Essay on the dangers of pitbulls

# “Pit bulls were bred to fight and are like having a loaded gun in the house, except this gun can go off without anyone touching it.”

-Bethany Lynn Stephens

Pitbulls should be treated and cared for, not like a normal family dog, but like a hazardous pet that should be kept by people who are professionals. People need to accept the fact that pitbulls can be dangerous and are not the ideal family pet. The only people who should have pitbulls as pets are those who know how to be responsible with caring for these dogs. If you want a dog that is good for kids and is playful and energetic don’t choose a pitbull.

Pitbulls are sensitive and do not want to be put in what they interpret as a bad or uncomfortable situation, and unlike other dogs, pitbulls have powerful jaws and a muscular build. They can *and will* respond to being uncomfortable with force, usually ending with someone getting hurt. Do not carry your pitbull around with you just because you need to do something, you should not have a pitbull if you don’t have the time to care for it. They need constant attention and they have many needs that need to be met all the time. Pitbulls homes are usually where they feel most safe, and when a stranger, or even someone they know enters it, they feel threatened.

Pitbulls **are not** meant for kids. Pitbulls will not tolerate the hassle of having a young kid around. Children should *never* be left unattended with a pitbull, even if you know that dog it is *always* better safe than sorry, pitbulls have been shown to be unpredictable with children. They do not “nanny” children, they only *tolerate* them, in the best cases they just don’t mind them. Bully dogs such as the american bulldog need to feel empowered, they want to be able to dominate those who they feel are below them. They usually dominate over little children, because as they see it, the kid is on the same level as them, and technically, the dog isn’t wrong with their observations. Both you feed, both you punish when the exhibit bad behaviour, and both you play and spend time with. Children can be seen as a threat to their position, or an obstacle that gets in the way of them and receiving affection from their master.

No breed of dog can live up to the standards that both sides give pitbulls. Dogs just want to be dogs, and when you make a dog that has both the power and strength to tell you whether they want to do something or not, be and act like something they aren’t, people and dogs get hurt. The dog is under constant pressure from people assuming that the dog is okay with something just because they themselves don’t mind it. Constant stress leads to anger and aggression, they have no problem with biting back, their brain does not think of the consequences of their actions. A dog's mind thinks about now, what problems is it currently facing in the present, because that is what most affects them.

Pitbull advocates spreading lies about pitbulls being the best family dog you will ever have, it ends up hurting people. Pitbulls are prone to unprovoked attacks out of nowhere, so an owner saying “my dog hasn’t attacked anyone” is missing an important part of the sentence, “yet”. Pitbulls that have been given daily walks, fed a good diet, loved by their families have attacked children and elderly (even ones in their family) for no reason. Treat pitbulls like they are dangerous, even if you feel like they aren’t, don’t put your face directly up to theirs and don’t rough-house with them; this can make the dog uncomfortable or feel like you are threatening them, causing them to defend themselves. You can go ahead lying to yourself that there is nothing wrong with pitbulls while the statistics say otherwise, a pitbull kills a human every 17 days and cause well over a third of all dog bite fatalities in the US sing 1979, these dogs pose major threats to the public's well being.

“He attacked my daughter with no warning, no growl, no sneer, no previous anger, no signs whatsoever. You are wrong in what you say, you are wrong in what you preach, you are preaching untruths and many many more children will die because of you. These dogs are unpredictable at best, ticking time bombs that do not care that you have loved them as family and had done all the right things, exercised, fed well, the right fences, vetted, loved beyond measure.”

* Roxanne Hartrich, mother of Kayla Hartich