Just when you think it's safe...

There was an article in the news today, a woman down in SC hung and burned her nephew's 1 year old pit bull for eating her bible. Seriously? What the fuck was this woman thinking? I mean, okay, I can see how she was devout and all in her religion, but can someone please tell me where it says to hang and burn an animal for eating the bible? It's people like this that scare the hell out of me, but that's another < rant >.

This comes just days after two stories of kids being bitten by pit bulls in NC and TX. I have a pit bull, and let me tell you, he's a big baby. He's very, and I mean VERY, snuggly. If you're sitting on the couch, he has to be in your lap, and I mean all 60 some odd pounds of him! My daughter Bug can do anything to him and he adores her, even playing dress up. yup, you heard right, Bug plays dress up with Logan. usually putting a cape on his collar, or ribbons on him...you know, the whole Supper Pitty or cutie pitty. Yup, Bug sure does love to play with him. The only thing he eats are her Lego's...and he steals her stuffies...stuffies, as in stuffed animals for those who don't a dictionary that explains Kiminese. ( Long story short, that term came from my old Guild in PWI.)

Anyway, back to the point of this particular < rant >. If you look through the news or do a search for dog attacks in the news, what's the one breed most often mentioned? When they do mention the breed it's Pit Bulls. What about the Chihuahua's? They bite people all the time. So do other dogs. Other breeds also kill people but you hardly hear about it. What about the Shepherds, the Rotty's, and other breeds, like Chow Chow's? They all have bitten and or killed people, but do you hear about it as prolifically as you do the pit bull attacks? Nope, not even a little.

I used to have the most gentle and adoring wolf hybrid. Do you know how many people told me that wolves are dangerous and should be killed? Far too many. Let me tell you, my baby boy was the sweetest thing on four legs. He passed due to degenerative-myelopathy, disease of the spinal cord.

The pup we had before we got Logan was a Rotty/Sheppherd/Chow/something mix...he was a sweetie! Bug could do anything to him and he just adored her. But, we had to put him to sleep. He was sick, very sick. He had a severe seizure disorder that left him unconscious for 15 minutes after the grand mal seizure was done, and he had inoperable hip displaysia.

Out of all the dogs I've had there was one bad seed among them all. Chance, she was just bad. I got her from the shelter, they couldn't tell me anything about her past, other then she had been surrendered by her owners. Chance was a pit bull/lab mix. Black with very little white, she was sweet to start with, but then two or three weeks later she turned on me. I'm not talking the little growls or posturing to keep me away from her, I'm talking full out turned, aggressive and dangerous. She attacked me several times, even when Strider was home, even in my sleep! So I had to have her euthanized. When I took her to the Humane Society they told me the biggest line of bullshit I've ever heard. They actually said that if I had spayed her that it never would have happened! Can you believe that bullshit?! Seriously, since when does spaying or neutering a dog change it's personality?

I used to be leery about Pit Bulls, and I had good reason. I didn't hate the breed, I hated what had become of Chance. But after having Logan here, I can tell you that they're a gentle breed, if not a bit thick headed and stubborn.

I'm sitting here typing away and Logan's sound asleep at my feet. He's such a good foot warmer, and a great critter to have in our house. Even if he's a bit insane when it comes to one of our three cats. Logan and tempest have this love hate thing going on.

Anyway, back on track. The whole thing about dogs attacking people...it's not the dog's fault. And I'm not defending any one breed here. It's all how the dog is raised. It's the owner's responsibility to train the dog properly.

If you go to a store and someone's kid is screaming and throwing a tantrum that they want something, what do you think? That kid needs a good stern lesson in how to behave in public. Having a dog is like having another child, you better train it right or it'll be unruly and walk all the hell over you. Do you want a good dog or a spoiled brat? The choice is yours, folks. Just like with your kids, do you want them to be good and treat people with respect or do you want little thugs running around getting into trouble every chance they get?

I read somewhere a comment by a complete idiot. He tried to compare pit bulls to lions and tigers, saying that they belong in a zoo. Where the hell did he get his information from? See, this is what the media has done. Every ten or so years they garb onto a breed of dog and make it the proverbial whipping boy for the BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) folks. They're not just against APBT's, they're against any breed that happens to show up on their radar for that specific set of years. Once they fear monger the hell out of one breed they move on to the next. This all has me wondering, what breed will be the next one on the chopping block? Why not the ones that are actually dangerous? The little ankle biters that are mean and down right attack anything or anyone? Why? Because yet again that's not the dog, that 's the owners lack of responsibility. Socialize your dog. You'd socialize your kid, right? Why not do the same for your dog? if you want your dog to play nice with other dogs and people, then expose them to all kinds of people and animals.

When it's a small dog that bites someone it gets pushed under the carpet. The reason for all the hoopla about APBT's is because they're used as fighting dogs by the assholes of this world. I don't care who the fuck you think you are...you DO NOT USE DOGS FOR FIGHTING!!! I don't give a flying fuck what breed it is, YOU DON"T DO IT! It's wrong! How would you feel if I put you in a ring and made you fight someone just because? Oh, wait, we already have that kind of thing, it's called boxing and full contact fighting....see the trend here? People are sick.

I've been around dogs all my life. Never can I remember a time when I did not have at least one dog and one cat.

Well, there's my thoughts on all of this...take it as you will.


< /rant >