Thread:

Pit Bull Looking Dog

We haven't had a good pit bull thread for awhile, this caught my eye in the news feed. Most pit bulls are good dogs imo and get a very bad rap just because they look like pit bulls (even dogs that aren't pit bulls), and it is pit bull owners that are the majority of the problem where problems occur.

Your take?

The story:



Despite a global outcry from animal rights activists, a dog was put to sleep in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday because city officials said he looked like a pit bull.

The 7-year-old pug-nosed dog, Lennox, was at the center of a two-year legal battle between his owners and the Belfast City Council. The city's dog wardens seized Lennox in 2010, claiming he was a dangerous "pit bull-type dog," according to The Associated Press. Pit bulls are illegal in the United Kingdom.

Lennox's owners argued he was not only not dangerous—he was not even a pit bull. In court, Lennox's owner Caroline Barnes said the dog had never bitten anyone, but that she would muzzle him around strangers.

The case sparked outrage among animal rights groups, inspiring a "Save Lennox" campaign and an online petition that collected more than 200,000 signatures. Some people—including celebrity dog trainer Victoria Stilwell—offered to adopt the dog in the United States, where pit bulls are legal.

But last month, a senior appeals court in Northern Ireland upheld a lower court ruling that called for Lennox to be put down.

In a statement, the City Council said an expert "described the dog as one of the most unpredictable and dangerous dogs he had come across," and that it had no choice but to euthanize him.

City Council members said they have received death threats, part of what they called "a sustained campaign of abuse."

"We've had dog wardens who had to leave their homes," one Belfast City Council member told the BBC. "We've had petrol poured through letter boxes, we've had people named on the Web."

On Tuesday, Lennox's owners released a statement on their Facebook page, saying they were denied the opportunity to "say goodbye":

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all again for your messages of support. We are sorry to say at the present time Belfast city council seem to be intent on killing our boy. Despite previous assurances otherwise, we have been denied the opportunity to say goodbye. We have also been told that we cannot collect his body and bring Len home. We have been informed however that we will receive "some" ashes in the mail.

On Twitter, the outrage over Lennox's death was widespread.

"Utterly shameful," Gary Numan, the musician, wrote.

"Belfast Council are disgraceful!" singer Samantha Fox wrote. "Terrible decision. Gutted."

"Humans are the cruelest animals on the planet," the user Cunning Linguist tweeted.

Can't stand Pit Bulls. They should impose a special tax on all their owners to make up for all the injuries they cause.

Originally Posted by C-2

Can't stand Pit Bulls. They should impose a special tax on all their owners to make up for all the injuries they cause.

It's not the breed it's the owner. Give them any big dog and it'll most likely end in the same result.

It's not the breeds fault it attracks so many people that have no clue how to handle a dog.

Hypothetically, this would be like saying a specific human race needs to be eliminated based on their elevated illegal behaviors when in fact it's generally said the behavior is becuase of the environemnt in which they live in grow. So if pitbulls are bad just becuase of the breed, then so is the race with elevated illegal behaviors.

Come on, pits suck. You never read about people being mauled by Chihuahua's. Bit, yes. Mauled, no. Screw pits.

Originally Posted by C-2

Come on, pits suck. You never read about people being mauled by Chihuahua's. Bit, yes. Mauled, no. Screw pits.

Are you kidding?

People suck. they're always killing others. we should euthanize people.

I have no desire to ever own a dog that is known specifically for it's ability to kill, or that's known to be accountable for approx 30-45% of all dog attacks on humans..

A man was killed by his 2 pitbulls several years ago out here. He had been missing for a couple days, and a neighbor (or something) went to look for him and found his badly dismembered body in the back yard.. and the 2 pits playing with the body parts.... no thanks

Originally Posted by Icy

If Chihuahuas were big, based on the people who own them, how they let them behave and the environment they put them in, they would "maul" people.

You might be right... but they're not are they.

extinct the breed. if my yorkie bites someone you dont have to hit it with a 2x4 50 times to get it to let go. the whole "its not the breed its the owner" is such bullshit.

Originally Posted by Icy

If labs became the dirtbag dog of choice you'd be saying the same thing about labs in 20 years.

The fact is, probably more than half the people that own dogs shouldn't have one.

Probably true again, but that includes all dogs, not just Pit's.