It's the Pits

My son came home from one of his college classes early yesterday. The instructor had dismissed the students early because several of them — my son included — got into a heated debate about pit bulls and what to do about the “problem.” My son, an avid defender of animals and a proud owner of a pit bull mix, was surprised by the ignorance of his classmates, and disturbed to hear many of them say things like, “If I ever see a pit bull, whether it’s with its owner or not, I will kick it in the head” and “All pit bulls should be rounded up and put down.”

This whole scenario stunned me on several levels. Firstly, I find it hard to believe that the instructor could not control and direct the conversation, but instead chose to simply dismiss the entire class. Aren’t colleges supposed to be the place where discourse happens? Secondly, the class, a Criminal Justice course, is one in which the instructor frequently tells his students not to draw conclusions about police officers or criminals based merely on what they hear in the media. Unfortunately, they (and indeed the instructor himself) did exactly that with what they’ve heard about the pit bull breed. This kind of thinking is no better than people who believe that all police officers are bad because of what some did to Rodney King. Or that all black men are criminals because O. J. Simpson murdered his wife. (Yeah, yeah, not officially.)

Pit bulls aren’t the only dogs that will attack. Dogs, although domesticated, are still animals, and can sometimes behave in ways we don’t understand. A police officer in Fremont, CA was recently attacked by a pack of chihuahuas. France’s former president Jacques Chirac was recently attacked by his poodle. Hopefully cool heads will prevail and no one will start calling for either breed to be banished.

I won’t refute the fact that pit bulls have attacked people in the past. Nor will I assert that these events are not disturbing and horrible. I wouldn’t wish an attack of that kind, by any animal, on anyone. But pit bulls are not inherently mean. They are themselves victims of people who choose to train them to attack. A pit bull is a strong dog. Its build gives it the potential to do serious damage to people and other animals. They seem to be the dog of choice for people who want to have an animal that could truly do some harm, and that’s unfortunate. But should all pit bulls therefore be rounded up and destroyed? Of course not. The problem is with the owners, not with the dogs.

Let’s work on keeping our streets free of drug activity. Let’s focus on enforcing dog licensing laws. Let’s ensure that all animals are given good homes and are treated properly. Let’s start thinking about what the real problems are. And let’s find solutions that eliminate those problems instead of proposing mindless fixes that don’t.