Slog - Comments on He Must Have Provoked That Dog Somehow

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:10:12 -0800

Injured? Zzzzzz.

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:13:29 -0800

Dan, is this pit bull ban of yours gaining any traction at all?

Comment by boyd main

boyd main — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:20:01 -0800

In local pit bull news, an 80 year old woman was attacked by a pit bull down the street from me last week. Her husband managed to beat the dog off with his walking frame. The dog was removed by animal control (and hopefully euthanized).

Comment by Ziggity

Ziggity — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:23:09 -0800

I only like the stories where someone beats the dog off.

Comment by Smade

Smade — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:26:43 -0800

And the wait continues for the endless train of stories about golden retrievers ripping off limbs and eating children whole.

Comment by Phil

Phil — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:30:59 -0800

Dogs should be like guns. You own one, and something happens with your gun, you're criminally liable.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:51:03 -0800

#5, here.

http://www.tristate-media.com/articles/2008/04/01/mtcarmelregister/news/news3.txt

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:57:42 -0800

http://www.click2houston.com/news/11436816/detail.html

Should I keep going?

Comment by RHETT ORACLE

RHETT ORACLE — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:00:03 -0800

Aye, aye, aye - what's Joel Con-Nelly's position on death with dignity for innocent-until-eats-children pit bulls? Or is this only on a need-to-know basis?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:08:49 -0800

Any truth to the rumor that pit bull gangs are tearing tourists apart in China?

Comment by Wowza

Wowza — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:10:40 -0800

Yes, w7ngmanm, you should - unless you consider two "cars" an "endless train".

Set yourself a goal - see if you can match just the total number of stories Dan's posted. We'll be here.

Comment by mj

mj — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:04:36 -0800

Dan, you should collect Pit Bulls and then build a concentration camp where you have the Pit Bulls eat Youth Pastors!

Comment by NOpe

NOpe — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:07:58 -0800

A couple years old, but an interesting take:

http://gladwell.com/2006/2006_02_06_a_pitbull.html

Comment by Smade

Smade — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:22:08 -0800

One golden retriever per year so far. How many years do you have to go back to catch up with the pit bull numbers from 2008?

Comment by Tim 2

Tim 2 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:49:56 -0800

@17:
That is one of the best articles I've read on this topic ever:
http://gladwell.com/2006/2006_02_06_a_pitbull.html

Thanks so much for posting that link. It'd do Dan good to read it thoroughly.

Dan: read that article thoroughly.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:53:56 -0800

#11, uhm, no thanks. I don't have enough of a psychosis to post endless dog attack/youth pastor molestion/child abuse stories and feel like I'm making a salient point.

Comment by Te

Te — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:58:11 -0800

I don't know Dan, when will people (like you) learn? How many people have told you "it's not the dogs, it's the owners"? And now you have an article where the dog clearly had a history but the irresponsible OWNERS did not take precautions. Have you learned yet? If existing leash laws/cruelty laws were enforced there would be no need for new legislation.

Also, thanks NOpe! Not just Dan, but everyone who gets smug about banning pit bulls should read that article. And then they should ask themselves how exactly they're going to implement a ban. Will they take loving animals with no history of aggression from the homes of families and kill them?

Comment by Sean

Sean — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:32:05 -0800

The gladwell.com article is well written and worth the read. However, I don't see how it can be read as exonerating the Pit Bull breed. The stats certainly don't.

But fine, if people insist on their right to own potentially deadly animals, then I think the following seems fair:

1) Special license to own Pit Bulls (and Rottweilers for that matter) along with rules for their care (leash, fence etc.). If the rules are violated, owners charged with felony and dogs removed.

2) Owners of Pit Bulls are legally liable for the violence of their dogs. If your Pit Bull kills a toddler, you are charged with murder.

Comment by Wowza

Wowza — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:48:52 -0800

@16 - 9.7 for pussying out. I knew you'd do well.

Comment by Lavode

Lavode — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:12:51 -0800

http://gladwell.com/2006/2006_02_06_a_pitbull.html

Just wanted to add my bump for the excellent article. Simple minds favor breed bans. That just results in another breed becoming the "king of mean," and NEVER SOLVES THE PROBLEM.

Comment by boynamedsue

boynamedsue — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:49:01 -0800

#20: I'd be in favor of laws that moved any actions of the dog laterally over to the owner.

If the dog rips off someones arm, the owner goes to court and faces criminal charges under the assumption that HE ripped that mans arm to shreds instead.

Might give someone something to think about before buying a breed thats in the newspaper week in and week out for attacking people.

A breed ban would only make people want something they can't have. Make them not want prison time instead.

Comment by Te

Te — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:55:33 -0800

Wowza - if you won't take w7ngman's point we could play the one-up game all day and I could leave a string of grisly links to stories about labs, shepherds, rotties, etc attacking people. But unless you're going to ban all large breeds what's the point? I own a dachshund, recently found in a study to be the most aggressive breed of dog. Will you ban them too?

If people really want to understand try talking to King County Animal Services about the challenges they face with owner compliance. Or read this http://pitbull.commercialappeal-web.com/status_symbol_leash
and think about whether pit bulls are just the latest victims of our glorification of violence.

Comment by moo

moo — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:03:44 -0800

Think of how many people and dogs have been injured because of a non-aggressive dog playfully jumping in front of a bike/car/child/another dog? But are people blaming the dogs for acting in their nature?
The solution is to keep all dogs leashed or behind a fence.