Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, May 4, 2011
Animals / Horrors / Life / Mailbag "Pit Bulls Killed a Member of My Extended Family"
Posted by David Schmader on Wed, May 4, 2011 at 9:57 AM
So reads the subject of the email from Slog Tipper Tia, who writes, "I'm a long time reader and an infrequent Slog commenter and I never thought I'd have a personal connection to a Slog story. It's terrible. Thank you for raising awareness."
1
I'm so sorry, Tia. That's a hell of a quote: "“I think it’s like living in the middle ages where you hate to go outside because the wolves are going to eat your grandchildren.”"
Yesterday Slog had a post about our county's animal shelters that led me to look up the stats they keep on animal destructions. Month after month the dog reports listed pit bull as the breed and aggressiveness as the reason for destruction.
Yesterday Slog had a post about our county's animal shelters that led me to look up the stats they keep on animal destructions. Month after month the dog reports listed pit bull as the breed and aggressiveness as the reason for destruction.
2
Pot killed one of my cousins. Yeah, pot! Alcohol got two of my uncles.
If only we banned it, there things would never happen.
If only we banned it, there things would never happen.
3
What does it say about Americans that the pit bull is the second most common breed?
What does it say that many Americans who own pit bulls choose not to train them?
What does it say that many Americans who own pit bulls choose not to train them?
4
@3, what? I hold no particular brief for any of the molosser-type breeds or breeds specifically bred for fighting, but I don't know where you're getting THAT from. Pit bulls certainly aren't the 2nd most common (or most popular?) breed in the U.S. And I think it's less about failure to train than failure to confine the dogs.
5
Pit bulls don't kill people, people kill...
No, wait.
Irresponsible dog owners kill people, so they should be prosec....
Oh, fuck. Hold on.
If only people would understand that pit bulls are harmless, they wouldn't be killed & maimed by them.
Yeah, that's it!!! It's all just a "misunderstood breed"!
No, wait.
Irresponsible dog owners kill people, so they should be prosec....
Oh, fuck. Hold on.
If only people would understand that pit bulls are harmless, they wouldn't be killed & maimed by them.
Yeah, that's it!!! It's all just a "misunderstood breed"!
6
Anyone care to post the news stories about people being mauled to death by pack of other kinds of dogs? Anyone? No?
8
@2 Are you serious? Pot kills? I have never heard of pot roving the streets raping babies and murdering elderly, young and middle aged alike... I think you have your facts on wrong.
9
Condolences to Slog Tipper Tia.
My family too has a member attacked by the family dog. Luckily my three year old nephew survived and they were able to sew his scalp back on. We gave the dog away. Since I was a child at the time I was not involved in that decision and I can only hope our dog did not ever kill anyone or attack anyone again. I believe that to be false hope, however... ) : =
My family too has a member attacked by the family dog. Luckily my three year old nephew survived and they were able to sew his scalp back on. We gave the dog away. Since I was a child at the time I was not involved in that decision and I can only hope our dog did not ever kill anyone or attack anyone again. I believe that to be false hope, however... ) : =
10
@8 indeed!
@2, choosing (yes, choosing!) to smoke pot or drink yourself to death is not comparable to being fatally attacked by an animal.
@2, choosing (yes, choosing!) to smoke pot or drink yourself to death is not comparable to being fatally attacked by an animal.
11
The long-term solution is to pour more money into background checks for pet owners and at animal welfare organizations that can educate and monitor and protect the pet populations, in order to keep assholes away from dogs—any and all dogs. But there is no money, so the poor dogs that wind up with asshole owners are f-ed. The short and easy in-the-meantime fix is to ban this breed of choice of the assholes.
12
@11,
People who own dangerous pits (intact and usually siblings) did not get them from shelters or animal welfare organizations. Background checks would be utterly useless.
People who own dangerous pits (intact and usually siblings) did not get them from shelters or animal welfare organizations. Background checks would be utterly useless.
14
OK, yes there was a lot of stupid mixed with the pot in that one. Same as with pit bulls. If pit bulls were illegal, stupid people wouldn't get them. Just like if pot were illegal, stupid people wouldn't get it. We should make pot illegal.
And regardless, you have to agree that if we banned alcohol, there would be no more innocents killed by drunk drivers. That's why they call it a "ban" because it makes the dangerous thing go away forever.
And regardless, you have to agree that if we banned alcohol, there would be no more innocents killed by drunk drivers. That's why they call it a "ban" because it makes the dangerous thing go away forever.
15
@14 - Now I understand what you were trying to say! Banning pit bulls won't make them magically disappear.
What can be done then? I have no answers to that...
What can be done then? I have no answers to that...
17
Hooray ignorance...
"What is considered aggressive is culturally and generationally relative. German shepherds were on the top of the list after World War II; in the 1990's Rottweilers and Dobermans were scorned; the American Staffordshire terrier (also known as the Pit Bull) is the current bete noire. Their classification has more to do with recent events and public perception than with their intrinsic nature. Recent research found that of all (dog) breeds the dachshunds were the most aggressive to both their owners and to strangers. Perhaps this is under reported because a snarling dachshund can be picked up and stashed away in a tote bag." - Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz.
"What is considered aggressive is culturally and generationally relative. German shepherds were on the top of the list after World War II; in the 1990's Rottweilers and Dobermans were scorned; the American Staffordshire terrier (also known as the Pit Bull) is the current bete noire. Their classification has more to do with recent events and public perception than with their intrinsic nature. Recent research found that of all (dog) breeds the dachshunds were the most aggressive to both their owners and to strangers. Perhaps this is under reported because a snarling dachshund can be picked up and stashed away in a tote bag." - Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz.
19
@18: Right on time.
I love how cheerful you are about not caring one tiny little bit about the people who die as a result of your sad little hobby.
I love how cheerful you are about not caring one tiny little bit about the people who die as a result of your sad little hobby.
20
@ 19: Last I checked NONE of my hobbies kill people.
1) Mountain Biking
2) Surfing
3) Helping Dogs
4) Shopping
5) Harassing Grant Brissey
Hmmmm...nope. Those don't often result in people dying, though I suppose they could.
As for not being sympathetic to victims of dog attacks...that is ridiculous...See 2008 KIRO radio interview on The Ron and Don show where the interviewer didn't even recall the victim's name. I prefaced all following statements by expressing sadness for Huong Li.
1) Mountain Biking
2) Surfing
3) Helping Dogs
4) Shopping
5) Harassing Grant Brissey
Hmmmm...nope. Those don't often result in people dying, though I suppose they could.
As for not being sympathetic to victims of dog attacks...that is ridiculous...See 2008 KIRO radio interview on The Ron and Don show where the interviewer didn't even recall the victim's name. I prefaced all following statements by expressing sadness for Huong Li.
21
This is ridiculous.
Last weekend I went to Lake Padden in Bellingham for a pitbull picnic. There were tiny, tiny children hugging pitbulls- not being mauled.
In fact, of the 30 or so dogs I saw that day, the only one that made me nervous was the tiny rat terrier who bared his teeth at me.
This death is tragic, but it's tragic because a woman was killed by dogs who were loose from their owner and obviously not trained - or trained to attack.
Last weekend I went to Lake Padden in Bellingham for a pitbull picnic. There were tiny, tiny children hugging pitbulls- not being mauled.
In fact, of the 30 or so dogs I saw that day, the only one that made me nervous was the tiny rat terrier who bared his teeth at me.
This death is tragic, but it's tragic because a woman was killed by dogs who were loose from their owner and obviously not trained - or trained to attack.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
All You Motherfuckers Complaining That aPodments Are Too Small at 200 Square Feet by Dominic Holden
-
SL Letter of the Day: Did You Think I Was Going To Tell You Not To Come Out? (PLUS: Help Free Kate!) by Dan Savage
-
Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral by Dan Savage
-
Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness by Paul Constant
-
There Are No Atheists In Foxholes by Dan Savage
-
Portland Voters Are Stoopid by Goldy
-
America's Epidemic of Toddler-on-Toddler Gun Violence Continues by Goldy
-
Well-Regulated Beaverton Militia Accidentally Fires Shot into Neighbor's Bedroom by Goldy
-
Saint Genet Re-Creates "Shoot" by Brendan Kiley
-
Dutch Artist Turns Dead Cat into Remote-Controlled Helicopter by Bethany Jean Clement
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (23) RSS