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For my final project I decided on a topic I find very important. As you may have already guessed, this report is about bully breeds and why they aren’t actually that dangerous. The reason I chose this subject is that I have a pit mix of my own named Greg. He came up to me as a stray and was so loving I couldn’t turn him away. Anyone who’s met him will tell you he’s the sweetest dog in the world. But there are people who assume he’s aggressive and mean because of how he looks. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth. So let’s get started.
The term “Pit Bull” actually encompasses a large number of dogs. Some through specific breeding, such as the American bully, and others because they mix at random. Though every dog is different, they generally have a muscular build with a square head and big jaws.
The American Pit Bull Terrier is probably the easiest to identify.
Image obtained from the Wikipedia page on the American Pit Bull Terrier. (Wikipedia n.d.)
As mentioned before though, the title includes a lot of dogs. Even some you wouldn’t call pit bulls, but are directly related. Such as the Boston terrier or French bulldog.
Both images pulled from an article on viralfancy.com (Padmi 2017)
Now would you ever believe that the vicious dogs you see on the news are related to these pups? Probably not. This just helps to show that breed has little to do with how a dog acts. To prove that though, let’s go back to when they were first bred, first introduced to the Americas, and what’s happened since to cause this undeserved reputation.
Their origins can be traced back to early 19th century Europe. Mainly England, Ireland, and Scotland. They were cross bred from different Bulldogs and Terriers for the purpose of bull and bear-baiting. Baiting was a blood sport in which dogs were trained to attack until the larger animal was killed.
This went on for decades until blood sports were banned in 1835. So the trainers started illegal ratting and dog fighting in makeshift pits. Hence the name “pit bull”.
Vintage depiction of bull baiting and pit fighting. (Wikimedia n.d.)
When Europeans started immigrating to North America so did their dogs. Once here they were used for a variety of tasks. Like farming, protecting from predators, watching the children, and, most importantly, companionship.
They were so good at these tasks that newspapers started to write articles about them. This led to a boom in popularity and the nickname “The Nanny Breed” due to how well they faired with children.
Pit bulls with children (adoptapet.com n.d.)
There are even a number of famous bully owners. Such as Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Fred Astaire, and Humphrey Bogart, just to name a few. Even Helen Keller loved these breeds so much that she wrote about them in her auto-biography.
“Whenever it is possible, my dog accompanies me on a walk or ride or sail. I have had many dog friends–huge mastiffs, soft-eyed spaniels, wood-wise setters and honest, homely bull terriers. At present the lord of my affections is one of these bull terriers. He has a long pedigree, a crooked tail and the drollest ‘phiz’ in dogdom. My dog friends seem to understand my limitations, and always keep close beside me when I am alone. I love their affectionate ways and the eloquent wag of their tails.”
(The Story of My Life)
Their fame only grew from there thanks to dogs like Bud “The Cross-country Pit Bull”. His claim to fame is riding with Horatio Jackson on the first cross-country road trip using an automobile in 1903. The goggles he wore are still on display in the Smithsonian. Highly public exploits like this made them America’s Dog. Especially during war times. Weather at home or in combat.
The most popular war dog was a stray named Sergeant Stubby. He was found close to a Yale training camp and then smuggled to the front lines of WWI in 1918. There he served 18 months during 17 battles and 4 campaigns. He was known for being able to distinguish between American and German soldiers, carrying messages under fire, and detecting mustard gas. Once he even bit a German spy on the butt and held him until help arrived. Now that’s a good boy!
Sergeant Stubby with his medals.
With all that being done by pits for so long, why did they become public enemy number one? The answer is simple, really. Humans.
There’s a popular saying that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Though that’s not always true; it certainly is most of the time. In the 1980’s dog fighting started to see a resurgence. They adopted these dogs due to their availability, trainability, and docile nature towards their owners. They made them mean as could be and showed them off like trophies. These despicable actions led people to assume all of them were depraved. Meanwhile the dogs just did as they were trained. But unfortunately they aren’t the only breed to be victims of such assumptions.
America has a long history of stigmatizing dogs. In fact, the blood hound at one point was even portrayed as blood thirsty, vicious, and to be feared. This was due to the fact that they were used to track down slaves and criminals on the run.
Then we moved onto the German Shepard, Malamutes, Dobermans, and even Huskies. In hind sight most people would probably find that strange. These dogs are seen all over and loved by lot of people. Why would anyone be afraid of them? Well this fear is fueling laws restricting them. These laws are called Breed Specific Legislation.
B.S.L is the banning of an animal based basically on nothing more than its looks. Some are blanket legislation while others are geared towards bully breeds in particular. Though studies have shown that they aren’t effective, some politicians and citizens still demand them. Even dogs that haven’t been problematic are taken from families and euthanized because of these ridiculous laws.
But the biggest issue is the media itself. They constantly portray pit breeds as villains. Focusing only on the stories involving them or just mislabeling the dog involved. Whether from ignorance or for sensationalism. I believe a quote from the Pacific Standard Magazine puts it best.
“…Between 1965 and 2001, there have been 60 lethal dog-attacks in the United States involving a Pit Bull. Compared to most breeds, that figure is indeed quite high. There were only 14 lethal attacks involving Dobermans, for instance. But taking into account the overall populations of each breed measured, the rate of aggression among Pit Bulls is comparatively quite normal. Even low. During that 36-year period, only 0.0012 percent of the estimated Pit Bull population was involved in a fatal attack. Compare that to the purebred Chow Chow, which has a fatal-attack rate of 0.005 percent, and consistently ranks as the least child-friendly dog breed on the market. Why don’t media reports of attacks involving Chows eclipse those involving Pit Bulls? Because there are only 240,000 registered Chow Chows currently residing in the United States. And frankly, the broad-skulled, wide-mouthed Pit Bull makes for a more convincing monster than the comically puffy Chow.”
(Flanagin 2014)
In closing; Rescue dogs used during 9/11, the NASA shuttle crash in 2003, numerous service animals, and even police dogs are all pitties. How could deranged and dangerous animals be used in such serious and important roles? They wouldn't be.
This is Greg, the sweetest dog in the world.
Bibliography
n.d. adoptapet.com. https://www.adoptapet.com/blog/for-over-100-years-pitbulls-were-our-babysitters/tumblr_ljm8pzmydq1qj1a0to1_400/.
Flanagin, Jake. 2014. "The Tragedy of America's Dog." Pacific Standard Magazine.
Hatzmann, Isabela. 2015. BULLYMAKE. August 4. Accessed June 7, 2018. https://goo.gl/fcREJM.
Keller, Helen. 1903. The Story of My Life.
Padmi. 2017. Viral Fancy. June 29. https://goo.gl/75CkAb.
PetMD. n.d. PetMD. https://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/c_dg_american_pit_bull_terrier.
Stevens, Kellie. 2016. barkpost. https://barkpost.com/pit-bulls-history-of-americas-dog/.
n.d. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_Henry_Alken_-_Bull_Baiting.jpg.
n.d. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier.