Restraining Pit Bulls

Re “Pit Bull Kills Dog,” July 12.

As evidenced by two recent incidents in Canoga Park, neither innocent humans nor helpless pets are safe from pit bulls--not even in their own yards. While we still want to believe that “it is not the dog, just the owner,” we must finally admit we are faced with an entirely different strain of dog now--one that is being inbred, abused and / or trained into a frenzied insanity. A few years ago an attack on a human by a pit bull was almost unheard of, but today [the dogs] are being bred for viciousness. It is time to acknowledge that what once were loving pets are being mutated into lethal weapons.

Thank goodness California legislation is being formulated to impose responsibility and liability where it belongs. It is time to give relief to the law-abiding citizens, loving pet owners and hard-working taxpayers who are being victimized and held hostage in their homes and [who are] paying a $100-million-per-year statewide animal control budget.

PHYLLIS M. DAUGHERTY

Los Angeles