U.S. Pit Bulls get a makeover

Pit Bulls are banned in the U.K. , we class them as dangerous dogs.  In the U.S. however, they can be sold as family pets.  There are still more of them in animal shelters than any other breed though and a recent article in the Washington Post is suggesting that their ‘demonisation’ is unjustified.

Before the 1970’s they used to be kept as pets and had a good reputation. Presidents Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter had pit bulls and the children’s writer Dr.Seuss kept one as a house pet in the parlour.  This was one of the most popular breed of dogs and owned by many Americans to protect them.  How has their image gone from dogs who love kittens and protect people to aggressive monsters who kill them?

The writer Bronwen Dickey has recently written a book entitled ‘Pit Bull, The Battle over an American Icon”.  This is an attempt to rescue these dogs from the character attacks on them over the last 40 years.   He claims their bad reputation is unjustified.  It’s true that they were used for dog fighting at the turn of the last century and because many were owned by criminals as attack dogs, how they were thought of changed.  Dog fighting, drug gang protection and media influence led to once adored pets being described as killing demons.

So how justified is their reputation?   Most people accept that dog aggression is caused by lack of socialisation  when young and either no training or the wrong training.   It’s also true that a pit bull gone bad is a very dangerous dog.  It’s not quite the same when a chihuaha goes on the attack.