Has anyone else seem this article before?

[KRISSIE]

Hi check this article out, it came to me today from another group I belong with . I was sooooo pissed when I saw this and I want to write to the person who wrote this garbage and set a few things straight. There seems to be a name and e-mail address at the bottom of this article but it is unclear whether it is the name of the person who wrote this crap. Has anyone else seem this article and can you tell us if the email adress at the bottom is for the person who wrote this article. Thanks....

Here is a copy of the article as it came to me...


Jacquelyn Mitchard
| ARCHIVE


Why does anyone need a pit bull?

You can tell me from now until next week, and I am sure you will,
that an American pit bull terrier is no more or less likely to injure
than any other dog, that the disposition of a dog relies on the
training, diligence and vigilance of its owner.

But I still wonder why a reasonable person needs a pit bull or a
Rottweiler, large powerful dogs that, along with Akitas and wolf-
shepherd mixes, have prompted several insurance companies to refuse
coverage to families who own them.

Fourth grader Alicia Clark was mauled to death Feb. 14 in Elroy, the
home of former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, now Secretary of
Health and Human Services. She was playing at a friend's house where
the family kept six Rottweilers (only three are permitted by law).
All six participated in the attack, and all six were later killed by
authorities.

The director of Wisconsin Rottweiler Rescue said it didn't matter
whether the dogs were Rottweilers or Chihuahuas, that any dog, poorly
trained, could be aggressive.

But a 10-year-old girl might have fled a pack of 4-pound aggressors.
She had no chance against a pack with that much pure muscle.

One Rottie fan even suggested that a child ought not to be left alone
with such dogs. Well, if you have a dog you can't leave alone with a
child, you have a dog without a purpose.

People who own pit bulls argue that these dogs, too, can be tender
pets. But they were bred to bring down bulls, so it seems logical
that people don't choose them because they value their gentle,
peaceful character.

Owners of pit bulls often insist they need the dogs for protection,
yet when it comes to home safety, studies show that the bark of any
dog - pit bull or poodle - is likely to scare off an intruder.

The answer, as one humane society official in Wisconsin suggested, is
that pit bulls, Rottweilers and the like are trendy now because they
are perceived as, if you will, gangster dogs. They're the canine
equivalent of an assault weapon rather than a hunting rifle. Though
I'm no psychologist, I'd wager that people who have them identify
with their dogs, just as people who drive Corvettes identify with
their cars. The dogs may make up for something the owner feels he or
she is lacking - perhaps power.

I have two dogs, and I like the racket they make when a stranger
approaches. Yet, they're small mutts, no real threat to anyone who
wanted to storm my house and kill me. The whole idea of the "guard
dog," in a neighborhood setting, smacks of paranoia. People who say
they have guard dogs really own warm-blooded weapons that are bad
citizens, like the one who ran amok in my hometown the other day and
attacked another dog that was chained outside.

My worst dog encounter was the time a pit bull-Dalmatian mix (swell
idea) bit my toddler, who tried to pet it through its fence. The
fence was directly adjacent to a public toddler playground (very
smart idea, also).

Owners of these big, powerful dogs often don't have the training or
experience to cope with their animals, most often the dogs
responsible for serious bites and fatal accidents.

Aggression can be trained out of any well-raised dog. But no well-
trained dog goes for the face of a child. That's what predator
animals do to kill and, unless under terrible torture, any well-
trained dog understands it is the bottom of the pack, subordinate to
the smallest human in the vicinity.

That's why my mutt only grimaces when our 3-year-old sits on him. The
child doesn't quite yet know better, but the dog does.

When I visit the local Humane Society, the dogs snarling at their
cage bars are most often pit bulls or pit bull mixes, jaws bared,
ugly squared heads raging. In sheer compassionate terms, these are
also the dogs that most often end up destroyed, because their wannabe
owners can't handle them.

Those who have to own a large dog can own a golden retriever or a
German shepherd, dogs which can be trained, taught to help the blind
and the police, or to search for the lost, as well as protect. There
are vicious St. Bernards, and vicious Jack Russell terriers, but they
aren't bred purposefully for that characteristic. Pits and Rotties
are.

It isn't the dogs, but the owners who really need their heads
examined, but since humans aren't likely to grasp that, the breeds
ought to be allowed to quietly become extinct.

A pit bull in the house is like a loaded handgun. It might never
cause any harm. But it has more than ordinary potential. And once it
does, the owner can call off the dog, but never call off the tragedy.

Write to Jacquelyn Mitchard at P.O. Box 259536, Madison, WI 53725-
9536 or e-mail mitch@mailbag.com.

Pit bull is a walking weapon

[Fergy]

This is ignorance at it highest level. Unfortunately, this rational is shared by many.:( I wrote a note but doubt it will change or get her to investigate the truth.

[Major]

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...uelyn+Mitchard

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...uelyn+Mitchard

[Kansasrott]

My worst dog encounter was the time a pit bull-Dalmatian mix (swell
idea) bit my toddler, who tried to pet it through its fence. The
fence was directly adjacent to a public toddler playground (very
smart idea, also).


Regardless of breed, a toddler shouldn't be reaching thru a fence to pet a dog it doesn't know. Where was the parent/author while the toddler was doing this?

Once again lets put the blame on the dog, instead of accepting responsibility for ourselves.

[KRISSIE]

Thanks Major, I see this is an older article. Kinda strange that I would recieve it today- 8 months after it was written..
Still I am going to write to her to see if her opinion has changed since the article was originally written. In my letter I am going to dicuss that there are two kinds of Rottie owners, the good and the bad and that they ( rotties and pits) are also the victims here. I hope as a journalist she will be fair and look at my letter with an open mind.

I keep you posted if I hear anything...

[Fergy]

Here's the response I got back.


I stand accused, I have never ever met a kind and gentle pit bull, though I have many noble and gentle rottweillers

Basically I told her, if all you look for is the negative , that's all you'll find.

[KRISSIE]

Basically I told her, if all you look for is the negative , that's all you'll find.

Thats an excellent statement Fergy, I hope Jacklyn takes that into consideration the next time she judges a breed and the people who own them.

I have to say as an owner of 2 wonderful Rottweilers I found the remark she made about Rott and Pit owners needing their heads examined a bit insulting and totally uncalled for. I think she is the one who needs her head examined for letting her 3 year old child stick his/her finger through a fence to pet a strange dog.