I am new to this board, so I hope posring about this topic here is OK.

I have a beautiful Neopolitan Mastiff X APBT who is 8 years old & his name is Kenny. In Australia, we have followed suit with America & England in banning these beautiful dogs, because some are owned ny irresponsible morons, who aren't fit to own a goldfish.

I was wondering if anyone here also has one of these beatiful dogs? I am involved in an organisation, trying to overturn the "breed specific legislation", saying it's "deed not breed" & that BSL, punishes the wrong end of the lead.

Probably be moved to Topical Tropical...


I'm a fast study.

We have a Pit bull/cross mutt who was abandoned off of a very busy highway many years ago as a puppy of probably six months or less. When my sister-in-law heard that we had taken the young lad in her first reaction was, "A Pit bull! What are you gonna do! They're mean dogs!"

On one of our first visits to the vet, the local animal control officer happened to be in the waiting room. He looked at Smudge (that's the boy's name) and in a snide way said, "That a Pit bull?"

"Yeah," I said. "He's actually a mixed breed."

"They turn on you, ya know!" he said.

Hmmm....twelve years later and we're still waiting. Smudge growls at fireflies, is intimidated by cats, whines over everything and gets behind me if anything even looks like it might be dangerous or threatening (which to him is pretty much everything!)! We live in a wooded area with lots of wildlife.... deer, bears, wild turkeys, moose, opossums, skunks, porcupines, bobcats, etc., etc. (you get the idea) and he has never once shown the least inclination to give chase to anything. Oh, and on that visit to the vet, the Doc went to trim his nails and before she got the clipper within two inches of his front paw he started shrieking in horror! Yep! That's aggressive!

We also have a Chow-chow (another breed said to be nasty) whose previous owners were thinking of shooting because she was too aggressive (they kept her chained outside, from what we were told). Let's see..... her tongue is pretty aggressive! She like to lick everybody! Oh, and she intimidates the Pit bull, too!

Here's a link to a recent article in The Hartford Courant that attempts to dispel the myth that Pit bulls are evil incarnate, hounds from Hell.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/north ... -northeast

They had another article several years ago that also dispelled the myth of "devil dogs" but I couldn't find it archived online. It said that around the turn of the century (the previous one, not the latest one) Pit bulls were the family dog of choice. They were (and are) great with children, loyal and just all around good pals. Among other American icons of the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th, their image was used for the RCA "His Master's Voice" logo, Buster Brown shoes (his doggie was a Pit bull) and I believe was the dog in the "Spanky and Our Gang" short movies. Yep, they got a bum rap and a bum rep, despite attempts to dispel them. It's the idiots who turn them into aggressive dogs who should be banned!

Up until last year I had a LabXPit...
Male. Fixed.
Temperment of a Lab.
Looks of a Pit.

Thank God!

Mikes cousin & her hubby used to have a pit bull. It was the sweetest pit bill I'd ever seen. Sadly it died some time ago...

Captain Zap

You are correct, at the start of the century they were one of the most popular family dogs & were referred to as the "nanny dog", as they could be trusted to protect the children.

Unfortunately, their love & devotion to their humans was their downfall. Evil, cruel people exploited that devotion, to turn them into fighting dogs.

It is sad that us humans have turned these beautiful, loving dogs, into being the most feared dog breed on this planet, which is a fate they don't deserve.

I will leave you with this poem, not my work, I'm not that clever.

Banned

My muzzle makes you frightened of me
But my eyes are gentle can’t you see.
Don’t reach out your hand,
for I am banned
And nobody dare
Stroke my soft hair.

Running in the fields wild and free
A dream denied to dogs like me
Soon we’ll be part of history
a sad goodbye for all to see.
Why did men make us fight?
Just to feed their cruel delight

Walked in the dark, don’t see the light
The law doesn’t care about my plight
A blind man would hold me nice and tight
because in his eyes I would not bite
He would only see me as I am
Just a dog to touch his hand

For pitties sake, don’t you see?
Cruelty is my destiny
You may ask what I most miss
A gentle touch and a loving kiss
You may ask what type of dogs are we?
Just old Pit-bulls longing to be free.

© Sue Goff

If you want to know more about Pitbulls & BSL, this is a very good site.

www.edba.org.au

Here's Kenny couch potato.


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