Pitbull “Menace”

More informed folks than I have written on the topic of breed stereotypes, but that's not going to stop me – this is my blog and I get to spout off on what inspires and in this case, irks, me. Various breeds over the decades have been alternately sought as the big bad dogs of the day by those who wish to appear tough, and vilified by those who consider themselves polite society. Over time, we have seen German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, and others become the breed to fear. Today, it is clearly the pitbull's turn to be our canine villain.

Several months ago, a fatal attack on a child was reported in the news. "Dog Attacks Child – more at 6:00," the advertisements teased, seducing us to tune in later for the gory details. After hearing this line a few times, I turned to my partner while we were preparing dinner. "Well, we know it wasn't a pitbull, or they'd have used that by now." Sure enough, the headline remained "Dog Attack" and it wasn't until the reporter was in the heart of the story that the dog's breed was mentioned. In my mind, that is perfectly appropriate, since the dog's breed is just one factor of the story that possibly contributes to what happened. In this case, the dog involved was a Rottweiler, the child was killed, and the dog was impounded pending investigation.

Last night, the TV news blared out "Pitbull Attack – on your Ten at Ten." In this story a pitbull attacked a man for reasons not explained. Unlike the attack on the child which was fatal; this attack was non-fatal, still the dog was shot to death and the headlines screamed out "Pitbull Attack."

Izzy and Kelley are both pitbulls, some would call them purebreds though I question the very term when it comes to pitbull dogs. So much irresponsible backyard breeding takes place, it's hard to follow a distinct line of progeny and make any particular claims to "purity." Breed purity stuff gives me the heebie-jeebies anyway, ringing notes of sad resonance with human history.

Both Izzy and Kelley are delightful dogs – friends to all they meet. Izzy has been reliably friendly for six long years. She's lived with all manner of dogs, large and small, attended doggie daycare, and lived with struggling, emotionally disturbed children – all without incident. Kelley is still new to us and young, we will see how her mature personality plays out. I am confident though, that with the right exercise, stimulus, and supervision, she will also have a long and wonderful life without aggressive incidence.

I find screaming headlines about Pitbulls to be incendiary, discriminatory, and unhelpful. Dog attacks happen nine times out of ten due to human error. I'm sure it sells dying newspapers and boosts competitive TV- news ratings. But it is not responsible reporting and it gets me broiling mad.