Yet Another Pit Bull Mauling

I can’t believe I’m writing about this.

Recently, in a nearby town, an unsupervised two-year-old was mauled by a pit-bull mix dog in the family’s home. The alleged trigger of the dog’s actions was a spot of blood on the child’s clothing.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the parents who have to live with the knowledge that they were elsewhere in the house when the dog attacked. I’m sorry those dogs are allowed in homes with children. I’m sorry there are people out there who think that bull dogs of any species make good pets. I’m sorry that almost every time there is a news story about a dog-mauling, it’s a bull dog of some variety.

I will admit, I am not a “dog person,” but several of my siblings are. They adore their dogs. They all own boxers, and one sister has a “collection” of other dogs, including Jack Russells. Not once has anyone thought of bringing home a pit bull. Why? Each one will say, “Because I have kids.”

I just cannot understand why people continue to ignore the long and unpleasant history of the pit bull. They have long been known as biters. A child in our county was mauled by one when I was small, and that’s decades ago. The county then tried to ban “dangerous dogs,” but got slapped down by a civil-rights lawyer.

That was too bad, really, because while individual rights should be preserved, the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few or the one, paraphrasing Mr. Spock. If little Jimmy Joebob wants a pit bull, normally that would be fine. But if he has children who can’t just move away to a safer location, or if he lives in a neighborhood with other people in close proximity, then he should not be able to have that dog. HE should move somewhere isolated AFTER he gives up the children.

Perhaps if the people getting mauled were the actual owners of the dogs, the reactions of pit bull owners across America would be different. Perhaps we’d see the end of the breed as a family pet. I just don’t get the appeal of a dangerous animal.