Want to criticize pitbulls? Do it here!
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Anonymous
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The type of people who own pit bulls are always the worst kind of dog owners.
I am not a dog person. I don't particularly like dogs of any breed and I can list on one hand the dogs I've really enjoyed in my life. The vast majority of dog owners are fine with this and don't push their dogs on me. But pit bull people? They cannot deal with anyone on earth not being in love with their dog. Encouraging the dog to lick, jump on, sit on the lap of people who want nothing to do with it. I don't want kisses from your dog. I don't want to give treats to your dog. I don't want to "make friends" with your dog. I want your dog to behave in public without making a nuisance of itself. Pitbull people are always the worst offenders. |
Anonymous
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I am not a dog person, but I can admit that some dogs are really cute, and some are beautiful. A little Yorkie I see with a neighbor, with his sweet, intelligent face, is adorable. The golden retriever who lives down the road, while being super hyper and not an animal I would want to spend much time in direct contact with, is objectively beautiful, and he also has a good-natured face and clearly is great with the kids in his family. I don't know the breed of the other dog I see around regularly, but he's also a beautiful animal. I can see why someone who wants a dog would choose one of these.
But pitbulls are the ugliest dog I have ever seen. I can ony marvel at their hideousness, with the tiny, crazed eyes, giant gash of a mouth with the disgusting liver-lips, and the squat, spread stump-legs and grotesquely muscled neck leading to that disgusting bullet head. Who could possibly love such an ugly animal? They LOOK evil. They just look...wrong. When I see one, I get the same sort of feeling of revulsion I feel when I see a big, gross spider. Truly, they are so ugly. |
Anonymous
Here are the facts, no hyperbole: Some pit bulls are great, perfectly safe dogs. Pit bulls can be friendly, loyal, and well-behaved, if properly trained and cared for. However, pit bulls breeds have been historically been bred for fighting and aggression. The modern pit bull is the result of breeding an English bull-baiting dog (a dog bred specifically to bite and hold large animals like bulls and bears around their heads) with terrier breeds that are energetic and tenacious. The result is a mid-size dog with a strong jaw and possible predisposition for aggression, biting, and tenacity (willingness to maintain aggression even when faced with face). I say possibility because genetic predisposition is complicated. Scientifically they say they can't identify genetic predispositions in dogs. But most dog trainers and breeders have seen how personality traits can be passed down, just not 100% consistently. There is likely something about genetics here we don't understand. However, it's undeniable that certain breeds have predispositions that are fairly consistent across the breed. In fact, even pit bull defenders will argue that pit bulls are particularly friendly and loyal. How can a breed be considered genetically disposed to friendliness and loyalty but NOT predisposed to aggression and tenacity when there is a documented history of the breed being bred specifically for the latter traits? Anyway, since a lot of pits are mixed breed and a lot of breeding is by happenstance, it's not like every single pit bull is the result of careful breeding for aggression and tenacity. But some are. This is one problem with pits -- there are so many of them, and so many mixes, that it is hard to know what you are getting with a pit. But it is undeniable that the breed was originally developed specifically for biting, aggression and tenacity. Which brings me to another issue with pit bulls. Regardless of whether pits have been bred for fighting (and they have) it is undeniable that they have traditionally been used for fighting. The American Pit Bull Terrier was developed specifically as a fighting dog and has always (and still is) the most common dog used in dog fighting (now illegal in all states but it still goes on). One problem with fighting dogs (and a major reason pits are overpopulated in the US) is that people intentionally leave fighting dogs "intact" in order to increase aggression and manipulate them. Because fighting dogs are so often not fixed, they are overbred. Some of this breeding is accidental ("backyard breeding") and simply due to negligence. Some of this breeding is intentional and for profit as people raising pits to fight will breed them specifically to produce more fighting dogs. The result is that pits produce far more offspring than other dog breeds. Another issue with pits being used in fighting is that it leads to more pits being abandoned than other breeds. Dog fighting is illegal, so people who engage in it will sometimes "dump" their dogs to avoid getting caught. Or they get caught and their dogs are seized by police. Or these dogs wind up with family members, neighbors, and friends. All of this contributes to more homeless pit bulls which, combined with all the excess breeding of pits who go unfixed for fighting, is what leads to shelters where every single dog is a pit or pit mix. It is the pit bull's identity and history as a fighting dog that leads directly to overpopulation of the breed particularly in the shelter population. You can adopt pits from shelters and wind up with a great dog. Especially if you put the time and energy into training the dog, and especially if you choose the dog for their disposition and suitability to your household. Many pit mixes can be great and take on the traits of their mixed breeds. And even pit bulls bred for fighting have positive traits, including good recall and sociability, since someone who is fighting dogs wants their dogs to fight in the ring but not attack their handler. However. A lot of pits in shelters have been abused and neglected. Because pits are attractive to unscrupulous owners who will engage in dog fighting or simply use the dog as an aggressive attack or security dog, you have an outsized number of pits in shelters with problem behaviors who should not be anywhere near children, other dogs, or most adults. You should exercise a LOT of caution when adopting pits and pit mixes, and pay attention to the size (and potential size) of the dog, your own ability to exercise control over the dog, what is known of the dog's history, etc. It is also an unfortunate truth that because of the overpopulation of pits in shelters and the pit's earned reputation as a dog used for fighting and aggression, it can be harder for shelters to unload pits on adoptive families. This can lead to a hard sell from shelters about the virtues of pits. Again, a pit can be a good dog. But you should be aware going in that a lot of shelter workers will downplay the potential negatives of pits and totally disregard what is known of the breed as a fighting dog in order to induce you to adopt one of the many pits in the shelter. I would be wary of any pitches that claim pits are actually *better* than other breeds, that actually pits are perfect family dogs or "great with kids." This is true of *specific* pits. It is not true of all pits and personally if I had small children in my house I would avoid pits because I think the risk is too great. I would consider adopting a pit if I had no kids and then plan to socialize and train the dog before having kids (but keeping in mind that if the dog ever showed signs of aggression, I would need to rehome him, which is true of any dog you plan on having in a household with children -- protect your kids). This is the fair and balanced understanding of pits. Of course some pits can be great dogs -- that true of literally any breed including breeds like Dobermans and Rottweilers who have also been long bread for power and aggression. But just as you might think twice about adopting a Doberman if you have a baby at home, you should do the same with pits. And you have to be more cautious with pits because of the overbreeding that makes them so prevalent and because shelters are so often trying to combat the dog's history in order to get the large numbers of abandoned and homeless pits adopted into homes. Also: FIX YOUR DOGS. |
Anonymous
I agree that they are hideous. My husband's grandfather had one and it was the ugliest dog I've ever seen. Bulging with muscles, covered with super short, sharp hairs that get into everything, beady little eyes, enormous mouth that never closes, and a butt-crack down the middle of its skull. Not only that but it was a horrible pet and attacked anything that moved. How could a shelter give an animal like that to an 80-something man? |
Anonymous
This is so true. They have something to prove. Related, they're some of the worst offenders in letting their dogs offleash to run up to you and potentially your dog with the, "he's friendly!!!" |
Anonymous
Ah, yes. Peta. Of sound mind, them. 
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Anonymous
This thread is so stupid. One post about how people buy them for their aggression, the next, saying pit owners are the most likely to let their dogs off leash... Y'all are just full of nonsense at this point. The only fact on this thread is this: stupid people can be easily convinced to hate entire breeds, without actual facts or statistics. This isn't news. This wasn't news 30 years ago either. |
Anonymous
Pop quiz: of the 5 breeds lumped under the "pit bull" umbrella, which was your grandfather in law's? The fearmongering catch-all term "pit bull" applies to 5 distinct breeds, and all of their mixes. While some dogs are "obviously pit", many are not, but get painted with the same "bred for aggression" paranoia brush. |
Anonymous
Epic trufax brought to you by The Teal Deer™ 
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Anonymous
The facts and statistics have been provided at length, but you're a 'nutter who deep in the bully cult so you can't see clearly. I'll put it this way for you as an anecdote: I was a 20 year shelter volunteer and foster. I've been through the Dobbies. The Rotties. NOTHING prepared me for the Pits, and it's mostly because of people like you who are completely cult-like in your devotion. Also, the Pit epidemic combined with no-kill shelters is basically animal abuse. I don't even like these dogs but it pulls at my heartstrings to see them tossed around from shelter to shelter for years. It's sick. Maybe they were good at one point? 4 years in a cage doesn't help. Ultimately, if this is your hill to die on, y'all need to clean up your backyard. Because it is messy AF right now with these dogs. You can spit and spat and deflect as much as you want, call others stupid, I don't care. The Golden Retriever community isn't exactly dealing with a similar issue despite the "all dogs bite!" refrain. They're not breeding more than anyone can reasonably handle. So what are YOU doing to turn this around since everyone else is apparently so ill-informed? Because it's an epidemic at this point. |
Anonymous
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Some years back, while I was deployed overseas, I was renting our house to tenants who didn't have pets when they moved in. A few months into the lease, they asked for permission to adopt a rescue dog. Being a dog person, I was sympathetic and updated the lease to allow it.
Long story short, all my neighbors contacted me overseas complaining that my tenant had brought in an adult pitbull with serious aggression issues, and were afraid for their pets, children, and selves. The pitbull was out of control and the tenant completely clueless to the danger, which was ultimately my liability. I had to tell the tenants that the dog was no longer allowed, and I believe they returned it to the shelter. The animal was completely unhinged and I'm certain that I dodged a bullet in avoiding what would have been an imminent dog attack. |
Anonymous
They're all ugly. Even if it was a good dog it would have been ugly. Sorry! |
Anonymous
They most certainly have not, or you'd cite them. I've asked, and no facts have been provided, just screeds and rants and clickbait "news" links and defensive posturing from people who use the word "nutter" to describe the people they're trying to convince. |
Anonymous
Your mentality is ugly, probably because you're ugly. Not sorry. |
Anonymous
Agree, they are so ugly. Putting a flower crown on does not make it better either. People who are obsessed with these disgusting dogs have a few screws loose for sure. Get a nice golden retriever or labrador, or a cute little pomeranian. But a pit bull?? nooo |