The job of this article is to try and unravel the matted misconceptions in this country about America’s dog, the American pit bull. This won’t happen overnight as it’s taken well over a century to create the horror accompanied with the pit bull image.
It takes about .15 of a second to access 18,900,000 links for the term ‘pit bull’ on Google.com. Various sites delegated to this feared, yet much revered dog that isn’t really even a dog breed pop up. Luckily, for the inquiring mind, informative resources like PBRC, Pit Bull Rescue Central and Pit Bull Lovers.com offer well-researched and factual material and statistics.
Some of the pages are newsworthy items, reflective of media frenzy inspired items. According to Wikipedia.com, “news outlets respond that they have no interest in reporting on the incident unless it involved a pit bull.”
Many Googled sites were derivative of self-promotion and pit bull sales alongside the Best Friends paid advertisement regarding the Vicks dogs. Along with a television show, millions of dollars in donation money and over $37,000 paid in dog-fighting money to the non-profit for each dog, Best Friends has enjoyed bumper crops in contributions grossing over 35 million in 2008 and 40 million in 2009, blockbuster years in Hollywood terminology. These figures were accessed by the paid Google ad which accesses the Best Friends website. Seems like everyone is making money on pit bulls.
On the downside, currently, “U.S. shelters kill about 1.4 million dogs per year, including about 750,000 pit bulls and close mixes of pit bull.” This comes from the watchdog group, Animal People, “the internet’s most authoritative source of information on animal and ecological issues.” This number is well over half of all dogs killed in the United States.
In a study using U.S. census reports, “Although there are no accurate or even near accurate census records for dogs in the U.S., in some populations pit bulls are estimated to comprise some 30-40% of the dog population, making it a very popular breed. Considering that there were an estimated 53,000,000 dogs in the U.S., and assuming that pit bulls make up 10% of that population, there would be approximately 5.3 million pit bulls in our society. In 2000, 13 pit bulls were involved in 8 fatal attacks. That is roughly ONE dog out of 204,000 - or .000385 percent of the pit bull population.”
In a Rasmussen Reports survey regarding pit bulls, “28% of Americans think the dogs should be banned,” with “fifty percent (50%) of women (who) say they are scared of the dogs, compared to 33% of men,” claiming to be afraid of pit bulls.
Real Pit Bull.com puts the statistics to the test with the analogy, “Approximately 150 people are killed every year by falling coconuts. Therefore, you are more than 60 TIMES MORE LIKELY to be killed by a PALM TREE than a pit bull.”
This is not to make light of dog attacks, but to bring the facts into a reasonable perspective.
All dog aggression is thought to be vaccine related and can be easily detoxed. According to veterinarian Richard Pitcairn, "Vaccinosis is the establishment of, instead of the acute natural disease, a chronic condition which now has the time to develop a multitude of manifestations not ordinarily seen." Aggression, one of the symptoms associated with rabies, seems more intensified as part of a vaccine-induced rabies, or rabies vaccinosis.”
Reunion Rescue, a group who has been pulling pit bulls from high kill shelters and placing for over 12 years states, “not everyone should have a pit bull, but by following our simple protocol, anyone CAN have a pit bull.”
Through public education, outreach, working with community and rescue groups, the country does not need to hang on to these outrageous statistics. Our fear should not be of dogs, but of ignorance.
"Fear always springs from ignorance."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Please send all pit bull stories and tips to doggirl1@earthlink.net.
Check out Pit Bulls and Other Animals blog.
Pit Bull Nation is a tell all book about rescuing pit bulls from death row for over twelve years. Now available in e-book and print.
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