It is the breed, not the owner

Re: “Local woman continues fight to muzzle pit bulls,” Jan. 11

Dear Editor,

It was difficult to read the article by Sylvia Cole recently about pit bulls and not find myself stirred. For me it was like watching history repeat itself regretfully.

It is said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” This is the painful truth regarding dealing with known dangerous dog breeds, such as the pit bull.

I lived in Toronto before and during the pit bull ban. It is gut-wrenching to watch the same struggles ensue here in Airdrie.

The difference in Airdrie is that we are still growing as a community and have not learned the life lessons that the bigger centres/cities have learned.

You see, as we grow our dog population grows and so does the pit bull population. We may not have the statistics to foster change, as we are still small.

However, we can have the foresight and be better as a community by being proactive. We can be smart and learn from the mistakes of others. We can be leaders in the protection and safety of our children and residents overall.

We can show that we do not need to wait for the death or disfigurement of our children by a dangerous dog breed like that of the pit bull. We can establish preventative measures today that ensure the safety of Airdrie walk parks tomorrow.

Here are two eye-opening facts, as taken from a July 5, 2012 article in The National Post by Tom Blackwell:

1. There has been a drop in the rate at which people are treated in hospital to dog-bite injuries after the ban in Ontario was in place.

2. A Texas study in 2011 found that a large proportion of dog-bite injuries were inflicted by pit bulls and that those injuries were more likely to cause death, severe injury and higher hospital bills.

And Barbara Kay of The National Post writes on Jan. 2, 2012:

“.....pit bulls or pit bull crosses were responsible for more than a third of dog bite related fatalities, or that in the first eight months of 2011, nearly half of those killed by pit bulls were the dog’s owner.”

Even Cesar Millan was quoted as saying:

“This is a different breed, the power that comes behind bull dog, pit bull, presa canario, the fighting breed.

“They have an extra boost, they can go into a zone, they don’t feel the pain anymore. So if you are trying to create submission in a fighting breed, it’s not going to happen. They would rather die than surrender. If you add pain, it only infuriates them. To them pain is that adrenaline rush, they are looking forward to that, they are addicted to it.

“That’s why they are such great fighters. You’re going to have these explosions over and over because there’s no limits in their brain.”

According to longtime Animal People editor, Merritt Clifton:

“Pit bulls and rottweilers are 11 times more likely to attack an animal or another human than the average dog. Pit bulls have represented half the total actuarial risk for injury since 1982. Add in Rottweilers and it is 75 per cent of total actuarial risk. Since 1851, in any given 10-year period, pit bulls alone have accounted for more than half of all fatal dog attacks in the U.S. and Canada, even though they represented less than one per cent of the dog population most of the time.”

I can hear the voice of my husband as he always quotes: “to be uninformed is to be deformed... and to be informed is to be transformed.”

A heralding message to Airdrie residents: “Let us be transformed Airdrie, let us be smart and proactive by the facts not by mindless chatter of statements like “it is the owner, not the breed.”

This statement is like saying, “it is the parents, not the sex offender” … it helps no one and does not keep the awesome community of Airdrie safe.

Paula Pickett, Airdrie