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A pit bull is no more of a dangerous dog than any other dog. In general, a pit bull only becomes dangerous and attacks or bites people when a generic label is placed on a dog that attacks or bites a person. When a dog is aggressive towards other animals, that makes it that much easier to deem a dog as being dangerous. The truth behind the answer solely relies upon the reliability of who determines what a pit bull is considered to be.
If you read media articles or listen to the news you may hear one thing. If you talk to owners of pit bulls, you may hear another. If you speak to animal shelters or rescue organizations, they may have a totally different story as well.
Why are there so many conflicting answers to the simple question "are pit bulls dangerous?"
That answer, however, is fairly basic. Society in general has preconceived a "pit bull" to simply be: any breed of dog of muscular build with an aggressive nature. This incorrect preconception has been generated by media propaganda.
You may be wondering "How can the media/news be wrong?"
The media, as evil or good as you may perceive them, has also been mislead in a number of ways by the ignorance of "pit bull" owners and witnesses they have interviewed.
To understand fully, you must first grasp the history behind the subject. The following a brief breakdown in chronological order of both basic history, how this has transpired and what has intervened:
You also have breeds such as American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs, American Bullies, etc. that are also considered to be pit bulls. The majority of all of them do not attack or bite people. It is only the generalized label "pit bull" that gives the dogs such a bad reputation when it comes to being dangerous, attacking or biting.
Today most pit bulls, of any breed, are still extremely family\human friendly and docile mostly due to the American Pit Bull Terrier's long history of interacting with people. Even though the generic "pit bull" is the norm... pure bred American Pit Bull Terriers still exist today and continue to thrive.
If you read media articles or listen to the news you may hear one thing. If you talk to owners of pit bulls, you may hear another. If you speak to animal shelters or rescue organizations, they may have a totally different story as well.
Why are there so many conflicting answers to the simple question "are pit bulls dangerous?"
That answer, however, is fairly basic. Society in general has preconceived a "pit bull" to simply be: any breed of dog of muscular build with an aggressive nature. This incorrect preconception has been generated by media propaganda.
You may be wondering "How can the media/news be wrong?"
The media, as evil or good as you may perceive them, has also been mislead in a number of ways by the ignorance of "pit bull" owners and witnesses they have interviewed.
To understand fully, you must first grasp the history behind the subject. The following a brief breakdown in chronological order of both basic history, how this has transpired and what has intervened:
- The actual breed of dog, the American Pit Bull Terrier (labeled then, as short "pit bull") was bred solely for dog fighting for many generations. American Pit Bull Terriers were extremely loyal and family\human oriented dogs but displayed a high level of animal aggression.
- As society changed, and deemed the dog fighting sport both illegal and immoral (1976), new owners began crossbreeding the fighting dogs with other breeds for their own "better" purposes, which had no laws against them.
- The mixed bred offspring of these dogs maintained similar physical characteristics of the original "pit bull." However, they also carried the genetic makeup of both or all breeds\dogs used in their crossbreeding.
- When they were bred to guardian\protection dogs (some of which have similarities in physical appearance), the natural selection process of genetic instinct of the dogs began.
- The animal aggression and tenacity of the American Pit Bull Terrier mixed with the courageousness of the "guard dog" began a trend for owners to both admire and solicit.
- After several generations of breeding mixed bred dogs with clashing purposes, there were some of these mixed bred dogs that began biting people.
- New owners of these mixed bred "pit bulls" continued to breed and crossbreed these dogs for countless business purposes and monetary gains such as "rare" color, huge heads, short and stocky, large and oppressive looks and even as "attack dogs," etc.
- Since these dogs looked similar to an American Pit Bull Terrier at the time, the "new breed," the so-called "pit bull" became even more popular.
- Media and society alike began generalizing a "pit bull" as a breed dog of muscular build with a high degree of aggressiveness due to the graphic nature of the incidents which occurred during the above period.
- Breed bans generalizing "pit bull" breeds were introduced and discussed throughout the the world and passed in certain areas (Breed Specific Legislation).
- Owners who knew what was actually occurring stepped in and started attempting to educate society on why these legislations were unconstitutional and without due basis.
- Rescue and animal organizations also stepped in to work with and educate new owners of how to deal with these "pit bulls" and push the need for spaying\neutering of dogs.
You also have breeds such as American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs, American Bullies, etc. that are also considered to be pit bulls. The majority of all of them do not attack or bite people. It is only the generalized label "pit bull" that gives the dogs such a bad reputation when it comes to being dangerous, attacking or biting.
Today most pit bulls, of any breed, are still extremely family\human friendly and docile mostly due to the American Pit Bull Terrier's long history of interacting with people. Even though the generic "pit bull" is the norm... pure bred American Pit Bull Terriers still exist today and continue to thrive.
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