Letters: How to deal with pit bulls
Re “It’s a losing fight for pit bulls,” Oct. 9
People who have pit bulls’ best interests at heart should support Riverside County’s spay and neuter ordinance. Not only are pit bulls the breed most often euthanized in many animal shelters, they are also the breed of choice for dogfighters and thugs who abuse them to make them mean.
Every day, staffers at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals meet pit bulls that have been trapped for years at the ends of heavy chains or in filthy pens. The dogs are often shaking in fear, full of heartworms, emaciated and scarred from fights. Many are aggressive and lash out unpredictably because they’ve suffered a lifetime of abuse.
Pit bulls are bred for profit and abused based exclusively on their breed; providing protections for them based on their breed is essential.
Teresa Chagrin
Norfolk, Va.
The writer is a PETA animal care and control specialist.
To those who are not concerned about the indiscriminate breeding of pit bulls and are upset by the idea that the pit bull population should be reduced, I say this: A poodle, terrier or chihuahua cannot dismember a human or kill anyone.
Sylvia Lewis Gunning
Thousand Oaks
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