Do you think pit bulls should be banned?

Being a dog lover i believe entirely a dogs behaviour is down to its owner. I think if the dogs where shown more love and taught right from wrong from a young age, they wouldnt grow up to be dangerous or agressive dogs. Banning a breed because of the selected untrained few is wrong. Instead the owners should be responsible for ill upbringing.

The jaw structure of a pitbull is such that they are much more capable of damage. I think because of breeding for vicious traits for so long, they should be categorized as a lethal weapon or at the least a domesticated wild animal. A wolf may be a loving pet, but the potential for harm will always be greater from that animal than your average poodle. The same can be said for dogs that are bred for vicious traits like pitbulls. I wonder if we could have separate licencing and regulations for them as we would for the ownership of wild animals. Make it expensive (this weeds out people who are not serious about the breed) and very regulated. Maybe it should be required that there are no children in the home, that the home be so many feet from another home with children, that the owner should be required to take classes (you'd take safety classes for other dangerous things like driving, shooting, and parachuting)etc.... I DO worry about all the pit bulls that are already in existence. Will they all need to be put down?

I think that rather than ban the breed altogether, it would be a better idea to enforce training on the potential owner of pitbulls. In other words, they should be familiarised with the dog and taught how to handle it before they can actually take it home... over one month, two months or whatever it takes, at regular visits. When the "seller" is happy that the potential owner has learned how to handle the dog, then he should be given a certificate. In fact, this should probably be the routine with ALL breeds of dogs. There are too many abused and neglected animals on this earth. Pitbulls are lovely dogs as you say, if trained and handled correctly. Brightest Blessings my dear friend. x

The pit bulls are dangerous. They were bred first to attack bulls in bull fights, and were probably intended to just stay on the farm and under one owner, not to go live with nice families. So they were never intended to be pets, but somehow there were a few who decided well if my pit bull is affectionate towards me, he will get along with my children and that is how it started. The pit bull can grab a child's arm with his jaws and not let go. He can also perceive at a threat what a human does not, and since they were bred to attack he will snap a toddler who is coming too near his water dish even though the toddler does not know it. Another dog might snarl and growl, but not the pit bull it will attack. So they should only keep pit bulls as guard dogs and chained up so they cannot attack anyone, and it should be illegal to own one unless you have a special license.

I love pit bulls they are not usually mean dogs and can be good loving friends.

NO WAY! I own a pitbull, and she is the greatest dog ever. Never had any complaints cause of her and we've had her for 5 years now. Shes a baby, meaning she loves to curl up with everyone and she never stops licking us. If they ban pitbulls, you will see my face on the news complaining.

I think that Dobermans and Pitt Bulls should both be banned. They are too dangerous to be around. They even bite their owners sometimes. i do not want to be around these dogs!

the pitbulls are already in existence and their very nature is to fight but since it was intentionally bred to come up with an offspring to fight and it wasn't actually a natural evolution then it is possible to slowly limit it's breeding. not by killing but banning the breeding of that certain species.

NO NO NO. They should not be banned. We have a dog that is part pit bull and while she is very protective of members in the family she is also very lovable. People who have pit bull dogs should train them properly and also watch them carefully. We earlier had another part pit bull and a neighbor had the police come and shoot him because he got loose and dared to run through her yard but bothered no one. When they shot him he was just laying there in his own front yard. After shooting him they just left him there and denied knowing anything about it. We know who it was though because another neighbor sw them do it. I might add though that this particular neighbor who had our dog shot is a real pain in the butt. She thinks she owns the whole neighborhood.

Raydene...I agree with a lot of your discussion, especially relating to bad owners! But I feel this discussion goes a lot further...to bad, really bad breeders that expedited the production of this breed when it was in vogue! All for the almighty buck...get on the gravy train! So many of this breed, are so highly interbred, that there is serious problems in the gene pool! I have a wonderful vet, and she concurs that it will take a while for this breed to come back to "true to breed"...a big, kind, gentle galunk! It's just another breed that mankind has manipulated (mostly for profit)...and it's getting the short-end of the stick! Cheers!

Hi raydene! One of our pet dogs is a pit bull. Her name is Ngat-Ngat and I have posted a photo of hers in one of your discussions earlier. She is very sweet and gentle. She loves being caressed on her neck and on her cheeks. She is very sweet and will always give me space when she sees me very quiet. I guess, she can sense that I am sad at that moment. She always wag her tail when she sees me smiling. There are other people who told me and my husband that they are moody dogs and will attack even unprovoked but never once have I seen her display any violent behavior. Take care and have a great day! lovelots..faith

well i like pitbulls. well i dont think they should be banned.

Banning pit bulls is no more acceptable than trying to ban a certain race of humans just because there is a higher crime rate among that race there is no such thing as a vicious breed there may be vicious dogs and they could be any breed of dog but there is no such thing as a vicious breed of dogs

I agree with you - the problem is not the dog or its breed - it's the owners. Some people just use animals for their own ends - either to make money from so-called 'sport' or to fit their image or just because it's the thing to do. Ban the irresponsible owners, rather than the dogs.

they shouldnt be banned, For heavens sakes dont people realize an animal is the way they are due to how their owners are? ESPECIALLY with dogs that naturally have a more agreesive streak like pitbulls. its the owners fault not the dog. Pitbulls have to be trained much more carefully due to their natural inborn agreesive streak, if abused they wont lay down and take it. Pitbulls are made by their owners. im just horrified to hear about all this. Pitbulls are not bad dogs.

I totally agree with you on this! Well, pit bulls are born to be very aggressive. it's in their nature. So owners and breeders should be penalized if ever their pets cause anyone harm. They should be responsible for their dogs' actions. Pitbull fighting should be banned though. It's inhumane, even for animals that are natural born fighters.

I totally agree. And its also unfair to think that pitbulls are natural-born killers. Its only the working of some insane individuals that make them do that. But some drastic measures has to be done in order to make a stop to these animal brutalities. Once these laws are in place it would hopefully discourage irresponsible breeders or owners who train their dogs specifically for fighting and gambling purposes.

ya definetly these sort of pit bulls should be banned happy mylotting

I can't say how many times I've heard poeple say, she was such a loving dog, I don't know why she atacked. Or, he just wouldn't let go, I couldn't pry him loose. It seems whenever there's a dog attack it's a pit bull that's involved. What worries me most about this breed is the power it has and the damage it inflicts. Once the animal locks it's jaw, there is so little that can be done. Any dog breed can and will snap if you do something it really doesn't like, with a pit bull the outcome can be severe and in many cases, deadly.

No I don't think they should be preggedish. I had a american pit and she saved my life. Not just once but 2 times. One time when there was a tornatoe. and one time when a strange man attackat me. She had some help you should have seen him. I had a bobcat living under my porch she had kittens when she heard me and the dog she came in the house and almost killed him.