The Controversy Over Pit Bulls

The recent bad publicity given pit bulls in the media bothers me. It bothers me because most people will reach wrong conclusions regarding what makes a dog vicious. It also bothers me because a lot of beautiful dogs will be needlessly sentenced to death because they did what their masters trained them to do.

The most graphic and damning pictures were those of Joy Hauser’s dog, Benjamin, attacking the animal control officer sent to check on her. However, it was obvious that she gave the dog a command to attack and the dog obeyed her. After the attack when she had the dog on a leash, it behaved normally and did not attack anybody.

It is unfortunate that certain undesirable elements of people have adopted the pit bull as the breed to reinforce their antisocial orientation. But if there were no pit bulls, they could just as likely train Dobermans, Rottweilers, or some other breed to do the same things.

It is easy to be stirred into hysteria against a particular breed. Public officials very easily use situations like this to make themselves more popular.

I urge that people and city councils take the proper route and examine evidence such as statistics and testimony from experts before they rush to a judgment that denies due process to certain breeds of dogs.

We have to be careful how we arrive at judgments. Today it may just be against a breed of Canis domesticus . Tomorrow it could be against a certain breed of Homo sapiens .

HECTOR SANTOS

Los Angeles