Peta president supports pit bull bans

[K9soul]

After watching the video that Julie (Goldenretrluver) posted, I've been reading more about the pit bull controversy, what they go through, what is going on to stop it or not stop it, and ran across several statements about Peta being anti-pit bull and an article (from January 2000) put out by Peta's president Ingrid Newkirk in support of pit bull bans.

I first saw it mentioned while reading/looking at this site: http://www.workingpitbull.com/, which is extremely educational and informative overall in everything to do with pits.

The article is reprinted or referred to on nearly every pit bull advocate site I looked at.

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PeTA Supports the EXTERMINATION of "PIT BULL" BREEDS!

Thursday, January 27, 2000 By INGRID NEWKIRK

MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA that at many animal shelters across the country, any "pit bull" who comes through the front door goes out the back door -- in a body bag. From San Jose to Schenectady, many shelters have enacted policies requiring the automatic destruction of the huge and ever-growing number of "pits" they encounter. This news shocks and outrages the compassionate dog-lover.

The pit bull's ancestor, the Staffordshire terrier, is a human concoction, bred in my native England, I'm ashamed to say, as a weapon. These dogs were designed specifically to fight other animals and kill them, for human sport. Hence the barrel chest, the thick hammer-like head, the strong jaws, the perseverance, and the stamina. Pits can take down a bull weighing in at over a thousand pounds, so a human being a tenth of that weight is small potatoes to them.

Pit bulls are perhaps the most abused dogs on the planet. These days, they are kept for protection by almost every drug dealer and pimp in every major city and beyond. You can drive into any depressed area and see them being used as cheap burglar alarms, wearing heavy logging chains around their necks (they easily break regular collars and harnesses), attached to a stake or metal drum or rundown doghouse without a floor and with holes in the roof. Bored juveniles "sic" them on cats, neighbors' small dogs, and even children. In the PETA office we have a file drawer chock-full of accounts of attacks in which these ill-treated dogs have torn the faces and fingers off infants and even police officers trying to serve warrants.

Today, organizing dog fights is a federal offense in this country, yet pits are still king of the ring. Humane officers and other law enforcement agents routinely break up rings in New Mexico, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Florida. They confiscate dog-fighting paraphernalia, including treadmills used to build doggie endurance and drugs used to numb pain from injuries inflicted by opponents and to "jazz up" the dogs. They find mesh bags in which kittens, rabbits, puppies, and other small prey are suspended over the dogs to encourage fighting spirit. Not uncommonly they find what's left of dogs who have lost their battles. They are not always dead. Those who argue against the euthanasia policy for pit bull dogs are naive. One dog that had just been adopted by a family suddenly clamped his jaw onto the thigh of a 7-year-old boy. Two grown men had a hard time getting the dog off and the child suffered permanent nerve damage. Tales like thisabound. I have scars on my leg and arm from my own encounter with a pit. Many are loving and will kiss on sight, but many are unpredictable. An unpredictable chihuahua is one thing, an unpredictable pit another.

People who genuinely care about dogs won't be affected by a ban on pits. They can go to the shelter and save one of the countless other breeds and lovable mutts sitting on death row through no fault of their own. We can only stop killing pits if we stop creating new ones. Legislators, please take note.
By Ingrid Newkirk

Ingrid Newkirk is president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She may be contacted at PETA, 501 Front St., Norfolk, Va. 23501, or on-line at www.PETA-online.org. © 2000 Bergen Record Corp.
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One of many links to this: http://www.realpitbull.com/peta.html

[dukedogsmom]

Well I knew they go overboard on a lot of things but this takes the cake. I can't believe it.

[Kfamr]

I've never liked Peta and this just clarifys my disliking even more.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Does this sound suspiciously like racial profiling to you?

Lets ban Mexicans or Black people because there are lots of them in jail

Gimme a friggen break...

I always knew PETA was a bunch of psychos and this proves it

[aki]

I think what Ingrid Newkirk is talking about is spaying and neutering, not a genocide on the Pit Bull population. Everyone knows that some are bred for fighting, but of course, not all. For some reason those are the ones that we hear the most about. MANY people have found loving and faithful companions and additions to their families with these dogs. But once a dog, any dog is trained to kill, they cannot go back and be in a family situation. Unfortunately, Pit Bulls have the pure strength to injure or kill not only other animals but humans as well.

I think that the Pit Bull is one of the most over exploited dogs ever. Only a monster would take advantage of a animals advantages for evil.

Please don't take this letter from Ingrid from heart. Trust me, as a member of PETA myself, I know that the intentions of the organization is for the better understanding and respect of animals as a whole.

God bless all of you who are making a difference with these beautiful animal and showing how loving they can be in a loving home.

Aki~

[Dante]

We can only stop killing pits if we stop creating new ones.

For once I agree with PETA.

[K9soul]

Originally posted by Dante
For once I agree with PETA.

This might be an educating read for you.

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The American Pit Bull Terrier and its AKC cousins had a well- deserved reputation as a loyal and trustworthy family pet in the early years of this century, but of late has been severely castigated as a vicious, man-killing beast, worthy of banishment from the cities, considered guilty with no chance of proving innocence in any case.

"Pit bull" is a generic and derogatory term that encompasses any of several breeds of dogs or crosses on those breeds. Pit Bull fanciers can be divided into several camps: conscientious breeders of the AKC-registered duo who often deny kinship of their dogs with the APBT; ethical breeders of the APBT who face squarely the slander heaped upon them by ignorant neighbors; and unethical breeders of all three breeds who still indulge in dog fighting or promote aggressive temperaments for illegal purposes. Dog fighting rings still exist--it's only been a few years since a ring with national ties was busted in New Richmond and Blanchester, Ohio--and inner city drug dealers often use the dogs to guard their drug supplies and cash.

To further complicate matters, those who still breed for fighting are not as careful to preserve the dog's strong instinct to bond with humans as the early breeders did. So, today "pit bull" is a pejorative term that strikes fear in the hearts of many and leads to the spreading of urban legends about dogs with locking jaws that exert 20 thousand pounds of pressure, unstable breed temperament, and overwhelming human aggression.

In fact, the well-bred American Pit Bull Terrier is a family guardian and protector; an intelligent and obedient pet; a sweet, even-tempered dog that serves well as a help-mate to handicapped owner and friend to small children; and a healthy, hardy dog that complains little and offers much to his family.

Unfortunately, it has been more important for legislators in many jurisdictions to prove to constituents that they have "done something" about community problems. Spurred on by media accounts of "pit bull" attacks described in lurid detail, these councils and commissioners have banned pit bulls in all their forms from their communities. Never mind that the owners are the ones at fault for harboring a vicious dog; never mind that few of these dogs actually bite people; never mind that the breed and its crosses are not always easy to identify. Just ban them.

So, many shelters do not offer pit bulls or any dog that might be part pit bull to be adopted. Insurance companies cancel house insurance if a pit bull is in residence. Neighbors mistake everything from Boxers to Pugs as "pit bulls". And those criminals who used pit bulls as protectors of their illegal activities switch to Akitas or Rottweilers.

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From this site: http://www.canismajor.com/dog/amerpit.html

But you can find thousands more sites that will state exactly the same thing in varying words.

[wolflady]

After reading the article by PETA, I began to think why the punishment on the people who fight these dogs isn't more extreme? Why punish the dogs, when it's the people who are the problem.
I wanted to provide this little ray of hope here on this thread about pit bulls in shelters. At my shelter we see so many pit bulls, but unlike PETA's article, most get adopted The only ones that leave our shelter in body bags are the extremely aggressive ones. However, most of them in our shelter are very friendly. They are typically the "bait" dogs used in training the fighting dogs. I've seen both in our shelter and the difference is frightening. You look in their eyes and you can tell.
Sadly, we have had several people (with the stereotypical appearance about them) come into our shelter with enough nerve to ask "do you have any in-tact pits?" That is just rediculous. Like we would give one to people like that anyway! None of our animals leave our shelter without being fixed first.
So, anyone who wants a friendly pit to add to their family, should come to our shelter and adopt one of our cuties!
**hugs**

[Miranda_Rae]

Originally posted by Kfamr
I've never liked Peta and this just clarifys my disliking even more.

I couldn't agree more!

Originally quoted by DJFyrewolf36
I always knew PETA was a bunch of psychos and this proves it

lol....agreed!

[K9soul]

Wolflady, I enjoyed reading how your shelter handles pits, thanks for the ray of hope . I do know not all shelters automatically euthanize pits, but tragically there are ones that do, and these breed bans going on is just going to make it happen even more... it distresses me so much.