This is the paper I wrote for my college english class. We had to pick a topic to research hence all the citations in the paper. It was 8 1/2 pages long and I got an A on it (yay).


Tara Turek
Jan Macomber
English 102
May 8, 2007

Banning the Breed

In Louisville, Kentucky, a mother was feeding her 14-month-old daughter when

the family pit bull suddenly attacked and mauled the baby to death. This, like many of the

other attacks, is a true tragedy because it could have been prevented. How many times

did the owners of this dog see aggressiveness in their dog towards small children? Did

the owners of this dog think of properly introducing their child to this dog so that it

wasn’t unfamiliar? Attacks like this have been common in the world but is this breed

truthfully vicious and dangerous?

“Since the late 1800’s pit bulls have been excellent family pets and have always

been known to be reliable around people without being aggressive towards them. It is

true that pit bulls were bred to fight other dogs and also bulls (hence the name pit “bull”)

for entertainment, but if the dog was found to be mean towards people it was put down

and not used for breeding to stamp out the aggression” (pit bull facts). “In the mid-1800’s

pit bulls were commonly used as guard dogs for everything because of their large,

muscled bodies. They were highly trained to recognize only certain people and attack

those who were unwelcome. Pit bulls were even used up in northern countries such as

England, Norway, and Canada. When bear hunting, men would take about 4 pit bulls

with them at a time and if they were attacked by any bears the pit bulls would gang up on

the bear and almost easily take it down themselves” (Maloney). For the past 35 years pit

bulls have suddenly been known to attack and kill people.

Rod Jones made a statement saying, "Legislation is due, laws are in order, and

the situation is out of hand. Let's be sure of our focus. Laws are for humans, not for

animals who have no say about the captive environment they must endure." The

government wants to put laws on pit bulls mainly banning them, but also putting other

restrictions on them to try and prevent more deadly attacks. Many lawsuits have come up

in courts all over the U.S. of people suing other people from deadly pit bull attacks and

state governments are tired of it. The only solution they see, and the only one that seems

easy enough, is to ban owning this particular breed of dog, rather than find a more

sensible solution. “The legislation of banning pit bulls has appeared in courts often and

has won its case in only eight cities where people are no longer allowed to own pit bulls.

Banning this breed has also even taken place in Canada, France, Norway and the United

Kingdom” (chart, wikipedia)

There have been many recorded pit bull attacks. Too many headlines have been

about the family pit bull attacking small children. Gabrielle Birkner wrote for the New

York Sun and put in an article on quite a few attacks “On November 6, 2005 a ten year

old boy was attacked by three pit bulls. In May, a 2 year old girl was killed by two pit

bulls and a month later a 12 year old boy was mauled to death. In the year of 2005 a total

of 12 people were killed by pit bulls.” These attacks by these certain dogs have been the

only ones noticed though. For instance in October 2005, “a three month old baby was laid

down onto a bed next to the family Pomeranian while her uncle went to ready her bottle.

When he returned he found the Pomeranian attacking the baby. The little girl was killed

and this time it wasn’t a pit bull that did it. In 2001 a young teen was attacked by an

elder gentleman’s two Rottweilers while out for a stroll. The teen survived but he was

seriously injured. Pit bulls are not the only dogs out there that are capable of fatal human

attacks” (Maloney). In fact it has been shown that “more people have been killed by

Rottweilers than pit bulls because it is more of an instinct to a rottwiler to protect and

guard no matter what” (Maloney). “There are many other recorded dog attacks that don’t

include pit bulls but rather include breeds such as, mastiffs, German Sheppard’s, chows,

sharpes, Presa Canarios, Doberman pinchers, and even the known friendly house pet, the

golden retriever” (Beach).

Tim Maloney who wrote a magazine article for Dog Fancy and is trying to defend

the pit bull stated “You may think you know your pet for one moment, and then the next

thing you know it’s attacking your infant.” “There are many reasons behind why

dogs or any animal attack humans. It’s a common known fact that all animals act on

instinct especially when it comes to fear and nearly anything can frighten a dog.

Attacking is one way that they show their fear. The dogs you hear about in the news must

have had a reason for attacking. There are secrets that they don’t share with the public

when telling of the gruesome stories of these attacks” (Maloney). “In 1998 a 5 year old

boy was playing in his backyard when a pit bull jumped over the fence and attacked the

boy. The boy died from the impact of being hit by the dog when it ran toward him at top

speed, breaking his neck” (Bulwa). This is what it said in the news. What the reporter

failed to tell you was that the boy was throwing sticks into the yard of which the dog

came. Perhaps the dog had felt threatened if struck by one of the sticks and responded as

any animal would do. “A woman was taking a walk with her pit bull in a park just when

the sun was setting. She was approached by a larger looking man when suddenly her pit

bull attacked the man and hospitalized him” (Bulwa). Little did anyone know that the

woman had been a little startled when approached by a man in the evening who was only

asking for directions, and acting upon her fear, her dog attacked the man in order to

protect her. “Protecting the family is what the pit bull was originally bred to do. Dogs can

sense human emotions, the chemical change that occurs when a person goes from happy

to sad. If a dog feels devoted to a person and suddenly feels a fear inside this person, it is

supposed that the dog will do anything in its power to protect this person because it is so

faithful” (Maloney). “Two 13 year old boys were playing in the front yard with a

baseball. They were running back and fourth when they noticed a large pit bull running

towards them. They both immediately turned towards the house to run inside for safety

when the pit bull got their first, grabbing hold of one boys arm and shaking the boy back

and fourth. The boy was mauled but not killed” (Bulwa). The news told of the boys

condition, how the dog was put down, and complained that dogs were too vicious but

they forgot to mention why the dog possibly attacked the boy. Dogs are always willing to

play and are full of energy. A committee of pit bull lovers came forth and protested that

putting the dog down was unfair. One man, a behaviorist who studies the behavior of

dogs, particularly pit bulls, claimed that “the pit bull was attracted to the fun that the boys

were having and just wanted to play too. Often this happens with family dogs. They play

too rough because they don’t understand that human bodies are fragile” (Maloney).

What exactly is a pit bull though? An informative website called

Understand-a-bull.com that tries to help people understand this breed better tells us

“There are other breeds of dogs that have been mistaken for a pit bull and yet there are

certain breeds that fall under the label of “pit bull.” The American Pit Bull Terrier and

the American Staffordshire Terrier are commonly considered a "pit bull." There are

several other breeds including the Indian Bull Terrier, Argentine Dogo, the English Bull

Terrier, the American Bulldog, and the Perro de Presa

Canario due to some physical similarities between the breeds”. Dog lovers who are

fighting for pit bulls and trying to defend them are claiming that false accusations are

being put on pit bulls because of the other breeds that look like them. “In many incidents

it wasn’t exactly a pit bull that had attacked someone. It was a Presa Canario or an

American Staffordshire Terrier. This is one argument brought up to defend pit bulls from

being banned. Where do they draw the line of what is a pit bull if so many fall under the

category of dangerous and vicious dog?” (undersand-a-bull.com) Because of this open

argument many cities have been unable to ban the breed.

There are plenty of ways to prevent such attacks and prevent future court battles

over vicious dogs. Most of the aggressiveness that comes in these dogs is blamed on the

owners. Dogs require certain amount of maintenance to take care of and raise.

Irresponsible owners mistreat the dog which brings out a mean side in it towards people.

“The only people raising fighting dogs today are a small contingent (est. 1-2%)

of criminals and gang members - these people are also selling drugs, carry guns and are a

threat to society on many different levels. Breed bans will not stop these people or curb

the danger they pose in our society” (Pit bull facts). Preventing pit bull attacks can work

on the other end too and not be blamed completely on the owner but on the person who

was attacked as well. Most people do not know how to approach a dog. Never run up to

one, you’ll frighten it. Never raise your voice and never show any kind of rough manner

towards it because you don’t know the dog and you won’t know its reaction. The

governments conclusion for all this is that the pit bull must be naturally dangerous and

must be put down because of it. If more was done to help prevent attacks rather than just

banning the breed, the innocent lives of those pit bulls who aren’t “vicious” could be

saved and they could keep their loving homes. Pit bulls should not be banned from homes

but rather banned from irresponsible owners.

“Twenty three places across the world have moved towards banning pit bulls.

Only eighteen states have motioned the banning but only nine have the banning active”

(Washington Post). Most of these places are in New York, a place where pit bull fighting

is common among gang members. A chart that can be seen on wikipedia shows “States

that have active banning legislation are Utah, Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and

Maryland. Although its not active in the entire state, only in certain cities where pit bull

fighting in common or these are places where people have been attacked excessively and

pit bulls are commonly owned. Three banning legislations take place in Europe and two

are active in Canada. More states such as California, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Ohio”

are moving to ban the breed as well but many committees, groups, and organizations are

fighting back to defend the breed from unfair judgment. Many petitions and websites

have spawned from these organizations as many dog lovers have spread the word to help

save the pit bull. Officer Annemarie Lucas from Animal Planets TV series “Animal

Precinct” says, “Pit bulls are not all dangerous. Their behavior forms from the treatment

they receive in their early lives and their aggressiveness reflects how their owners treated

them.” Organizations such as “Pit Bull Lovers of America” use statements like this to

defend their arguments. Research commonly points to the fact that most dogs are

mistreated by their owners which does reflect their aggressiveness but this is commonly

ignored when the banning legislation is proposed and argued in court.

An article on cnn.com states “Study: Rottweilers responsible for most fatal dog

attacks on humans. Between 1991 and 1998, 33 fatal Rottweiler attacks have been

recorded. This number surpasses the fatal pit bull attacks making the Rottweiler the most

vicious dog.” Yet no arguments have been brought up about banning the Rottweiler

because it is dangerous. “The reason for this could be that Rottweilers are not commonly

used in dog fights because once this breed of dog is trained to fight aggressively, its

attitude towards humans becomes aggressive as well, very unlike the pit bull” (Bulwa).

“The next most claimed vicious dog is the Doberman Pinscher, statistics on attacks are

slightly below the pit bull making it the third most dangerous dog” (cnn.com) Again no

arguments towards this breed have popped up. Researchers on animal behavior claim the

only way this breed is aggressive is if the dog is not bred correctly or if it is mistreated by

its owners. Other dog attacks have been recorded but not many of them have received

high statistics on attacks like these three breeds have. The only dog to receive a

punishment and suffer for these attacks though is the pit bull. Banning pit bulls because

they attack people is like banning cars because people get in car accidents. Understand-a-

bull.com points out “If pit bulls are going to be banned for biting or attacking people then

why aren’t other breeds such as; the Husky, Labrador Retriever, Akita, Boxer, Blue


Heeler, Jack Russell Terrier, Dachshund, Border Collie, Great Dane, Malamute, West

Highland Terrier, and many other breeds banned for also known attacks on people? Any

breed of dog can be aggressive and any breed of dog can attack a person if it feels the need to”.

The problem faced with banning pit bulls is that even though in many cities pit

bulls are already banned, people still find other ways to smuggle pit bulls in. Like Harriet

Tubman in the under ground railroad, there are people who house pit bulls in secret and

protect them in safe environments, these pit bulls are not vicious or dangerous. If more

cities ban, more people are going to attempt to rebel and keep bringing in pit bulls

anyway. Due to active gang membership, pit bulls have been massively bred. This breed

is a common sign of strength, viciousness, and toughness in the “gangster world.” So

many of them are owned to make the owner look impressive. What could be more

impressive than owning a pit bull in a place where it is forbidden?

Pit bulls have indeed fatally attacked many people, there is hard evidence for that

and it is understandable that city governments want to ban pit bulls because of so much

damage that is caused by them. But there are more reasonable and fair ways to deal with

this rather than taking the easy way out and banning the breed. Taking actions to better

the behavior of this breed, monitoring them more, forbidding owners who have had

trouble in the past with vicious dogs to ever own one again, and many other actions to

save the pit bull. Once the pit bull is banned every where it is supposed that the breeding

of this breed will discontinue and it will die out. A price that this dog has to pay just

because a few of its kind turned out aggressive due to careless owners and yet no other

breed is being punished for its wrong doing. Pit bulls should not be banned because most

of them are mistreated and forced to fight each other for their owner’s entertainment. Pit

bulls should be saved from people so that they can live in loving homes with people who

know how to handle a dog properly like a person who is just looking for a companion.

Not someone who wants to see it suffer the way most pit bulls do now. No one ever sees

what’s behind the attack, the news fails to deliver that. No one ever cares what happened

to the dog. It’s not about the attacks. It’s about the people behind them.