I have to agree after reading a few posts about how we should not "discriminate" against these dogs because it hurts their feelings.

My god.

"i hope a dog eats your face off" - wouldn't that help the anti-pit bull cause?

So now we need to decide who's crazier: gun lovers or pit-bull lovers.

I don't know. I bet if you find any cause being championed by a woman there will be similar crazy people saying similar things.

Participation in online petitions is prima facie evidence of low intelligence or at least failure to understand your own actions and their nil consequences.

Breaking News: Batshit Crazy People on the Internet! Film at 11. Or Youtube, whichever.

And by the way, Deval Patrick just signed into law a bill that makes regulating dogs based on breed illegal. So, if you're trying to do something that even MA says "Holy shit, that's way too nanny-state," you're probably doing something wrong.

But nice job, Governor Patrick. You're quite often an ass. But you get it right now and then.

@4: Yeah, this one wasn't about misogyny. Just idiocy. It could have been a man being such a dipshit, and he would have gotten the same response.

Just banning Pit Bulls won't help, King County doesn't have enough animal control officers to enforce a breed ban - and even if we did, what would we do with mutts who look like they might have some pit bull in them? Canine DNA tests? Instead, we should have a strict spay and neuter policy for ALL dogs and cats except for licensed animal breeders.

@8: My god, a logical idea in this discussion? The mind boggles. I also recommend getting rid of breeders entirely. Not like there aren't plenty of strays and ferals, particularly for cats. Get rid of those via adoption (and, where necessary, euthanasia) and then revisit the breeders.

@8, I'm 100% with you on mandatory spay/neuter, but your other problem is easily solved by a ban on the possession of any dog weighing more than 12 pounds, punishable by euthanasia for the pet and 60 months + 2,000 hours community service + $100,000 fine for the owner. Seeing as how the stocks in the public square is considered cruel and unusual. Make 'em wear a bright orange football helmet 24/7 for easy identification.

Weird. Everyone else is so well behaved on the web. What's with these pit bull fans? Kudos to Dominic "Scoop" Holden for sniffing out this disturbing new Internet trend.

Well, it's back to reading the civilized and dignified Slog for me. No more of this untoward and embarrassing pit bull controversy, please!

Weimeraners ftw!

A few people on the internet misbehave, so therefore we should let the crazy lady have her way. Excellent logic there, Dominic. For a three-year-old.

Pit Bulls riding with the Blue Angels carrying assault rifles!

@14, ...while eating foie gras.

hmmm.... the lesser of two evils is not defacto good.

When pit bulls are outlawed, only outlaws will have pit bulls.

Would half-breeds be banned too under the language? We had a dog whose mother was a rottweiler and father was a pit-doberman mix. I am sure assholes could breed Chihuahuas to be anti-social and aggressive.

There is the longitudinal experiment in Russia with foxes, they have domesticated line of foxes, and there is also a different line they bred, just aggressive ones, here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbcwDXhug…

aggressive foxes featured starting at timestamp: 2:15

@7: In particular I would be surprised to see a male activist being told he's 'too old and ugly' to be politically active, though some of the other comments might have been levied against a man in her shoes. I agree that the internet breeds vitriol in general, but I do think people seem to think they have permission to let their id do the typing even more when the target is a woman.

@8,

So the county doesn't have enough animal cops to enforce a breed ban, but it does have enough cops to check the package on every single male dog and cat? And how would they enforce the spay policy? Go around armed with an electric razor and check for belly scars?

One advantage a breed ban has is that dogs get walked around outside, in public, and, if the owner is an aggressive asshole who owns an aggressive pitbull, his/her neighbors will report it to the authorities. Little to no proactive intervention necessary.

@18: fair point there. The old and ugly probably wouldn't have come up. The muzzling an euthanasia would have.

@19: It's not that complicated. Around here most pet shops and shelters don't give out pets until they've been spayed or neutered. Require the same of breeders. Require vet offices to notify their customers about the requirements. Most of the vehement pet owners aren't te dog fighting type, after all. They care about their pets and bring them to the vet fairly regularly.

You'll never get them all, of course, but you'll get the bulk.

@19 Any stray animal that is picked up gets spayed/neutered (I think they already to that) - any un-fixed animal that goes for a vet visit gets reported. The owner gets the option of paying for the spay/neuter or surrendering the pet to animal control. Vets would be required to offer sliding scale spay/neuter in these situations. The Humane society often offers low price (or free) spay and neuter clinics. The money paid by breeders for licensing would support these clinics. People who put puppies up for adoption on craigslist would be easy to spot as well.

1. there are some nice pit bulls
2. the breed has the capacity to tear you apart like a lion.
3. we should not discriminate against breed of dogs.
4. frickin people love pit bulls because frickin seattlites LOOOVE to be contrary and what is more contrary than saying "see my cute and cuddly awesome puppy- that could totally destroy you if something should go wrong and it snaps" Also in relation to this you cant tell me there aren't border collies and lovable hobo muts getting passed over at kill shelters because loving pit bulls is so IN RIGHT NOW.

Most of the vehement pet owners aren't te dog fighting type, after all.

No, they're not, but the people who own the problem dogs ARE. You think the dog fighting types take their dogs to the vet ever? Fuck no. They leave an injured dog to die, assuming they don't shoot it in the head or electrocute it like Michael Vick did.

They also don't buy their pits from pet shops or licensed breeders.

Even the more innocuous problem dog owner (the type to leave a pit chained in the backyard 24/7) also isn't taking the dog to the vet or licensing it or doing anything that would put it in the system.

Enforcing 100 percent neuters for the purposes of preventing dog attacks isn't possible without cops going out and checking for testicles.

@22,

Read what I just wrote here. The people who buy pits because they're aggressive do not take their dogs to the vet.

@24 LOL!!! I can picture it now SPD's Ball Squad! And they can show it on TV. Hey you mother fucking pit bull...let's see that ball sack!!

@2..Yes. ET probably wrote the messages herself to make the Pit bulls-Are-Good-Dogs camp look unsavory. It is something she, Colleen Lynn, Russ Terrell, Mike Holden & Fatty Rose are infamous for.
When Collenn Lynn & I were scheduled to do Pro Con interview on this issue in 2008, Colleen no-showed, telling producers I frightened her. She gave them a nasty letter (which they showed me) and claimed I was responsible for writing it. Underhanded is what these folks do best.
Thankfully, no one that matters is listening to them:) This week, Massachusetts made BSL illegal!!! And Dade County is soon to reverse it's existing BSL!! So all nastiness aside, yes, Pro-Pittie folks ARE winning:)

Oops...you already mentioned Mass, Nateman. Thanks and Yay Mass!!

@24: Except a number of the problem dogs are dogs that were well taken care of, and that hadn't shown aggression before. If you look at the "Such Nice Dogs" posts on slog, many of those dogs would have seen a vet.

its irrational to be extremely pro or anti pit bull...and both sides fail to acknowledge the valid points of the other side.

it is alos mpossible to enforce a ban, so the whole point is moot. i cant wait for the next putbull mauling story...there will be one soon, i'm sure.

only until it becomes less cool to have a pitbull will there be less of them.

if the anti pit crowd really wanted to be effective, the would do a PR ca,paign where they show gory pictures of mauling victims, stats and ages of victims, and the small or non-punishments of the owners.
much more effective than their innane rantings for a legal prohibition - in general people hate being told what to do, and will rebel against it. see prohibition.

Dominic,
When you asked via facebook is Seattle should ban pitbulls, I stated:

"DEFINITELY NOT! This is not a bully breed, it's a bullied breed. After adopting a pit and spending most of my life afraid of them, I will never own another breed. They reflect the treatment of their owners more than any other breed and are misunderstood and have been maltreated. Responsible pit owners need to stand up to people wanting to ban this breed and show that their dogs are loving and wonderful.

Bullseye Pit Rescue is a good resource for responsible pit owners...don't let the few abusive pit owners ruin it for the rest of us who love our dogs! http://www.bullseyerescue.org/

Bullseye Dog Rescue - Seattle Area Pit Bull Rescue
www.bullseyerescue.org
Seattle Dog Rescue"

It would have been nice to hear from the non-freaks out there to this issue vs. trivialization and dramatization to sell the story...

There are responsible pitbull owners and well behaved pooches out there...your reluctance to bring that to your story shows you are biased against the breed as well. Come over and meet my pooch Ruby...she will change your mind...everyone adores her!

I'm just saying!
Christopher