Pit bulls; how dangerous are they really?
I’m sure we’ve all heard about the bad reputation that pit bulls have. Maybe we haven´t all had a good experience with pit bulls. Sometimes there are stories on the news about attacks on people done by a pit bull, but not all dogs are bad. How dangerous are pit bulls really? Pit bulls as a breed are not dangerous. The things that make pit bulls or any breed dangerous are abuse/neglect/abandonment, bad owners, and lengthened shelter stays.
Pit bulls are considered muscular, short-haired, stocky dogs with a square head of any various type of breeds. ¨Pit bull is a name commonly used for dogs that are usually some mixture of bulldog and terrier… Pit bull include the American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, bull terrier, and Staffordshire bull terrier” (Pit Bull). Sterilization of dogs can increase their lifespan by 1-3 years while reducing the risk of cancer and curbs the dogs urge to roam. “One of the more bizarre problems with policies that target “pit bulls” is that the breed doesn’t technically exist” (Hettinger, James). The pit bull name originally comes from England where the
…show more content…
Because pit bulls are considered a “bully breed”, they are by far the most euthanized breed. “Pit bulls and pit bull mixes average about 33% of shelter intakes nationally, but in large cities the numbers are as high as 40%-65%. About 75% of municipal shelters euthanize pit bulls immediately upon intake, without them ever having any chance at adoption. Those that are offered for adoption are usually the first chosen for euthanasia when overcrowding forces the shelter’s hand and decisions have to be made.” (Save-a-Bull) It is said that being labeled a pit bull can increase the shelter stay by 3 times because they are considered dangerous and aggressive. There are too many pits and not enough people willing to adopt