What has four legs and one arm?
A PIT-BULL!
“What are you gonna write about in your blog this week, Doug?” a friend asked the other day. “Well, I’ve been thinking about weighing in on the debate over whether or not certain breeds of dogs, like Pit-bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans, should be banned in the city limits of Sioux Falls because they’re vicious,” I said. “Waddaya Nuts? Don’t you realize that dog lovers are going to tear into you like a…well, a Pitt-bull on a bunny rabbit?” he warned.
Point is, I’m not advocating for or against the proposal but I do have a few questions and observations. First and foremost is that every one of those breeds scare the snot out of me and, in my walking days, the site of a pair of Dobermans barking wildly and charging the backyard fence each day as I’d pass by, always caused my bowels to loosen just a little bit. Oh, I tried stopping and would speak softly..calling them puppy but they’d have none of it and kept looking for a hole in the fence large enough to squeeze through and get at my throat. Well, Doug, dogs are territorial and they’re just defending their territory. Well, that sidewalk is my territory paid for with my tax dollars and I should have the right to stroll by without being terrorized. There were lots of dogs of all breeds and sizes along my three mile route but only two (why are Dobermans usually in pairs) that wished me dead. Well, it must be the owner’s fault for not spending enough time with his dogs training them. I guess everybody agrees on that. I think most would also agree that these dogs..especially the three mentioned above..were genetically designed to be powerful, intimidating and in some cases, like Pit-bulls, vicious. What I don’t understand is why so many people feel the need to own one knowing that these creatures will require a lot of extra attention to train out the natural nastiness bred into them. I can hear it now, you don’t know what you’re talking about Lund, my “Rottie’ or my “Dobie” or my “Pittie” is the most gentle friendly dog on the planet. They also claim guys like me in the media are to blame for giving them a bad rap; only reporting attacks by these animals while, in fact, more people are actually bitten by lovable Labradors..failing to mention that labs outnumber Rotties, Dobies and Pitties by a gazillion to one so your odds of an unfortunate encounter with a mean one are somewhat greater. Plus, unlike a Pit-bull, a lab is likely to bite once and take off rather than hang around until the attackee is dead as a carp.
How do you see a Pit-bull? Like this:
Or This:
It seems on one hand they detest the media for what they believe to be unfairly labeling their dog vicious, while on the other they love the fact that their animal is a more effective watchdog because it has the reputation of simply having to do nothing more than stand there to keep trespassers away.
I personally think people like having these breeds of dogs mostly for the wow factor. “Wow, you have a Pit-bull?” “Isn’t he dangerous? Aren’t you afraid?Has he ever attacked anybody?”
Sort of like those who go to Buffalo Wild Wings and order the hottest ones on the menu and consume them in pain in order to impress their friends. “Wow, how can you eat those? Aren’t you on fire?”
I literally don’t have a dog in this fight (Even though I’ve tried to convince Linda we should get one) and I’m certainly not advocating the extermination of Pit-bulls but unless there’s a way to make sure they don’t wind up in the care of idiotic uncaring owners, I wouldn’t mind allowing the breed to naturally go extinct.
Okee Dokee commenters…SIC ‘EM.