What's the feelings in Denver about the Pit Bull Ban?

[RamboLiberal]

This DU'er from PA is curious. I'm from an area where there's a lot of pit bulls. Some dogfighting problems. And occassional attack problems but nothing horrendous recently.

Charmane Watson's beloved pit bull terrier was given to her as a birthday gift last year.

The northeast Denver resident, 39, said Thursday that she can't imagine finding another home for 1-year-old Nautica.

Watson is one of 150 Denver residents who were sent a letter from Animal Control this week warning them that the city plans to resume its ban outlawing pit bulls within city limits on May 9, city officials said.

"It's just not right," Watson said. "I have a loving dog who loves kids and wouldn't hurt anyone. They need to look at each individual situation. It's not the animal. It's the owner.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3720468,00.html

[El Supremo]

1. I'll tell you what I feel.

I don't like breed specific laws of any form. But neither do I like owners who raise a specific breed either for fighting or some kind of macho mental illness on their part.

It was real weird last year. My idiot state rep wanted to look good by passing a state law that forbids breed specific bans. Only thing, is that is the jurisdiction of local municipalities. So the state supreme court shot it down.

The problem is not the ban in Denver, nor the breed of dog. It is the f%&*ed up owners. They should have to pass a test (like a home visit) and sign a paper that says they will socialize their puppy and treat it humanely.

[El Supremo]

2. Read THIS news.

Pit Bulls kill their owner in his home

A man in the St. Louis area has died after getting attacked by two of his own pit bulls. Tuesday evening, sheriff's deputies found the body of 42-year-old Lorinze Reddings in the living room of his house. His girlfriend called authorities after she hadn't heard from him.....

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=d930228b-0abe-421a-0066-66cf0fd7e4e0&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

All I know is that I would never own a Pit Bull Terrier. And I would question the motives of anyone who does. I love other Terriers. I have raised and shown Irish Terries for many years. Irish Terriers can be aggressive toward other dogs, but they are all devoted to humans.

[intheflow]

3. Breed specific bans are bullshit.

It's almost always the owners. And if not the current owners (say you got your dog from the pound), then some kind of mistreatment in the dog's past or seriously bad puppy-farm-type inbreeding.

I was attacked by a blue tick hound who had apparently been starved when young and thought I was threatening his food (I was feeding him for a friend). But I would never advocate killing all blue tick hounds.

Likewise, I dogsit for the sweetest, goofiest, most scardy-cat pitbull ever. I mean, I open a can of soda and the crack send him under the dining room table, cowering in fright, he's such a wuss. He doesn't beg. He lives to roll in the shady part of the backyard. The family who raised him had two small children when they got him as a puppy and he has always been infinitely patient and loving with those kids. It rips my heart out to think that because some people raise their dogs to be vicious, or otherwise mistreat their dogs so they become vicious, this loving and sweet dog may be rounded up and killed.

The only just way to handle this is on a case-by-case basis.