Pit Bull: Why Punish the Breed for Man’s Deed?

The term pit bull, which is known by many, is a generic term for a bulldog mixed with several breeds. It has its share of difficulties when it comes to popularity. This breed has been one time tagged as America’s sweetheart during the early 1900s. Together with the development of suburbs, pit bulls were part of almost every American family.

This breed was seen as lovable, trustworthy, friendly, and brave. They were treated as regular dogs back then and not as pit fighters. If you do some research, you will see hundreds of vintage photos of a family taking care and loving this poor and misunderstood animal.

Pit bulls even showed up on posters, magazine pages, and advertisements. There were pit bulls that became heroes and famous by saving countless lives during the civil war like Stubby, a brown and white American pit bull and Weela, saving several individuals, horses, and a cat during the severe flood which occurred in Southern California back in 1993. It was just sad that quite a few recognizes the traits that this innocent animal truly has.

The American Pit Bull Terrier

The American pit bull terrier is a product of breeding a bulldog from different varieties of terriers to achieve specific qualities like the strength and athleticism of a bulldog and the persevering trait of a terrier. Terriers are bred to hunt pest in any condition whether facing injury.

This trait is what the early breeders look up to when selecting dogs to enter for dogfights. In the 1800s, in England, similar dog breeds of today’s pit bull were used to “bait” bulls as a form of entertainment to ease the hardship of life. Not until 1835, bull “baiting” was banned as it was considered inhumane and illegal. Man played a key role on how society looks at pit bulls negatively. Man has been breeding and training them to be aggressive for their own entertainment and satisfaction.

Aggression = Pit bulls ?

The dictionary defines aggression as destructive behavior caused by frustration. Being hostile is another. People tend to relate pit bulls to aggression.

Once they see you walking with a pit bull they will warn you to be very careful as it might hurt you or somebody else. It’s so sad to hear these words from people like them; they who have not experience owning a pit.

As per the study, the “lock jaw” connotation for pit bulls is nothing but a trash. The jaw of a pit bull does not have any characteristic to lock once it bites. Another myth busted I should say. Do you think I myself will risk walking with my pit bull if I know he is aggressive as others think?

Sasha the pitbull

Taking care of a pit bull really depends on the owner on how he or she will take care of it. I believe if you show calmness and kindness, your pit bull will show it too. Your pet will feel how you want him or her wants to feel. If you show aggression, for sure your pet will also show aggression.

Always remember, not just pit bulls will show aggressiveness, any breed of dog will do if you do not show respect to their owners and their turf. It such that the media has been treating the pit bull with prejudice to sell off airtime and newspapers.

As a proof:

A 2008 report on media bias by the National Canine Research Council (full report here) compared the type of media coverage given for dog attacks that occurred during a four–day period in August 2007 with intriguing results:

On day one, a Labrador mix attacked an elderly man, sending him to the hospital. News stories of his attack appeared in one article in the local paper.
On day two, a mixed–breed dog fatally injured a child. The local paper ran two stories.
On day three, a mixed–breed dog attacked a child, sending him to the hospital. One article ran in the local paper.
On day four, two pit bulls that broke off their chains attacked a woman trying to protect her small dog. She was hospitalized. Her dog was uninjured. This attack was reported in more than 230 articles in national and international newspapers and on the major cable news networks.
You will notice how the media can influence other people and legislators to be biased on how they will treat innocent living creatures.

What do I think?

Speaking based on my firsthand experience, our pit bull, Sasha has not shown any aggressiveness towards us or any other member of the family. We

got her when she was 2 months old. She still thinks and acts like a puppy although she has grown bigger at 9 months. Whenever she is inside the bedroom with us; she still climbs up the bed and sleeps with us sharing the space when she was still a little one. Sasha is so lovable and full of humor. She always brings smile to your face whenever you see her.

Recently we adopted another pit bull named Halo; he is 5 months older than Sasha is. Our first meeting with him was on the day we took him home. Halo never showed a single aggression even though we were complete strangers. Thanks to the previous owners who did well on raising him.

Once home, I immediately took him for a walk to established the bond. I entered the house before him to show that I am the master of the house. You see, there are basic rules in handling dogs in which not most of us are aware of. Halo immediately became friends with Cody, our mixed Japanese Spitz, and Husky who helped him cope up faster with his new home, our home. Halo even made friends with Cuddles, our adopted black cat.

I do hope that sharing this article will enlighten some of you folks to never judge the breed instead, love the breed.

About the author

Jeffrey started his writing career by accident. His wife asked him to cover some work for her because she can no longer handle several jobs. As a ghostwriter, Jeffrey already had more than a hundred articles published on different websites owned by individuals and companies from around the world.

Other than writing articles, Jeffrey has several interests that he juggles as of the moment. He is currently playing in a band as a Bass player. They play cover songs from the classic rock era like Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and many more. Of course, as every band would dream of, writing their own music and dreaming about becoming famous one day.

Breeding dogs is one of his hobbies. Together with his wife, they breed pitbulls, which they consider as one of the misunderstood breeds in our society. Recently they have acquired Halo, a very nice and loving pit. He’s a perfect partner for their standard pit bull, Sasha. In a couple of months, another American Bully will be joining the family. Other than Halo and Sasha, they also have Cody who is a mixed Japanese Spitz and Siberian Husky. Before the pit bulls, they had Daphnie and Marty, two pure breed Shih Tzu.

It was hard for them to lose these two fur babies. Daphnie was stolen in the early morning of January 8, 2009 and Marty died due to infection a year before. Moving on was difficult but life must go on.

Other than playing instruments and breeding dogs, Jeffrey has this 90% restored Volkswagen Beetle. He acquired this beetle as his dad’s gift in 1997. It was his first car and this started his fascination with old cars especially Volkswagens. He drove this car during his college days and he had it restored in 2000 after graduation. Until today, he is using it as his daily driver.

Jeffrey is also fascinated with tattoos. He currently has three inks, one on the left part of his neck, and two on both arms. For him having an ink is like having an artwork for the rest of your life that reminds you of a special someone or an event that is worth remembering each day.

One of his tattoos says “KILL EM ALL,” which gives him inspiration; overcome any challenge that comes into your life.

After getting his degree from the University of the Philippines, Jeffrey started working as a community development officer. They give talks to local communities and sponsor seminars regarding livelihood and many more. He also worked as a marketing staff from a small country club that gave him the opportunity to organize a car show that was participated by hundreds of car enthusiasts around the country. The event was covered by AutoExtreme of RPN 9 in 2003.