Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Google is your friend

Google can definitely be your friend, assuming you actually want to know what's going on out there. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and, a 35 second video can succinctly demonstrate the scope and magnitude of the pit bull problem, for those who are paying attention:



Short and sweet: Thanks Colleen!

N.B. there's no need to take our word for it - anyone can verify these results.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

pit bull myths - loyalty

As pit bull fans like to say, pit bulls are special - much more special than any other dogs. (but at other times they claim that pit bulls are exactly the same as any other dogs, leaving one wondering exactly what they really think). When pressed to come up with some particular way in which pit bulls are special, it often boils down to amazement that pit bulls can act like normal dogs. In other words, the things that make pit bulls special are those particular scenarios in which they act like normal dogs - as opposed to killing the cat, scalping the baby, or de-gloving grandma's hand.

A calm pit bull, apprehended after killing its owner

I'm truly puzzled when pit bull fans claim that "pit bulls are the most loyal dogs of all", or that "no breed is more loving with its family" - in view of the bloody record of pit bulls attacking their own family members, one has to question their particular definition of loyalty.

The aftermath of a pit bull attack on its owner

Indeed, pit bulls do enjoy a distinction of sorts, in areas related to loyalty - i.e. suddenly, with zero warning, and apparently at random, attacking, mauling, and (if help is not nearby) killing their owners. After several of the mauling deaths over the past year, investigatiors happened to discover that the deceased had previously been treated for wounds inflicted by their own pit bulls . But the victims kept it quiet and didn't report it, ostensibly to avoid leaking any type of pit bull news that was not positive. The lengths to which some people will go "for the pitties" is remarkable, to put it mildly.

A victim of pit bull attack

On the other hand, if reports are to be believed, the pit bull belonging to Bad Rap activist Darla Napora had never shown any sign of aggression previous to the day it suddenly attacked her. Raised from a puppy with love and care, an indoor pet that slept in bed with her, it turned on her one day with zero warning and mauled her to death. So severe was the attack that Ms. Napora was unable to even dial 911 - a story which we have covered here previously.

Killing the owner is an act completely alien to a normal dog. But in the US, there has been a case of a pit bull killing its owner every few weeks during the past year or so. What's going on? Is it that pit bulls are so big and powerful that a playful bite is deadly? Well, that doesn't seem to add up, because there are for instance livestock guardian breeds which are much larger and much stronger than pit bulls, with higher bite force. But they never kill their human pack, and the flocks under their care are also completely safe - which could be reasonably ascribed to the difference between a type of dog bred to guard and protect livestock, and a type of dog bred to torture livestock.

Livestock Guardian Dog protecting the sheep

No, the problem with pit bulls is not their strength, as we have noted above. They are certainly not the biggest or strongest of all dogs, and they do not have the most powerful jaws. What they do have is a set of genetically determined motor patterns owing to selective breeding over hundreds of years of violent blood sport for those specific qualities which suit them to the business of killing, which amount to a craving for combat. A well-bred, game pit bull will attack the opponent without warning and without mercy, and will continue the attack, ignoring submission signals from the victim, and ignoring pain, regardless of injury suffered. it doesn't matter if the victim submits, tries to run away, or fights back - the pit bull continues the attack to its conclusion, one way or the other. For the pit bull, the act of exercising its characteristic motor patterns is self rewarding.

The forgotten shoe of a badly mauled jogger

This purposeful breeding program has naturally created a number of neurological differences between the pit bull and normal dogs. These differences, not nurture or environment, are the chief factor in the off-the-charts record of serious injuries and deaths to humans from pit bulls as compared to all other types of dogs. A normal dog may bite, but a pit bull doesn't just "bite" - a pit bull engages in a sustained attack which can easily last 20 minutes or more, if help does not come.

For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the article linked below on the subject of pit bulls killing their owners. Whatever your opinion of pit bulls, it should be of interest to see these facts in context, with full source citations.

Without further ado, here is the link - Occupy Maul Street: Darwin attacks