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Elizabeth Shidaki
Bed Paudyal
English 100
4 Dec, 2012
Pit Bull’s Oppression
On October 9, 2000 in Los Angeles, a family dog caused the death of a six week old baby girl. The infant was being watched by her uncle as her parents were on vacation. The infant’s uncle went to the kitchen to warm up a bottle, when he came back he found the baby being attacked by the dog. The baby was freed from the dog and rushed to Queen of the Valley hospital in West Covina, shortly after arriving the baby died (Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog).
I didn’t mention the breed of the family dog, what type of dog do you think would attack a six week baby? Well it was reported that the dog was a Pomeranian. Yes can you believe a little Pomeranian would attack a baby? Readers would second guess this report of a Pomeranian
- usually to be less than ten pounds - being responsible for the death of a six week old infant, but if the dog was said to be a Pit Bull readers would immediately believe the report with no hesitation. Pit Bulls are labeled as blood thirsty savages and unfortunately the breed has been living with this label within society for too long. Pit Bulls are not naturally aggressive dogs; they are trained by humans to have aggressive behavior and become fighting dogs. People don’t understand that Pit Bull are dogs like any other dog although the Pit Bull is seen as its own class of dogs that embrace more undesirable characteristics compared to other breeds. Although they are capable of being tough fighters and can attain a severe hostile behavior Pit Bulls can be kind, loving, and compassionate family pets.

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Dogs will behave the way that their owner teaches them to be. Dogs are capable of learning but cannot differentiate what is considered right from wrong in a human view but instead performs the way that satisfies their owner. Maybe the Pomeranian was trained to be a violent watch dog ready to attack anyone that they feel threatened by, this could be why the dog attacked the infant. If the Pomeranian or even a Pit Bull was taught to be a gentle, loving family pet than the dog would surely behave in the desired manner.
The stereotype given to the Pit Bull is a heavy set back to the breed because there are multiple breeds of Pit Bulls that are affected by the label: American Pit Bull Terrier, American
Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and American Bulldogs. (Dogbite) People fear the Pit Bull as well as any mix breed with the word “Pit Bull” included in it. Today Pit Bulls are recognized as a distinct dog breed, known for their tremendous jaw strength and massive body structure. Across America Pit Bulls are bread and raised to become malicious fighting animals and have become the number one breed of fighting dogs. (ASPCA) Not only are they ranked the number one breed of fighting dogs but dog attacks as well, including deaths and maiming
(Dogsbite).
According to Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People ; Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German
Shepherds, and Wolf Hybrids are considered the highlight breeds in dog attack and maiming cases. In Clifton’s research she noted, “Even if the pit bull category was "split three ways," attacks by pit bulls and their closest relatives would still outnumber attacks by any other breed.”
Clifton’s research may show the numbers of Pit Bull attacks collected over the past decade but she does not explain any dog attack scenario within her research. What stood out as interesting about Clifton’s research was that she had included statistics and numbers of the attacks but no evidence or reasons to say why the attack happened in the first place. Some Pit Bulls were

probably trained to be aggressive and attack anyone they feel threatened by – like the
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Pomeranian – but if so then what if their lives were truly endangered? There are different types of aggression that Pit Bulls go through; fear, dominant, territorial, maternal just to name a few.
(Happy Pit Bull) Not only do Pit Bulls deal with different types of aggression but other dog breeds do as well. Pit Bulls have limits just as other dog breeds do with the amount of tolerance they can put up with that humans most often initiate.
The way human’s handle dogs play a major part of where Pit Bulls learn their distinguishing fighting traits.
According to “Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff” by
Lila Miller, Pit Bulls are said to have a long history of being bred to fight, admired for their unique characteristics, immense strength, and muscular stature. In the dog fighting scene Pit
Bulls are praised for their trained desire to fight and to continue to fight despite injuries or fatigue. This trait is called “Gameness” which is looked-for in all dog fighting trainers. People have been training this breed to attack and kill since little after the Civil War. Not supporting the
Pit Bulls fighting history but since they have been taught to fight for so many generations people feel that this is a Pit Bulls specialty and therefore it should be upheld.
People are responsible for upholding this trait all for selfish reasons; money, drugs, and greed. These kinds of people overlook the genuine qualities that rest in a Pit Bull but never take the time to enhance them through proper training; instead they bring out the “gameness” of a Pit
Bull to succeed in the fighting pit. These dog owners implant a particular conduct into the dog’s mindset then expose them into an abusive lifestyle leading the dog to feel vulnerable. In response by using the only behavior that was taught to them, Pit Bulls will act accordingly in order to protect themselves in threatening circumstances. Now people may still think that Pit Bulls are just blood thirsty animals that are somehow born and ready to kill but it can’t be strained enough

Shidaki 4 that in order to kill, the dog must be taught to kill first. If not than the word and action doesn’t even exist to the dog at all because they have no knowledge of it.
Because of their infamous status Pit Bulls aren’t seen as the first breed someone would go to if considering adopting a pet. Pit Bulls attract so much negative media that when a Pit Bull attack is reported on the news viewers at home watching think to themselves, “This dog would attack my baby we don’t want that kind of dog in our house.” The Pit Bull name is negatively intergraded with aggression and violence that this stereotype prevents Pit Bulls from finding homes or being rescued from shelters. Now if a different breed such as Chihuahua’s were reported on the news for every time they bit a child – which they do because I used to have one and they bit – over a period of time those same viewers along with the rest of society would probably think the same about Chihuahuas as they currently do for Pit Bulls. On the contrary though Pit Bulls make excellent family dogs, when Pit Bulls come across a responsible owner with the proper training and careful attention they can be very loving pets and watch over the family. They’re highly intelligent and open to training so there is no reason to why someone wouldn’t be able to train a Pit Bull if given the necessary time to do so. I say this from experience because my family had a Pit Bull along with two Chihuahuas. The Chihuahuas were behaved defensively towards the children than our Pit Bull because both dogs were brought up differently in how they should behave towards children. Our Pit Bull was trained to be gentle and look out for the children as the Chihuahuas weren’t because they never had to live with children.
The behavior of a dogs future lies with the kind of owner they have and the type of training their owner gives them to perform the way they want them to.
Pit Bulls don’t get a lot of praise or news time for when they have achieved a heroic act, but when they get they’re time in the lime light it can really change the outlook of people’s

Shidaki 5 perspective on the entire Pit Bull breed. In the short article “Meet Gladys, another Pit Bull
Hero!” by Sloane Quealy-Miner from BSL News she shares a story about how Glady - Pit Bull of the MacNaught-Stahl family - lead eight year old family member Ezekiel to a baby bunny not far from their home. After Ezekiel showed his mother one baby bunny Glady lead them to the rest of the bunnies. The bunnies seemed to be abandoned and according to Rhode Island’s wildlife rescuer the bunnies were only about a week old. The following day a massive snow storm occurred probably would have killed the newborn bunnies. Stories like these are simple, but heroic and show the nurturing qualities of a Pit Bull. These stories support the affirmation that Pit Bull breeds are not inherently aggressive or violent, slowly breaking down the common stereotypes and myths about Pit Bulls.
Reported by MSNBC on the last week of July, 2012 Maryland’s highest court decided that Pit Bulls are an interestingly dangerous dog breed. This decision was made due to the series of Pit Bull attacks or deaths that has been piling up over the past decade. These kinds of actions make it hard for a Pit Bull owner and the whole Pit Bull breed. Maryland’s court has obviously only been hearing of Pit Bull crimes and have not even considered looking into Pit Bull justice’.
So happened in about a week after the Pit Bull appeal was passed by Maryland’s court law a story of a Pit Bull saving her owner was reported. In the article “Pit Bull Saves Owner from
Certain Death on Train Tracks.” by assistant editor of NBC News, Ryan Karpusiewics reports on
May 9, 2012 a Massachusetts woman fell onto a train track, unable to get up or even move the woman’s Pit Bull, “Lilly” immediately responded doing everything she could to move the woman’s body out of way from the oncoming train. With little time left Lilly jumped in front of the train sacrificing her body to save her owners life. Lilly shockingly survived the hit yet suffered heavy trauma, a sliced foot along with a fractured pelvis and other body injuries. Lillys

Shidaki 6 story does not end there though, after the train track incident Lilly had been adopted by Boston police officer David Lanteigne. Lanteigne reported that he adopted Lilly for his mother who was a sever alcoholic, he thought that with the constant company of Lilly his mother will get better and always have someone there for her. Lanteigne’s mother showed improvement with her alcohol abuse due to Lilly’s consistent support.
Now after reading Lilly’s stories I’m pretty sure that Maryland’s court law would second guess their judgment on Pit Bulls. Lilly’s stories are touching and courageous setting the perfect example for the entire Pit Bull breed. She exemplifies the physical and emotional support that Pit
Bulls graciously offer to all humans. So how could people still be anti-Pit Bull when there are obviously Pit Bulls like Glady and Lilly showing no single trait of being naturally aggressive?
Negative social press and bad media are one of the main supporters of the Pit Bull oppression. Negative media sets a biased perspective for society directing their views of the Pit
Bull breed in the wrong way. As I mentioned before if people got to see the positive and heroic stories of Pit Bulls, instead of being drowned in their attacks than society would definitely begin to alter their point of views in the way that they see the Pit Bull breed. People who look negatively at Pit Bulls are more likely to not know much about the breed at all. With better education of Pit Bulls and their good as well as potential bad qualities people will think twice about their judgments for the dog.
The Pit Bull breed are not naturally aggressive, they are trained to behave in the way that they do. We humans are responsible for the way these dogs behave because we teach them in the desired manner from a young age. Unfortunately for too long society has been flooded with the image of a brain less, blood thirsty savage Pit Bull that we don’t see the potential of a trust worthy compassionate family Pit Bull. People should not judge a Pit Bull simply by their fierce

Shidaki 7 appearance and bad name but instead get to know the true personality of a dog as you would a person. Pit Bulls should be treated and seen equally in society, although they have had many slip up’s in dog attacks and dog fights but a Pit Bulls loyal promises would surely make up for their dark history. People should remember that we’ve created the beast within Pit Bulls but are still able to turn that persona around and relieve their oppression for the future.