• 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I’m not a dog breed expert, but…

    The other day an agressive dog that looked like a pitbull, suddenly lunged at me barking loudly… It was about 10ft away from me but still scared the shit out of me

    The owner yanked the dog back on its leash and i thought, “FML, the only thing that saved me from a deadly mauling was a 3/4 inch wide piece of nylon with a metal clip the guy bought off amazon for $5”

      • jopepa@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Hippos are super aggressive, territorial, and will bite a crocodiles in half. It’s amazing that’s supposed to be a cute, disarming nickname for a breed notorious for the same traits.

      • snipgan@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        To be fair most won’t, but they definitely can and do.

        Especially when they are jaws on legs that are more inclined compared to other dogs.

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          Yup. I’ve crunched the numbers before, and it’s something like 1 in 10,000 pit bulls will attack a human or other companion animal every year. It’s not likely for any given pit to attack a person (which I can anecdotally support–they’re obnoxiously friendly and loving in my experience), but it’s also like 10 times more than the next most vicious breed. In my opinion, it’s not worth euthanizing every member of the breed, but it is worth neutering every one. We don’t need dog breeds, especially ones responsible for over half of the violent attacks on people and other animals.

          Of course, I’m in support of neutering all companion animals to reduce the stray population and ease the strain on shelters, regardless of breed or species. Breed specific laws are only one step towards fixing the larger problem.

          • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Of course, I’m in support of neutering all companion animals to ease the stray population and the strain on shelters, regardless of breed or species. Breed specific laws are only one step towards fixing the larger problem.

            Bob Barker is smiling down on you from heaven for this

          • workerONE@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Don’t you think that pit bull attacks are dangerous and cause medical trauma which leads to reporting of the attack? I think it’s likely that they don’t attack people more than any other dog breed. I was bit by a black lab mix. I didn’t report it to anyone. If it had been a pit bull I probably would have needed medical attention.

          • Ataraxia@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            I must be unlucky because I have yet not run into one that didn’t try to kill me if not for the muzzle or them being a puppy or a fence.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            As you’ve pointed out the dogs are perfectly capable of being lovey couch potatoes. The problem isn’t the dog it’s the people. The breed has a reputation. And the people who like that are just going to move on to the next breed after this one is gone.

        • Seraph@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          The actual issue is that’s it’s a degenerative disease in dogs of similar breeds. At some point they get old and less able to recognize friend from foe. That might be ok if it weren’t for the jaws you mentioned.

          • snipgan@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Exactly.

            I’d go one step farther and even say if they even had the same amount of attacks as other dogs, had no possible mental diseases, and all want to caring homes I would still put restrictions/ban on them.

            They are just too large to handle, too big of a bite to brush off, and end up in dog attacks a lot. That’s enough for me.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977763/

                That’s a great article…

                However the only examples of aggression being related to breed is with Daschands and Yorkies, although the study says that’s likely just to that specific gene also making legs shorter.

                While there is a genetic component to aggression, it’s variation is pretty standard amongst all dogs, except the tiny ones who may have accidentally been selected for it.

                But someone asked you for a source for a cognitive thing and you just randomly linked an article about how breed doesn’t determine behavior?

                Did you know what that article was about before you linked it?___

                • Seraph@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  However, it is also notable that a subset of large breeds carries the chrX reduced-fear/aggression and increased-size variants in perfect LD.

                  I know reading is hard, friend! I linked that as it was the most interesting thing I found while looking off there were other degenerative diseases common in pitbulls, while not being pitbull specific. Did you think me finding evidence contrary to my beliefs would result in me hiding it?

                  I’d give you snarky “let me Google that for you” on the degenerative diseases as they’re genuinely interesting, but I guess you’ll never know what they’re about since you can type a comment but not use a search engine.

      • squiblet@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It’s funny they call them hippos considering that hippos are extremely dangerous and vicious wild animals.

    • gamer@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I was walking my dog through my neighborhood once, and one of my stupid ass neighbors had his dog loose in his garage with the door open across the street. When it saw me, it charged at us, barking aggressively. It didn’t attack me, it just stood a few feet away baring its teeth and barking while his overweight owner waddled over to it armed with a sandle. I think it was a labrador.

      If it was a pitbull though I’d likely be missing a limb or two today.

    • joel_feila@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      not if that is sarcasm or not, but most likely there was no pitull in that that dog.

  • snipgan@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Unsurprising. Large “power breeds” like pit bulls I have always found questionable to have.

    No restrictions or licenses? No muzzles at least?

    A good thing they banned them.

    Though I still dislike the outright malice and hate I see when a pit bull in a photo might be doing nothing but staring at a sunset. A bit hate crazy.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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      Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

      • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        If you’re a dog owner and you’re paying attention, then your personal experience should include the following truth: any dog can go postal. If you then combine this with the knowledge that pitbulls are much more deadly than other dogs when being agressive, then you must reach the conclusion that this breed should be banned, even though that is admittedly a sad conclusion.

          • WldFyre@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Every dog on the planet is more aggressive than all other dogs on the planet?

            • Instigate@aussie.zone
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              1 year ago

              Well surely it’s a spectrum that people are advocating an arbitrary line be placed on. Once this breed is gone, what about the next most aggressive breed? They then become the most aggressive breed and there’ll be calls to weed them out too. Dogs kill more humans than any other non-human vertebrate in the world by a very long shot - getting rid of one breed isn’t going to reduce that number to zero.

              To clarify, I’m not against the move of banning the breed at all, I’m just acutely aware that it’s making an arbitrary distinction.

              • Tavarin@lemmy.ca
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                1 year ago

                Pitbulls are deadlier than all other breeds combined. They are 10 times as deadly as the next most aggressive breed. You don’t need to pull out the slippery slope fallacy, when the line is very clearly at pitbulls.

              • themajesticdodo@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                That is not a good argument, it is dishonest and disingenuous.

                You’re actually using the same logic people used to try and avoid gay marriage.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Pitbulls are not the deadliest dog out there. Not by a long shot. They’re just the ones people like to make aggressive.

          • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Except they are, though. They’re bred to be as deadly as possible. This is a verifiable fact.

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              There are dogs that are bred to help bring down bears. Some asshole breeding for noise and muscle does not make the most dangerous dog.

              • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
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                Pitbulls are the most deadly breed of dog, to humans. This is a solid concrete fact. There are reasons for this, and evidence to back it up. Your thing about bears is irrelevant, unless those dogs have been proven to be more dangerous to humans than pitbulls, which they haven’t.

                • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Sure, just ignore all context. Big number bad. Keep playing whack a mole wondering why the problem never gets fixed.

          • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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            It’s important to understand what people mean when they say things. These people aren’t saying that pit bulls are more physically capable of killing people than any other breed, they’re saying that they’re responsible for more deaths than any other breed.

            It’s a bit like saying the flu is deadler than ebola. Ebola may have a higher mortality rate, but it’s so much less likely to infect people that it has a much smaller kill count.

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

          • Tavarin@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            I know a handful of pits who have bitten and severely injured people. For your positive anecdote there is a negative to match.

            • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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              Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

                • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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                  Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

          • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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            1 year ago

            i am a dog owner, and know many dog owners, and have personally known 2 neighbors who lost pets due to pits who went ‘postal’

            anecdotes gunna anecdote

          • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Can this possibly be true?
            If a dog switches to aggressive mode and stops listening to commands, trying to attack (another dog, a cat, a deer, a bird, a human) that’s what I mean by “going postal”. In most cases they are restrained on leash. The outcome, and the target (for the sake of this argument) are not important. It is not possible to predict accurately when they will do this.

      • 1bluepixel@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        People with access to verifiable data overlook the appearance of safety to express a legitimate concern about a breed that’s demonstrably more likely to kill? What dorks!

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

          • gears@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            My childhood pitbull bit me in the face and I have permanent face scarring from it. I had to get 60+ stitches to reconstruct my face.

            It’s not a valid point to say “most don’t attack people” when the breed is much more likely to attack a person compared to other breeds. Then it’s made worse by the fact they’ve been bred to be extra good at attacking.

            • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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              Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

  • evanuggetpi@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    I used to have a Pitbull, such a beautiful girl, who one day chased and killed one of our cats she’d grown up with. My friend had her brother, such a beautiful boy, who one day chased and killed one of their cats.

    Last week, on my lifestyle block, two Pitbulls appeared and killed my chickens before I could stop them. I chased the fuckers off but haven’t found where they came from.

    That is all.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      The thing I have noticed about pitballs is that they have like this beast mode where they seem to just lose it with rage. Also because of their jaw strength when they do lose it whatever they do is much worse than regular dogs.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      That’s not just Pitbull behavior though. That’s called prey drive and a lot of breeds have that. Some everyone expects like Greyhounds and Bulldogs. But it’s also present in breeds like Golden Retrievers, Bassett Hounds, and Irish Setters. Are we going to ban Golden’s next? They can also feature the fun perk, protectiveness, where they go after anyone who gets close to their human. And any dog can become reactive.

      • Daikusa@lemmy.world
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        I’ll take the dogs that are less prone to “prey drive” thank you very much. You don’t really see Goldens or Bassetts mauling small creatures or humans.

        • Redredme@lemmy.world
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          Tbh amstaffs are quite low on the prey drive. Small terriers, dachshunds, schnauzers, pointers, setters and dalmatians on the other hand have a very big prey drive.

          I mean, they are not called hunting dogs, retriever, setter or pointers for nothing. And small terriers have for centuries been bred to kill every rat, mice and what have you in their vincinity.

          But yeah, in the end all dogs are predators. And if you let them go unchecked bad things will happen. Especially when you have a powerful breed.

          Cats do the same BTW. But for some reason we’re OK with dead mice and birds around the house.

          All in all its the same discussion as with guns (and cars): guns don’t kill people, people kill people. And with dogs it’s more or less the same: bad or owners who are Inattentive will Allmost always result in big problems.

          And while I do love amstaffs, they can be such chill and fun hunks of love, I can’t deny that they do real damage, more damage when left unchecked and we should probably regulate ownership like with guns and cars.

          I do not think outright banning a breed is the solution. Because other breeds are just as susceptible to bad ownership. It will not solve it. The problem will just move away from amstaffs back too rottweilers and dobermans. Or another big powerful breed.

          Like with guns we should make it harder for the assholes to acquire one. And like with cars you should prove yourself to be able to take care of one.

      • Wirrvogel@feddit.de
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        And any dog can become reactive.

        Any cat can give you a scratch or a bite, it’s just worse if the cat is a tiger. That’s why most places do allow a small pet cat and not a tiger.

        Sausage dogs are extremely tough dogs with a lot of prey drive, because they were bred to hunt alone for example a dodger badger underground defending its home. They bite often, are often (pro-)reactive but if someone dies through them it is an old lady stumbling over the leash and breaking her neck, not the dog ripping her guts out.

  • JTskulk@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Every couple of weeks I feed mine a toddler, it seems to keep the violent tendencies away.

  • Nurgle@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Whoa grab some popcorn folks cause this comment section is a dumpster fire. Do we have a lemmy drama community yet?

      • kmkz_ninja@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think we should genocide every dog because any dog is more dangerous than no dogs.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        That’s because this isn’t a breed specific problem. Unless that breed is Human. Humans can fuck up any dog on purpose or not and the shitbags who like this breed specifically because it has a reputation will just choose a new breed to fuck up after you ban this one. This has been the pattern of Breed Specific Legislation everywhere it’s been introduced. You can do all of the same aggressive training with a Golden Retriever. And the list of dogs known to have a protective streak is as long as my arm.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            That is hilarious. But there is a real problem here. It’s like we just transferred systemic racism to dogs. We create the problem in the stats and then blame the dogs that were abused to do it.

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              It’s like we just transferred systemic racism to dogs.

              I actually saved this into a list of ignorant comments I keep. Is easily top ten material. Comparing the banning of pit bulls to the result of the slave trade is a hell of a comment. Congratulations?

              • Pogbom@lemmy.world
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                Not to say I agree with him but he didn’t compare those two things at all. He said it’s the same mentality that underlies racism and ‘breedism’ for lack of a better word.

                • themajesticdodo@lemmy.world
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                  Comparing people to dogs is fucked up. Asian, latinos, etc aren’t “breeds”. There’s also the implication of certain races being more prone to committing crimes. Honestly, both of you stink like racists.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                I’m sorry, you think systemic racism stopped when we outlawed most slavery?

                Screw the dogs, tell me more about this utopia you live in without modern day systemic racism.

            • gamer@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              I have a dream where Pitbulls and Chihuahuas can play in the same dog park together.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                Dude Chihuahuas are never going to be welcome in the big dog part of the park.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                Whoosh. The point is we enable these shitty owners who encourage aggressive behavior then we blame the dog when we set the system up that way.

                • foo@programming.dev
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                  1 year ago

                  I mean ban shitty owners from owning another animal, put them in jail for animal abuse, fuck do both. But there is a huge difference in damage between a pitbull attack and say a greyhound.

        • naqahdah@my.lserver.dev
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          Not sure why people downvote this, it’s objectively correct. We bred these dogs to be what they are, we can absolutely breed something else to take its place. This is really basic evolution and trait selection.

          I think they’re great looking dogs, but I also think they need a similar ban in the US, barring a few highly specialized breeders, who can essentially reverse what was done to them over a period of generations. I don’t want to see them go away entirely, I’d just like them controlled until we can breed out what we’ve bred in.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            It’s not even that’s much to do with the breeding. They are very trainable dogs with a prey drive. They just get shit owners who encourage the aggressive behavior because of the street rep. They’ll do the same thing with Boxers, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and generally any short haired breed that looks muscular.

  • saltesc@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Dog breeds all exist for a purpose either still relevant or now redundant.

    Before you get a dog, understand what that breed exists for. Even the best obedience training may not overcome generations of refined and selected natural instincts.

    It’s never the dogs fault. It is always your fault.

  • Jonny@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I do wonder how much is the breed and how much is shitty owners being attracted to perceived scary breeds. My guess would be a bit of both.

    • JasSmith@kbin.social
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      You don’t need to train a pointer puppy to point. They do it from birth. You don’t need to train a sheep dog to herd. They do it from the moment they can walk. You don’t need to teach a pit bull to latch and shake. They also do that from birth. Training can mitigate the risk, but they’re still very dangerous dogs.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        Literally every breed with a prey drive does the death shake. And they aren’t the only ones with locking jaws either. This is very much a problem of shitty people who like the reputation.

      • constnt@lemmy.world
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        If that logic holds true than pure American pitbull terriers should actually be the safest dogs to own in regards to people. Pitbulls where bred for dog fighting, but even more specifically they were bred to not bite the handlers. As getting a dog to fight is just a matter of time and selection, but getting a dog to fight only dogs and not people is something much more difficult and valuable, at the time.

        But, that was many, many years ago. And the breed has been bred and bred and inbred and bred again. An American pitbull terrier average weight is about 35 to 60 lbs. Average. 35 is no bigger than an average corgi. With 60 at the high end being a small golden or average chow.

        These XL bully breeds aren’t pitbulls. Hell, even pitbulls now days aren’t pitbulls. They are a mix of staffy, mastiff, American bull dogs, English bulldogs, and random other terriers. And then sold as designer breeds like the American bully with no regard for behavior, temperament, or loyalty.

    • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In the past I’d say it’s a bit of both, though moreso the type of shitheads attracted to ‘scary’ breeds is also as likely to be shit at training/ socialising them. There’s some good evidence though that this particular ‘XL’ breed has higher rates of inbreeding and has already been selected for agression (not to mention their increased size & power).

      Think it’s a fair point some are making though that just banning the latest dangerous breed is missing the wood for the trees. There should be serious penalties from any dog attack, for the owner; treat it the same as possession of a dangerous weapon like a gun or zombie knife.

    • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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      You need to go one step further - why do people feel the need to own such dogs in the first place? Some people would say the dog is for protection (from who? And why are those people a threat? It’s well known that lack of social and communal services lead to young people ending up involved with gangs and violence), others use it as a status symbol (don’t even get me started on consumerism, and commodification of natural shit like animals), and in almost all cases there is a lot of toxic masculinity involved.

      These are all deep rooted systemic issues that go far beyond both dogs and owners (don’t get me wrong - I am not excusing bad dog ownership, and don’t think people should be raising violent and aggressive dogs), and they all need addressing to actually resolve the problem, but it’s much easier for those in charge to focus on the end result, and make it an individual issue, they don’t care about making society better, they just want power and money.

      • Veilus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Not arguing here, all your points are correct, just sharing why I have a big scary dog. He’s half GSD, quarter american pit (not xl) and quarter American staffordshire. I got him for two reasons, 1) I have a first floor patio in a bad neighborhood and he’s got a great guard insinct, and 2) he’s a big baby and makes a great emotional support animal (ptsd anxiety and ASD). I don’t need protection, I just need a buddy to scare off the crackheads who have tried to walk into my appartment just because I wanted some fresh air and left the door open. He loves everyone, but oh boy if I don’t let you in myself you’re in for one hell of time. I’ve raised dogs all my life, knew what I wanted, and what I was getting into. That is unfortunately not the case 90% of the time and it pisses me off when I see it. Honestly I would love to require people get a liscense to own a dog (let alone have children)

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Honestly I would love to require people get a liscense to own a dog

          That’s the case in Germany, depending on state and breed. With what I heard about US dogs and their utter lack of training (e.g. not being able to lie under a table under a restaurant and chill) you should probably make it universal, though.

          (let alone have children)

          …that’s not going to happen. How about teaching pedagogy and developmental psychology in school, say ages 14 to 16, start of the “seeing kids as kids” age. Speaking of, domestic animal psychology is actually a great topic for biology, doesn’t need to go into depth but some fundamental stuff about cats and dogs so that people are less likely to misinterpret what they see should easily fit the curriculum.

    • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      There’s a story that a family dog got loose after a car crash. They found the dog a few days later … herding sheep. No one ever taught the dog to herd sheep.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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      Literally all I’m saying is that the vast majority of pit bulls aren’t violent. I fucking said I’m in favor of spaying and neutering the breed out of existence because the few that do become violent are excessively dangerous.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        Horses are fragile as fuck. Let’s talk about dogs that were bred to kill bears. Oh but wait they didn’t get a street rep and a million shitty owners abusing them. Alaskan Malamutes were bred to help with Polar Bears, they get to about 100 pounds, have a very strong bite, and a big independent streak making them harder to train. Oh yeah and they come with a warning about being around children.

        What’s the difference in the actual breeds? The Malamute is giant fluffball. The Pitbull has many manly muscles.

      • kmkz_ninja@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Ive seen people attack and kill buffalo. We should kill whichever breed of people do that.

    • Wahots@pawb.social
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      The problem is that there’s no way to tell a bad owner from a good one, which is how we end up in situations like this. I’ve almost had my throat torn out as I made my way to the bus stop because a very submissive owner couldn’t control his dommy gshep, which was lunging and straining at the leash in order to kill me.

      I love sheps and have met some extremely good owners, but they are few and far between compared to the jackasses who bring their Rottweilers into bars, where the dog goes absolutely ballistic and starts making kill noises at everyone until the owner has to leave the bar. And that happened last month, lol.

    • GreenBottles@lemmy.world
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      most people that know how to train dogs have perfectly well behaved dogs, of course they’re always going to be animals at the end of the day but we shouldn’t be surprised when they act out either

    • joel_feila@lemmy.world
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      oh oh I read a study answering that.

      It depends on behavior. They found high correlation between breed and how many time they turned around before laying down. Certain common trip like sit or come. But not aggressive behavior. They highest correlation for that was back ground. Dog from the streets or abusive backgrounds. Followed by a small correlation with genetics, which is not the same as breed.

      Breed did have anything to do with aggression. Also most people can’t tell a pitbull from other dogs, and studies that look at dog attacks only rely on the victim just saying what breed attacked them

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A ban on American bully XL dogs was already being looked at after shocking footage emerged of an attack in Birmingham last weekend that left an 11-year-old girl with serious injuries.

    South Yorkshire Police reported four separate dog attacks on children in two days, including one where a 15-year-old was taken to hospital after being savaged by an XL bully in Sheffield.

    Any ban should be based on “robust evidence”, a spokeswoman for the coalition said - adding it was “deeply concerned” by the “lack of data behind this decision and its potential to prevent dog bites”.

    But there is concern a move to prohibit the animal may not be practical due to the American XL bully not being recognised as a breed by the Kennel Club, which could mean any ban may inadvertently outlaw other kinds of dogs.

    As head of the Merseyside force back in 2007, he had introduced such a measure following the death of five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson, who was mauled by a banned pitbull-type dog at her grandmother’s home in St Helens on New Year’s Day.

    In a joint statement, Bully Watch, the Campaign for Evidence Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs (CEBRDD) and Protect Our Pets claimed the breed was a “a clear and present threat to public health”.


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