stop the bleeding.

Par...

Par, I agree with you and disagree

Yes a pit bull has a strong jaw but so does a shepherd and more. Other breeds are trained in things like bite work schutzhund and more.
I am a vet tech and I was attack by a hound dog due to the owner not wanting a breed that is for guard work so she took a good hunting dog and turned him into a killer. I had to put my arm over my throat to keep this dog from grabbing it. I am lucky cuz I have been on the other side of the training ring when it comes to training dogs in bite work. I got into one of those suits to see what it was like. But I will say this in the suit you know you are protected and you know its going to happen. I didnt nor did I ever think a hound would do what he did. To make the story even worse this owner was a doctor. So this is an upstanding part of sociaty did anything happen to her NO .. I had the dog put down yes but she didnt have to pay a dime of my arm getting repaired. I know she just went out and bought another dog.
Pit bulls can and should be trained by the breeders with a good behavior .. I know with my pups you dont get the pup until its 16 weeks old due to me wanting the dog to know from the start some good behaviors. The only way you can get a pup early from me if sign your life away on that dog. I have such a big contract to sign that its hard for someone to train my pup mean. If more breeders would make there customers fix the animal we would not have all these back yard breeders that are just out for a buck. Its a shame that we have to put up with this .. if the government would put a law on owners we would be better off ..

I don't feel like reading some of theese comments... because i don't want my look on some people on here to change.

All i know, is it's the owners fault. People are morons. Makes me ashamed to be one.

Hi geisthexe!

Thanks for your response. I really think it helps to be able to
talk openly about controversial subjects.

I think actually I'm in full agreement with you. I wasn't really
saying that there aren't other breeds that can be aggressive
and do damage. I was only trying to point out that there are
breeds, that while they may be totally out of control due to
being improperly trained, can't do the damage that a PitBull or
a GSD, etc. could do, even if they tried to. As owners we need
be aware and realistic about the breed we own. The man that
owned the PitBull that attacked my boss' Lab was totally in shock
that his dog would do such a thing. He was just clueless
about his dog. He wasn't a bad man and his dog wasn't bad
either.

As a terrier owner myself, albeit Cairns, I am always mindful
of their terrier instincts. I've socialized them and trained them
to be nothing but friendly, but there are situations that can
occur that will kick in those terrier instincts. If I'm unrealistic
about that, somebody elses small dog or cat or rabbit could
get hurt. That doesn't mean they're bad dogs. They're terriers
and they're scrappy. That's all I'm really trying to say about
Pitbulls too.

And let me iterate that I'm against banning of PitBulls.

Par...

Hey Par,

I was never doubting you or saying you were wrong cuz you are right in this case.
I own as you know now know AmBulls, and just the other night when I took the dogs for a walk. I always watch around me so I know what is going on due to me walking them at such a late time. But on Saturday night I was walking from what I could see no one was around. But the next I knew my AmBulls were chasing some guy. The guy came out of no where! My dogs never bit him but they trapped him next to someones house. I asked him what he was doing and he just yelled at me to call off the dogs. Instead of me calling them off I called the police (wonderful Cell Phones) Then police showed up and I told the cops I walk here every night and the neighbors know it. The one cop asked if he could pet my dogs asked what breed and the other cop was talking to the man. The man said he was just walking and he just happened to be behind me. Well needless to say the man went with the cops. he was drunk and pissed off and yelled I will get you for this .. so they took him. The best part of it .. my dogs never got into trouble. ::sigh:: glad for that one!
Hexe

Hey again Hexe!!!

Great story and what good dogs. I was walking late at night
with Maddie once and a Charles Manson type looking guy
rode by us on his bike. He stopped and came back towards
us to say Hi in a leering sort of way. Maddie went racing up
to him with her tail wagging. Argh! I scooped her up and
rushed across the street away from him and he left without
incident. I can only hope if someone actually attacked me,
she'd have a lil' bit better protection instinct.

Par...

Par,

I would hope so too....
I would never have thought my two babies would have done that .. cuz they are so use to strangers at the parks and stuff and we have never had that happen .. but could you have imagined if that man would have attacked and my dogs attacked back??? The thought of having to have my babies put down just kills me.
I know kids can come running up and pett them pull there tails and so on ..
I am just glad they look and at mean but are not!!!
Hexe

Hexe,

The Pitbull definitely gets a raw deal. I've no doubt if my dogs
attacked someone, who attacked me, they'd be labeled as
heroic. I don't think I'd have to worry about being forced to
put them down.

Par...

Par,

I agree again .. but you know how this world is ...
What type of Terrier do you have?
I hope we can work on getting the BSL to stop there banns and start going after the owner and dog fighters.
I moved to a smaller town cuz of pit fighting ... didnt want my dogs to be stolen
Hexe

I've got 2 Cairn terriers. They're extremely friendly most of the
time, but I do have to be careful when I get around smaller
dogs, especially if they're somewhat rat looking, like min pins
or toy fox terriers. They were around these types of dogs,
when they were puppies, because my grandparents had some,
but it doesn't seem to have made a difference now that they're
older.

I just got a Collie puppy and they are doing great with him,
but he's as big as them and he doesn't have an aggressive
bone in his body. Aggressiveness on the other dog's part
can set them off too, no matter how big the other dog is.

That's crappy about having to worry about your dog being
stolen.

Par...

yeah it is but california has alot of it ..
pit fighters every where...
but I like the small town I live in ...
my dogs are well liked and all know them ..soo
great dogs you have love to see pix of them sometime
Hexe

hola hexe!

You can see pics of my dogs in the "Oz, Murph and Maddie Pics"
thread, that's still on the first page of this forum.
I'd love to see pics of your furkids too, so hope you'll post
some of their pics.

Par...

Of course I voted NO, and the no's are currently winning out at 57% to the yesses with 43%