Please enjoy this article from a student in DMHS's "Introduction to Journalism" class!
You may search up what is a Pitbull breed? And what will come up is the American Pit Bull Terrier. This is incorrect, A Pitbull is not a breed, it’s a grouping of about five different breeds: American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, English Bull terrier, American Bulldog, and sometimes the Boxer.
Pitbulls were bred for the body of a fighting dog. They are descended from the original English bull-baiting dog. The sport of “bull-baiting” was either tying a bull on a pike and blowing the bull’s nose full of pepper, then they would release the dogs and watch them immobilize the bull. The other form of “bull-baiting” was a form of hunting large animals such as bears, bulls, boars, and other such large creatures. This was outlawed in the late 1800s. After bull-baiting was outlawed, people looked for other forms of entertainment like dogfighting. The term “pitbull” comes from the pits in which the bull-baiting took place. Most of the early pitbulls or more commonly known as fighting dogs are now illegal. Even though dog fighting is illegal it still takes place. Those who are caught will have to pay a fine of $250,000 and three-year imprisonment. Now many of the first fighting dogs went extinct after dog fighting was banned.
Pitbull bans started in 1989 when the mayor, Dr. Hancock, had revealed to the media that a three-year-old boy was killed by a pit bull. In another case, a man was mauled quite brutally, leaving him with two broken legs and more than 70 bites. In these cases, the media and people went the route of banning pitbulls. Until November 2020, the law was left alone. The vote now makes you get a license for 3 years, and then without an incident (attacking, biting someone, etcetera), the restriction is pulled back and even then you are only allowed to have two Pitbulls in a single household.
I am a strong believer in allowing Pit bulls in Denver. I have owned several Pitbulls in the past and never had any problems. My last pitbull was Carma. She would be off the leash on our front porch and watch people go by. I remember one instance where my mother had her sit on the edge of our yard and wait for her while she went to talk to one of our neighbors. Carma sat down patiently to wait. Two neighborhood young girls ran to her screaming and started to hang on her ears and hug her. She just sat, occasionally licking the two girls. Mom came back and saw how good she had been, then Carma was rewarded with treats. Since then she has passed away.
When about a year had gone by we had started looking actively for another dog, we knew that we wanted a Pitbull or a dog who looked like one. We also wanted a younger one since we had a cat. We met many Pitbulls in our search for the perfect dog. I met many dogs: Pitbulls, puppies, and other such dogs. Me and my family continued going through all the websites and shelters when we found a picture of a black pitbull dog. Her name was Betty, and she was 40 pounds originally. She was 2 years old. Her foster mom said she was a darling and was quiet. She had to be kept in a crate since she always wanted to play. She was supposed to be potty trained but as we soon found out she wasn’t fully potty trained. She soon learned to go outside and to leave the cat alone. She is a cuddler and would sit on your lap during movies. She has to go to daycare since she has enough energy for four dogs. She has many friends including a rabbit and two kittens.
My experience has and may be different than many others but I love Pitbulls. I think that having a ban on them is cruel, many cases are when someone mistreats their dog and it learns to be aggressive. Is this really the dog’s fault? I think not; if you abuse your dog then it may lash out, out of fear and maybe pain. So this is why a dog may attack.
The cases of being attacked by a pit bull may be high but many dogs don’t know that what they are doing is wrong, since they have never been taught anything else. There is a Temperament test that many dogs do well in: 87.4% of the 931 American Pit Bull Terriers pass this test. This is close to the Collies who pass 80.8% of 896. American
PitBull Terriers also passed higher than German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers. So why is a Pitbull so unpopular? Actually, because of its loyalty and loving nature, many pitbulls are held in high esteem. Pitbulls are sometimes held in high esteem, why should we ban them when most of these “attacks” are nothing more than a pitbull doing what it is taught. Why should we fear that our own pitbull might be taken away from you just because it looks like a pitbull.
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