The Ongoing Dog Attack Mega-Thread

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Guys. Three pit bulls just murdered another dog last night and maimed a young girl while they were leashed. That's horrendous. Are we so desensitized to dog attacks that your first reaction is leave the poor pit bulls alone instead of outrage at the fact that people are allowed to wander the streets with small packs of ferocious animals? I don't understand that mentality. You sound like the pro gun lobby.

I think people are getting desensitized to your agenda. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't bother to click that link.

[flamesfever]

I have been going to an offleash area for the past 8 years with my 90 lb, unneutered male yellow lab, and the only time I feared for my dog was when a large pit bull ran over and jumped on him. Fortunately my lab stayed completely still, and the pitbull left him alone. As I was passing the owner, a +/- 30 year old, surly type character, said to me, "My dog has issues with unneutered males", and then walked off as if his attack on my dog was justified. In that particular case, it was fairly obvious that the problem was not only the dog but also the owner.

Needless to say, whenever I see a pit bull I try to maintain a fair distance between it and my dog.

I have seen a fair number of fairly well adjusted pitbulls, with seemingly responsible owners. However, there is always the risk, that every once in a while, one may encounter that super aggressive pitbull with an equally aggressive and irresponsible owner.

Where, at present, there is no restrictions as to who can own these dogs, and to how many, and it would probably be very difficult if not impossible to put such restrictions in place and monitor them, I would not be disappointed if the breed was gradually phased out as to ownership in Alberta.

[zamler]

The problem I have with the pit bull is they are much more likely to be involved in an unprovoked attack vs. other dogs. That to me is the major difference, pit bills have a nasty tendency to lose it for no reason, including turning on their owners. It doesn't matter how well they are treated, how well they are raised. What makes it even worse is they they do attack, they often inflict gruesome injuries. They are a very powerful animal, compact but extremely muscular, and pretty much impervious to any damage a person could inflict on them without a weapon.

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by zamler

The problem I have with the pit bull is they are much more likely to be involved in an unprovoked attack vs. other dogs. That to me is the major difference, pit bills have a nasty tendency to lose it for no reason, including turning on their owners. It doesn't matter how well they are treated, how well they are raised. What makes it even worse is they they do attack, they often inflict gruesome injuries. They are a very powerful animal, compact but extremely muscular, and pretty much impervious to any damage a person could inflict on them without a weapon.

I would love to see the evidence supporting those claims.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Cole436

I would love to see the evidence supporting those claims.

A 9-year (1979–88) review of fatal dog attacks in the United States determined that, of the 101 attacks in which breed was recorded, pit bulls were implicated in 42 of those attacks (41.6%).[31] A 1991 study found that 94% of attacks on children by pit bulls were unprovoked, compared to 43% for other breeds.[32] A 5-year (1989–94) review of fatal dog attacks in the United States determined that pit bulls and pit bull mixed breeds were implicated in 24 (28.6%) of the 84 deaths in which breed was recorded.[33]
source

This jives with my own experiences with the breed as well. If there is any dog I don't want to have any contact with, it is a pit bull, and I love dogs. I've seen first hand what happens when they lose it (for no reason) it is unbelievable.

[pylon]

Have to back Zamler up on this. Pitbulls just go at the snap of the fingers, and for no good reason.

I have seen it twice. One dog, at the Southland dog park, took out a little fluffy dog in seconds. It was just trotting along past it, and bam, dead half decapitated fluffy dog.

And saw one turn on it's owner at the Britannia dog park. The dog was literally clawing the trim off of this ladies Lexus trying to get at her inside. I was terrified, and ran across the street to a customers house with my 12 pound wiener dog, and waited for animal control to show up.

Both of these Pitbull owners were women, and both were upper-middle class women trying to do the "But it's not the dog, it's the owner." thing. Not your stereotypical truck nutz, Affliction tattoo dude. If I show up at a dog park, and see a Staffordshire, or Pitbull, I am not letting my dog out of the car.

Pitbulls turn with no warning, that is the problem. No growling, no nothing, they just go for it. If a regular dog is a pocket knife, a Pitbull is like a 12 gauge shotgun. Once they attack you, you are at best, disfigured for life. I believe the breed should be eliminated by just making breeding the dog, illegal. There is zero practical use for the breed, and even less use for the typical owner of the breed.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by pylon

Have to back Zamler up on this. Pitbulls just go at the snap of the fingers, and for no good reason.

I have seen it too.

The other thing that I find weird about Pitbulls is that the few that I am familiar with won't listen to anyone but their owner and seem to lack respect for stangers. Granted, my sample size is small, but I have heard the same thing from other people. It makes them higher maintenance than other breeds.

[TheGrimm]

Any dog can "snap", this isn't just a pitbull thing, I agree that certain breeds are not as prone to this behaviour, but it's simply one facet.

I just spent the holidays with my sisters family and her bluenose and man that is one of the most gentle dogs with kids I have ever seen, and very patient too. I would NEVER leave it unattended with my children though, because the other risk factor with these attacks is capability and pitbulls have this in spades. It is a tenacious dog in how it plays, it has a powerful jaw and is incredibly muscular. I played tug-a-war with a rope with this dog until my arms were numb and it was no where close to done. My boxer of the same age loves the game but isn't nearly as tenacious and doesn't grasp the rope nearly as hard. My sister said she can swing the rope around with her pitbull on the end until she gets dizzy and it will literally hang on in flight through it all. They are amazing and powerful creatures.

I have met countless terrible mean little shih tzu and schnauzer type dogs that would be seriously dangerous if they had the tools. I think that the pitbull is simply the trifecta of what makes a dangerous pet (in general)

"Snap" Factor = HIGH
Tenacity = HIGH
Physical Threat = HIGH

Add in poor training and DB owners and you have a recipe for disaster. I still think education is key to correcting some of these issues. If everyone has to take a dog ownership course before they can own a pet, this would go a long ways. I would also like to see more responsibility placed on the owners of pets, as they really need to take responsibility for the actions of their pets.

[First Lady]

The other side of the story is starting to come out today. Just heard this on radio.

The person with the pitbulls (Jaquish) only owned one and was pet-sitting the other two.
When the other two dogs (Pomeranian and Great Pyrenees) started to approach, Jaquish called to the owners to call them back. They either didn't call them back or the dogs didn't listen. Either way, he then leased all three of the pitbulls. The Pomeranian circled them twice before jumping and biting one of the pitbulls in the nose. The brawl then ensued. The girl (teenager) was injured when she tried to pull the Pom out of the brawl.


Those asking about limits, I believe there is a limit of (ownership) 3 within the city of Calgary; more than than you are considered a kennel or breeder. Neither of which, as I understand it are allowed in the city limits.

As to those who say ownership doesn't matter, that "X" breed is vicious no matter what; I beg to differ. With working with rescue dogs, they come to us in all different states. Some are so completely shutdown they reject any human contact and can't walk past another animal without attackinig. The vast majority of them can be rehabilitated; I've seen it many, many times.

So just as bad dogs can be turned around into worthy pets; good pets can also be turned into bad (even vicious) dogs.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Another one. German shepard bites toddlers face after he steps on his tail

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...653/story.html

A bit of good news for this thread.. I actually met the boy who was attacked in this article recently. He is definitely going to have a few scars to show off to the ladies when he gets older but otherwise he has made a full recovery. The family still owns a dog and the boy, though expectedly cautious with dogs is still friendly with them.

I had a chance to talk with them about the attack and they said that the german shepherd was a bit "skittish" around children but this was certainly unexpected as the boy had been around the dog many times before. A really unfortunate situation for all involved.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by TheGrimm

A bit of good news for this thread.. I actually met the boy who was attacked in this article recently. He is definitely going to have a few scars to show off to the ladies when he gets older but otherwise he has made a full recovery. The family still owns a dog and the boy, though expectedly cautious with dogs is still friendly with them.

I had a chance to talk with them about the attack and they said that the german shepherd was a bit "skittish" around children but this was certainly unexpected as the boy had been around the dog many times before. A really unfortunate situation for all involved.

It's great to hear he has recovered so well. All the best to him.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by First Lady

The other side of the story is starting to come out today. Just heard this on radio.

The person with the pitbulls (Jaquish) only owned one and was pet-sitting the other two.
When the other two dogs (Pomeranian and Great Pyrenees) started to approach, Jaquish called to the owners to call them back. They either didn't call them back or the dogs didn't listen. Either way, he then leased all three of the pitbulls. The Pomeranian circled them twice before jumping and biting one of the pitbulls in the nose. The brawl then ensued. The girl (teenager) was injured when she tried to pull the Pom out of the brawl.


Those asking about limits, I believe there is a limit of (ownership) 3 within the city of Calgary; more than than you are considered a kennel or breeder. Neither of which, as I understand it are allowed in the city limits.

As to those who say ownership doesn't matter, that "X" breed is vicious no matter what; I beg to differ. With working with rescue dogs, they come to us in all different states. Some are so completely shutdown they reject any human contact and can't walk past another animal without attackinig. The vast majority of them can be rehabilitated; I've seen it many, many times.

So just as bad dogs can be turned around into worthy pets; good pets can also be turned into bad (even vicious) dogs.

I don't think anybody has said that. The problem is the risk is too high with a breed like the pit bull because of their strength and unpredictability. The risk outweighs the reward.

Pit bull apologists are sure a weird lot. Every time there is an attack (like the one two days ago), they double down on their "it's not a pit bull problem it's an owner problem." And First Lady I think you take the cake on this one - you're actually blaming the 13 and 14 year-old kids with the Pomeranian for the attack? That seems insane. If the Pom nipped at a wiener dog this wouldn't have made the news. Instead it made the pit bulls go ballistic.

Let's sterilize all the pit bulls - in a decade we'll never have to worry about another pit bull incident in the city. If another ####### breed takes their place, we'll do the same thing. The solution is easy, obvious, and doesn't even involve removing dogs from homes.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Those same idiots/bad owners will get boxers, german shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Huskies, Wolf Hybrids etc. .

I always found Boxer's to generally be pretty gentle and loving dogs. Though I guess that comes back to bad owners because naturally Boxer's are kind of pussies. They are amazing with children.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Pit bull apologists are sure a weird lot. Every time there is an attack (like the one two days ago), they double down on their "it's not a pit bull problem it's an owner problem.".

I always get a chuckle from that one too. There is a reason why ####### dog owners are attracted to ####### breeds. They like the fact that the dog has a repuation as a menace and is more than capable of reaching that potential.

It is a 2-part problem - dog and owner and both parts fuel each other.

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Don't be too dramatic now.

It wouldn't be a Dess/Sliver dog thread without ridiculous overly dramatic statements.

It's hard to take ANY of his arguments seriously when half his posts contain them.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I always found Boxer's to generally be pretty gentle and loving dogs. Though I guess that comes back to bad owners because naturally Boxer's are kind of pussies. They are amazing with children.

It's funny how everyone has a difference experience. At the dog park I frequent, I've seen what seems like many more boxer dog attacks than other breeds. However, I bet if I started taking a record of the dog on dog attacks I've witnessed it would be a pretty even distribution across breeds.

It's all really rare in my experience though. I go to a dog park 3-4 times a week and have fortunately never seen anything so horrific as what pylon described.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Pit bull apologists are sure a weird lot. Every time there is an attack (like the one two days ago), they double down on their "it's not a pit bull problem it's an owner problem." And First Lady I think you take the cake on this one - you're actually blaming the 13 and 14 year-old kids with the Pomeranian for the attack? That seems insane. If the Pom nipped at a wiener dog this wouldn't have made the news. Instead it made the pit bulls go ballistic.

Where have I laid blame? I was simply paraphrasing what the other party had to say on the news cast. I didn't express my opinion one way or the other with respect to blame.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I always found Boxer's to generally be pretty gentle and loving dogs. Though I guess that comes back to bad owners because naturally Boxer's are kind of pussies. They are amazing with children.

Yea, I've been around a LOT of Boxers and while they are considered a "bully" breed, I laughed when I read the comment lumping them in. There is a reason you don't see Boxers as police dogs anymore... They tried it but they had a hard time getting them to bite criminals.

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by First Lady

The other side of the story is starting to come out today. Just heard this on radio.

The person with the pitbulls (Jaquish) only owned one and was pet-sitting the other two.
When the other two dogs (Pomeranian and Great Pyrenees) started to approach, Jaquish called to the owners to call them back. They either didn't call them back or the dogs didn't listen. Either way, he then leased all three of the pitbulls. The Pomeranian circled them twice before jumping and biting one of the pitbulls in the nose. The brawl then ensued. The girl (teenager) was injured when she tried to pull the Pom out of the brawl.

I would lay the blame for this horrible incident with both parties IF the guy wasn't walking his pitbulls at an off-leash dog park.

I mean it's an off leash park, if he doesn't want his dogs being approached by other dogs then don't walk them at an off-leash park. This shouldn't be a hard concept.... especially when he only owns one and wouldn't be able to fully predict the behavior of the other two he was pet-sitting.

[Tailgator]

I'm no pitbull apologist - hate the breed and think they should be phased out.

That being said, as an owner of a large dog that does not get along with other dogs, I get thoroughly pissed off at the lack of intelligence displayed by so many dog owners.

As I said, my dog does not get along with other dogs - she was bitten when she was a puppy and seems to never have forgotten that, so gets very defensive around all but a few dogs. Because of that, I can't take her to off leash parks to run with other dogs, we have to walk her on leash where other dogs aren't off leash (supposedly). So, when I'm walking along with my dog on leash, in an area that's not an off leash area, and a dog or dogs comes running up, I can't believe the amount of people that can't get their dogs to come back - especially when I'm yelling at them that my dog does not like other dogs. Are you people out of you frigging minds?! Your dog won't listen to you, but you let it around anywhere....think a little harder people.

I also find that this happens mostly to me with little dogs. People seem to think their little dog is harmless, but it's the little dogs that start the fights - I've seen it time and again (and Cesar Milan actually says the same thing).

It's tragic when someone's dog gets killed, but for gawd sake, whether you're in an off leash park or not, if you can't control your dog, you're not a smart dog owner and you're asking for trouble letting it off leash.