Persuasive Essay On Pitbulls

Introduction:

Many households in America own dogs as pets, the most popular breed is surprisingly a mix breed. The breed that is most commonly known for being a good dog is the Labrador, this is the dog that most people refer to when speaking about a good dog the dog breed that has the bad rap would be the pit bull. The pit bull is known as a viscous and heartless animal. The breed got this name from its unique reason for being bread, fighting. Pit bulls were only hated in the United States once dog fighting sprung up in urban cites.

However, many people over look the second reason pit bulls were bread. In the United States during the 19th century the pit bull was bread to not only fight but to be a guard dog to farm animals. The breed

was built for maximum strength and power which made them great for fighting. Since the part of the pit bull being a guard dog is over looked the breed had become the scapegoat for many attacks.
Historical Background:
The first evidence of a pit bull dates back to 50 AD in Rome (Fleig, 1996). The dogs were known as the molossian dogs they were part of the molossian tribe. The molossian dog was a mix between mastiffs and Bulldogs. As these dogs became more popular the breed name was now a terrier. When the Normans invaded England in 1066, baiting was introduced. Baiting is a sport where Pit Bulls would be used to to punish a bull who showed uncontrollable behavior, the dog would bite the bulls nose and hang there until the bull owner gained control of the bull (Fleig, 1996). An interesting fact is the owners of these dogs called the dogs Bullenbeissers. This sport spread across England and eventually every town had their own baiting ring. The British parliament made baiting illegal in 1835, however this law had little effect on the publics desire to watch the sport. The public came up with another sport known as ratting, this sport was throwing a dog into a pit where he was to catch the rats running around. This is where the “pit” in pit bulls came from. As the public got bored of ratting they devolved dog fighting, as it was easier to hide from authorities. The pit bull was used for its agility, feistiness, and incredible focus. The dogs were put through vigorous training to deprive them from human contact making their desire to spill the opponents blood stronger. If a dog turned away from a fight or hesitated to attack they were considered weak and were killed.
Once English immigrants began to move to America their dogs followed them.

Dog fighting then sprang up in America. As the immigrants moved west their dogs became more humane and had a more functional purpose. The dogs were trained to heard cattle, be faithful guardians, and protect the family and livestock. Pit bulls were to keep constant watch on the young children, the breed earned their place in America and played an important role in the fabrication of developing of the nation (Reflecting on pit bulls). As these dogs earned their name more and more Americans owned a pit bull. In World War I a pit bull named stubby stole the heart of America. Stubby became the unofficial mascot of the 102nd infantry division, he was credited to saving the lives of several of his human comrades (Fleig, 1996). Stubby won several medals for his bravery, he was even awarded the rank of Sargent. Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson, John Steinbeck, Helen Keller, and Fred Astaire were all proud owners of the pit bull. One of the most iconic pit bulls is Petey from the TV show Little Rascals. The American kennel club was formed in 1884, its purpose was to promote the intent of purebred dogs. The kennel club sponsored events to test the various breeds of dogs in performance. The judges looked at the dogs performance of the function for which it was breed, this became an immediate problem for the pit bull. Since the pit bulls main function for being

bread was to compete in dog fights was illegal. Pit bull owners let left out, so a new club was formed the United kennel club. This clubs purpose was to certify breeds that the American kennel club did not.
As the media portrayed more and more dog fighting headlines with pit bulls being in the spot light breed specific laws were being formed. The pit bull soon discovered man-made shortcomings such as cruelty, socioeconomic pressures of under resourced owners, and relentless biases and discrimination from ill-informed public. The pit bull began to be exploited in dog fighting in greater numbers, people started to associate a pit bull owner as an urban thug or a gang member. Sports illustrated magazines began to shamefully capitalized fear of modern day wear wolf by promoting stereotypical images (Reflecting on pit bulls). An entire dog breed was drug down by nothing more than just myths and brutal headlines. Dog fighting is now a felony in all 50 states and arrests have increased. The most responsible owners still struggle to keep their pit bull safe from discrimination and harm. The bigger threats to this breed is not dog fighting, it is the dogs being homeless and put to an early death due to their breed. Public officials have banned pit bulls in civil jurisdiction and insurance companies do hold the right to cancel a homeowners policy if a pit bull lives on the premises (Fleig 1996).

My Positon:
The ownership of pit bulls is seen as low class because the breeds heritage was so violent it disturbs many people (Gorman, 2016).

A common thread in pit bull attacks is a lack of supervision and care, Bill Smith the director of the Robeson County Health Department said “None of them are ever vaccinated, which shows a lack of ownership or control by the owner.”. Melissa Longo works with Mikey's Haven 4 Pit Bulls said “ our dogs are a prime example of the fact that it's not the dogs it's the people.”. This goes to show that when the media talks about another pit bull attack the article fails to mention the owner of the dog either abused the dog or never socialized the dog as a puppy. Based on a few examples of bad ownership the entire breed has been drug down into the dirt, what the media doesn't share with the public is all of the good stories involving pit bulls. The American media has given disproportionate coverage to violent incidents that involve pit bulls, academic studies that gather data only get the data from media reports who do not measure the violence of pit bulls so much as the American media’s obsession with the topic (Romeo,

2016).
There are many stories that the media doesn't show the public, a pit bull can be a hero too. On dog time.com there were 3 stories about pit bull heroes. “On a dark night, a train engineer noticed something on the tracks ahead of him. A Pit Bull was frantically trying to drag a person off of the tracks. The engineer slammed on the brakes, but he couldn’t stop in time. While Christine Spain got away unharmed, the dog who had saved her life, Lilly, was hit by the train. Spain’s son had rescued Lilly and given the pup to his mother in hopes that it would help her cope with alcoholism. But on the night of the accident, Spain passed out on the tracks on her way home. Lilly suffered massive injuries, but stayed by her owner’s side until help arrived. The pup underwent major surgeries and lost one of her legs, but she eventually recovered. Her love and loyalty for her owner came before her own safety like a true hero.” This story goes to show that not only would a pit bull help someone in need the dog would risk their life helping. “Elliot Nerland was walking around his living room one morning while his wife, Erin Daly, slept in the bedroom. Suddenly, he collapsed on the couch while suffering a heart attack. That’s when Sweet Dee sprang into action. Nerland adopted the Pit Bull when she was a pup from a rescue organization, but it was Sweet Dee’s turn to rescue her owner. She ran to the bedroom and barked and jumped on the bed. Daly knew something was wrong, so she followed the Pit Bull into the living room where she found her husband. She immediately began CPR and called 911, saving Nerland’s life. If it weren’t for the lifesaving pup, Nerland may not have gotten treatment in time. But the rescue pup became the rescuer and saved the day.” (Dog time.com). This pit bull used the instincts he had to go reach help to save the owners life. “Rhonda and Evelyn Westenberger woke to Baby the Pit Bull jumping on them and barking. They knew something was horribly wrong when smoke filled the room, so they hurried to get outside. By the time they made it out, the fire was already out of control. If Baby hadn’t woken them up, they probably wouldn’t have been able to get out in time. But Baby wasn’t done with her rescue efforts. She dashed back into the burning home to save the five other dogs who were trapped inside. She led them out of the flames and even grabbed one scared pup who was hiding under the bed and dragged it by the neck to safety. Baby managed to save her whole family, humans and pups alike.” (Dog time.com). With this pit bull not only were the people in the house saved from this dog but so were the puppies who were trapped.
According to the Christian Science Monitor (2016), Over 850 United States communities have heavily regulated the ownership of pit bulls or even banned the breed. An estimated 750,000 dogs labeled pit bulls are euthanized in the United States each year. In San Francisco 20 years ago it was easier to buy a gun than it was to adopt a pit bull (Romeo, 2016). If these laws are not based on biased reasoning and evidence, how and why has the fear of pit bulls turned into a mass hysteria? This fear that has sprung up has cause county's to enforce regulations and restrictions on the pit bull breed. A bill that is being considered by the Prince George’s County would: outlaw future ownership of pit bulls and Rottweilers, require owners of pit bulls and Rottweilers to register the dogs, have to as an annual fee of $100, have a $1,000 fine and six months in jail for the owner who own a dog that attacks a person or a small dog, require the dogs of the two breeds to be kept in a secure building (Gary, 1996). This new set of restrictions goes to show that pit bulls are not given a chance to show their good inside, if every pit bull was treated the same as every golden retriever pit bulls would not be living out on the streets or stuck in dog fighting situations. There are some county's where there is no ban or restrictions such as the city of Fairborn and Butler County.
Merritt Clifton, editor of “Animals 24-7” studied fatal dog attacks between 1982 and 2014, pit bulls were responsible for 295 fatal attacks (Willets, 2016). This number seem high, however this only 6.69% of the pit bull population (). Another thing to consider is that some dogs labeled pit bull are really a mix breed that shows characteristics of a pit bull. In Greene County, Harold Brown is the director of animal control, brown said that prior to an Ohio law passed in 2014 pit bulls were automatically labeled dangerous dogs (Poturalski, 2016). This means any pit bull picked up by animal control was labeled as a dangerous, when this dog gets to the shelter the dog is required to stay locked up and is not aloud to be put up for adoption due to its dangerous nature. The law change in Ohio changed this, pit bulls were now required to be put through the same testing as any dog that was caught. Brown said “(pit bulls) have a history, are strong and able to do more damage if they do bite… But we don't treat them differently than any other dog breed.” (Poturalski, 2016). When brown mentioned that pit bulls do more damage when they do bite that is the reason the media reports mostly pit bull attacks, other dogs do not cause as much damage which means it won't make the news. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, many shelters were welcoming to families and family pets, however pit bulls were refused in many shelters. The owners would not leave their dog out on the streets alone so both the dog and owner left, this led to many more casualties.