Banning Pit Bulls Essay Example for Free

Banning mate Bulls EssayAll crosss bite. any single one of them has the potential to turn on their very possessor and as studies and sores key kayoed it they turn on children, strangers and other positron emission tomographys more(prenominal) often than we cargon to know active. What make makes a cover aggressive to the taper they attack innocent victims? Is it their genes and nature, their training or perhaps their owners? Some individuals give way proposed inhibition certain ancestrys that display a propensity for aggressive behavior as a solution. Banning capability get results faster exclusively its not the still or best solution. Without a interrogative certain breeds seem to be naturally more aggressive and protective than others.The breed that comes to mind jump is the Pit Bull Terrier known as tooth decays or equal pigs. While these follows stool a report for be snarly, strong and aggressive, they argon not the only ones that should be sho uldering the entire blame for their behavior. Im not saying that the victims atomic number 18 to blame the blame should fall on irresponsible mark owner whose mistreatment of hang backs is the deciding federal agent on whether any certain dog will bite or attack. When choosing a dog, families should consider the temperament, physical size, and exercise studys of the breeds they are considering. Researching the characteristics of the dogs the families are considering is a great way to learn the families ends up with a dog that will complement their family environment and lifestyle.Sadly, taking the fourth dimension to in truth explore a dog before it is bought is several(prenominal)thing that very few owners practice. The deciding factor on which dog to subvert comes down to the appearance of the dog without any thought given to the resources and time requirement for the specialized dog. buying a dog because it looks wanted when it is a puppy could result in a headache l ater. The cute little puppy sight turn into a large dog that conducts to be walked a couple of hours a week or a dog that has a compulsive need to chew out on every piece of furniture inside the house. Individuals and families need to be realistic about how frequently time and money they tin dedicate to a pet and the pets need. Similarly, buying a dog because it looks tough is a fracture that the dog ends up paying for in the future. Often times Pit bulls are only purchased because they look cool and somehow that coolness and toughness factor supposedly translates onto the owner. Its these owners that suck no regard for the dog or its needs. They only think of dogs as an accessory that elevates their status among their friends and companionable groups. Its owners standardised these that do more harm than sizable for Pit bulls.Pit bulls can and are effective family dogs. Theyre awesome dogs as pets as long as the owner is responsible states Ashley Clark, a member of cons erve Paws Animal Rescue of Kentucky (qtd. in Mayse). A key mistake committed by many owners is they siret take the time to affableize their dogs, which is paramount for a healthy pet, both mentally and physically. As dog trainer Victoria Stillwell asserts in USA Today A dog is a hearty animal, so escape of social interaction can seriously damage its psychological well being. drop behinds need to be taught how to interact with members of the family as well as with other pets and strangers. Yes, socializing a pet is a time consuming task but one that should not be avoided. To leave a dog to its own devices is doing a great disservice to them and to any potential victim of a forgetful socialized animal. some other huge error by the owner is not exercising their dog. We all have basic needs like food, water, and sleep. Exercise is a basic need for dogs.Dogs will misbehave from lack of exercising. The misbehavior can come in the form of chewing, excessive barking, and acting acut ely. Leaving a dog in the house or in the backyard is not the equivalent of going for a walk or a run. When owners do this day in and day out, they are left with a dog thats about to burst at the seams with energy. This is wherefore potential owners have to be honest about how practically time they can dedicate to their pets before they adopt or buy one. Victoria Stillwell states Dont make the mistake of thinking that precludeing your dog in your backyard most of the day will replace his natural need for stimulation and get you off the hook for not walking him. In fact, it almost always does more harm than good. Owners that relegate their dogs to their backyards or tie them up while they are away at institute are causing the problems. As owners we cant leave our dogs unattended, without interaction for long periods of time.Regardless of breed, any dog that is subjected to these conditions will probably snap. When you have the combination of frustration buildup from being chained up, lack of social skills and pent up energy then that is a recipe for a dog bite or attack. Unfortunately the victims of this awful consequence are children most of the time as verbalise by Lisa M. Bernardo in the Journal of the Society of Pediatric Nurses unintentional dog bite injury is the leading cause of terminal and disability among children. Because of childrens small size they are not able to defend themselves when being attacked by dogs and when they are attacked they tend to be more severely injured than adults. With 49% of the injuries occurring in children less than 5 years old(Bernardo), it seems that we as parents and adults should be moving towards a solution with more urgency and oestrus then is being shown. Unfortunately, we dont pay attention until its too late, when a child has died because of their injuries or at the scene of the attack. When you have a strong powerful breed in the pass of a negligent, careless owner there is nothing but trouble. The mistre atment by owners of dogs is what causes not only pit bulls but also other breeds to bite.Leading expert in dog-bite law, attorney Kenneth Phillips tells One of the most slimy cases Ive heard about was when a little Pomeranian, no more than five pounds, killed a six-week-old bilk(Bred for trouble). Even dogs that havent been bred or skilful to attack can occasionally act aggressively toward lot. Lisa Bernardo writes, An 8 year-old male was distributing fliers in a trailer park when two Saint Bernard dogs ran out of a house and attacked him unprovoked. What these two instances prove is that any dog can bite and attack point Chihuahuas have been known to be protective of their owners and territory. While these are graphic examples, the public needs to be aware that this happens all over the United States. Dogs can and are unpredictable, at the blink of an eye they can react in a very primal manner. Once again this is where the researching of the right type of dog for your family c omes into play.Lets practice some common sense when bringing a dog into our homes. Pits are not the only ones that bite, other breeds that send people to the emergency rooms are Rottweilers, Mastiffs, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds and a few others. expose of all aggressive breeds the Pit bull are the ones that have been exploited the most. Yes, pits are naturally more aggressive you have to remember they were bred for fighting. This is the very reason is why Pits have become popular with people with low standards and no respect for dogs, people that take part in dog fighting. These individual are only interested in seeing bloodshed and ruthless destruction of lives. This has also led some to practice unhealthy breeding of Pits to make a quick buck. Pits natural strong disposition have with careless inbreeding results in unbalanced pets. Even though Pits are perfectly capable of being a loving part of a family, they have a terrible re puzzleation that has been perpetuated by irresponsible owners. I personally have seen some of these no-license owners that keep pit bulls penned up and torture them to make them meaner for fights.The poor dog spends most of its time behind a poorly built pen that seemed to be thrown unneurotic at the last minute. This pen was built out of compressed board on three sides and the quaternary side was the back wall of the house. The dog couldnt see out at all and he was purposefully kept there so he would have no contact with people or other dogs except for the owner. Every now and then the dog would be crudely blindfolded and was poked at it with sticks to ensure the aggressiveness of the dog. If the dog looses a number of fights it is considered worthless and is given away or gets put to sleep usually after being denied food for a couple of days. To this individual, a Pit bull was and still is a profitable badass accessory to their gangster lifestyle. Like Gall Golab, Ph.D., D.V.M stated in struggle Fido Twenty years ago people thought Great Danes and German shepherds were dangerous, today, its Pit bulls and Rottweilers. If you forbiddance one breed, the people who want an aggressive animal will simply find another breed in which to foster that quality (Neil).Can you imagine what kind of dog the police force would be using now if the German shepherd had been banned twenty years ago? The statement do by Dr.Golab is one that needs to be repeated. The breed of the dog alone is not the deciding factor on whether a dog will snap and attack psyche. It is a combination of reckless owners with downstairs exercised, under socialized, and unbalanced dogs. As dog attacks seem to be on the rise some individuals in California and the United States have been calling for a ban on a specific breed. Claiming that these breeds are beyond reformation and help, they want to ban Pit bulls specifically. periodly Ohio is the only state that declares a specific breed, pit bulls as barbaric. That law was ruled uncons titutional in March by Ohios 6th regularize Court of Appeals in Toledo and is being appealed to the state Supreme Court(Jones). While decreasing dog attacks is emphatically a goal we should all be working towards I suggest that there are other options besides banning to this problem. Any breed-specific ban would be difficult to enforce.First of all, Pit bulls are not the only large and potentially dangerous dogs, so right of the bat a few breeds would need to be banned. Second, because there are so many mixed breed dogs, who determines what percentage of vicious dog gene is allowed in a mixed breed? Lastly, what about those Pit bull owners that treat their dogs good and have taken all precautions to ensure their pet is a loving and gentle dog? A specific ban would punish those that have done nothing wrong and have followed all the rules. Outlawing breeds believed to be vicious and dangerous is not a long-term solution. Besides not being realistic a ban is unfair as it places the e ntire blame on these breeds. A better solution would be to make it mandatory for every person or family wanting a dog to get a dog owner license. Without a license no dog of any kind would be bought, sell or adopted. When potential dog owners apply for their owners license they should be advised about the pros and cons about the breed they are considering. It should be mandatory that these owners go to dog training/obedience classes with their new pets.This can be taken a step further by requiring that with a license a dog owner should also need insurance, like a car. This would mean many man-hours and an extensive motion by animal control officers and police but its a worthwhile expenditure that would save many lives and countless visits to the emergency room. This might sound like an impossible task but it would be the first step in the right direction. Instead of waiting for a dog to bite someone lets enforce current leash and muzzle laws, which are in many instances ignored. If no laws currently populate then new laws should be passed that hold owners responsible to a higher level than before. In Kansas city the City Council passed a law that will require all pit bulls to be sterilize or neutered. This would be a good start for all other counties and cities that are seeing the number of attacks and bites rise. Kansas has level off gone a bit farther by requiring that breeders will have to install fencing and papers who is buying the puppies, says Councilman Bill Skaggs (qtd. in Jones). Dog breeders can still have a business but they should be monitored closely for a period of time.It should also be mandatory to have all puppies spayed and neutered, at the proper age, by their new owners if the dog is on the list as potentially dangerous. Another example of great laws being adopted comes from Illinois. Legislature was passed that states Owners could face prison if they allow a vicious dog to run loose, or if they have not enclose, spayed or neutered a nd animal that injures or kills someone.(Jones). Illinois also restricts felons right to own dangerous dogs and penalties for attending dogfights were increased. While going to prison because your dog is out and running the streets may at first seem a bit excessive. It would only be a matter of time of enforcing this law that we would get the desired results, owners acting responsible. If states like Illinois and Ohio can pass these laws than why cant we adopt them with greater swiftness in our own state? Is it because its easier to point fingers and blame the dogs? Are we really that lazy that we would settle for the easiest, yet unfair solution called banning? required spaying and neutering would not only cut down on the inbreeding and over breeding of dogs like the Pits and make them less assessable to those that are prone to abuse them.This would also save money in the long run because this simple law means less unwanted dogs in animal shelters. What happens time and time again is people go out and buy a dog that they have not researched at all and when they realize that the dog is too much to handle they dispose of them by dropping them off at animal shelters. Currently many shelters euthanize all Pit bulls because they dont know whether the dogs have been trained to fight or attack. How sad, to know these dogs keep paying the price for selfish human behavior. A Pit bull will not bite or attack besides because its a pit bull, after all the dog doesnt know what breed it is. Like Shawn Webster states I dont think that genetics plays nearly the role in a dogs behavior that culture and training play(qtd in Jones).A properly bred and raised Pit bull can be an excellent, docile pet. The key is having the right combination of healthy dog with owners that are mature and responsible and truly care for their pet so these horrible child-killing dogs can and are loving pets, go figure. I can secure you for every horror story you hear in the news or read in the pa per there is a happy, healthy Pit bull that is a great family dog. As stated by animal control officer, Ashley Clark they are fine as petsthey are awesome dogs as pets as long as the owner is responsible(Mayse).Psychologist Clive Wynne says You can say that its not just a dogs breed but also the character of its owner that make the dog aggressive.(Vicious dogs have vicious owners). With these measures in place and enforced we could dramatically see the number of bites go down. Would this measure guarantee to stop those most responsible for vicious and out of control dogs? Maybe, maybe not, but instead of just complaining about this problem lets be proactive instead of just reactive. These laws can be a great deterrent for those who exploit the dogs and endanger the community, the pit bull owners who breed and sell out of their backyards, keep their dogs penned and chained in deplorable conditions and do nothing to train or socialize themWorks CitedBernardo, Lisa Marie, et al. Dog Bi tes in Children Treated in a Pediatric Emergency Department. Journal of the Society of Pediatric Nurses 5.2 (2000) 87. faculty member Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. Bred for trouble. Good Housekeeping 235.4 (2002) 83. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.Fatal Dog Attacks. Current Events 105.3 (2005) 4. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.Jones, Charisse Laws address dogs potential for danger. USA Today n.d. MA Ultra-School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. Mayse, pack Experts Upbringing key for pit bulls Dog came through fence, bit man last week. Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY) (2006) Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.Neil, Martha FIGHTING FIDO. ABA Journal 89.1 (2003) 26. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.Stilwell, Victoria Chaining dogs unleashes bad behavior. USA Today MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2009Vicious dogs have vicious owners. New Scientist 201.2704 (2009) 15. Academic Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 O ct. 2009