This Is The Attitude I Face......
everyday when I walk my dogs. People like this really, really scare me. What about cigarette smoke? Second hand smoke alone kills 50,000 people a year.
It's time to put an end to the carnage of pit bulls
By Matt Rosenberg
Special to The Times
America can count on two things this summer: Western forest fires and gruesome carnage by pit bulls. The latter is already well under way in Washington, and across the U.S.
Yet, experts aplenty criticize breed-specific regulations. They urge more public education. Unfortunately, though, too many thuggish or careless pit bull owners aren't interested in learning responsibility.
And as it happens, pit bulls stand alone among dogs as killers. A study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association shows that over 20 years, pit bulls lead in human dog-bite-related fatalities for which breed was reported. They're followed at some distance by Rottweilers, then German Shepherds and Huskies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, pit bulls are also among the breeds that bite most often. About 800,000 of the estimated 4.7 million annual U.S. dog bites require medical treatment. Insurance claims total $1 billion a year.
Definitions of pit bulls include American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and mixes including those breeds. Pit bulls have historically been fighters. Many are still bred for violence. Thus, local laws may ban them or require they be caged, or muzzled and restrained ? sometimes even micro-chipped and heavily insured.
In other words, they're ticking time bombs, as Western Washington has been recently reminded. In three West Seattle incidents this spring, pit bulls attacked dogs (one died, another was severely injured) and a man, Joseph Muñoz. He suffered three broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken back and multiple scars. Muñoz says, "These dangerous dogs need to be taken off the streets of Seattle."
In March, a pit bull mauled a 3-year-old boy to death in Lakewood, Pierce County. In April, two pit bulls attacked a Renton police dog pursuing a suspect, then were shot by police.
Nationwide reports this spring further highlight the pit bull menace. Here's a very partial sampling.
? In Cortlandt, N.Y., a seated 75-year-old woman visiting a friend's home bled to death after the friend's pit bull suddenly attacked her face.
? A roommate's pit bull attacked a Huntington, W. Va., man, breaking hand bones and nearly severing his pinky.
? A 52-year-old electric meter reader lost an ear and part of her scalp to a pit bull in Brevard County, Fla.
? Pit bulls attacked a 64-year-old Augusta, Maine, man outside his apartment. He got 14 stitches for wounds on an arm and wrist.
? In suburban Salt Lake City, a 3-year-old girl in a park had her face torn apart by a pit bill.
? In the Bronx, another badly ripped up a 10-year-old boy's leg.
"Certain breeds represent a very significantly increased risk of death or injury," a Nationwide Mutual Insurance spokesman told the Chicago Tribune. The company won't cover households with pit bulls, Rottweilers and four other breeds. Other industry officials agree breed is increasingly a major factor.
Governments are wary, too. Pit Bull Rescue Central reports Denmark, Norway, Holland and Romania ban pit bulls, likewise at least 55 U.S. jurisdictions. These include Denver; Miami-Dade County; Prince George's County, Md.; and Puerto Rico. Some bans also include Rottweilers.
The Spokane City Council recently banned non-service animals from large downtown events. Police told the Spokesman-Review they're especially concerned about breeds including pit bulls and Rottweilers. A captain notes, "Our fear is one of these dogs is going to take a child's face off... "
Last week, the Seattle City Council added animals that severely injure another to its definition of dangerous critters, subject to micro-chipping, banishment or humane disposal. Also new is a civil citation of "potentially dangerous" animals for minor bites and various aggressive behaviors.
It's an improvement, but a pit bull ban is required here. True, complications can arise about what is and isn't a pit bull, and a ban isn't always easy to enforce. However, this only underscores the need for clear definitions and procedures, and prioritization of funding. We need safety, not excuses.
So-civil Seattle already bans sidewalk-sitting and public urination; and will continue through this summer exterminating geese, because their abundant fecal matter causes "swimmer's itch" and may pose disease risks. That's all well and good. But neither the homeless nor pooping waterfowl chew up dogs, able-bodied adults or children, with "jaws of death."
People now deter attacking pit bulls with their own weapons, like baseball bats, recently near Vancouver, Clark County, and Santa Fe, N.M.; and a handgun, in Columbus, Ohio.
Something is fundamentally askew when clandestine, organized pit bull fights are sprouting nationwide; when so many pit bulls are abandoned; and when others regularly run free, or bust loose and attack.
You might own a docile, loving pit bull. Others may responsibly harbor a perfectly legal Bushmaster XM15-A3 assault rifle. Neither should be allowed.
Matt Rosenberg is a Seattle writer and regular contributor to The Times' editorial pages. E-mail him at [email protected]
Search And Rescue Pit Bulls
I think it's only fair that we put something positive in this thread, also. These very pit bulls helped search ground zero after 9-11. I know I'd be glad to see their furry faces if I was lost or trapped some where. :) Even she faces the hysteria and misconceptions.......
Alameda County Woman Trains Pit Bulls for Search and Rescue--Worth the TROUBLE
Jon Mays
People have thrown rocks and yelled at her. They?ve even tried to poison her dogs. She even ended up renting a small trailer on a Castro Valley ranch without heat or running water because she couldn?t find another place that would allow pit bulls.
And despite the trouble, Kristine Crawford will load her pit bull search-and-rescue dogs into her 4X4 truck at any hour, no matter how far away, to help find a missing person. Crawford owns three pit bulls. One is trained in specialized search-and-rescue techniques such as cadaver and area search and the other two are finishing up their training in area as well as trailing a specific scent. They are also trained to navigate boulders, rugged and steep terrain in the forest and rubble in the city, Crawford said.
Crawford is a member of the California Search and Rescue Dog Association, a volunteer group of SAR Dog handlers who are on call to help find missing persons anywhere in the state. She is also an Operations Lieutenant for the Alameda County Sheriff Search and Rescue Unit.
Last month, Crawford was called to Pacifica, here in San Mateo County, to help find a missing 85-year-old man with Alzheimer?s disease. At 2 a.m., Crawford and her teammates had been searching for an hour when another dog team found the man 600 feet down a ravine entangled in some brush. Crawford assisted with the extrication of the man because he would not have survived the night as it was very cold out.
However, the negative stigma attached to pit bulls causes Crawford to have her share of unpleasant moments as well. Once, Crawford was helping a search-and-rescue effort in the Sierra Nevadas when, after driving several hours to get there a sheriff?s deputy pulled a gun on Dakota, her primary search-and-rescue dog. ?He said, ?That?s a vicious dog. You need to put him back in the truck.? Then a deputy from another county who had worked with me told him to holster his weapon and thank his lucky stars we were here to help because Dakota is one damn good search dog,? she said.
In fact, Crawford said the typical characteristics of a pit bull make them great search-and-rescue dogs. Pit bulls are courageous, intelligent, agile, social and extremely focused. ?Whatever they do, they do to the best of their ability,? she said.
Scott Delucchi, spokesperson for the Peninsula Humane Society, said pit bulls are definitely a working dog and they can also be aggressive with other dogs. However, he said with the increased media attention, there?s a misconception that dog bites are on the rise.
Delucchi also said much of pit bulls? reputation depends on their owners. ?Different types of people want to have pit bulls,? Delucchi said. ?Sometimes they have a macho mentality and they want to have an aggressive dog,?
Crawford, a 40-year-old woman who moved to the Bay Area from Minnesota 10 years ago, may be tough, but she?s anything but macho. Crawford wants to have pit bulls because they help her save lives.
Crawford has been training pit bulls professionally for sixteen years, and pit bull SAR dogs for 6 years, ever since she saved Cheyenne from being euthanized. Crawford adopted Cheyenne because she was going to be euthanized, not because of her behaviour or temperment, but simply because of the type of breed she was. Crawford was battling a severe illness at the time and Cheyenne, now 6 years old, was instrumental in Crawford's recovery.
Crawford adopted now 5-year-old Dakota when she was 6 weeks old and was rescued from a dog-fighting ring. Since then, Dakota has become the star of her crew. Her third dog is Tahoe, a 14-month-old who is the youngest dog in the group.
Even though the dogs usually sport their ?search dog? vests in public, Crawford said people have gotten so angry at her for having the breed that while walking her dogs (on leash, of course) they have thrown rocks at her and screamed that she is a disgrace to society for owning that breed. Once, she discovered that someone had sprinkled rat poison in her car after placing a nasty note about pit bulls on her car. Another time, she was training with Dakota on a golf course that was closed when a trespassing golfer hit the dog over the head with a golf club. ?He said, ?All I saw was a pit bull coming at me,? ? she said. She was even wearing her big bright orange search dog vest.
Crawford is committed to breaking the stigma attached to the breed and often brings all three dogs to schools, hospitals and nursing homes. "The visits to schools are extremely important, Crawford said, because with our Safety Around Dogs program we are teaching children how to behave around dogs and what to do in the event of an attack." Most importantly, she said children should not run because that may provoke the predatory instinct. If attacked, Crawford said it?s critical to remain still and cover the neck and head.
Crawford said it's hard but rewarding when visiting nursing homes. There are some that go days and sometimes weeks without visitors. To the lonely, Crawford said, her dogs make a difference despite the breed's bad reputation.
?They may not say a word, but you see their eyes light up and a hint of a smile, and you know you've made a difference,? she said.
©2000 Berkeley Daily Planet/San Mateo Daily Journal
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