The Pit Bull Terrier was created by breeding Old English Terriers and Old English Bulldogs together to produce a dog that combined the gameness of the terrier with the strength and athleticism of the bulldog. It was bred as an all-around farm dog, working the farms as a cattle/hog dog.
At one point in time, the pit bull had an all around reputation of a much loved, trustworthy companion.
Pit bulls in today’s society tend to have a bad reputation. People use pit bulls for the wrong reason. A prime example is dogfighting. The truth is any dog can have aggression and attack. There are many stereotypes that surround this type of dog that don’t help its reputation.
Pit bulls are the number one dogfighting breed. Fighting dogs are typically raised in isolation, so they spend most of their lives on short, heavy chains. They are regularly conditioned for fighting through the use of drugs, including anabolic steroids to enhance muscle mass and encourage aggressiveness.
Fight dogs that don’t die in the ring often suffer excruciating abuse, neglect, abandonment, and eventually death even worse than humane euthanasia. Dogs that do survive past the ring often end up in shelters, but unable to be rehoused because they retain their aggression from fighting.
According to Metro.us, Some studies estimate that up to 1 million pit bulls are euthanized per year in the U.S. That’s 2,800 pit bulls put to sleep per day. Other estimates say that number is even higher.
Junior Blake Douglas is a proud owner of two pit bulls. Douglas doesn’t like how these dogs are so often stereotyped.
”People use them for the wrong reason like, dog fighting. They are kind dogs. It’s how you raise them that determines their end behavior,” Douglas said.
Some people have never been in contact with a pit bull and sometimes encountering one can be scary to them.
“When I was little, I was walking to my grandma’s house and a pit bull came and barked at me and I didn’t know what to do. For a while, I was scared of pit bulls, but then we got our dog, Elsa, in February. She is a loving dog that wants to lick your face all the time,” Douglas said.
Any dog can be territorial and become aggressive if it feels threatened. Recently, a Hastings Police Officer shot a pit bull on the corner of California and Park Street. He felt the dog was causing mischief and felt threatened by the dog. Junior Brady Chase loves pit bulls and owns several of them.
“I have four pit bulls and I like them because people misjudge them and they are really a nice, calm, loving dogs. They are only mean if you make them that way,” Chase said.
Chase, who happens to live nearby, heard the gunshot. After he figured out what the sound was, Chase decided to speak up.
“I don’t believe the officer had the right to shoot the dog. He was in the pit bull’s territory invading its space. That was the first problem. The other was the officer was pointing a gun at the dog making it feel threatened. If the dog did try to attack the officer it was his fault. If he was scared or didn’t want to deal with the dog, he should have called the animal control,” Chase said.
In order to clear up the misunderstanding of pit bulls, people need to see the real side.
“We need to speak up about the mistreatment and prejudice and expose people to pit bulls that are raised in family settings like other normal dogs,” Chase said.
Pit bulls are caught in a bedlam of madness and they need people to understand and help them out. Visit ASPCA.org or Pit Bull Central for more information and to help support pit bulls.
