I wanted to post a response to the following comment left on the post about the 12 year old boy (Nicholas Faibish) here.
Here a few points of the comment and my responses:
Posters comment:
"My dog Capone is one of the most docile, loving dogs I have ever seen. I am told all the time by family, friends, and anyone who has ever met him that he has completely changed all of thier negative thoughts about pit bulls. Having this said, I would never leave a child alone with my dogs. This has always been a strong feeling of mine."
My Response: I'm glad this is a strong feeling of yours. The potential for a Pit Bull attack story has been eliminated because of this precaution.
Posters Comment:
"I just recently dicoovered this website, and while it has some excellent information, I was a little dissappointed. Every article on this particular site comes immediately to the defense of the pit bull."
My Response: If I don't stand up to defend Pit Bulls I should shut down my web site and tuck my head in the sand out of shame.
PitBullLovers.com was created to educate Pit Bull owners and the general public of the
true nature of the breed. And attacking people isn't part of that. A sound Pit Bull should never bite a human being.
Never.
Posters Comments:
"All I saw were articles contributing to the fact that pit bulls are great family dogs, and that they are great with children. Also, a child of 12 is pretty close to being full grown. While I agree that the breed needs some good press, I disagree with making pit bulls seem harmless."
My Response: I first want to say, they are great with children and 12 years old is no where near being full grown.
As to the comment about making pit bulls seem harmless. A
sound, well cared for Pit Bull, is harmless.
Do I trust my dogs enough that I would leave them alone
with a child? Yes.
Do I? No.
Why? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and children
should not be left alone with
any animal they are not in control of.
I do not believe
all Pit Bulls are harmless just as I do not believe all dogs are harmless. Some of them have issues and some of them are aggressive and bite.
When it comes to a Pit Bull, if it bites a person without reason (like protecting themselves or their families) that dog should be put to sleep.
Posters Comments:
"If someone does not have the time or money, to properly raise and confine one of these animals, then they have no business owning one. An apartment building is no place to house such an active and powerful animal."
My Response: Right on the money with that remark. Yet, no one thinks, "Hmm, two dogs in an apartment, in heat, not fixed, oh yeah, maybe the owner should have been more responsible."
They think, "Evil dogs! They all should die! How dare they kill a person let alone a child! Burn! Burn!"
People simply don't take having a dog as a pet seriously. They don't think the process through and if they do, they usually end up finding a reason why it's okay to go ahead and bring a dog into their home anyway.
In the case of the San Fran owner, the guy got two dogs because, according to neighbors, he planned on breeding them a few times.
Yet another irresponsible action no one gives a diddly about.
Posters Comment:
"People need to respect the breed and realize that these dogs are always capable of causing enormous amounts of damage, even if they have never done so in the past."
My Response: My neighbors Cocker Spaniel is capable of causing an "enormous" amount of damage to someone too. Doesnt' mean they are all going to do that nor does it mean I should worry about my dogs because of what some unsound Pit Bull did in another area.
It means, these dogs are medium to large dogs, regardless of what breed they are, leaving a child who can not control them alone with them is irresponsible.
It's time owners (like you poster) around the world stopped and thought about it for a second.
This is not a
Pit Bull attack problem this is
an irresponsible owner problem and most importantly it's a dog problem.
Breed doesn't matter. I defend the Pit Bull when attacks like the one in San Francisco occur. You betcha! Because in
every single case something like this could have been prevented.
Not one, but all of them.
Every single attack is the result of a person not be responsible for their animal. Look at the attacks from the past and the current ones. All of them could have been prevented.
For the record: Pit Bulls are not for everyone. Anyone who has emailed me and asked me if they should get a Pit Bull knows where I stand on this issue.
Bottom line: Getting a dog (doesn't matter what breed) is a
huge responsibility that should not be taken lightly. Sadly, for most, it can be compared to buying a new toy for their house.
Until they are educated about the responsibility of choosing the right dog or not choosing a dog at all, we are all going up hill with a massive boulder on our backs.
Best Regards,
Jason, Angel and Honey
http://www.PitBullLovers.com
PS - I would like to thank the poster of the comments above. You make some great points.