Pit bull controversy a sad tale on many accounts
With the pit bull attack on Lelitha Jantjies back in the news (luckily with the small silver lining that this little girl's face is being reconstructed), I'm reminded of a comment left by journalist Nivashni Nair Sukdhev on a Facebook post last year. The narrative we have about pit bulls needs to be scrutinised.
A narrative that includes comments like:
"It's not the pit bull's fault, it's the owner's fault."
"Only pit bulls who haven't been 'raised correctly' attack."
"Yes, I know about pit bull attacks x, y and z, but MY pit bull is a gentle giant that sleeps next to my toddler every night."
Nivashni wrote a story about pit bulls for the Sunday Times, extensively interviewing experts and role players. The paper had already run two podcasts on pit bulls at that time. This is what a highly qualified Cape Town canine behavioural expert she interviewed said in the Sunday Times story:
"1. Pit bulls were developed as fighting dogs, by genetically selecting for those dogs that were inclined to become very easily triggered to grab, shake and kill other animals, including other dogs. Pit bulls have very little history of being bred as pets and so still retain a very strong propensity to go straight from looking at something to grabbing it, shaking it and ripping it to pieces - which is what the people who designed them wanted them to do. In the same way that we selected border collies to love herding, by designing a dog that got great enjoyment from stalking and chasing animals (BUT NOT BITING AND KILLING THEM), pit bulls feel good when they grab, shake and tear into other animals.
To say that pit bulls won’' be inclined to fight and do damage when they are triggered, if you just love them enough, is like saying that border collies won't be inclined to herd moving targets if you just love them enough. It is quite ridiculous to deny the genetic predisposition of the breed, while acknowledging the predispositions of many other types of dogs (eg, retrievers derive enjoyment from picking up and carrying things and terriers enjoy catching small animals).
There is a huge misunderstanding when people talk about aggression in pit bulls. The maulings and killings by pit bulls are seldom a result of defensive aggression, ie, a dog biting because they are angry or afraid. The behaviour of a pit bull, when mauling a person or another dog, is far more predatory in nature. Part of the predatory sequence (EYE - STALK - CHASE - GRAB BITE - SHAKE BITE - KILL BITE) is triggered and in pit bulls we have selected out the STALK and CHASE parts and strengthened the GRAB - SHAKE - KILL parts. This is why they are said to be unpredictable, ie, the sequence of behaviour progresses so quickly that there is no time to intervene and stop it before it starts. 2. They are considered to be so dangerous, because statistically they kill more people than any other breed/type of dog. Unfortunately, fatal attacks or severe mauling incidents do happen far too frequently in South Africa and in other countries where the breed is popular."
For her efforts of writing this story, Nivashni was trolled online, told she hates animals, and told that the victims of pit bull attacks must have "provoked" the dogs. So what are we saying? Pit bulls aren't to blame, the humans who bred these dogs with the only purpose of creating killing missions are to blame. With that said, unfortunately no amount of love, affection and positive reinforcement will change what's been intentionally bred into a pit bull: to GRAB - SHAKE and KILL.
And due to that, people shouldn't be allowed to own pit bulls. I always marvel at the vehemence with which people will call themselves animal lovers, hanging onto their 'RIGHT' to own a pit bull - when the very proliferation of this breed causes unspeakable misery to people AND pit bulls. For you to own a pit bull, an entire breeding industry needs to exist.
And unfortunately, for every pit bull that's happily homed, there are thousands of others who are:
1. In overcrowded shelters because their owners couldn't handle them
2. Miserably chained up in a yard somewhere with its only function being a guard dog
3. Owned by people who use the "Alpha training method", physical punishment and other abusive methods to keep their dogs submissive to them.
4. Used for the barbaric sport of dog fighting (yes, this still exists)
5. Euthanised because they've bitten someone or couldn't be rehomed.
In fact, this counts for the entire pet industry (but that’s a heated discussion for another day). If you consider yourself a pit bull lover, you'll agree that it isn't fair to keep breeding these dogs when they first and foremost pose a huge risk to people (often children), and secondly, when many of them end up living miserable lives.
Breeding pit bulls should be banned, and the breed should be left to naturally die out. I'm sure this letter will rile up many - or most likely it will go unread - but I still felt like I should post it - for this little girl and countless other attack victims, and for pit bulls.
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