Taunka,

Though I appreciate your comments about Tug, even people with good intentions (as you write about Tug) can do great harm to the "cause" if they are not well-versed in communication techniques and do not know how to write rhetorically. There are many pit bull lovers out there whose arguments are so poorly worded and badly thought-out that they actually end up giving a great deal of material to the folks who want to get rid of pit bulls.

Tug's column has eerie echoes of Richard Stratton, who, though "experienced" with pit bulls (particularly fighting pit bulls), wrote his material to appeal to macho men who wanted a "badass" dog. Many novice pit bull "fans" today still parrot Stratton's stereotypical nonsense, and this is ripe fodder for breed ban proponents. Stratton's material has been used to support the idea that pit bulls are so different from other types of dogs that they require special measures of control. Tug continues this line of thought through his stereotypical descriptions of the pit bull's strength, power, and "ability to kill," without providing any context or scientific data.

Good intentions are important. But so is fact-based information.

logger02 wrote:
Ihave owned and been around Pit Bulls for a long time. NONE of them ever turned on me or anyone else. You cannot mistreat or abuse them, they will retaliate, wouldn't you.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7959328

Lancaster boys need stitches, ear reattachment after dog attack

Posted: March 3, 2008 02:58 PM

LANCASTER COUNTY, SC (WIS) - Two 10-year-old cousins have been viciously bitten in Lancaster County - victims of a pit bull attack.

The attack happened while the boys were playing in their front yard. It was so bad, one boy had to have his ear reattached. The other needed stitches in his leg.

Now, two dogs are in quarantine, and there's a good chance both will have to be put down.

"The brown one was sitting there calm as can be, but the white one was bucking and growling trying to get up the fence at us," says next-door neighbor Brenda Harrison.

Harrison was worried about the pit bulls when she moved to the neighborhood with her four small dogs - Spot, Junior, Princess, and Cricket. But she had never seen the pit bulls act violent until Thursday when her fiance came running, "hollering that the dogs were attacking the little boys next door."

She says they, "Went over there and picked up the little boys and tried to get them over the fence away from the dogs."

Animal Control officers think the dogs were considered family pets, but they've seen pit bulls turn on their owners before. "Pit bulls have been bred for hundreds of years as catch dogs, and sometimes breeding will come back out on a dog."

"Retrievers are going to retrieve. It's not something you teach them; it's something that's been burnt into them," says the Animal Control spokesperson.

And that's why Animal Control says both dogs will most likely be put down after 10 days, even if the brown dog did not attack. They can't take a chance adopting the pit bull out to another family.

Posted by Chantelle Janelle
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http://www.eurekareporter.com/article/080403-one-bite-could-cost-your-dog-its-life-0


One bite could cost your dog its life
By EMILY WILSON, The Eureka Reporter
Published: Apr 3 2008, 10:14 PM · Updated: Apr 3 2008, 10:19 PM
Category: Local News



On Thursday, following a three-day hearing, Judge W. Bruce Watson ordered Attila, a blue-nose pit bull, be euthanized to protect public safety.

Watson determined that Attila was a vicious dog after hearing details of two incidents at Samoa Beach where he allegedly attacked people.

During an incident on Feb. 10, Cassie Austrus, 26, and Kym Coleman, 22, said they saw a puppy and a rat-terrier mix playing and a dog fight ensued.

The scene escalated when the puppy’s owner, Noel Carey-Larson lost control of her other dog, Attila, a pit bull, while trying to restrain her third dog — a pit-chow mix.

The terrier’s owner Nancy Morales said Attila pushed her dog’s head in the sand and carried it away. After hearing Morales’ scream, Austrus and Coleman said they ran to her assistance.

Carey-Larson’s attorney, M.C. Bruce, said the terrier may have nipped the puppy — explaining its bloody eye and why Attila was provoked.

Carey-Larson said that when she approached, the pit-chow bit Morales in the leg.

Once the chaos settled, Carey-Larson asked Austrus and Coleman to help her walk the dogs to her truck, Austrus said. She walked Attila, but the dog began jumping around her, so she said she dropped the leash.

What followed has resulted in nightmares, she said. Attila lunged at her and latched onto her right arm, which was blocking her face, she said. “He wasn’t letting go.”

Coleman said she continually kicked Attila. “It just wouldn’t let go no matter what I did.” Once Attila released his grip, the pit-chow had bitten Austrus’ thigh, Coleman said.

Austrus’ has scars from the incident and her right arm may never have full flexion again, she said. Coleman was also bitten, but said she was unsure by which dog.

Sky White testified that the pit-chow and Attila had attempted an attack on his puppy during an incident in
December. “I was incredibly scared.”

Carey-Larson said the pit-chow bit White because he had repeatedly kicked Attila in the face. But White said it
was self-defense.

On the witness stand Wednesday, Carey-Larson’s husband Brady cried, describing how Attila — just over a year
old — was social, cuddly and his best friend.

He said he would take the necessary steps to retrain Attila’s aggressive behavior. “I’ll go through the training — I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Jeanne Fleek, Animal Control Officer for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, said she was not an animal
behaviorist and couldn’t determine if Attila was retrainable. However she said her opinion was no.

“This dog deserves at least a chance that the county has not given him,” Bruce said.

There are no facilities in Humboldt County that retrain vicious dogs, Carey-Larson said. She arranged to have
Attila retrained at The Brickyard Kennel in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she and Brady were planning to move before the February incident, she said.

Carey-Larson said she thought Watson’s decision rested largely on not wanting to release the dog to another county’s Animal Control office.

The pit-chow was euthanized shortly after his second biting incident and Attila was euthanized within hours on Watson’s ruling.

“They wouldn’t even let me in there to pet him,” Brady said of his last visit with Attila.

“If you have a dog that has aggression issues — as the dog’s owner — you have a responsibility to make sure the dog is appropriately contained and or restrained at all times,” said Lt. Steve Knight of Animal Control.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/852681/

Pit bull shot by officer after attack on dog, owner in Delray Beach
Saturday, November 24, 2007; Posted: 07:15 AM
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-- One moment he was sipping a pumpkin spice latte; the next, fighting to save his golden retriever's life.

Brian Ganey, 32, and his wife, Renee, took their dog Muskie for a walk to Starbucks on Atlantic Avenue early Thanksgiving morning when a large brown pit bull attacked him and his pet.

What followed was a violent scuffle that only ended when a Delray Beach police officer shot the female pit bull in the neck -- after failed attempts using pepper spray and a stun gun.

"I'm still a little shaken up," Ganey said Friday. "We're both lucky to be alive."

Ganey, who moved to Delray Beach from Seattle in September, was taken to Delray Medical Center on Thursday with about 30 puncture wounds in his left hand and arm, police said. Muskie was taken to a 24-hour emergency animal hospital for surgery. The 9-year-old dog had a deep puncture wound to his left leg.

It would have been a lot worse, Ganey said, if the police officer had not stepped in.

Ganey "was punching the dog, and he even sat on her, but the dog was not letting go. It was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen," said Sima Blossom, 52, who watched the attack unfold from her window seat inside Starbucks.

Ganey and his wife sat outside the coffee shop at 502 E. Atlantic Ave. with Muskie lying at their side when a pack of dogs wandered by in the street. As a few people tried to corral them away from traffic and onto the sidewalk, the brown pit bull lunged at Muskie.

"He just looked up at me and was crying while this dog was tearing him to pieces," said Ganey, who jumped on the dog and started punching her.

The pit bull clamped onto Ganey's hand, violently shaking her head back and forth. Ganey and Muskie were trapped in the dog's locked jaws.

"There was such a commotion. Everyone was trying to help," Blossom said. "Someone poured hot coffee on the dog. Someone even dropped a flower pot on its head, but she would not let go."

A little after 8:30 a.m., six people ran into traffic to flag down a police officer driving by.

"Tables, chairs, flower pots and plants were scattered in front of the shop," Officer R.C. Bowers wrote in his report.

Another larger white and black pit bull was barking and growling at the couple as about 10 people tried to free Muskie from the dog's jaws by kicking and punching at her. Everyone was screaming "Help, help!" the report said.

Bowers sprayed the dog with pepper spray with no effect. He used his stun gun on the dog twice, sending a shock of electricity felt by Ganey.

The pit bull stood up and walked away, blood and foam dripping from her mouth, but then turned like she was going to attack the officer, Blossom said. Bowers then fired a round into the dog's upper neck, according to the report. The shot sent the white and black pit bull running.

"The attack lasted only about 15 minutes, but the whole thing felt like 30 seconds," Ganey said. "I walk Muskie there three or four times a week. You'd think Atlantic would be a safe place to go."

Kavis Jones, of Delray Beach, was visiting family in Georgia for Thanksgiving when animal control called to say her dog had been shot.

"When they told me what happened I told them ... my dog does not bite people," said Jones, who took the 5-year-old pit bull, Cinnamon, after her son couldn't keep him.

"She's never bitten anyone before. She's always around kids," said Jones, sobbing. "Something had to happen for her to do that. She had to have been provoked."

Tony Seurdy, who was watching Jones' dog while she was out of town, told police that he had left Cinnamon and his pit bull, Scooby, locked in a kennel overnight and awoke to a call from animal control breaking the news.

"They said it would take $2,000 to fix Cinnamon," Jones said. "I don't have that kind of money, so I had to put her down. My kids are heartbroken."

Rachael Joyner can be reached at rjoyner@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6645.

If I had a dollar for every time I've read about a pit bull attack in which the owner or the dog claims that the animal had never bitten anyone, that it must have been provoked, that the dog played with the little kids, and their toddlers...I would be richer than the dreams of Avarice.