Some things in this world are so complicated and entangled they defy explanation. This is not: Pit bulls are extremely dangerous and too-often deadly dogs that should not be permitted in Aurora, or anywhere else for that matter.

Go ahead. Bark all you want. Despite howls of protests from a well-organized lobby insisting these sweet-faced pooches are just wrongly maligned teddy bears, the evidence is unwavering, unnerving and indisputable. Pit bulls cause savage, agonizing, disfiguring and too-often deadly attacks on people and other animals.

dogs

While it seemed that this unnaturally odd argument in Aurora was settled in 2006 when the city banned these animals, right along with Denver and most other metro area cities, it’s starting all over again.

Last week, pit bull backers were in full force after a dog named Stallone faced extermination at the city’s dog pound. Stallone’s story, in this week’s Aurora Sentinel, is a sad one all around. The poor, 5-year-old pit bull was once a “bait dog” used in illegal dog fights in Arizona. He has been horribly abused. Rescued by some kind-hearted and misguided pit-bull lovers, his plight won the heart of a New Jersey firefighter, who agreed to adopt him. An equally kind-hearted truck driver agreed to give Stallone a ride to his new home. Along the way, the trucker stopped in Aurora and “kindly” took Stallone to a local dog park for a little fresh air and exercise. Stallone quickly attacked a small dog there, injuring it. The cops were called and Stallone was taken to the doggy hoosegow and given a death sentence. In a city where pit bulls are banned, those that attack people and other dogs rarely make it out of the pound alive.

That’s for a good reason. As clear as the statistics are showing that the majority of deadly dog bites in this country come from just a few breeds, including and especially pit bulls, it’s even clearer that pit-bull biters will bite again.

Stallone’s fate took an unexpected turn when an Aurora judge released the dog to the trucker, who paid some big fines and promised to get the animal right up to New Jersey, where it will probably attack someone or something else. Within hours of the story, the pit bull lobby was in full force, demanding Stallone’s release and sneering at Aurora’s pit-bull laws.

Sneer all you want, what was true in 2006 is just as true today. Pit bull owners have conspired to perpetuate a host of myths, making it seem that Aurora’s pit-bull ban is unreasonable. Once again, the protest signs and signatures pop up: “Ban the deed, not the breed,” and “It’s the owner, not the dog.”

It’s outright dog crap, that’s what that is.

I do not dispute a long list of animal behavior experts, real ones, who insist that pit bulls are not “hard-wired” to kill people. However, I do not dispute animal experts, real ones, who insist that these dogs by their breeding and nature can and do cause especially damaging and deadly attacks when they do attack. These dogs have unusually powerful jaws, clamp down on people and other animals, and shake their prey hard and repeatedly — not like other dogs; Like pit bulls.

It is indisputable that of the 38 people who were killed in the United States by dogs last year, two-thirds of those deaths involved pit bulls, which make up about 4 percent of the U.S. dog population.

It is indisputable that many of these attacks happen to people when the dogs escape their homes and prey on neighbors. The Centers for Disease Control and other government sites have rolls of gruesome maulings and attacks on children, infants and others who were in the wrong place when these animals arrived.

I agree that there are pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds and others that live their entire lives without mauling their owners or anyone else. But it is undeniable that people who have some of these dogs, especially pit bulls, run a much higher risk of being seriously wounded or killed by their pet than do those who own other dog breeds. When they attack, you can’t get your hand back, or your life back.

I agree that it’s the owner who is at fault here, because these dogs no longer belong in communities any more so than do bears, which can also make wonderful pets. It’s too hard to jail people for making really bad choices that affect all of us. But banning their poor choices from Aurora? That’s easy.

Reach editor Dave Perry at 303-750-7555 or dperry@aurorasentinel.com

314 replies on “PERRY: Aurora shouldn’t bite on foolish push to let pit bulls back in the city”

  1. An interesting commentary to be sure Mr. Perry but it seems you gather most of your “evidence” from certain websites who have no real truth to them nor are willing to post entire research articles lest they disprove their bias. We can offer the usual facts. That the CDC paper directly stated that all analysis was anecdotal and should not be taken as support for BSL. That numerous true experts repeatedly come out against BSL and that actual identification of what a “pit bull” looks like is flawed and riddled with error causing thousands of family pets to lose their lives. What disturbs us more is underlying your BSL commentary is a tone of “those” people who own “these” dogs. Who are “those” people? Perhaps that is one of the biggest issues behind banning these dogs that no one will speak about.

    Communities across the US are finally rescinding their laws and replacing them with ones that look to the owner to be responsible or pay the penalty. These laws work despite what some people with a website and an agenda would like you to believe. Additionally, if you further your research into these “pit bull” attacks, you would find that many have themes of authorities not doing their part to enforce existing leash laws, dogs who have been abused and neglected, dogs running in packs who actually have no owners and dogs who are not even “pit bulls” but have been misidentified as such. These facts are indisputable and are drawn from evidence based research.

    So let’s do away with the misinformation, witch hunts and vitriol when it comes to this conversation. People pets are losing their lives, and money that Aurora by no means can afford to spend, is being spent to round up family pets. It’s time to evolve past this and end BSL.

    1. Actually, more and more cities and even countries are banning pit bull type dogs. Most places that were bullied into repealing a pit bull ban are reconsidering such a repeal within a year or two — because the disfiguring, maiming, dismembering, often fatal attacks begin again right away as soon as pit bull type dogs are allowed again.

    2. ‘Those people’ are the Nutters like you. The types of people who have no concern for the safety and security of the community. The types of people who willingly and obstinately endanger other citizens with fighting breeds of dog. The types of people who force actuarial risk onto those who don’t want to be exposed to such risk. It isn’t any wonder that several studies highlight that those attracted to high risk breeds of dog have deviant tendencies, are more disagreeable and more likely to have a criminal record and be child abusers.

      The CDC report, in very plain english pointed out there was indeed a breed issue.
      To quote the report “The data indicates that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities.” Paradoxically, in their conclusion in what has been criticised as political, they suggested that the disproportionate dog bite fatalities attributed to Pitbulls and Rottweilers wasn’t a breed specific .

      The wording used in the CDC study was questioned in the case of Dias v. City and County of Denver (2008) in defence of Denvers Breed Bans. Dr Alan Beck stated he believed the CDC made a recommendation that was inconsistent with public safety, that it was politically motivated as Government had legitimate concerns with many constituencies and sometimes the constituencies that are the most vocal sometimes have a disproportional influence on outcome. Dr Alan Beck stopped short of labelling the CDC CRIMINAL..

      And nobody cares for your ridiculous reasons as to why pitbulls regularly maim, maul and kill. People don’t care if it is because they are neglected, or because the council isn’t enforcing leash laws or it’s because a meteor hit the darkside of the moon. The fact is, pitbulls have killed more people than all other breeds combined. They kill someone every few weeks and in between that they maim and maul every day.

      You want some indisputable facts, here they are, here are some from the recent study “Mortality, Mauling, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs 2011” –> “Over a recent 3-year period from January 2006 to March 30, 2009, a total of 98 dog bite fatalities involving 179 dogs occurred; 60% of the deaths were caused by pit bulls, and 76% were caused by pit bulls and Rottweilers. A total of 113 pit bulls were involved in these deaths, and they accounted for 63% of the dogs involved in fatal attacks. If the risk of fatal attack is normalized to Labrador Retrievers and Labrador-mix breeds (the most common registered dog in the United States), the relative risk of death related to pit bull attacks is more than 2500 times higher.

      In one 85-day period from July to September 2008, pit bulls were involved in 127 dog attacks, 57% of which occurred off the owner’s property. In these attacks, 158 people were injured, 63% of them severely; 10% of the victims suffered severed body parts; and 6 victims were killed. 12 In the same period, 128 dangerous pit bulls had to be shot to death by police officers or citizens. A closer look at these figures indicates that 1 person is killed by a pit bull every 14 days, a person loses a body part to a pit bull attack every 5.4 days, 2 persons are injured by pit bulls each day, and 1.5 pit bulls are shot to death each day.”

      And you want to know another fact, BSL greatly reduces the euthanasia rate of pitbulls, under the paradigm you currently support, nearly a million pitbulls are being destroyed every year. The genocide is already under way,but not because of BSL, but because of misguided pitbull advocacy. You want to know who is killing the breed en masse, look in the mirror. With friends like the pitbull advocates, the pitbull needn’t worry about enemies.

      So let’s do away with the misinformation, minimisation and propaganda when it comes to this conversation. People are losing their lives, people and there pets are being maimed, and mauled and anti social deviants are using pitbulls to create civil disharmony and passively aggressively frustrate the communities they live in. It is time to BAN the breed for good, this will be good for everybody except the Nutters who will have to find another way to torment the community they live in.

    3. Yes!!!! Exactly!! Who are “these” people that own pitbulls? The people that I know that own pitbulls are FAMILIES with kids, not criminals.

      1. and the kids are more likely to be mauled and sport faces that make them look like war victims FOR LIFE. Who in the H is so gulliable they will take in a dog with the worst safety record and put their children at risk and say “it can’t happen to me?” Do these people seek out cribs and strollers with the worst safety records too? Listen to the surgeons that work on the victims. many of them kids: THEY CAN’T fix em. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/06/29/doctor-says-ban-pit-bulls/11709481/

  2. Fatal and disfiguring attacks by pit bulls from shelters and rescues have exploded from zero in the first 90 years of the 20th century to 51 in the past four years (49 in the U.S., one each in the U.K. & France), along with 19 fatal & disfiguring attacks by other shelter dogs, mostly Rottweilers & bull mastiffs. The only dogs rehomed from U.S. shelters to kill anyone, ever, before 2000 were two wolf hybrids in 1988 and 1989. 31 U.S. shelter dogs & one U.K. shelter dog have participated in killing people since 2010, 30 of them pit bulls, bull mastiffs, and Rottweilers.

    1. Merritt Clifton- You spend a tremendous amount of time it seems going from community page to community page spreading your statistics that have been debunked multiple times when subjected to peer review. Perhaps you should address issues in your own community and let members of ours have our own discussion.

      1. You have no idea what peer-review is or the problems involved in it. Most of the ‘real experts’ who are claiming pit bulls are not hard-wired to suddenly and randomly kill are being paid by the pit bull lobby. They are making complete fools of themselves by denying that the laws of evolution and the effects of artificial selection apply to everything that lives…but not to pit bulls.

        Clifton is an award winning investigative journalist, whose reporting is secure and accurate. Unfortunately for you, ColoRAPitBulls (that’s what you’re really about, not about dogs), repeating pit bull lobby lies does not equal ‘debunking’. No more than Big Tobacco’s lies mean smoking is unrelated to lung cancer.

        1. Again, we see you are not from Colorado but rather someone who goes from story to story with an agenda. We have zero interest in responding to insults and vitriol. Clifton may very well be a reporter but he is not a researcher nor does he have peer reviewed research that agrees with his findings. The inflammatory comments really do nothing to add to a conversation nor do juvenile behaviors such as changing our name or telling us who we are add anything constructive to the dialogue. We have faith in the wisdom of fellow Coloradoans that they are through being swayed by hysteria and BSL will soon be a thing of the past.

          1. We’ll see about that. My entire family lives in CO and every single one of them KNOWS what pit bulls are what they can and are likely to do.. You may as well accept the fact that every time another pit bull kills somebody’s kid, grandparent or pet, that’s another person that will not be likely to look on pit bulls favorably any more. Pit bulls are doing this to themselves..they are ill bred and should be banned nationwide.

          2. Yes Reb, that is why pit bull mixes and American Bulldogs have been allowed in Aurora since 2011 and you see such an increase in attacks and fatalities?

      2. Perhaps you should STFU and deal with it that not everybody out here wuvs your widdle pibbles. Some of us care more about the rights of little kids to walk down the street without getting mauled by yet another pit bull that SOMEHOW got out. People are getting SICK AND TIRED of these pit bull attacks and you can TRY to tell us to shut up all you want but it is NOT going to happen.

        1. Rebb, Perhaps you should STFU and accept that not everyone here CARES WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY – Denver and Aurora stats don’t lie! In the last 6 years 1,156 pitbulls have been killed in Aurora and bite statistics have REMAINED THE SAME AND IN SOME AREAS INCREASED as the pitbull population was decimated – even the city admits 99.9% of the pitbulls killed DID NOTHING WRONG other than being born a “Pit bull”. Meanwhile the city of Denver spends someth9ing to the tune of 1.6 MILLION a year to enforce BSL law and even the Denver head of Animal control has said “In 26 years we have not had conclusive evidence that BSL is actually lowering the number of bite cases or serious injuries caused by K9’s” – So tell ya what, when you move here and PONNY up the $1.6m a year from your pocket then you can tell people to shut the F up all day long otherwise sit down and be respectful……….

        2. Reb: If you and your fellow cultists are so concerned about the children and victims of dog attacks, then why do you only advocate for the elimination of pit bulls rather than all dog bites by any breed? And why does your cult not allow victims to heal but rather pushed them to relive the incident through revictimization?

  3. Rubbish. Dave, I tend to agree with you, but you are taking one of the extremes on this editorial. Nothing is black and white, it is all shades of grey, Yes, “Pit Bulls” have attacked. No, not every one has or will do so, and not every serious attack was by a “pit bull”. To lump every “pit bull” in a group would be the same as grouping all media with those as Fox News.

    Prohibition DOES NOT work. Whether it is guns, drugs, dogs or religion, people will do what they desire. We need to accept that and find better solutions that address those who are oblivious to the possible outcomes of their decisions.

    If “pit bulls” did not exist, than it would be another dog variety. Idiots who are looking to appear tough because they trained a large dog to be agreesive will always exist. Just like idiots who chose to steal to gets drugs, or drive in the emergency lane, or write opinion pieces to get attention.

    I propose that since SUVs cause more damage IF they are in an accident we ban all cars form Aurora that are not sedans or smaller.
    If a mixed breed dog is vicious or has a bad temperment, it is labelled a “pit bull” mix at the shelter and if it is sweet and well behaved they find a different label. How about we just take it on a case by case basis and hold people accountable for bad decisions, not base our opinions on the way a dog looks.
    I will agree there are bad dogs, regardless of breed. Can you admit there a good dogs despite their being labelled “pit bulls”?
    Hopefully you will soften your views a little and try to find the grey that exists,

    1. One out of six pit bulls are involved in an incident so serious that it gets reported to police. One out of fifteen will attack and maul someone.

      The chances with other types of dogs are about 1 in 100,000, respectively one in ten million.

      2. 3 out of 5 people who go on websites and sceam we need to kill everydog that looks a certain way are crazy and fearful. The other two are misled by people-lie(dogsbite.org).

      3. where did you get THAT fact? I know way more pitbulls than that and none of them have been involved in an “incident” I know more than 15 and none of them have mauled anybody. Must be nice to try to defame a breed by making up a bunch of facts in hopes that someone will believe you. Mostly we just think you are a spammer who has nothing better to do than to get on this board and it is doubtful you even live IN Colorado. So why not let us actual Coloradoans weigh in our opinions without your spam every few minutes.

    2. Just because people will continue to rape, murder and assault other people isn’t a good reason to NOT legislate against it. Creating LAWS isn’t done with the goal of eliminating undesirable behaviour, such as rape and murder. Society accepts that there will always be individuals who harm and endanger other people. Legislation is created to act as a deterrent to aberrant behaviour and deliver punishment to those who fall foul of it. Decent people want legislation to deter people from owning high risk breeds that unnecessarily increase innocent peoples actuarial risk.

      It is no different with drink driving laws, society has proven it is a high risk activity, that greatly increases innocent peoples risk of being harmed, and rather than wait until the inevitable serious accidents happen, society takes steps to reduce the carnage. We even go to the lengths of punishing those drink drivers who have never harmed anybody, even though only a tiny percentage of drink drivers will ever harm anybody. We are punishing them because of the actuarial risk they force on other unsuspecting citizens.

      Same deal with pitbull ownership,it should be seen as an activity that exposes innocent people to greater than normal actuarial risk. Driving while sober carries a certain amount of risk, but one that society considers acceptable,but add alcohol into the equation and enhance the risk, and society deems it unacceptable. Dog ownership entails a small amount of risk to others, but one due to domestication,society deems acceptable, add fighting breeds into the mix and enhance the risk society deems it unacceptable.

      This is not about punishing dogs or people, but acknowledging unacceptable risk within society, and when you consider that their are over 400 breeds of dog that have never killed anybody, and therefore plenty of opportunity for domestic dog ownership to be a low risk enterprise, it is completely unacceptable to promote a breed that regularly maims, mauls and kills innocent people.

      1. So by your logic….people will kill and rape….so we should round them up and kill them. See how that works. Your view is not about punishing an action that is already illegal, it is about eliminating what you and your brood consider to be ugly and useless animals. Fine…don’t own one.
        But….Stay out of my back yard!!
        My dog is loving and a good dog. He is high energy and determined, but gentle and loving. He was illegal until Aurora changed their laws and is now fully registered and can walk in public during the days with our other two dogs. Plenty of bad owners are always out with their dogs off leash and their dogs charge ours often. We have only had one inncident where a neighbors dog attacked our small french bulldog mix. That dog was not a “pit bull”.
        We are not rounding up people who drink because they may drive. We wait till that happens.
        You are biased and unable to accept the grey of situation because you harbor a hatred of something. Quit trying to ruin my life because you are scared and ignorant.
        Thanks.

        1. Logically caring about kids and adults with missing faces and limbs is not being scared or ignorant. Its called having morals and common sense. People who drink have to be a certain age and people who drive have to be a certain age, and have insurance. Kids walk pitbulls and they are not insured. You are so self-absorbed your ONE incident is supposed to be supreme and undo all of the fatal and horrific maulings that pet owners have experienced by pitbulls? people in other communities are carrying knives and guns to walk their dogs because of pitbulls, and the kids are just sitting ducks. There is nothing GREY about protecting people from Lions or Bears. It is you who is filled with hatred for human beings. Quit trying to ruin your life? If your decided to take in a banned breed in the first place it shows that you lack good judgment, can’t follow laws, and made your own bed. Now lay in it. As you said, the dog was illegal when you took it in when there hundreds of other dogs waiting to be adopted. You look for trouble.

      2. Cowards afraid of 40 pound dogs………are what should be banned in our communities. Living in the Denver area you are much more likely to be gunned down while at school or a movie.

      3. Very good point. Many communities started laws to clean up after your dog and no one expected anyone to comply, and there is no enforcement team, but most people do follow the laws. The only reason pitbull ownership has not been banned entirely is because the dog fighters got a leg up on the pubic and sold their propaganda and lies to the young via unreality t.v. They pay millions to promote the dogs so they can keep their untaxed jobs breeding and fighting dogs at the expense of the innocent. Anyone who cares about other doesn’t want pitbulls in their community.

    3. Hey, if they ban pit bulls, you can always get a Doberman! Why are you so worried?

      Ah, because you know perfectly well that no other type of dog is anything like a pit bull type. No other type of dog is vicious enough, not other type of dog will do.

      1. And if every “pit bull” was rounded up and shot you and your brood would move on to German Shepards, Great Danes, Dobermans, etc. as the next dog to ban. That is what I am afraid of….YOU!!!!

        2. That would be wonderful as everyone one of those PETS were bred for centuries to be pets and none of these dog breeds have anywhere near the record of carnage and unpredictable behavior as the pitbull.

      2. Dobermans were banned in the 70s and 80s, that’s the problem with you people, you keep banning animals based on fear and media bias.

    5. Yeah Grey doesn’t exist for the mother of a child plucked out of her baby stroller that has endured 55 surgeries now to attempt to look normal. Grey doesn’t exist for the families of people that are in caskets because of yet another pitbull. Funny thing on your SUV comment as insurance carriers do charge drivers very different rates for different types of vehicles, and most insurance carriers pass the much higher costs of pitbull maulings onto all dog owners. Farmers insurance is one that doesn’t cover pitbulls as they do not want all dog owners to subsidize the must higher costs of insuring pitbulls. It is a lie that mixed breed dogs with bad temperments are mislabeled pitbulls. It is quite the opposite. Even vets at shelters have come out and admitted that the aggression in many shelter pitbulls is not revealed to the public. it is covered up and and many bites that are supposed to be reported by law are not reported. It is not idiots that are trying to look tough that have the pitbulls that are mauling. It is family raised, unabused, neutered pitbulls that suddenly turn on a dime. Several FORMER pitbull owners are now coming out of the closet and throwing the Its the owner not the breed out the window as they know they gave the dogs all the love and care that other dogs thrive on.. and then the dogs developed sudden aggression. This aggression is caused by unseen neurological changes that can not be predicted by the aftermath: lost scalps, mutilated faces, crushed skulls, missing limbs, and lost lives are not something that can be GREYED away. Throwing victims under the bus is not grey.. it is plain and simple mean spirited, selflishness.

      1. No, that would be the extreme. See, grey lies between the best and worst.
        Just like the extreme would be coming to my house, taking my dog from a loving home, teliing my kids we have have to kill it, then charging us to do so.
        Rounding up living things becuase you do not like the way they look is evil. Period.
        You and your refer to these dogs as ugly and mutants. Your colors, fear and lies have been exposed.
        STAY OUT IF MY BACKYARD.

    6. So in your sick GREY view Alcohol should have the same regulations as KOOL AID. as people are going to do what they want. and laws against drunk driving, use of explosives and dynamite and other regulated dangers should be just abolished so people can do what they want to do.. and the other dogs excuse is lame too.. There is no other dog that people can own that does as much damage as pitbulls. These dogs were deliberately bred for hundreds and hundreds of years to be strong, aggressive, tenancious fighters. Bad temperments were favored and those dogs are still in the bloodlines of thousands of pitbulls that are in family homes. It is not grey that flows when these ticking time bombs go off. talk to the witnesses and victims.. it is bright red blood that flows and lots and lots of it.. the blood of innocent people..

      1. so Jaloney don’t own one and choose to live in a community that has BSL than your “problems” will be solved. Or you could go live on a deserted island, even better.

      2. Alcohol is legal. Remember prohibition. That is what you and yours are promoting. You and friends see them as ugly, mutants and ticking time bombs. You hate them and want them erradicated. Very extreme, not grey.
        Regulation is the grey. Banning is the extreme.
        Things that are illegal:
        Fighting dogs
        Off leash dogs
        Aggressive dogs
        Unlisenced dogs
        Dog abuse
        Let’s enforce these rules, infringe on others rights by banning something because you think it is ugly and may do something.
        Several of your friends have sent death threats to others involved on this page. Seems like you are all ticking time bombs and we should eliminate your threat before you snap and go off.
        Your image of blood running in street …. that would be extrem as well.

  4. “While it seemed that this unnaturally odd argument in Aurora was settled in 2006 when the city banned these animals, right along with Denver and most other metro area cities, it’s starting all over again.”
    It seems unnatural that a “liberal progressve” would promote the limiting of citizens rights and outright hate of something based on outward appearence.
    Most other metro area cities?!?!?!?…are you crazy, a liar, both or fail to understand that most refers to more than 50%?
    You also failed to point out that the State passed legislation prohibiting BSL all together and only those cities that are in a home rule status with BSL in place are grandfathered in as tolerated.
    People are waking up to the fact that prohibition will fail, whether it be prohibition of drugs, dogs, marriage rights or facts. What is just and fair willalways prevail, even if the struggle is long and arduous. Don’t be a Teabagger Dave…accept that there is a grey area and that compromise will be needed to solve the problem, not further promotion of the extremes on either side.

    1. Repeating lies doesn’t make them any less lies. The Denver ban works wonderfully well. They haven’t had a pit bull mauling or killing since it was adopted. Same in other places:

      Springfield, MO
      In April 2008, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department released data to a local TV station – following the City of Springfield’s adoption of a 2006 pit bull ban:

      “The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reports that dog bites and vicious dog complaints are declining since the implementation of the Pit Bull Ordinance in the City of Springfield two years ago. In 2005 the health department fielded 18 vicious dog complaints, but only eight in 2007. Bites were down from 102 in 2005 to 87 in 2007.”

      Washington
      In 2008, the City of Wapato passed an ordinance that bans new pit bulls, rottweilers and mastiffs. Nine months after its adoption, in March 2009, Wapato Police Chief Richard Sanchez reported successful results:

      “Nine months into the ban and police calls about vicious dogs have been cut in half. The Wapato Police tell Action News they’ve gone from 18 reports in January, February and March of last year to seven so far in ’09. “Seven calls in three months… that’s nothing,” says Chief Richard Sanchez, Wapato Police Department.

      Chief Sanchez credits local cooperation for the decline of dangerous dogs.”

      Rhode Island
      When the City of Woonsocket was debating a pit bull ordinance in June 2009, the animal control supervisor in Pawtucket, John Holmes, spoke about the enormous success of Pawtucket’s 2003 pit bull ban:

      “Holmes says he predicted that it would take two years for Pawtucket to experience the full benefit of the law after it was passed, but the results were actually apparent in half the time.

      “It’s working absolutely fantastic,” said Holmes. “We have not had a pit bull maiming in the city since December of 2004.”

      Prince George’s County, MD
      Prince George’s County passed a pit bull ban in 1996. In August 2009, Rodney Taylor, associate director of the county’s Animal Management Group, said that the number of pit bull biting incidents has fallen:

      “Taylor said that during the first five to seven years of the ban, animal control officials would encounter an average of 1,200 pit bulls a year but that in recent years that figure has dropped by about half. According to county statistics, 36 pit bull bites, out of 619 total dog bites, were recorded in 2008, down from 95 pit bull bites, out of a total of 853, in 1996.”

      Salina KS
      Note that they admit that the pit bull ban did not reduce the number of bites, but it did reduce the
      severity of bites reported by all breeds. Proof that when pit bull deniers find a jurisdiction that banned pit bulls, but reported no decrease in overall bites, is a moot point. Its death and dismemberment we are focusing on, not bite counts.

      In the monthly city newsletter, In Touch, published in September 2006, the City of Salina reported that the pit bull ban adopted in 2005 significantly reduced pit bull biting incidents in just a 12 month period.

      The number of pit bull bites depicted in the “Salina Pit Bull Bites Reported” graph shows 2002 with 13 pit bull
      bites, 2003 with 11 pit bull bites, 2004 with 15 pit bull bites and 2005 with only one bite. The newsletter notes that “animal bites reported have remained constant, but the severity of bites have decreased dramatically” since the enactment of the pit bull ban.

      Toronto:
      In a November 2011, public health statistics published by Global Toronto showed that pit bull bites dropped dramatically after Ontario adopted the Dog Owners Liability Act in 2005, an act that banned pit bulls:

      The number of dog bites reported in Toronto has fallen since a ban on pit bulls took effect in 2005, public health statistics show.

      A total of 486 bites were recorded in 2005. That number fell generally in the six years following, to 379 in 2010.

      Provincial laws that banned ‘pit bulls,’ defined as pit bulls, Staffordshire terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and dogs resembling them took effect in August 2005. Existing
      dogs were required to be sterilized, and leashed and muzzled in public.

      Bites in Toronto blamed on the four affected breeds fell sharply, from 71 in 2005 to only six in 2010. This accounts for most of the reduction in total bites.

      1. Denver has not had a pit bull bites, or Denver has not had a pit bull mauling? Cause by your logic a pit bull bite is a mauling?
        I live in Aurora and go to Denver often. THERE ARE PLENTY OF “PIT BULLS’ IN BOTH.
        Also, Denver has had the same number of bites or more each year since the ban was established. Same number of bad owners, just different dogs.
        My dog is a Staffordshire Terrier Mix, is legal in Aurora and has never had an incident. EVER.
        STAY OUT OF MY BACKYARD.

      2. No there hasn’t been a pit bull related death in Denver. Strangely though a child was killed after the ban was enacted but a different breed, and Denver still has a significantly higher rate of hospitalizations from dog bites than surrounding communities who have never even considered BSL including Larimer County where “pit bull” dogs are extremely popular. Makes you think that bite prevention and breed neutral legislation may actually work.

      3. Correct, Denver has not had a pitbull fatality since the ban was placed – now quick trivia time: How many years prior to the ban being placed was the most “Recent” pitbull related death in Denver (Meaning what year was the most recent attack BEFORE the ban was in place)? SO, does this mean the ban worked (At the cost of $1.6m a year a a statement from Denver AC saying that in 26 years they have no conclusive evidence that the ban is actually lowering dog bite statistics) or is it a statistic anomaly that in any given location people are not dying every morning by the dozens as a result of pitbull attacks?

  5. Dave Perry, Regarding your article, in your words: “Its outright dog crap, that’s what it is”. You should take some time to fact check – I was intimately involved in Stallone’s case and half your “Facts” are in error as written – I spoke one on one with the Aurora Sentinel Reporter that WAS at the court house and it wasn’t you, your not only a disgrace as a journalist but to the Aurora Sentential as well……. I will say thank you though as its incompetents like yourself that help keep people like me fighting for the breed.

    It’s outright dog crap, that’s what that is.
    It’s outright dog crap, that’s what that is.
    It’s outright dog crap, that’s what that is.
    It’s outright dog crap, that’s what that is.

  6. Wow, I hope you don’t actually write any of the stories here, your recitation of the “facts” of the case and regurgitation of dogsbite.org’s fabricated statistics blows my mind. If you’d like to do some real reporting, I’d be happy to make my clients available.

  7. Hey Mr Perry… you are really quick to jump on the Senator McCarthy/ witch hunt stance on Pit Bulls. Care to spend a day with a highly trained/ socialized/ well cared for pack of Pit Bulls to see what the breed is truly capable of? Or are you just another garden variety drive-by journalist? I am sincere in this invitation… spend the day with us, ask questions, observe feeding, nap time, the pack training other dogs to be obedient/ confident/ non-aggressive, and how they interact with other dogs and humans. THIS IS NOT A THREAT OR SCARE TACTIC… rather a genuine invitation to genuine fact finding. You can also talk to our city’s Animal Control and Police Dept about our pack, ask our neighbors, local merchants, etc. Spend the time with us and KNOW vs speculation and assumption and “cuz my friend told me over the water cooler”.
    http://www.TeamPitAFull.org

  8. Comparing a pit bull to a bear? That’s pretty extreme. I also don’t get how someone else getting a pit bull effects you. With further research you would have found that pit bull attacks usually happen to the owner of the pit bull or their caretaker not a random neighbor… So if someone wants to take the chance of having their dog bite them then why does that concern you? “I don’t like swimming pools because they are dangerous. Instead of not owning a swimming pool myself let’s make a law so that no one else can own one either!”

      1. Yes that is true. Attacking bother bears have been known to move on and leave a victim alone when they learn their is not threat. Pitbulls will keep shredding defenseless toddlers and infants long after they show signs of life.

    2. Someone else getting a pit bull most certainly effects everyone else — in fact, every living creature — within at least a five mile radius. People can no longer walk their normal dogs safely. Children can’t walk to a bus stop, play in their own back yards, and have even been attacked in their own living rooms by home-invasion pit bulls looking for something to kill.

      As for pit bull owners, they’re only about 1/3 of pit bull attacks. The attacks aren’t ‘bites’, but catastrophic maulings (and often killings). Even these attacks concern us, since pit bull owners almost never carry insurance — so we end up paying their medical bills. You pit bull people exhaust local blood banks when your pittie-poo saves its genes for you. It most certainly is our business.

      There is in fact law regarding swimming pools. Whoever owns one has to have their property and the pool double fenced in such a way that no child can get to the pool. I agree that at the least this kind of law should be adopted regarding pit bull type dogs — and if you can’t afford double fencing, concrete flooring, a secure roof, etc, then you’re too indigent to own a pit bull.

      1. How do you know that pit bull owners don’t carry insurance? It sounds like that is just a random assumption. I don’t live in Colorado and I’m glad because I don’t need someone telling me I need to put my dog down or move.

    3. The number of fatal pit bull attacks in the U.S. in 2013 currently outnumbers deadly bear attacks by 24 to 1.

    5. Actually it is not at all extreme. Pitbulls are killing more people and more pets than Lion, cougars, wolves and bears in this country. There are many people who are attacked randomly by a neighbor’s pitbull including the Modesto Cailfornia man who came home to find the neighbors pitbulls had broken through their steel fencing and were attacking his 90 year old mother. He had the pretty extreme experience of dying while trying to save his mother who is in a medically induced coma. A man in Detroit just lost both is hands and feet to a pretty extreme pitbull attack by another neighbor’s pitbulls. Not his own. Rita Pepe was killed this year by a neighbors neutered pitbull that had passed the local human societies temperament tests and 20 other people of all ages have been killed by pitbulls that were NOT their pitbulls. Swimming pools require special gates, fencing and INSURANCE to protect children. Pitbulls can’t be kept in a special gate as they always get out. They are not stationary like a swimming pool. Ignoring the pain and suffering of thousands of people mauled and disfigured this year and every year by pitbulls and the thousands of pet owners who watch in horror as pitbulls kill their pets every year is extremely selfish. Pitbulls are an unnatural creations. They were bred purposely for evil and like nuclear bombs and chemical weapons, evil intentions create things that can’t be controlled. http://www.caninevictimsmemorial.com

  9. Gee, there is one gruesome, non-fatal chimp attack and I can’t own a chimp. Meanwhile, pit bulls kill someone every 2 weeks.

    1. You may own a chimp in 13 states without any regulation davidorth. Several other require a permit. However primates, with humans excluded, are wild animals not domesticated ones so it would be an apples to oranges argument.

      1. An attack by an animal is an attack by an animal. Pit bulls pose too great a risk to the public to allow them to be kept as pets. It’s that simple.

  10. Pit bulls are dangerous. It’s obvious. No other owners of dog breeds have to insist so much as pit bull owners.

    We don’t need BSL. Just a few more major home owner insurance companies to drop anyone who owns a pit bull. The leftover carriers who will still insure pit bulls will find out FAST that it’s a losing proposition.

    1. I’m sorry daviddorth, where do you live? Are you a Coloradoan? Again, perhaps working in your own community would be more appropriate. Colorado has no lack of insurance carriers with no issue insuring dog owners. Several do not even ask the breed of dog you own, but rather just want to know if the dog has bitten someone. So clearly our insurance agents here understand that it is about responsible dog ownership and not dogs who look a certain way.

      1. oh and how many of your pro pit bull lobby lives in CO? They are the ones who stick their big noses into everybody’s business.. Ohio people are now being attacked by pit bulls on a regular basis because the FN pit bull lobby jumped all over the Ohio law makers. Don’t tell us we can’t have an opinion or a say when the pit bull lobby doesn’t obey the same rules. Also give those insurance companies a few claims to pay and we’ll see how willing they are to insure pit bulls then. Pit bulls have EARNED their reputation as ill bred and dangerous dogs and the KEEP earning it day after day after day.

        1. Actually Reb, it appears those posting today discussing it respectfully and actually believing BSL should not be in existence in CO are actually from Colorado.

        2. I’m Stallone’s attorney and I’ve lived in Aurora CO for 12 years. I’m sick of politicians here killing dogs that have done nothing other than look a certain way. It’s no different than Nazi Germany.

          1. LOL .. No different huh? Guess you haven’t met the kids that look like they have come out of a war. Oh and those poor kids that look like freaks for life.. THEY ARE CALLED HUMANS.. and there parents are left to beg to try to get funds to pay for all those successive surgeries.. It is okay if these people are hurt huh? And the fact that a pitbull is removing a person’s body part every 4 days is not problem .. KARMA IS B*TCH and life is cruel teacher. These dogs are not killed in Aurora Colorado. They are killed like flies in adjacent towns that allow them to be overbred like flies.. and you know that but play stupid huh? Karma.. Juliet… Remember her. and Remember Darla Napora?

          2. Jaloney- You clearly know nothing about Colorado. These dogs are not euthanized like flies in other towns in Colorado.However, in most counties where BSL does not exist, hospitalization rates are half those of BSL counties. Where do you live? Yes, we remember Darla and every other victim of a serious attack or fatality. But we recognize all of them regardless of breed because our agenda is about public safety for all people which consists of holding every owner of every dog accountable. Attacks are horrible as are fatalities. NO one in this forum is minimizing those horrible losses. Every person who is hijacking this conversation has a very clear agenda of trying to get people to react negatively so that it can later be cut and pasted on some blog or website. But this is a serious issue that requires thought and conversation and you just aren’t going to get the reactions you’re looking for because it’s not who Coloradoans are.

          3. An attorney to make such an argument must be a very bad attorney indeed. I am sure you took many English courses, enough to know that you just made a very faulty comparison seeing how dogs aren’t people. What’s Stallone paying you? It’s way too much.

        3. I live in Colorado, I live in Aurora Colorado and have lived here since 1993, how about you? Where do you live?

        4. You don’t live in Aurora, CO. Here is your post from earlier: Reb Furr ColoRADogs

          • 4 hours ago

          My relatives live in Aurora CO and I have a PERSONAL interest in seeing that my young niece doesn’t get mauled by some idiots pit bull.

        5. I am on the board of Directors for ColoRADogs and live in Aurora. I talk to fellow citizens all the time about this issue. BSL is not in the spirit of this diverse city or making it any safer.

        6. Very good point Reb Furr The pitbull lobby is international .. as sickos who like to watch dogs die and like to make their living on dog fighting want people to own these dogs to hide their sport in a sea of pitbulls. They never promoted them on t.v. and elsewhere until governments outlawed dog fighting. The pitbull lobby is behind efforts to overturn the regulations for sure.

          1. Actually Jaloney, it is because of your hatred that is directed at something that you know nothing about which has united the pit bull lovers.

    2. My pitbull is the sweetest and most loving and most friendly out of my 3 dogs. The other 2 are lab mixes. She loves everyone from babies to old people. Also my many friends who have pitbulls also have children and are the best dogs you could meet. There are some who are service dogs as well. Mine is canine good citizen certified.

      1. oh for god’s sake, do you have any idea how many people have said that about their pit bulls only to have said pit bull attack and brutally disfigure or KILL their kid or their neighbor? It is becoming widely known that a pit bull can act perfectly fine until the day that the DNA kicks in and the dog goes berserk on somebody for no apparent reason other than that is what they wre BRED to do. Pit bulls should be banned nationwide. They simply pose too much risk and shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere in a civilized country.

        1. I would like to say the same thing about you. For Gods sake, will you stop interjecting with your nonsense? I HAVE 4 kids. My pup is around people from BABIES to old people and she wins over pretty much everyone she meets except for haters like you who look at her and say “oh shes a pit bull my kids can’t touch that dog” Anyone who is SANE normal person can see what a friendly love she is. She has even won over people who USED to think like you to seeing it how it actually is. It is so sad to me how backward and in the dark thinking you have. I hope some day you can be enlightened at least enough to stop bursting onto forums where you are not really welcome and shut up.

        2. Blah blah blah, really??? Your opinion is one, and so what else do you do beside get on blogs with your negativity.

        3. I just told my husband what you were saying about pit bulls. He was not really a fan of pitbulls, until we owned one. She is now his FAVORITE dog out of our 3. FAVORITE. He says to respond to your comment that yes this might happen but it is not likely. You are just trying to breed fear and hysteria when there is none to be had. And the people reading through this column and these comments are pit bulls supporters and they do not support this ban. Your guys empty words and meaningless nonsense is falling on deaf ears amongst us that actually know and spend time with and love the breed. You refuse to give any true facts, it is highly unlikely that you have ever even been around the breed. I saw an organization offered for you all to go and spend some time out at her rescue with the dogs for a day. I didn’t see anyone jumping on that chance. But perhaps in your heart of hearts, you know that you are wrong. The hype used to be on other breed of dogs in the past, now it is currently on the pit bull. This phase will one day pass. And you guys will go on to say how the other breed is so evil and should be banned. What should really be banned, is people that hate. Whether it is a hate of animals or people. I wish you luck and I hope you don’t get attacked by any Chihuahuas because you know what their bites hurt! And they also can inflict some major damage. Because then watch out Chihuahua owners of the US, you will be coming after them next.

          1. Comparing SERIOUS Chihuahua bites with the horrific attacks by pitbulls shows how delusional you are. So you and hubby live in the relm of its not likely.. So these kids who will NEVER get a date and will be mocked for life because they are so horrifically disfigured.. They had parents like you .. do you think those parents can just say SORRY.. I thought it was unlikely that the pitbull would do this to you and all of the attacks .. Ya know I thought they happened to other people. Will your kid buy that excuse? Sad you don’t love your kids more ..

          2. Dude, can you please just be quiet. We have heard you rantings and ravings and I think we are all done with it. We are still waiting for HARD PROOF facts of which NONE have you produced. Your hate and backwards thinking can go elsewhere as far as most of us here are concerned. I am more scared of people like you than a pit bull any day! And YES the Chihuahua bite wreaked havoc on my hand. I sustained a lot of damage to it.

    3. No we still need BSL as homeowners policies do not cover pitbulls owned by renters. The landlords can rent to pitbull owners and guess what.. NOONE is covered by any insurance if the pitbull mauls.

      1. We have several insurance carriers in Colorado who are happy to provide policies for renters for their dogs regardless of breeds. We have them listed on our website as resources for owners if you’d like to take a look. Again Jaloney, it is clear you are not from this state and have no idea what you are speaking if when it comes to Colorado.

  11. Dear Dave,
    You are ignorant beyond hope. I will pray for you and all those who know you or come in to contact with you.

  12. What a great article, I agree with every word. I can remember when no one was attacked by dogs. When I was growing up we never had to worry about neighborhood dogs. We all had one, we knew which one belonged to who, For the most part they all got along, maybe a quick power struggle between two males would occasionally erupt, but they would knock it off when told to. Our dogs were rarely S/N and they all ran at large, and still, there were no problems. What changed? People trying to own Pit bulls as pets! About the mid 80’s I began to notice the problems with Pit Bulls, and every year as more people get them as pets, the attacks and maulings and killings increase. Pit Bulls are causing so many problems in our country besides the daily carnage they create on people and innocent pets, there is the overcrowding they cause in every shelter nationwide, the mixing with other breeds, soon no large dog will be safe, the cost of warehousing them, medical care, trucking them around to different shelters, and finally euthanizing 900.000 a year because no one wants them. Seems like a huge waste of money and the cost in human lives and suffering and their medical bills is just too costly for us to tolerate this any longer. Keep your ban Aurora.!

    1. Again, you are not a resident of Colorado but rather yet another spammer. We are truly sorry that locals are unable to have a conversation about our own issues.

      1. My relatives live in Aurora CO and I have a PERSONAL interest in seeing that my young niece doesn’t get mauled by some idiots pit bull.

        1. Then feel free to add your respectful opinion when we start our forum. That would mean the exclusion of words like “idiot” or comments like STFU for reference.

      2. Guess what Colorado is a tourist state that is dependent economically on the bread and butter of tourists.

        1. Jaloney- Thank you for sharing facts about our state with us. Given the difference in people who opposed to BSL verses the small minority who first, don’t seem to reside here, and secondly who’s local voices we’d like to hear, I think a threat of a tourist ban is a bit of a stretch. Also, if you truly knew about Colorado, you would also find the majority of dollars spent from “tourism” is found right here in state as our residents travel around our great state enjoy all it has to offer.

  13. 28 dead by dog attack so far in 2013.
    Pit bull type dogs killed twenty-six of them. Fifteen of that twenty-four are children.
    Stars indicate people killed by a ‘family’ pit bull – ones that had been raised and cherished as an indoor pet, and ‘never showed aggression before’.

    Child fatalities by pit bull type dog (15):
    Christian Gormanous – 4 yrs old
    Isaiah Aguilar – 2 yrs old
    Ryan Maxwell – 7 yrs old **
    Dax Borchardt – 14 mos old **
    Monica Laminack – 21 mos old **
    Tyler Jett – 7 yrs old
    Jordyn Arndt – 4 yrs old **
    Beau Rutledge – 2 yrs old **
    Ayden Evans- 5 yrs old **
    Nephi Selu – 6 yrs old **
    Arianna Jolee Merrbach – 5 yrs old
    Daniel (surname as yet not revealed) – 2 yrs old (Gilbert, Arizona) **
    Samuel Eli Zamudio – 2 yrs old**
    Jordan Ryan– 5 yrs old**
    Levi Wayne Watson – 4 yrs old

    Adult fatalities by pit bull type (11):
    Betty Todd – 65 yrs old **
    Elsie Grace – 91 yrs old **
    Claudia Gallardo – 38 yrs old
    Pamela Devitt – 63 yrs old
    Carlton Freeman – 80 yrs old
    Linda Oliver – 63 yrs old
    James Harding – 62 yrs old – chased into traffic by two attacking pit bulls
    Juan Campos – 96 yrs old
    Terry Douglas – 56 yrs old**
    Katherine Atkins – 25 yrs old**
    Nga Woodhead – 65 yrs old**

    (1 non-pit type killing) [Rachel Honabarger – 35 yrs old – mauled to death by her own GSD mix]

    (1 husky-mix killing, unknown if the other half of the dog was pit bull) [Jordan Lee Reed – 5 yrs old]

    That’s 93% killed by attacking pit bull types. Pit types are only about 5% of the entire dog population.

    The man who ran into traffic kept pit bulls himself. He knew perfectly well what the two stranger pit bulls that were chasing him would do if they caught him, so he preferred to risk a swift death by oncoming car.

    489 maimed by pit type dogs 2013 (as of November 14).

    1. This is the same stuff that Thomas is posting, EXACT same story. Maybe you guys should get together and make a plan to NOT post the same stories. But if you did that, you would run out of stories! Did you hear about the retriever that killed a child under 5 a couple days ago? No? Well maybe you should expand your intelligence and search something other than pit bull attacks. You would find the truth and maybe, just maybe, you could open your narrow mind a little!

  14. Even when pit bull attacks aren’t fatal, they are catastrophic. Here’s a typical account of a pit bull attack (this was two days ago, isn’t ancient history). This victim is going to spend the rest of her life without hands…if she lives:

    Harrowing Details Emerge in Wilton Dog Mauling

    An eyewitness said, “It took me like six seconds to realize what was under the car was a human being, because I’d never seen a human being in that condition before. She was crying out, ‘Help me, it’s killing me. Help me. My arm.'”

    Wakeman said that Murray had been transported by Wilton EMS to Norwalk Hospital after the incident. He added that the victim had lost one arm and part of the other arm in the attack and is in ICU in stable condition.

    D’arbanville said when an officer came out of the house after searching inside, “The other cop asked what he was searching for and he said ‘Evidence,’ and that when he was asked what he found and, he replied, ‘pieces…fingers’ and the other cop said go back in and grab them because the hospital might want them.”

    https://wilton.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/harrowing-details-emerge-in-wilton-dog-mauling

  15. It is really a shame to see the conversation hijacked yet again by people who do not live in our communities nor who have any investment in our state. If you research their comments what you will see is just cut and paste numbers and no actual conversation. As Coloradoans, we should have this conversation with one another and not allowed the dialogue to be hijacked by people who have no reason to be on these forums except to try and stir up angry outbursts. We’re better than that.

    1. Pit bull people don’t refrain from trying to tell people on the other side of the world that they have to live with the deathly danger pit bulls represent. They always descend en masse on town councils that are considering restricting pit bull type dogs in any way. They publish notifications to attend, calling pit bull fans from out of state to pack parking lots so residents can’t park their cars, to pack the chamber and try to prevent residents from speaking. They organize letter writing campaigns to towns they don’t live in, they vote 300 times each on internet polls.

      If you can get every single pit bull fanatic to refrain from saying a single word when the issue comes up outside their own place of residence, and they show they really are obeying this call, then you can maybe ask non-pit-bull owners to do the same.

      Only maybe. Because while you have no right to demand endangerment of people outside your own community, we do have a right to demand safety for citizens and children everywhere.

      1. It is the hijacking of community forums and hysterics that disallow people who live in these towns that is objectionable. You do not allow for respectful conversations but rather bully and spam with cut and paste snippets. It’s incredibly disrespectful and juvenile. Please allow for the people who live here to discuss this issue instead of bullying your way into it.

        1. Telling lies is disrespectful. It’s childish to object when people post the real facts that expose your lies. I understand that you want us to keep out of it.

          As for the people who live in towns, it’s the pit bull people who disallow them. As I said, they pack meetings (inviting out-of-townies), pack parking lots. They even threaten and terrorize people who dare to speak up at any public meeting in favor of restricting or banning pit bulls.

          Before you criticize people who are simply posting facts, you’d do well to clean up your own club’s act.

          2. No, you avoided answering. Are you afraid to demand that your town council put it to a referendum, where people can vote without fear of being terrorized by pit bull owners?

          4. In addition, re disallowing the real constituency — everywhere it’s put to referendum, where the pit bull fanatics thus can’t bully or buy politicians, where the public really gets to decide for itself,
            about 70 to 80% vote to keep or place a ban on pit bulls.

            I suggest you start an action committee to force your town council to put it to referendum. Or are you afraid to do that?

          5. Yoka can you please just bow out of this conversation, it has already been established that you are not from Colorado, there THIS conversation has NO meaning to you. You do not get to decide what Colorado laws happen. If you want to have a choice, then come move here. But please don’t. We don’t need extremely closed minded, hating people like you here. You are being incredibly disrespectful and rude here and obviously have no true knowledge of this breed OR their owners.

          6. I find it humorous that when YOU post something its the god honest truth and factual but when someone counters then its a lie and disrespectful – Perhaps before arguing a point you should take the time to realize there’s two sides to every argument……… Facts can be both pro argument and counter argument and BOTH can be CORRECT AND TRUE – the difference lays in how they are told and in many peoples cases Weather or not it serves their side of the argument…….

        2. You are a true pos! Seems you and the people that like your comments are sorry and put dangerous dogs above children.

          1. That’s really thoughtful of you banpitbulls to come on a community forum and calls names. However, we know it’s not personal. When opinions are formed by looking at hysteria based websites, it can create a really fearful mindset. Our guess is that is why you and your colleagues have lowered yourselves to name calling and hostility. We are looking forward to having conversations with our fellow Coloradoans on this subject.

      2. That is so we can present actual research and study based facts. Not someone’s opinion who has seen too many news stories saying pit bulls attacked someone.

    2. BTW, you’re peeved because we are posting facts that you pit bull people want suppressed at any cost. I’m surprised you’d refer to cut & paste, considering that you do the same yourself — simply repeating pit bull lobby lies.

      1. There is no suppression! These are not facts you guys are posting! It is outdated and not backed by actual studies or scientific research. Your comments come from no reputable agency or doctor.

        1. You’re making things up as you go along, not even reading what other’s have posted. This is indeed typical of the very recent studies I posted about the type of people who want pit bulls.

    3. Getting a taste of your own medicine, in the small community live in, there was protest about the current BSL laws, so Nutters from another country signed a petition and got more than 20,000 signatures. So stop pretending like the Nutters don’t do the same, they even bus people into communities to protest legislation. The pitbull lobby is a shameless and dangerous juggernaut comprised of anti-social, self absorbed sociopaths with the obsessive ambition of promoting pitbulls at the expense of the many innocent people who continue top be maimed,mauled and killed by them.

      1. Brilliant Max! Did you have something of substance to add or was it just continuing insults? No worry, we are enjoying the screen shots of the conversation so that when Coloradoans who are looking to replace BSL with breed neutral laws are taken to task and are called all these things, we can show our local officials what our dialogue truly looks like and where the insults, vitriol and threats come from. Facts and proof are a powerful thing to have.

    4. It should NOT matter if people live there or not. I have came there many times and would love to contcontinue NOT to see these dogs running around.

      1. This “editorial” is about whether the citizens of Aurora should make sure city counsel knows they want the ban repealed. If you don’t live here, you don’t have a dog in this fight. Go mess up your own city.

  16. In Calgary, by Bill Bruce’s own admission and documentation, pit bulls lead the serious bite count with 13% of the city’s serious bites attributable to pit bulls, yet pit bulls account for less than 1% of the city’s dogs.

    In fact, pit bulls are responsible for nearly as many serious bites (13%) as the ENTIRE sporting breeding category (15%), which includes all of the most popular breeds (Labs, Goldens, Poodles, Spaniels, etc) and houses 70% of Calgary’s dogs.!

    Why aren’t these breeds attacking in the face of irresponsible ownership?

    1. This constant cut and paste hijackings really do nothing but give evidence to both that lack of true research and disrespect you have for a community’s own discussions. Honestly, it’s quite sad. Every one of you posting on here who are not from Colorado cut and paste the exact same thing on every story about pit bulls across the nation.

      2. It will do nothing to tell these cut and pasters that their efforts are pathetic. Unfortunately this is what Thomas does! This is his life’s goal, to post lies and very outdated info. He does this on a lot of threads about pit bulls, 3 of which I have read today alone. But I do applaud your efforts. Some people like facts and actual scientific documentation, Thomas and Yoka do not!

        2. Thomas posts FACTS and the facts are that pit bulls have KILLED 26 people this year alone. ALL other dog types COMBINED have killed TWO. That is a BIG difference and it happens EVERY year. Pit bulls are ill bred and pose a public safety risk and should be BANNED nationwide. Whether you or “Coloradogs” likes it or not is immaterial.

          1. We like real facts. Ones that are based in hard science, are peer reviewed, and researched by experts. We like research that is not cut and pasted and entire papers not abstracts. But being that our entire board is made of scientists and researchers, we’re weird like that.

  17. The ASPCA has no obligation to share safety issues about pit bulls with the public. On their “Pit Bull Information” web page, they write: “Sadly, pit bulls have acquired a reputation as unpredictable, dangerous, and vicious.” Yet, spelled out in the ASPCA Shelter Guidelines — designed to protect shelter workers — are the unique risks attributed to pit bulls. One of them is that they “attack without warning,” which is equivalent to unpredictable behavior.

    From the ASPCA’s The Care of Pit Bulls in the Shelter Environment:

    There are “cases of experienced handlers who had developed good relationships with the dogs over a period of months still being attacked without warning or obvious provocation.”

    Pit bulls “ignore signs of submission from other dogs” and “give no warning prior to attack.” They add that this is “different than normal dog behavior.”

    “Today’s pit bulls” have multiple names including: “Staffordshire Terrier (AKC 1936), American Staffordshire Terrier (AKC 1972, Am Staff), American Pit Bull Terrier or Pit Bull Terrier.”

    “These dogs can be aggressive towards humans and more likely to cause fatal attacks to people than other fighting type dogs.”

    “Pit bulls will climb fences, chew up stainless steel food and water bowls, destroy copper tubing of automatic water systems and conventional cages, and attack other animals through chain link fences.”

    “Pit bulls can break through conventional cage doors and destroy typical epoxy paint on the floors and walls.”

    “Pit bulls require special housing considerations” and “isolation from other animals if dog aggressive or have a high prey drive.”

    “Install a panic button in rooms housing pit bulls along with other restraint equipment in any room housing pit bulls.”

    It seems unlikely that the ASPCA or shelters participating in the “Adopt-A-Bull Contest” will tell potential adopters to install a panic button in their home or that pit bulls attack without warning.!

  18. In a discussion of the Denver ban, Assistant City Attorney Kory Nelson recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that:

    “Since 1989, when that city instituted a pit bull ban, ‘we haven’t had one serious pit bull attack,’ said Kory Nelson, a Denver assistant city attorney. His city’s assertion that ‘pit bulls are more dangerous than other breeds of dog’ has withstood legal challenges, he said.

    ‘We were able to prove there’s a difference between pit bulls and other breeds of dogs that make pit bulls more dangerous,’ he said.”

    Sources: Denver Post
    ***************************************************
    Toronto:

    In a November 2011, public health statistics published by Global Toronto showed that pit bull bites dropped dramatically after Ontario adopted the Dog Owners Liability Act in 2005, an act that banned pit bulls:

    The number of dog bites reported in Toronto has fallen since a ban on pit bulls took effect in 2005, public health statistics show.

    A total of 486 bites were recorded in 2005. That number fell generally in the six years following, to 379 in 2010.

    Provincial laws that banned ‘pit bulls,’ defined as pit bulls, Staffordshire terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and dogs resembling them took effect in August 2005. Existing dogs were required to be sterilized, and leashed and muzzled in public.

    Bites in Toronto blamed on the four affected breeds fell sharply, from 71 in 2005 to only six in 2010. This accounts for most of the reduction in total bites.
    ***************************************************

    Salina, KS

    Rose Base, director of the Salina Animal Shelter who lobbied for the ordinance, told the Salina Journal:

    The ordinance has made a difference, she said. Records at the Salina Animal Shelter indicate there were 24 reported pit bull bites in 2003 and 2004, and only five since — none from 2009 to present.

    Salina has 62 registered pit bulls, Base said. Before the ordinance she guessed there were “close to 300.” Since the first of this year three of the registered pit bulls have died of old age.

    “We definitely haven’t had the severity of bites that we had in the past,” Base said. “Our community has been somewhat safer because of the law that was passed
    ***************************************************
    Prince George’s County, MD
    Prince George’s County passed a pit bull ban in 1996. In August 2009, Rodney Taylor, associate director of the county’s Animal Management Group, said that the number of pit bull biting incidents has fallen:

    “Taylor said that during the first five to seven years of the ban, animal control officials would encounter an average of 1,200 pit bulls a year but that in recent years that figure has dropped by about half. According to county statistics, 36 pit bull bites, out of 619 total dog bites, were recorded in 2008, down from 95 pit bull bites, out of a total of 853, in 1996.”
    ***************************************************
    Salina KS (a second article)

    Note that they admit that the pit bull ban did not reduce the number of bites, but it did reduce the severity of bites reported by all breeds. Proof that when pit bull deniers find a jurisdiction that banned pit bulls, but reported no decrease in overall bites, is a moot point. Its death and dismemberment we are focusing on, not bite counts.

    In the monthly city newsletter, In Touch, published in September 2006, the City of Salina reported that the pit bull ban adopted in 2005 significantly reduced pit bull biting incidents in just a 12 month period.

    The number of pit bull bites depicted in the “Salina Pit Bull Bites Reported” graph shows 2002 with 13 pit bull bites, 2003 with 11 pit bull bites, 2004 with 15 pit bull bites and 2005 with only one bite. The newsletter notes that “animal bites reported have remained constant, but the severity of bites have decreased dramatically” since the enactment of the pit bull ban.
    ***************************************************
    Springfield, MO

    In April 2008, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department released data to a local TV station – following the City of Springfield’s adoption of a 2006 pit bull ban:

    “The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reports that dog bites and vicious dog complaints are declining since the implementation of the Pit Bull Ordinance in the City of Springfield two years ago. In 2005 the health department fielded 18 vicious dog complaints, but only eight in 2007. Bites were down from 102 in 2005 to 87 in 2007.”
    ***************************************************
    Washington

    In 2008, the City of Wapato passed an ordinance that bans new pit bulls, rottweilers and mastiffs. Nine months after its adoption, in March 2009, Wapato Police Chief Richard Sanchez reported successful results:

    “Nine months into the ban and police calls about vicious dogs have been cut in half. The Wapato Police tell Action News they’ve gone from 18 reports in January, February and March of last year to seven so far in ’09. “Seven calls in three months… that’s nothing,” says Chief Richard Sanchez, Wapato Police Department.

    Chief Sanchez credits local cooperation for the decline of dangerous dogs.”
    ***************************************************
    Rhode Island

    When the City of Woonsocket was debating a pit bull ordinance in June 2009, the animal control supervisor in Pawtucket, John Holmes, spoke about the enormous success of Pawtucket’s 2003 pit bull ban:

    “Holmes says he predicted that it would take two years for Pawtucket to experience the full benefit of the law after it was passed, but the results were actually apparent in half the time.

    “It’s working absolutely fantastic,” said Holmes. “We have not had a pit bull maiming in the city since December of 2004.”
    ***************************************************
    Per section 8-55 of Denvers pit bull ban:

    A pit bull, is defined as any dog that is an APBT, Am Staf Terrier, Staff Bull Terrier, or any dog displaying the majority of physical traits of anyone (1) or more of the above breeds, or any dog exhibiting those distinguishing characteristics which substantially conform to the standards set by the AKC or UKC for any of the above breed.

    Over the course of 22 years, the Denver ban has withstood numerous battles in state and federal courts. It has been used as a model for over 600 USA cities that legislate pit bulls, as well as US Navy, Air Force, Marine and Army bases ( so much for Sgt Stubby).

    without it, we’d see just what we see in Miss E’s lame replies. Every pit owner would claim their land shark was anything but a pit bull.

    Miami Dade county voted 66% to keep their pit bull ban, just as it is worded, last year.

  19. An example of why leashing and licensing laws don’t work to solve the breed-specific problem of pit bulls:

    Pitbull supporters always point to Calgary Model as the perfect solution when dealing with dangerous dogs. The city introduced its responsible pet ownership bylaw in 2006.!

    Calgary’s bylaw department emphasizes responsible pet ownership through intensive licensing, hefty fines and owner education.

    Has their model worked? The statistics from the past four years would indicate a resounding “NO”. For the past four years dog bites have risen steadily every year, and over 350% in the past 4 years, from 58 in 2009 to 203 in 2012.

    And In 2010 Pit bulls led the ‘bite’ count. Meanwhile in Toronto, four years after implementing Breed Bans, dog bites were down 32%, from 486 to 329.

    Bites in Toronto blamed on the four banned breeds fell sharply, from 71 in 2005 to only six in 2010.

    Considering these breeds regularly inflict the most serious damage, this is an undeniable win for the citizens of Toronto.

  20. Merritt Clifton Editor OF Animal People:

    Of the 4,558 dogs involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks on humans occurring in the U.S. & Canada since September 1982, when I began logging the data, 2,923 (64%) were pit bulls; 541 were Rottweilers; 3,696 were of related molosser breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, mastiffs, boxers, and their mixes.!

    Of the 523 human fatalities, 269 were killed by pit bulls; 84 were killed by Rottweilers; 392 (75%) were killed by molosser breeds.

    Of the 2,593 people who were disfigured, 1,753 (67%) were disfigured by pit bulls; 319 were disfigured by Rottweilers; 2,169 (83%) were disfigured by molosser breeds.

    Pit bulls–exclusive of their use in dogfighting–also inflict about 10 times as many fatal and disfiguring injuries on other pets and livestock as on humans, a pattern unique to the pit bull class.

    Surveys of dogs offered for sale or adoption indicate that pit bulls and pit mixes are less than 6% of the U.S. dog population; molosser breeds, all combined, are 9%.

  21. Dave Perry- It seems as if your friends and supporters have shown up to spam the pages and keep any real conversation from happening. Are you honestly on board with these people?

    1. It’s not spam. It’s the facts you pit bull bullies want suppressed at any cost. The public has a right to know. It’s quite striking how anxious the pit bull lobby is to censor others.

      1. Much like the “facts” you state about 70% of pit bulls owners being criminals. Please Yoka124, let’s not lower yourself to those kind of inflammatory statements. The behavior is really quite sad.

        1. 70% is a typo. It’s actually only 60% This has been documented in many cities, states and countries. The figure is the same all over the world. It’s a certain type of person that is attracted to the pit bull type dogs. There’s also plenty of peer-reviewed science on this.

          Stating facts is not ‘lowering oneself’.

          As for cut & paste, again: Typing over the pit lobby lies doesn’t make it any less cut & paste. Aside from that, you-all are constantly saying ‘give us the source’. But now you object to information from those sources being given.

          I’ll be glad to cut & paste several excerpts from (for example) The Journal of Forensic Sciences and The Journal of Interpersonal Violence about the nature of pit bull owners. Or would you object to that cut & paste too?

          2. That is funny YOKA because I know and am friends with MANY pit bull owners – they are all normal people. moms, dads, soccer moms, scout leaders, there are no criminals. I HIGHLY doubt the accuracy of your statement. And again where are your sources in any real debate or such you should cite your sources and they should be REPUTABLE, reviewed, and ACCURATE.

        2. I think they just like the 70% number in another comment they are saying 70% of all the dogs in the pounds are pit bulls. Amazing how everything is 70%.

  22. Of the 4,098 dogs involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks on humans occurring in the past 30.5 years,

    2,540 (62%) were pit bulls;

    530 were Rottweilers;

    3,295 were of related molosser breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, Cane Corsos, mastiffs, boxers, and their mixes.

    Of the 507 human fatalities,

    256 were killed by pit bulls;

    84 were killed by Rottweilers;

    378 (69%) were killed by molosser breeds.!

    Of the 2,264 people who were disfigured,

    1,455 (61%) were disfigured by pit bulls;

    304 were disfigured by Rottweilers;

    1,861 (82%) were disfigured by molosser breeds.

  23. Myth: Pit Bulls have been called the Nanny Dog.!

    Truth: This myth was started by statements made by two people. Mrs. Lilian Rant, President, Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club of America, magazine editor said they are referred to as a nursemaid dog in an interview published in the New York Times in 1971.

    Second in 1987 Toronto Star article where Breeder Kathy Thomas, president of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Association said “In England, our Staffies were called the nanny-dog”.

    No sources, citations or evidence just two biased people heavily invested in trying to change the image of Pit Bulls made these statements and started this whole myth.

    The “nanny dog” is a complete historical fabrication. The sole known published reference to the “nanny dog” notion, before the rise of opposition to breed-specific laws in recent decades, came in a 1922 work of fiction, Pep: The Story of A Brave Dog, by Clarence Hawkes, a blind man who wrote by dictating his stories and, though able to spin a gripping yarn, routinely muddled his facts.

    This work of fiction also appears to be the point of origin of many of the other popular myths about the history of pit bulls. Indeed some dogfighters did photograph their pit bulls with their children, to help advertise the sale of their cull dogs as pets, but that hardly means pit bulls were safe pets.

    One of the most notorious of these gents, professional dogfighter John P. Colby, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, produced his first pit bull litter in 1889. The Boston Globe on December 29, 1906 reported that police shot one of his dogs, who mauled a boy while a girl escaped. On February 2, 1909 the Globe described how one of Colby’s dogs killed Colby’s two-year-old nephew, Bert Colby Leadbetter.

  24. 9.16.2013

    Legal Experts and the Enemy of Humanity.

    THOMAS J. MOYER, Chief Justice, Ohio Supreme Court 1987-2010
    “The trial court cited the substantial evidence supporting its conclusion that pit bulls, compared to other breeds, cause a disproportionate amount of danger to people. The chief dog warden of Lucas County testified that: (1) when pit bulls attack, they are more likely to inflict severe damage to their victim than other breeds of dogs; (2) pit bulls have killed more Ohioans than any other breed of dog; (3) Toledo police officers fire their weapons in the line of duty at pit bulls more often than they fire weapons at people and all other breeds of dogs combined; (4) pit bulls are frequently shot during drug raids because pit bulls are encountered more frequently in drug raids than any other dog breed…. The evidence presented in the trial court supports the conclusion that pit bulls pose a serious danger to the safety of citizens. The state and the city have a legitimate interest in protecting citizens from the danger posed by this breed of domestic dogs.”

    WILLIAM M HOEVELER, US DISTRICT JUDGE, ADOA v Dade County, Florida
    Despite plaintiffs’ contention that there is no such animal as a pit bull, plaintiffs’ own experts have written articles about their pedigreed dogs referring to them by the common nickname of pit bull. At trial, these experts identified photographs of dogs as pit bulls, rather than delineating the dogs into any one of the three breeds recognized by the kennel clubs. Moreover, veterinarians commonly identify dogs as pit bulls — rather than one of the three recognized breeds — by their physical characteristics.

    Two veterinarians, testifying for the defendants, stated that they are often called upon to identify a dog’s breed because it is an integral part of the animal’s health record. This they do by reference to standard physical characteristics. Generally, these veterinarians testified, owners themselves know what breed their dog is.

    There was ample testimony that most people know what breed their dogs are. Although the plaintiffs and their experts claim that the ordinance does not give them enough guidance to enable owners to determine whether their dogs fall within its scope, the evidence established that the plaintiffs themselves often use the term “pit bull” as a shorthand method of referring to their dogs. Numerous magazine and newspaper articles, including articles in dog fancier magazines, refer to pit bull dogs. Veterinarians typically refer to the three recognized breeds and mixed breeds with conforming characteristics as pit bulls. In addition, the veterinarians who testified stated that most of their clients know the breeds of their dogs.

    DON BAUERMEISTER, Council Bluffs, IA prosecutor
    All dogs can “get into it”. The reality, though, for way too many dog owners is the sudden, unprovoked, violent and very serious attack from a pit bull. These folks have to pay the immediate vet bill. Yes, sometimes, the Court is able to intervene and order restitution, but what about the dead dog. What about the psychological damage to those who had to witness the attack. I have seen pit bulls attack and injure other dogs. It is something that you will never forget. A very purposeful bite, indeed. Pit bulls are pros and the rest of the dog world are amateurs. Man made them this way.

    KORY NELSON, Denver, CO City Attorney
    The most significant point about the justification for bans or restrictions of pit bulls is that these are not dependent upon a claim that every pit bull has a higher than average propensity for attacking humans. The justification is based on the clear evidence that, as a group, pit bulls, compared to other breeds, generally have a higher propensity to exhibit unique behavioral traits during an attack.

    These behaviors havea higher likelihood of causing more severe injuries or death. The Colorado Dog Fanciers trial court made this clear, stating that, while it could not be proven that pit bulls bite more than other dogs, there was “credible evidence that Pit Bull dog attacks are more severe and more likely to result in fatalities.” The court, in great detail, noted fourteen separate areas of differences, including: strength, manageability and temperament, unpredictability of aggression, tenacity, pain tolerance and manner of attack.

    A municipality that is experiencing a problem with pit bull attacks needs to consider for itself the best course of action to protect its citizens, especially those most likely to be unable to defend themselves from the tenacious and sustained attack of a pit bull, who will likely bite, hold, and tear at its victim despite efforts to stop it. However, given the clear rational evidence, breed-specific legislation is still a legally viable option.There is no new evidence that undermines the holdings of Colorado Dog Fanciers, only new relevant evidence that adds additional support for BSL, as the differential treatment of pit bulls is based upon logical, rational evidence from the scientific field of ethology.

    BOB JOHNSTONE, Cincinnati, OH city attorney
    We have amassed what I consider an overwhelming amount of information that demonstrates to me that pit bulls are, by far, responsible for more fatal or serious attacks than any other breed.

    JUDGE VICTOR E. BIANCHINI, San Diego, CA
    A pit bull is the closest thing to a wild animal there is in a domesticated dog.

    U.S. SUPREME COURT, April 26, 1897, SENTELL v. NEW ORLEANS & C. R. CO.
    Laws for the protection of domestic animals are regarded as having but a limited application to dogs and cats; and, regardless of statute, a ferocious dog is looked upon as hostis humani generis, and as having no right to his life which man is bound to respect.

  25. ALEXANDRA SEMYONOVA, animal behaviorist
    You will also not prevent the dog from being what he is genetically predisposed to be. Because the inbred postures and behaviors feel good, fitting the body and brain the dog has been bred with, they are internally motivated and internally rewarded.
    This means that the behavior is practically impossible to extinguish by manipulating external environmental stimuli.

    The reward is not in the environment, but in the dog itself! As Coppinger and Coppinger (2001, p. 202) put it, “The dog gets such pleasure out of performing its motor pattern that it keeps looking for places to display it.” Some dogs get stuck in their particular inbred motor pattern.

    As pointed out above, this kind of aggression has appeared in some other breeds as an unexpected and undesired anomaly – the golden retriever, the Berner Senne hund, the cocker spaniel have all had this problem.

    The lovers of aggressive breeds try to use these breeding accidents to prove that their aggressive breeds are just like any other dog, “see, they’re no different from the cuddly breeds.” But a cuddly breed sometimes ending up stuck with a genetic disaster does not prove that the behavior is normal canine behavior. All it proves is that the behavior is genetically determined.

    “These dogs aren’t killers because they have the wrong owners, rather they attract the wrong owners because they are killers.” The 100 Silliest Things People say about dogs.

    JOHN FAUL, animal behaviorist
    Faul said they were dangerous and a threat to life. He said the pitbull was bred to be absolutely fearless and had a “hair-trigger” attack response.

    “The cardinal rule is that these dogs are not pets,” he said.

    “The only way to keep them is in a working environment.”

    He said the only relationship one could have with the pitbull was one of “dominance, sub-dominance”, in which the dog was reminded daily of its position.

    ANDREW ROWAN, PhD, Tufts Center for Animals
    “A pit bull is trained to inflict the maximum amount of damage in the shortest amount of time. Other dogs bite and hold. A Doberman or a German shepherd won’t tear if you stand still.

    A pit bull is more likely to remove a piece of tissue. Dogs fight as a last resort under most circumstances. But a pit bull will attack without warning. If a dog shows a submissive characteristic, such as rolling over most dogs wills top their attack. A pit bull will disembowel its victim.”

    “A study by Dr Randall Lockwood of the US Humane Society found that pit bulls are more likely to break restraints to attack someone and that pit bulls are more likely to attack their owners, possibly as a result of owners trying to separate their dogs from victims.”

    Jørn Våge, Tina B Bønsdorff, Ellen Arnet, Aage Tverdal and Frode Lingaas, Differential gene expression in brain tissues of aggressive and non-aggressive dogs
    The domestic dog (Canis familiaris), with its more than 400 recognised breeds [1], displays great variation in behaviour phenotypes.

    Favourable behaviour is important for well-being and negative traits such as aggression may ruin the owner-dog relationship and lead to relinquishment to shelters or even euthanasia of otherwise healthy dogs [2,3].

    Behavioural traits result from an interaction of both genetic and environmental factors. Breed specific behavioural traits such as hunting, herding and calmness/aggression are, however, evidence of a large genetic component and specific behaviours show high heritabilities [4-8].

    ALAN BECK, Sc.D
    However, Alan Beck, director of the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine Center of the Human-Animal Bond, favors letting the breed go into extinction.

    “This breed alone is a risk of serious public health factors,” Beck said. “We are keeping them alive against their own best interests.”

    Beck said while he does not advocate taking dogs from current and caring owners, he does feel that it has become more of a social and political issue for people than a health one.

    “If these dogs were carrying an actual disease, people would advocate euthanizing them,” Beck said. “This breed itself is not natural.”

    “It has this sort of mystique that attracts a population of people. Of course, most of these dogs are never going to bite, as champions of the breed will tell you. But most people who smoke don’t get cancer, but we know regulations help reduce a significant risk.”

    “I know you’re going to get beat up for this. But they just aren’t good dogs to own. That’s why so many of them are relinquished to shelters. There are too many other breeds out there to take a chance on these guys.”

    MERRITT CLIFTON, journalist, Animal People editor
    There are very few people, if any, who have written more on behalf of dogs over the past 40-odd years than I have, or spent more time down the back alleys of the developing world observing dogs in the habitats in which normal dogs came to co-evolve with humans.

    But appreciation of the ecological roles of street dogs & coyotes, exposing dog-eating and puppy mills, opposition to indiscriminate lethal animal control, introduction of high-volume low-cost spay/neuter and anti-rabies vaccination, introduction of online adoption promotion, encouraging the formation of thousands of new humane societies worldwide, etc., are not to be confused with pit bull advocacy.

    Pit bull advocacy is not defending dogs; it is defending the serial killers of the dog world, who kill, injure, and give bad reputations to all the rest. Indeed, pit bull advocacy, because it erodes public trust in dogs and people who care about dogs, stands a good chance of superseding rabies as the single greatest threat to the health, well-being, and human appreciation of all dogs worldwide.

    STANLEY COREN, PhD
    “A dog’s breed tells us a lot about that dog’s genetic heritage and makeup. Genetics is a strong determinant of personality. In the absence of any other information, we can make a reasonable prediction about how the dog will behave based upon its breed.” p 84

    “When we crossbreed, we lose some of that predictability, since which genes will be passed on by each parent and how they will combine is a matter of chance. Fortunately, there is some data to suggest that we can still make predispositions without knowing much about its parentage.

    John Paul Scott and John L Fuller carried out a series of selective breeding experiments at the Jackson Laboratories in Bar Harbor, Maine. By happy chance, their results revealed a simple rule that seems to work. Their general conclusion was that a mixed breed dog is most likely to act like the breed that it most looks like.” p 77

    Dog trainers/animal control, Pit Bull breeders, owners, fanciers, experts.

  26. Here’s one for ya, ColoRAPitBull:

    J Forensic Sci. 2012 Jan;57(1):152-9. doi:
    10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01961.x. Epub 2011 Nov 10

    Vicious dogs part 2: criminal thinking, callousness, and personality styles of their owners.

    Vicious dog owners reported significantly higher criminal thinking, entitlement, sentimentality, and superoptimism tendencies. Vicious dog owners were arrested, engaged in physical fights, and used marijuana significantly more than other dog owners. Choosing to own a vicious dog may be a “thin slice” indicator of more antisocial tendencies.

    1. Abstracts are nice but the whole research article along with other peer reviewed research that reaches the same conclusions are what is considered good science. We’d suggested you take a gander at the educational background of our board and then go ahead and post articles and conclusions in their entirety, ( though we wish there was a separate forum for those discussion because the same ‘ol, same ‘ol must be exhausting to the average citizen). Also, again the name changing is really juvenile. Being able to have civil discourse speaks volumes about a person’s real motivation and intentions.

    2. Way to move you bias and hatred to people. What’s next, gypsies?
      Can you please tell us all what type of people own pit bulls. Do they look a certain way, or dress a certain way?

      1. Dogs are NOT people. Dogs are animals and pit bulls have PROVEN themselves to be a high risk to public safety and should be banned nationwide.

  27. Here’s another for ya about pit bull owners:

    A study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence showed a link between ownership of high-risk dog breeds and deviant behaviors, crimes against children and domestic violence. Researchers examined the criminal backgrounds of 355 Ohio dog owners who had either a “high-risk” or an unlicensed dog. The high-risk dogs included all pit bulls (whether they had injured a person or not) and other dogs that had actually injured a person. The study found that all of the owners of high-risk dogs had at least one criminal conviction or traffic citation, while only 27% of the other dog owners had one or the other. More significantly, 30% of the owners of high-risk dogs had 5 or more criminal convictions or traffic citations, and those owners had significantly more criminal and traffic citations in every categorythose who owned low-risk, licensed dogs. Compared with the owners of low-risk, licensed dogs, those who owned high-risk, cited dogs were more than 9 times as likely to have been convicted for a crime involving children, 3 times as likely to have been convicted for domestic violence, and 14 times as likely to have been convicted of crimes involving alcohol. Jaclyn E. Barnes, Barbara W. Boat, Frank W. Putnam, Harold F. Dates, and Andrew R. Mahlman, Ownership of High-Risk (“Vicious”) Dogs As a Marker for Deviant Behaviors, J. Interpersonal Violence, Volume 21 Number 12, December 2006 1616-1634. Read the abstract athttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17065657

  28. And another about pit bull owners:

    Another study concluded that “vicious dog ownership may be a simple marker of broader social deviance.” The study compared nondog owners and owners of vicious, large, and small dogs on engagement in criminal behavior, general personality traits (i.e., impulsive sensation seeking, neuroticism-anxiety, aggression-hostility, activity, and sociability), psychopathy, and attitude towards animal maltreatment. A significant difference in criminal behavior was found based on dog ownership type. Owners of vicious dogs were significantly more likely to admit to violent criminal behavior, compared to large dog owners, small dog owners, and controls. The vicious dog owner sample also engaged in more types (i.e., violent, property, drug, and status) of criminal behavior compared to all other participant groups. Personality traits were examined and vicious dog owners were significantly higher than controls on impulsive sensation seeking. Examining psychopathic traits, owners of high-risk dogs endorsed significantly more characteristics of primary psychopathy (e.g., carelessness, selfishness, and manipulative tendencies) than small dog owners. The study revealed that vicious dog owners reported significantly more criminal behaviors than other dog owners, and were higher in sensation seeking and primary psychopathy. In short, it suggested that vicious dog ownership may be a simple marker of broader social deviance. Laurie Ragatz M.A., William Fremouw Ph.D., Tracy Thomas M.A., Katrina McCoy B.S., Vicious Dogs: The Antisocial Behaviors and Psychological Characteristics of Owners, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Volume 54, Issue 3, pages 699–703, May 2009. Read the abstract: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01001.x/abstract

    1. These (and other) articles about the characteristics of pit bull owners absolutely should be included in any discussion about allowing pit bull owners to regulate themselves and be responsible for protecting the public against the inherently vicious type of dogs they choose.

      1. So you have made the jump from stereotyping dogs to stereotyping people.
        Perhaps you can tell us all what “type” of people own pt bulls.

        1. I just posted several peer-reviewed articles that tell what kind of people own pit bulls. Take a look at them.

          1. I own and already know what a pit bull looks like. You are trying to group unrelated people in order to hype fear and suspicion and to discredit them.
            Please tell me…”what kind of people own pit bulls”
            Use your words and make us understand.

          2. Who CARES about what kind of people own pit bulls. What is important here is that pit bull pose too great of a risk to innocent kids, grand parents and pets. They do NOT belong in any neighborhood. We have other measure for public safety and the banning of pit bulls is ESSENTIAL to public safety.

          3. good grief. Where ARE you people from? Please go back there and stay OFF our Colorado issues. All the people that I know that own pitbulls guess what they also own children. And have grand parents and other pets. My pit bull is THE friendliest of my 3 dogs. The other 2 are LAB mixes. She greets everyone young and old with KISSES and a tail wag. You obviously know nothing about this dog, so please enough already!!!!

          4. Pitbulls attack children unprovoked more than any other breed. Just because “everyone” is doing it and everyone is taking risks doesn’t mean it is intelligent. The problem is everytime a pitbull attacks and kills, the owners are in shock as they report, like you . that their dog was the “friendliest” most gentle dog….It is family raised, neutered and unabused pitbulls that suddenly turn on a dime. It is latent genes that suddenly mutate .. activate and turn them into beasts that are too powerful and tenacious for even strong able bodied athletic men to stop.. so enough already. If you want to endanger your children and others and gamble and believe that a pitbull attack can’t happen to you.. because everyone is owning them.. even when stats show they keep killing and mutilating more people than all other dog breed combined.. than that says a lot about you.. Do you expect truth about drugs from drug dealers? Dog fighters spread the lies and want people to own the dogs as it keeps them safe from being caught. Dog fighting is a billion dollar organized crime. They have a lot of money to spread on lies and many believe the propaganda just like many believed big tobacco’s ads. It is all about MONEY.

          5. I know I may be a little late on the forum, but I think I’ll jump in anyway. I am a Veterinary Assistant, and have been studying canine behavior for 4, going on 5 years. Let me start off by saying, I am in no way, shape or form discounting all the tragedies that DogsBite.org has reported with dog bite cases/mauling. It truly is a tragedy and my heart sincerely goes out to all affected from dog bites/maulings. The REAL problem at hand, is not a specific breed, it’s uneducated people/ owners. A lot of people think a “warning” from a dog is a growl, or they show teeth or their hair sticks up. Nope, that’s not it. I’ve worked with many dogs, of many different breeds that by most knowledge “didn’t give me a warning, it was unprovoked”, but they did give me a warning. For example, their tail stuck straight up, that means dominance, and then they started going after me. There are many things to come into play when the MAJORITY of these bites happen. You can incorrectly approach a dog, touch the dog the wrong way or get into their space at the wrong time. After a long day at work, you just want to come home and sit by yourself for a while, because you’re stressed. Totally cool, but so does your dog. Too many times people don’t look or notice body language of themselves or the dog they are approaching. THAT IS HOW DOG BITES HAPPEN! Most people don’t know the do’s and don’ts and don’t know dog body language, so they never teach the appropriate dog handling to their child and their child just mimics what the parents does, THAT IS HOW DOG BITES HAPPEN! Nine times out of ten, people grow up with a dog as a child and their parents were the one who fed it, walked it, etc. But all those people remember is how fun the dog was, or how it liked to cuddle, etc. So, they grow up, and get a dog. Dogs need structure and boundaries, and nine times out of ten people don’t provide that. A lot of owners think of their dog as a human, and they think that dogs think and rationalize like humans do, that’s where you go wrong. So, you let your dog sleep with you, but when you want them to get off, and you go to push them off, they turn and snap at you and bite the snot out of you. That’s because they don’t respect you, you didn’t give them rule and limitations and now you have gotten bit and now you blame the dog. A dog like that thinks they own that house and you, and they do what they want. Sure, they’re adorable and so sweet most of them time, but when they act out, it’s THEIR fault, not yours. Wrong. My opinion would be, heck yeah their needs to be laws in place for dogs, but ALL dogs. Because yes, APBT have pretty strong jaws and can do damage, but so can every other dog if they got put in the position. But ALL dogs need to be included with bite prevention. I think their should be a mandatory sterilization for ALL pets (canine and feline), in exception for breeders, BUT those breeders have to take a 6 month course on how to PROPERLY BREED ANIMALS. They must have a valid permit, with a clean environment and actual valid knowledge on how to breed, what to do in case of an emergency, etc. If a pet is purchased from said breeder, the owner has 6 months -8 months to get is spayed or neutered. In females, it’s healthier for them to go through one heat cycle (under supervision on a responsible, knowledgeable owner) for her to strengthen her groin muscles so she does not become incontinent as she grows older. And if you do not spay/neuter your pet within those guidelines, then you will be fined (their is no excuse for not spaying or neutering your pet when there are multiple free/discounted spay/neuter clinics all over the U.S.) That would cut down the overpopulation of strays, and the overpopulation in all shelters. I understand and hold the opinions of every person affiliated with DogsBite.org valid, but my issue is it seems through all I’ve read and listened/watched interviews with any affiliate, that the mission seems to be attack bully breeds, and bully breed owners. Too often I’ve read that bully breed owners are “nutters”, seems pretty derogatory, and that all bully breed, or any strain of that breed should be banned and most often killed to the point where their breed is extinct. But what I think, is that it needs to be about education and prevention, not killing or banning. Most of the dog bites that happened, could have been avoided if everyone in the situation knew more about dogs and dog behavior. And it’snot entirely anyone’s fault, but that is the point of education is to help the people that are ignorant (and I mean that word in the literal sense, not the derogatory sense) to the fact that they are essentially hurting their dogs and people but not being educated at all about pets. I don’t think repeatedly attacking people, or breed or advocates for the victims of dog bites/mauling or advocates for the breed, is going to solve the problem. I think that if, one day, both sides had the actual same goal in mind that we could stop all of this madness and help these people and their dogs. Yes, we all know that initially, bully breeds were bred for bull baiting/fighting. That was in the 1900’s, there has been a lot f cross breeding down the line. The dogs are not predisposed to attacking, and all the other “myths” that get pushed, do nothing but terrify people instead of help them. My argument to that accusation would be, how many people in general that any type of breed, whether it’s a mix or pure bred, actually use that breed for what it was bred to do? So, let’s stop all the racism, and actually look at essentially everyone’s goal, prevent dog bites. Help the victims and pets all at the same time. Banning a specific breed, or continuously pushing for all those “death machines” to be killed, and pretty much wipe their existence off the earth, is going to do nothing but give room for another breed to be blamed for maulings and bites, when it something every owner/person can avoid by being educated. Not being given useless, made of facts/ myths, by both sides of the argument.

          6. It is well known that pit bulls don’t give any warnings at all. It’s an inherited trait and part of their DNA. Research has shown that dogs bred to do a certain task, will do it because that’s how their brains are wired and they actually feel better after performing the task. The pit bull who doesn’t show aggression is more of an outlier than a pit bull who does show aggression. All of these lovely, “my pit bull is a big teddy bear” anecdotes aren’t proof that pit bulls aren’t unpredictable killers. You never know what tomorrow will bring with these dogs.

          7. People “own” children? Interesting choice of words there…

            As for your own pit bull, how does your dog’s friendliness change the fact that pit bulls as a group kill more people, pets, and livestock than any other breed? Does your dog’s manic kissing habit bring the dead back to life or repair the maimed?

            P.S. That “lick you to death” trait that pit bull owners are always bragging about is a manifestation of poor impulse control. Ever notice how hard it is to make it stop licking? That trait will get you in serious trouble if it decides to bite you to death instead.

          8. Very good point. There are hundreds of safer breeds to choose from. The people who own pitbulls are generally uninformed and get their information from Unreality t.v. shows, propitbull groups, and facebook. They don’t consider that huge amount of MONEY put into promoting the breed or WHY..

            There is a reason
            they are not paying stars to promote poodles on t.v. When dog fighting was
            legal, no one incuding dog fighters promoted pitbulls as pets. After the
            government made dog fighting illegal they spent millions on a public relations campaign to popularize the breed so
            they can hide their vicious and sadistic “sport” in plain sight. “stars” are paid a lot to peddle
            pitbulls on t.v. just like big tobacco used stars to promote cigerettes. Pitbull owners are duped. They are the pawns
            of wealthy dog fighters that don’t care about victims or pitbulls. Every pitbull owned helps hide dog fighters. We have a sea of one million overbred unwanted
            pitbull euthanized each year in the USA. There is a billion dollar untaxed
            economy surrounding pitbull dog fighters. Pitbull owners should know that their choice
            helps a pitbull die in a fight pit everyday. If you own a pitbull you are
            supporting dog fighters.

            dupe (dp, dyp)

            1. An easily deceived person.

            2. A person who functions
            as the tool of another person or power.

            3. To deceive (an unwary person). See Synonyms at deceive.

            tr.v.
            duped, dup•ing, dupes

          9. Actually generally pit bull owners at least the many responsible ones I personally KNOW are very informed and no it is not from unreality tv or FB. It is through research and study. Pit bull owners are not duped, it is sad people like you who are duped.

          10. Dare you to google the numbers of attacks and deaths Pit ownere have paid LESS than 2% of reparations and compensation of the medical and vet bills for the carnage their dogs heap on the victims…… not to mention the threats and harassments that Pit owners and pushers dump on vicitms as well.

            Psychological Characteristics Owners of High Risk for Aggression Dog Breeds | Psychology Today

            https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200903/psychological-characteristics-owners-high-risk-aggression-dog-breeds

            Ownership of High-Risk (“Vicious”) Dogs as a Marker for Deviant Behaviors – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_TQhn0TrPSbc3NwT0ttcHdlbEk/edit?usp=sharing

            Dogmen: The Rationalization of Deviance – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_TQhn0TrPSbYkdBejJKMzNqcjA/edit?usp=sharing

          12. Who cares….hmmm..let’s see….
            THE FIRST WORDS OF THE ENTRY YOU ARE POSTING UNDER IS:
            And another about pit bull owners:
            Who Cares?
            YOKA124 cares.
            Jaloney Caldwell Cares.
            CravenDesires Cares.
            Thomas McCartney cares.
            The people who want to round up dogs and kill them based on what the dog looks like care and will use any excuse to smear and discredit.
            Perhaps you should ask you “friends” why they care?

          14. Peer reviewed by fellow PhD’s. The PhD’s review the study to determine if it follows standard scientific methods and uses sound research rules and techniques.

          15. Problem: In the quotes from the study in which you posted, it does NOT define which dogs are vicious by breed. It is only your twisted definition that is aimed towards pit bulls (and all of the other dogs that are not pit bulls but you decide to lump them into your own self-made category) that misdirects the reader.

            Problem: A group of 869 college-age students is not a valid representation of dog owners. It is only indicates that since a valid population of dogs owners weren’t available, the group reached out to the ‘next best thing’ which are college age students who more than are not dogs owners themselves, but grew up with a dog in their household.

            Problem: The groups that were defined in the study were predetermined as vicious dog owners, large dog owners, small dog owners, and controls. This assumption automatically places dogs into categories and predetermines the level of viciousness of the dog.

            Problem: PhD’s may review the methods, rules, and techniques but they do not have any control over the conclusions that are reached.

          16. Psychological Characteristics Owners of High Risk for Aggression Dog Breeds | Psychology Today

            https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200903/psychological-characteristics-owners-high-risk-aggression-dog-breeds

            Ownership of High-Risk (“Vicious”) Dogs as a Marker for Deviant Behaviors – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_TQhn0TrPSbc3NwT0ttcHdlbEk/edit?usp=sharing

            Dogmen: The Rationalization of Deviance – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_TQhn0TrPSbYkdBejJKMzNqcjA/edit?usp=sharing

      2. You’re telling me that criminals — who are likely to want a vicious dog…end up getting the dog that the media repeatedly calls vicious? And you want the media to circle this around as proof that the media was correct in the first place?

      3. I’m a college student . I’ve never been to jail, never gotten in a fight. Im not violent, and I don’t have any mental health issues. I’m graduating this May with a Nursing degree. I own a pit and a daschund… With any type of scholarly article there is a section that states the potential reasons the information could be wrong. Example, who were their test groups? Was it a simple random sample? Were history, maturation or testing issues occurring? I’m sure an article against what you are saying could be found too. There are always things to consider when it comes to the reliability of a study. Whether you like the dog or not you shouldn’t be stereotyping people. Not only is it ethically frowned upon, but it makes you sound less credible.

        1. Just because you are not a criminal or anti social person doesn’t mean the study is not valid. The study found that MORE owners of aggressive breeds engaged in criminal behaviors.. It did not say ALL owners engaged in the behaviors. Read the study correcting .. Just because you don’t like the results doesn’t mean the study isn’t valid.. it just means you are not in subset that is being discussed.

      4. No doubt that pitbulls bring backyard breeders and dog fighting. Lancaster CA reported a significant decrease in gang related violence when that was attributed pitbull regulations.

    2. Are you serious???!!! I know many pit bull owners myself included and we are FAMILY people with kids, soccer moms, girl scout leaders, there are no criminals. What a bunch of crap that is. Also the pit bulls are all EXTREMELY well behaved loyal dogs who would not hurt anyone. My pittie gives young babies kisses and greets everyone with a tail wag. She also is canine good citizen certified. I have other friends that have theirs in use as therapy dogs.

      1. Oh please, spare us the “sweet pittie” BS. The fact is that there have been 28 people KILLED by dogs in 2013 and 26 of those deaths were attacks by PIT BULLS! EVERY year pit bulls KILL more people than ALL other dog types COMBINED. It is NOT anyone’s right to keep an animal that can pose such a grave risk to other people and pets. Pit bulls should be BANNED nationwide. They should have been outlawed when they outlawed dog fighting.

        1. Well, well Reb Furr you are full of knowledge, you think. I guess I can pull out the card and share how many parents allow their children to hit dogs, and provoke dogs and abuse dogs. Is that ok? No, it is not ok. How many owners leave their dogs outside, chained, starved, is that ok? No. When dogs do not have human contact, they don’t know how to be social, if that is the life they lived, and they will react. Take it somewhere else.

          1. Excuses. Pitbulls have pulled infants out of baby carriages, swings, and carseats to kill them.. UNPROVOKED> How come human victims are never acknowledged? You take it elsewhere. Pitbulls are abused, overbred, euthanized and used in dog fighting at a much higher rate in areas that do not regulate the breed and any true animal advocate knows that in many areas, 70 percent of the dogs in shelters are pitbulls.. .. Overbred by back yard breeders and most will die. If people over bred and euthanized ferrets at that rate people would be screaming for regulations. NOT regulating pitbulls is cruel. Take it somewhere else as you are not so full of knowledge yourself..

          2. Jalony- Why would you tell someone who lives in Aurora, the very town we are speaking of, to go somewhere else? She LIVES in this community and has every right to speak on this issue without being insulted and harassed. We are listening “Mom in Aurora” and we appreciate you speaking your mind and heart.

          3. Have you ever asked yourself why it’s only pit bull people that have to fight for their breed in the way that pit bull advocates are forced to do? Maybe, it’s because people who say pit bulls don’t belong in society are on to something.

          4. I don’t need to take it somewhere else. I actually LIVE in Colorado, I am the owner of a pit bull. My pittie was a rescue as are many of the other people that I know. Where they come from doesn’t matter. My pittie is also spayed as the other that I know also own SPAYED and neutered pitties. Also what about puppy mills? and the insane things that happen there? You call that OK? THAT should be regulated or better yet shut down. Where do you get your number that 70% of the dogs in shelters are pit bulls?? I would highly disagree with this number. Just because you don’t like the breed does not give you the right to come on here and try to get ACTUAL Colorado residents to leave this discussion. You should actually bow out since you do not live in Colorado and again have NO place in this discussion.

          5. This is not just a Colorado problem. Pits are a problem world wide thanks to lovers of the breed. A breed that killed over 43,000 animals in the US last year. These were just the reported killings. In reality this number is much higher because many killings go unreported. In many shelters the percentage is higher than 70%. If you don’t know this, it is YOU that has no place in this discussion. Common sense, practicality, and logic are lost on the advocates of this breed. Pit Bull puppy mills leave town or go out of business after a breed ban is enacted. The numbers in shelter are drastically reduced after BSLs are put in place and enforced. WE HAVE BREED SPECIFIC PROBLEMS that need preventative BSL to control these problem. Pit Bull types and lovers of the breed are the specific problem. The statistics on maulings, maimings, killings, breeding are OVERWHELMINGLY breed specific. Lovers of the breed will go to great lengths to ignore the suffering Pit Bulls cause daily. This only causes more Pit Bulls to be euthanized and overpopulate shelters. Pro Pit means having little logic or basic reasoning skills.

          1. YowZa Actually that is not true. Labador Retrievers have been the most popular dog in America for decades and there have only been three recorded deaths by Labs in all recorded history but over 300 by pitbulls. It doesn’t take a lot of math to see that something is a miss with pitbulls. In addition, pitbulls are removing a person’s body part every 4 days now, cause the highest hospital bills, the most permanent disfigurement, and the most permanent disability. Concern for the victims of these attacks is not something that should be taken likey as in most cases the victims, which can lose their businesses, homes, and livelihoods trying to recover from pitbull attacks, are left to pay for costly surgeries.. often times including plastic surgery, and a very small segment of these victims recover any monetary damages from the pitbull owners. Sadly.. it is safer for a person to be hit by a drunk driver than it is for a person to be mauled by a pitbull.. as pitbull victims do not have laws that step in place or insurance to cover the damages. So again, we are back to the problems of victims. People always focus on the my dog is nice, I want a pitbull.. blah blah.. and totally disregard that several people are attacked by a pitbull every single day. Every victim utters the same words: “I thought I was going to die”. They are left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and they are never the same as these are not mere dog bites. Concern and consideration for victims is something that most communities address. Just because the dogs are popularized doesn’t mean victims should be thrown under the bus or ignored. They bleed, cry and mourne. They are real, wonderful everyday people just like you and I and it is high time our communities start caring about them.

          2. Do you live in Colorado Jaloney? Do you live in Aurora Jaloney? My guess is not. Please stop telling us the same thing over and over. WE don’t care to hear it. You said your piece, and that is enough! We are done.

          3. Are you talking lab mixes or pure bred labs Jaloney? Because there were 2 lab mixes involved in dog fatalities just this year.

          4. WHAT….labs killed three people?!?!?!?!!? We should ban them all, right? They are ticking time bombs that will try to retrieve your childs head the first chance they get. Ihhh…wait they are fuzzy and you like the way they look…..nevermind.

          5. Add in the thousands of dead pets, livestock and the daily maulings and attacks that result in millions of dollars in hospital bills, and all of the scarred faces, lost limbs and PTSD, and yeah, doesn’t seem like a lot to someone who has no empathy for their fellow human beings. And don’t forget those 28 dead people had people who loved them and now, because of a dog, they are gone forever. But yeah, you keep telling yourself “it’s a rather small number.” Wow.

        3. Oh please, spare us your insignificant little rants! You are nothing more than a bully who is on a false platform. Your lies, misgivings, falsifications, and ill-guided opinions regarding dogs only goes to show just how much you really do not know.

    4. Why is the Sentinel deleting respectful, intelligent comments by the anti-BSL Coloradans like myself? Obviously whomever is moderating this (Perry??) doesn’t want the truth to come out.

      1. Yes, what’s up with the Sentinel deleting posts written in favor of dogs? Some of these deleted posts were written by people who actually live in Aurora. I grew up in Aurora over 40 yrs. ago and have been reading the Sentinel ever since I can remember. Since when did this publication stop supporting free speech?

        1. We are seeing the same thing as several of our responses have been deleted. Funny that Coloradoans are being censored while out of state people who are actually trying to start some hostile interactions are being allowed to post away. Clearly some people are fearful of both facts and the reality that who they think is the “stereotype” of a pit bull owner is just not showing up here.

          1. Dave Perry and the Sentinel denied deleting any posts (see facebook thread where this editorial is posted). An admin invited me to come see how they manage their website and then never responded to my 3 to 4 requests to schedule a time to come down. They claim it’s a “website” issue. Right.

          2. You represent a small fraction of people who feel it necessary to put the public’s health and safety at risk all in the name of owning a potentially dangerous dog breed. This is about the health and safety of the public, which should always come before a dog breed. ALWAYS. I simply don’t understand why that is so hard for you to grasp. How many people are you willing to put at risk to satisfy your own obsession?

    5. You’re neglecting one very LARGE behavioral trait of the people you speak of: Deviants tend to be drawn to things society hates. Logic says that the more people hate/are scared of a particular breed of dog, the more deviants are drawn to that dog. So in essence, people’s fear and hatred of pits is the cause of many deviants seeking out pit and pit type dogs.
      Also, I’m sure you’re well aware that there plenty of people who have “Rescuer Personality”, and this not only falls over into “saving” people, but also animals. This type of person is not considered a deviant, but in general they are often described very tender-hearted, caring people who were abused in their childhood and feel self worth by helping others to their own detriment. In other words, they are good and caring to a fault. It seems to me that your comment is more aimed at them then the deviants you speak of since the type of person you speak of would not generally be the type of person that would seek out this type of online article to read and comment on. That calls your sincerity into question, as it seems like you’re really only trying to victimize people and “hurt their feelings” with your broad, overreaching statements.
      Also, another point you left out, is the study is based on surveys of only 869 college students. Not exactly what I would call concrete or even broad. Not only in terms of reliability, but in trust that these participants could accurately identify breed of dog. But nice try, genius! Of course, I’m not a pit bull owner, so I guess you could care less what I say.

  29. This week, Riverside County supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance requiring pit bulls older than 4 months in unincorporated areas of the county to be spayed or neutered. Registered breeders, law enforcement and therapy dogs are exempt from the ordinance, which takes effect next month.

    In 2010, San Bernardino County supervisors passed a similar ordinance for unincorporated areas of the county, such as Mentone. Owners of non-sterilized pit bulls can be fined $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second and $300 for subsequent offenses.

    Highland and Yucaipa adopted the same ordinance, according to Brian Cronin, chief of the county’s animal control division, which handles animal control in those two cities.

    The San Bernardino County ordinance said pit bull breeds account for about 20 percent of the dogs at animal shelters and are put down more often than any other breed.

    Cronin emailed figures showing the county’s intake of pit bulls has decreased 28 percent since the ordinance took effect and that euthanization rates have dropped by 56 percent.

    The ordinance was passed to reduce the number of dogs destroyed at taxpayer expense, Cronin said.!

  30. In the last thirty years pit bulls have killed 241 humans and disfigured another 1,302 (that we’re aware of). Fully half of these casualties, 126 of the fatalities and 640 of the disfigurements, have occurred in the last five years. That amounts to an average of 25 pit bull canine homicides of humans a year, or a death every two weeks.!

  31. The total number of fatal and disfiguring attacks by all types of pit bull in the U.S. combined, Staffordshires included, came to just 103 in the eleven-year 1982-1992 time frame.

    The annual total reached 100 for the first time in 2003 (128), topped 100 twice more in the next three years, and has now risen for six consecutive years, from 74 in 2007 to 467 thus far in 2013.!

  32. Fatalities reported in 2005

    News organizations reported at least 29 fatal dog attacks in the United States
    in 2005. The category of dog most commonly reportedly involved in these attacks
    were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (15 attacks), followed by Rottweilers (6
    attacks):

    Fatalities reported in 2006

    News organizations reported at least 30 fatal dog attacks in the United States
    in 2006. The category of dog most commonly reportedly involved in these attacks
    were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (16 attacks), followed by Rottweilers (9
    attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2007

    News organizations reported at least 34 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2007. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (18
    attacks), followed by Rottweilers (4 attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2008

    News organizations reported at least 23 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2008. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (14
    attacks), followed by Huskies (3 attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2009

    News organizations reported at least 30 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2009. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (14
    attacks), followed by Rottweilers (4 attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2010

    News organizations reported at least 34 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2010. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (18
    attacks), followed by Rottweilers (4 attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2011

    News organizations reported at least 31 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2011. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (21
    attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2012

    News organizations have reported 34 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States in 2012. The category of dog most commonly
    reportedly involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (20
    attacks).

    Fatalities reported in 2013

    News organizations reported at least 18 fatal dog
    attacks in the United States so far in 2013. The category of dog most commonly
    reported involved in these attacks were pit-bull type and pit-bull mixes (16
    attacks), followed by German Shepherd (1) “large, longer haired, black
    “Mixed breed or Mastiff-Rotweiller (1).

  33. Here is Thomas McCartney posting the same stuff over and over and over! He has more than 5000 posts with the majority of them being the same stories. He even thinks that by posting this crap over and over, he will make himself seem intelligent and an expert on pit bulls. He and Perry should get together and share their nonsense! I posted many articles, and none of them were from dog bites.com, contradicting his vial and uneducated filth and I included the links. He had no response, seeing as mine info was from actual doctors and scientists, not misinformed and hateful trolls.

      1. It wasn’t on this story, it was on another about Stallone the bait dog. He had been released and Thomas, as he usually does, cut and pasted many facts from dog bites .com and supposed personal letters sent to him from pit bull owners. It was from the aurora sentinel as well.

  34. I’m Juliet Piccone, an attorney who has lived in Aurora since 2001. I represented Stallone’s transporter, who always took responsibility for his mistake of taking a former bait dog to a dog park where Stallone reacted like he would have if he was back in Arizona being thrown into the fighting ring. I’ll try to clear up a few of the more egregious errors in Perry’s editorial.

    I currently have a dog that Perry believes should be killed because she looks like a “pit bull” and therefore must be vicious. Apparently, I’m a rouge criminal with a killer dog according to Perry. I am able to legally own my dog only because in 2011 counsel woman Peterson had the sense to at least introduce a DNA test defense to the ordinance’s “guilty until proven innocent” standard of breed misidentification.

    Perry says after Stallone was “Rescued by some kind-hearted and misguided pit-bull lovers, his plight won the heart of a New Jersey firefighter, who agreed to adopt him.” WRONG: Captain Katz, U.S. Army Reserve and 9/11 first responder living in New Jersey adopted Stallone from a rescue in Arizona to be his PTSD service dog. Stallone was on route to him when the driver made a stupid mistake.

    [After being placed in the gated portion of the dog park by the man driving him cross-country] “Stallone quickly attacked a small dog there, injuring it.” WRONG. There is a difference between an attack and the reactive behavior of an abused bait dog; Misty (the dachshund)’s parents were rock solid in their belief that Stallone should not be euthanized, the transporter immediately took responsibility for Misty’s vet bills.

    “The cops were called and Stallone was taken to the doggy hoosegow and given a death sentence.” WRONG: One animal control officer came out and took Stallone because the officer believed he looked like a “restricted breed.” Stallone was never charged with being dangerous or vicious, AC did no temperament testing; he was only charged with being a “restricted breed”, a fact that was never admitted or proven. AC even failed to follow its own protocol and
    never did a restricted breed evaluation, so Stallone was basically held for 13
    days with no evidence to support that he was in fact a “pit bull”. DNA testing is still pending.

    “Stallone’s fate took an unexpected turn when an Aurora judge released the dog to the trucker, who paid some big fines and promised to get the animal right up to New Jersey, where it will probably attack someone or something else.” WRONG. Stallone’s first court appearance was held 13 days after he was seized; that was the first opportunity for Stallone to be released. The transporter’s attorney (me, Juliet Piccone) had already reached a plea deal with the City Attorney that the transporter would plead guilty to dog at large, pay for the incarceration of Stallone and vet bills for illnesses and injuries Stallone sustained while in Aurora’s custody, pay a fine and pay all of Misty’s vet bills. Neither Animal Control nor the City Attorney ever recommended euthanizing Stallone; the potential death sentence that could have been entered is due to the language of the breed ban that allows the judge to euthanize a restricted breed or to allow it to go live outside of the city, purely based on the charge of being a restricted breed, not based on any behavior of the dog. Stallone, who had received his service dog certification, was released to Captain Katz and was
    flown back to New Jersey alongside his new handler, as his certified service
    dog.

    “Within hours of the story, the pit bull lobby was in full force, demanding Stallone’s release and sneering at Aurora’s pit-bull laws.” Within hours of what story? Do you mean within hours of Stallone, a service dog on his way to his new handler in NJ, being impounded solely because of his breed (no dangerous dog charges were ever filed), an animal attorney who has lived in Aurora for 12 years who herself has a dog that looks like a “pit bull” rallied her local community, the larger Colorado community and then the worldwide community in respectfully appealing to the judge’s sense of justice and compassion in requesting Stallone be allowed to be released to his new owner in New Jersey?
    That’s not sneering.

    Perry says, “I agree that it’s the owner who is at fault here, because these dogs no longer belong in communities any more so than do bears, which can also make wonderful pets.” Captain Katz, who no more knew his new PTSD service dog would be taken to a dog park in a city that bans bully breeds is to blame? Really? So I guess the fact that “pit bulls” make wonderful service dogs must really stick in your craw.

    “It’s too hard to jail people for making really bad choices that affect all of us. But banning their poor choices from Aurora? That’s easy.” So you would have jailed Captain Katz because someone who was delivering him his new service dog made a bone headed mistake by taking a former bait dog to a dog park and was subsequently seized not because of any conduct of the dog, but solely because the dog looked like a pit bull. Really? God help us all. As an Aurora voter, I’m sincerely glad that you are not a member of city council. The respectful citizens of Aurora will take this issue up again this year with adults like counsel woman Peterson. If Brad Pierce doesn’t wake up and smell the coffee, he better get his resume polished up because he’ll be looking for a new job.

    Juliet Piccone, Esq.
    Founding Attorney, Colorado Animal Attorneys, LLC, Aurora, CO

    1. Do you honestly believe a reactive dog is fit to be a service dog and will never pose a credible danger to its handler or the general public?
      Or is the “service dog” label a ploy to give this biter a free pass?
      Mark my words, this “service animal” will react again. Next time, will it attack his handler or an innocent person shopping at the mall.
      No reactive dog is fit for service and gives a bad name to the rest of the service dogs if allowed in public.

      1. The real service dog organizations are very concerned about this fraud the pit bull people have discovered. There is no such thing as a service pit bull — these pit bull people buy certificates and vests online for sixty bucks from sleazy profiteers, that’s all. It’s creating quite a problem for people who depend on real service dogs.

        This problem people with real service dogs have includes the fact that pit bulls so often joyfully and without reason (other than their genes) attack and maul or kill real service dogs.

    2. May I ask what organization gave a service certification to any dog that is “reactive” to another dog? How is this safe for other dogs, including seeing eye dogs and such? Having a vision impaired father this is an issue that is important to me.

      1. While your unfamiliarity with ADA law is not entirely unexpected, the fact that you actually believe you know the law when you obviously do not is fairly laughable.
        Stallone was not with his handler at the time of the incident, nor was he in a proper situation for a SD. The individual who was transporting him had no idea he was on his way to go into training with his handler for PTSD therapy and he had been told by those who entrusted Stallone to him not to take Stallone to a dog park. As far as he knew, he was taking a normal “pet dog” to run around in a park; those who are training service dogs to perform specific tasks know that you don’t do that, especially if you don’t know the dog and you don’t know its history.
        Regarding the question of what “organization” certified Stallone as being qualified to be trained to be a PTSD service dog: it’s trained and/or accredited individuals who certify a dog as being capable of entering into a service role (not organizations although members of organizations can register SDs they have evaluated with those organizations); there is no certification required by law. Stallone was temperament tested by at least 3 different experts and determined to have the temperament and ability to be a PTSD service dog. He was re-evaluated after the incident and the same conclusion was made.
        I guess none of you are familiar with Shorty Rossi’s pittie service dog Hercles, or Elle, the pittie therapy dog that won this year’s American Humane Association’s Hero Dog of the Year Award. I’m not surprised, because you seem woefully unfamiliar with the breed in general.

        1. Quite frankly, I’m more concerned about a reactive dog trying to be a service animal. DA dogs are booted at first sign of any aggressive behavior by respecable service animal organizations.
          Im quite surprised you didn’t know that.

          1. I’m quite surprised you haven’t read the three temperament tests that are in the court file stating that Stallone is not dog aggressive. Oh wait, no I’m not surprised. You like to just make assumptions based on misinformation. And I’m also quite surprised you believe that a “service animal organization” must train a service dog. You obviously don’t have much familiarity with ADA, the dog’s handler is as qualified to train his own dog as any “organization.” Elitests like you are the reason why so many of our indigent veterans are deprived of the help they could be receiving from self-trained service dogs; people like you spread the myth that SDs must be professionally trained at a cost of up to $25K to the handler. That is not the case. Get your facts straight.

      2. Well, I did reply but the Sentinel deleted the information that I posted. Obviously Perry does not want the truth out there.

      3. Since the Sentinel deleted my comment the first time, I’ll repost: While your unfamiliarity with ADA law is not entirely unexpected, the fact that you
        actually believe you know the law when you obviously do not is fairly
        laughable.

        Stallone was not with his handler at the time of the incident, nor was he in a
        proper situation for a SD. The individual who was transporting him had no idea
        he was on his way to go into training with his handler for PTSD therapy and he
        had been told by those who entrusted Stallone to him not to take Stallone to a
        dog park. As far as he knew, he was taking a normal “pet dog” to run
        around in a park; those who are training service dogs to perform specific tasks
        know that you don’t do that, especially if you don’t know the dog and you don’t
        know its history.

        Regarding the question of what “organization” certified Stallone as
        being qualified to be trained to be a PTSD service dog: it’s trained and/or
        accredited individuals who certify a dog as being capable of entering into a
        service role (not organizations although members of organizations can register
        SDs they have evaluated with those organizations); there is no certification
        required by law. Stallone was temperament tested by at least 3 different
        experts and determined to have the temperament and ability to be a PTSD service
        dog. He was re-evaluated after the incident and the same conclusion was made.

        And if you are really interested, it’s all in the Court file, all 120+ pages of
        exhibits and sworn statements we submitted as part of our evidence.

        I guess none of you are familiar with Shorty Rossi’s pittie service dog
        Hercules, or Elle, the pittie therapy dog that won this year’s American Humane
        Association’s Hero Dog of the Year Award. I’m not surprised, because you seem
        woefully unfamiliar with the breed in general.

        1. At no point did I claim to know the law or the ADA. This is all new to my family. My father’s vision has deteriorated to the point where he is legally blind in one eye and will be soon in the second. A seeing eye dog is one option being considered (along with assisted living and cane). You are the one who claimed the dog was “reactive”. I would have asked the same question if it was a “reactive” animal was a GSD being certified as a service dog. I know a person with a seeing eye dog and his dog was attacked by another dog. It was a very traumatizing experience for him and his dog and there were questions as to whether the seeing eye dog would survive and if he did, whether he would be able to continue as a seeing eye dog. The issue of the safety of the seeing eye dog is very important to those that depend on them on a daily basis. At no point did I mention breeds, bans or anything of the sort. Your comments that my knowledge is “laughable” is unwarranted as I never claimed to have any knowledge. Such hostility and insults are unbecoming.

  35. A quick share, I will be off to bed after. Tonight I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend and she has one pitbull and one rat terrier and she was more worried about the rat terrier who has attempted to attack other dogs, so she has to double muzzle the little rat terrier anytime he is around people or dogs. The pitbull is full of love and kissed and she raised the pitbull. So with that being said, and i say this for animals and humans, it starts from the top, it starts in the home and it starts when you are a child or puppy. Black is not always black, I look completely Hispanic, but looks are very deceiving, my dad is Hispanic and my mom is German and If I am described, people will say a little Hispanic woman. Please stop with the stereotype, my mom is German and they say German people are mean and hot tempered and that does not describe my mom at all. Good night all, I hope and pray Aurora will stop the banning pitbulls and start punishing the dog owners who leave their dogs chained 24/7 and no shelter and make excuses for dog owners. That is what makes me ill.

    1. You do understand that you’re cutting and pasting here? This fantasy of ‘ooooo, my chihuahua is more dangerous than my pittie-poo’ has been posted so often, I’m surprised you even bother to make up a new one.

      ‘Ooooo,’ the pittie-patties say, ‘my child’s face was ripped off by a ___________ [spaniel, setter, chi, pom, ladybug, cockroach — fill something in], but no one cares about that.’ When you ask for a link to the news story, the pittie-patties say, ‘It’s a media conspiracy! They aren’t reporting the hundreds of dead by ordinary dogs! They only report it when a poor innocent pittie-poo mauls or kills — it’s soooo unfair!’

      So according to the pit bull fanatics, children are dying left and right in our country — hundreds this year alone — but we are all unfairly focussing on the pit bull type dogs that have (in the mind of a pit bull fan) ONLY killed fifteen children so far this year.

      1. No one is cutting and pasting other than you and your crones. or perhaps it is just you. where are your FACTS? You know actual sources of information? REPUTABLE ones? Really you are going to attack actual residents of OUR state? You do not even live here. That has already been established. Again you keep pouring it on but it is all empty and meaningless have you have nothing to base it on, other your opinion and hatred. Until you have actual sources for ANY of your information. Let me clarify that, actual reputable sources for any of your information, I wont be engaging in conversation with you anymore. You are a waste of time.

    2. Are you willing to chance a childs life on that pit ? These dogs are way to dangerous. The owners of many have proven that they can not protect the public from thier loving pits. Many children have been disfigured or killed by these dogs. They need to be banned from city parks and children .

      2. My pitbull is around many children and AGAIN she is the friendliest of my 3 dogs, the other 2 are LAB mixes. She is around girl scout,s boy scouts, kids I babysit, at the park playing, my kids friends. She greets EVERYONE with a kiss from babies to old people alike. She wants nothing more than a pet or some belly rubs. She would NEVER rip somebodys face off. She is an absolute love and is very well behaved. The same for all my friends who own pit bulls. . perhaps you guys who are so anti pitbull actually need to spend some TIME with one. My father used to think similarly to you but after being around my dog and other pitties he has come around to realize that his thinking was WRONG. Any dog could mame or disfigure anyone. I was injured badly in my hand by a corgi/Chihuahua mix. ANY dog can be trained to be mean. It all comes down to RESPONSIBLE pet ownership. the people I know who own pits are incredibly responsible and go above and beyond to get their pets trained, myself included because of all the negative stereotyping out there surrounding this breed. Most of us put our dog through much training and pay for classes, so that we can prove people like you that you are incorrect and wrong. My labbies probably NEED the training classes more but because of people like you it is my pit bull who is canine good citizen certified.

      3. Absolutely, I have owned many pitbulls, and I have raised them around my three children. I will do it again, when Aurora changes the law.

  36. “This breed has an intensity and duration of attack not seen in other dogs. This leads to severe injuries and, in some cases, death of the victim (human or animal). This trait has been created by cruel individuals who want animals that are ‘game’ for dog fighting.” https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/168/5/133.abstract

    “When bite rates were determined by breed, Pit Bulls were 5 times more likely to bite than all other breeds combined.” https://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA381425&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

    “More severe bites and injuries were observed in attacks from the pit-bull and Rottweiler breeds.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235708

    “More than 30 different offending breeds were documented in the medical records. The most common breeds included pit bull terriers (50.9 percent), Rottweilers (8.9 percent), and mixed breeds of the two aforementioned breeds (6 percent).” https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Abstract/2009/08000/Pediatric_Dog_Bite_Injuries__A_5_Year_Review_of.28.aspx

    “A retrospective review was performed at two urban Children’s hospitals from 1996-2005 of all dog attacks presenting to the plastic surgery service. Charts were reviewed with analysis of patient demographics, injury site, operative intervention, and dog-specific data…57% of dogs were deemed to be of a dangerous breed (Pit Bill or Rottweiler).” https://aaps1921.org/abstracts/2008/P13.cgi

    “Dog bite injury hospitalization (DBIH) rate in Winnipeg relative to Brandon (a city without BSL) was significantly lower after BSL in people of all ages…Conclusions: BSL may have resulted in a reduction of DBIH in Winnipeg, and appeared more effective in protecting those aged <20 years.” https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2012/06/29/injuryprev-2012-040389

    “During the one-year period between June 1986 and June 1987, 14 people were killed by dogs in the United States. Ten of those 14 deaths are attributed to pit bulls. Thus, 71% of the deaths during that period were attributed to a type of dog that accounts for 1% of the US dog population…Most breeds do not repeatedly bite their victims; however, a pit bull attack has been compared to a shark attack and often results in multiple bites and extensive soft tissue loss (3,10). Although the teeth of dogs are not very sharp, they can exert a force of 200 to 450 psi. Pit bulls inflict more serious bite wounds than do other breeds because they tend to attack the deep muscles, hold on, and shake.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3238616

    “Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs. Strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the US mortality rates related to dog bites.” https://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2011/04000/Mortality,_Mauling,_and_Maiming_by_Vicious_Dogs.23.aspx

  37. 28 dead by dog attack so far in 2013.
    Pit bull type dogs killed twenty-six of them. fifteen of the twenty-six dead are children.
    Stars indicate people killed by a ‘family’ pit bull – ones that had been raised and cherished as an indoor pet, ‘never showed aggression before’, and knew the victim.

    Child fatalities by pit bull type dog (15):
    Christian Gormanous – 4 yrs old Montgomery County, TX
    Isaiah Aguilar – 2 yrs old Sabinal, TX
    Ryan Maxwell – 7 yrs old ** Galesburg, IL.
    Dax Borchardt – 14 mos old ** Walworth, WI.
    Monica Laminack – 21 mos old ** Ellabelle, GA.
    Tyler Jett – 7 yrs old Callaway, FL.
    Jordyn Arndt – 4 yrs old ** Prairie City, IA.
    Beau Rutledge – 2 yrs old ** Fulton County, GA.
    Ayden Evans- 5 yrs old ** Jessieville, AR.
    Nephi Selu – 6 yrs old ** Union City, CA.
    Arianna Jolee Merrbach – 5 yrs old Effingham, SC.
    Daniel (surname as yet not revealed) – 2 yrs old (Gilbert, Arizona) **
    Samuel Eli Zamudio – 2 yrs old** Colton, CA
    Jordan Ryan– 5 yrs old Baker city, Oregon
    Levi Watson-Bradford-4 years old** White County, Arkansas

    Adult fatalities by pit bull type (11):
    Betty Todd – 65 yrs old ** Hodges, SC
    Elsie Grace – 91 yrs old ** Hemet, CA
    Claudia Gallardo – 38 yrs old Stockton, CA.
    Pamela Devitt – 63 yrs old Littlerock, CA.
    Carlton Freeman – 80 yrs old Harleyville, SC.
    Linda Oliver – 63 yrs old Dayton, TX.
    James Harding – 62 yrs old -Baltimore, MD
    chased into traffic by two attacking pit bulls
    Juan Campos – 96 yrs old Katy, Texas.
    Terry Douglass 56 years old. **Baltimore, MD
    Katherine Atkins-25 years old ** Kernersville, NC
    Nga Woodhead-65 years old Spanaway, WA.

    (1 non-pit type killing) [Rachel Honabarger – 35 yrs old – mauled to death by her own GSD mix] Coshocton, OH.

    (1 husky-mix killing, unknown if the other half of the dog was pit bull) [Jordan Lee Reed – 5 yrs old] Kotzebue, AK

    Two of the pit bull type dogs were BULL mastiffs, ie 40% pit-fighting bulldog.

    If 24 of 28 dead were killed by pit bull attack, that’s 86% dead by pit attack, 7% dead by ‘molosser’, 3.5% by some kind of GSD mix, 3.5% by a husky + possibly pit mix

    If you count the pit-mix mastiffs as pit bull types, that’s 93% killed by attacking pit bull types. Pit types are only about 5% of the entire dog population.

    The man who ran into traffic kept pit bulls himself. He knew perfectly well what the two stranger pit bulls that were chasing him would do if they caught him, so he preferred to risk a swift death by oncoming car.

    474 maimed by pit type dogs 2013 (as of November 9).

  39. Karin Samuelson describes the night three pit bulls attacked her farm as one of her worst nightmares.

    “I’ve never seen anything like that ever,” Samuelson said. “To see that they wouldn’t get off of her — I felt helpless.”

    She felt helpless but she did everything she could to fight off the savage dogs. Her farm is smeared with blood. The vicious attack left a baby donkey dead and others severely injured.

    “She was missing an ear, missing her nose; her whole jaw was exposed,” Samuelson said. “She was just standing back there in the mud with dogs tearing at her.

    https://www.keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/vicious-dogs-attack-central-texas-farm-kill-donkey-14093.shtml?wap=0

  41. I wish the pit BULLY people would be honest.
    If they were, this is what they would write:

    I am a bully. I’m attracted to the vicarious power and aggression of pits, THE choice of all USA dog fighters.
    I HAVE MY RIGHTS, my right to own the dog of my choice and the right to let my dogs do what they want. My dogs are an extension of myself, so you’d better not limit my dogs, as you’ll be limiting me!

    I have the right to breed, sell and own THE dog that were created by dog fighters and pits who created the dead game fighting dogs. All USA dog fighters use.

    If you don’t want your pets to be torn apart and killed by my pits, don’t own any pets! If you don’t want your kids to be attacked by my pits, don’t have kids!
    If you don’t want to be attacked and killed while taking a walk, then stay indoors.

    And as this Aiken has now added: Don’t dare give me a dirty look and avoid my dog killer dog when I come to a dog park, otherwise I’ll get mad then go have a self-pity orgy.

    1. You stereotype people just like you do canines. Not a shock.
      Funny the guy who pastes the same agreesive and biased half thruths again and again and again to force his point and overwhelm points would call people a bully.
      You underestimate the force you are dealing with and that is your weakness. The people you are dealing with are not bullys, gangsters, thugs, dog fighters or crazed fanatics. They are house moms, working women, fathers, responsible dog owners, and children. All armed with love and understanding, That will beat your hate and fear everytime. You stereotype anyone or anything you don’t like, and that is why you lose.
      STAY OUT OF MY BACK YARD!

  42. Another Day, Another Pit Bull Story, More Need For Change.
    Posted on August 31, 2013.

    Several news stations have reported that an elderly Katy, Texas man, Juan Campos, was found dead yesterday with his body being mauled by pit bulls in his own backyard. Apparently the dogs clawed their way through his fence to get his dog and the man. See story here.

    Those in favor of breed specific legislation will call for such. Those opposed will cry out that there’s not enough proof of the how or the why or the breed. Some will blame the dogs, some will blame the owner, some may even blame the deceased man.

    We will hear the arguments that the dogs were misidentified or that they were not pure breeds or pedigrees but only 25 or 40 or 60 percent pit bull. We will hear on one hand that they were of a bad breed and other the other that there are no bad or aggressive breeds.

    “Cindy Lou” will tell us a heart-wrenching story about how her 10 year old pit bull “old yeller” has been a faithful babysitter to her two-year-old since birth. So they can’t all be bad she’ll say.

    And once again the point will be lost….that those of us who do not own dogs with extreme biting force, locking jaws and the power to kill don’t care if it’s a pure breed or a partial breed. We don’t care if it has its papers. We don’t care if its how it was raised or ingrained in the breed. We just want the killing of innocent victims to stop.

    Texas law follows the “One Free Bite Rule.” You must prove that the dog owner knew the dog had vicious tendencies to hold the owner liable. It’s not considered a dangerous dog until after the first attack. Many negligent dog owners get away free by claiming they did not know. Then they can get a new dog and the count resets. “Well I didn’t know this dog was vicious too.”.

    Certain breeds and breed mixes need to be classified under the law as dangerous dogs by virtue of the fact that they have the kind of bite power that makes them deadly when they, for whatever reason–mean owner, child provoked, etc.–attack and kill someone.

    Labeling them “dangerous dogs” under the law isn’t about saying they are inherently bad or good, aggressive or passive. It is about placing responsibility for their attacks squarely on the owner who chose to keep and raise the dog in whatever manner he/she chose to keep and raise them.

    I invite you to come hear myself and other speak about this on October 19th, 2013 at P.J.’s Softball Park in Spring, Texas.!

  43. US NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.

    Breed-Associated Behaviors
    “Setting aside the issue of anomalous behaviors, studies show that there are both behavior and personality traits associated with specific breeds (18, 53, 54, 132, 146).

    Simply put, border collies do not herd sheep because they are raised on sheep farms; rather, they are raised on sheep farms because they herd. In addition pointers point, retrievers retrieve, and mastiffs guard, all because those traits are part of their breed expectations, meaning strong and continuous selection in the underlying breeding program “.

    Simply put Pit bulls do not attack because they are raised with dog fighters and drug dealers, dog fighters and drug dealers use pit bulls because they attack!

    It is their nature, their genetic truth and reality.
    It is not how you raise them rather it is simply what they are.

    Just like sled dogs run and pull, it is just their nature.!

  44. The Front Burner: Banning pit bulls saves lives and protects the innocent.
    By Colleen Lynn Guest columnist.
    May 24, 2013.

    Whether to ban pit bulls is a human health and safety issue that should be steered by health and safety officials. Public safety is not the profession of animal advocates. Thus, public policy coming from animal advocates concerning protecting humans from pit bulls is fundamentally flawed.

    So far this year, 13 of the 14 Americans who have been killed by dogs — 93 percent — were killed by pit bulls and pit mixes. This is well above the average of 60 percent from 2005 to 2012.

    As the pit bull population rises, more human fatalities ensue. During the last eight-year period that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied fatal attacks by breed (1991 to 1998), pit bulls were estimated at 1 percent of the U.S. dog population. Pit bulls killed an average of three people per year.

    The pit bull population has since grown to 4 percent. During the most recent eight-year period (2005-12), pit bulls killed an average of 19 people per year.

    Miami-Dade County, which banned pit bulls in 1989, has avoided this loss of life. Other Florida counties — prohibited by state law from regulating dogs by breed — continue to experience deaths and disfigurements due to pit bulls. Since 1989, 18 Florida citizens have been killed by pit bulls — none within Miami-Dade.

    The threat from pit bulls results from the combination of the animals’ inclination to attack without warning — an essential trait of fighting dogs — and the type of injuries that pit bulls typically inflict.

    Most dogs bite and retreat, but pit bulls have a hold-and-shake bite style, and tenaciously refuse to stop an attack once begun.

    Often a pit bull releases its grip only when dead — the trait dog fighters describe as being “dead game.”

    Ban opponents often blame dismembering and fatal attacks on environmental factors, such as neglect. That, unfortunately, is the plight of too many dogs of all breeds, not just those who kill and maim.

    Opponents also fail to distinguish dog-bite-injury severity. They argue that bans “do not reduce all dog bites.” Of the 4.7 million Americans bitten by dogs each year, 9,500 require hospitalization for severe dog-bite injuries. The most extreme injury level, mauling injury, requires life-saving procedures at trauma centers.

    The purpose of a pit bull ban is to eradicate mauling injuries and deaths inflicted by pit bulls, the breed involved in more than half of all severe and mauling attacks.

    Since 1986, 18 appellate decisions have upheld lower-court findings that pit bulls are more dangerous than other dog breeds.

    Since 1988, four peer-reviewed studies published in leading medical journals have reviewed the severity of pit bull injury. “Mortality, Mauling and Maiming by Vicious Dogs,” published in the Annals of Surgery in 2011, concluded the following:

    “Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs. Strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the U.S. mortality rates related to dog bites.”

    In April 2012, the highest court in Maryland declared pit bulls “inherently dangerous,” altering common law pertaining to pit bull attacks. Pit bulls are prima facia dangerous in Maryland and held to a strict liability standard. In instances of a tenant’s pit bull attacking, this liability extends to the landlord. The court cited the entire abstract of the 2011 Annals of Surgery study in its opinion.

    Influential pit bull advocates have supported regulation in the past and are doing so now. On its Facebook page, the Villalobos Rescue Center, founded by Tia Torres of Animal Planet’s Pit Bulls & Parolees — expressed support for a proposal in Louisiana on the heels of a mutilating attack on a woman by her own pit bulls.

    It is time for Florida pit bull advocacy groups to follow suit.

    Colleen Lynn is the founder of DogsBite dot org, a national dog-bite victims’ group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks.!

  45. A pit bull BSL works EVERYWHERE it is useful in almost eliminating all serious dog attacks that maim, disfigure, dismember, maul, cripple.
    or kill, this is a simply proven fact in all cases.The number of pit bulls is dramatically reduced as are the numbers of them put to death.

    The need to have BSL is to have a preemptive capability to avoid a pit bull attack from happening due to it’s extremely savage consequences.

    It is enacted against all pit bulls as they all have the genetic DNA propensity to carry out these horrific attacks that are non existent in 99% of all other breeds, ban the breed and you ban the deed, simple as that.

    Dealing with an attack after the fact is simply not acceptable due to the horrific nature of said attacks.

    With any other breed other then Rottweiler’s, wolf hybrids and Akita’s and a few others in very small numbers it is not a naturally genetic reality for them to carry out such horrifying attacks.

    Hence they need to be dealt with in an aggressive reactive modality where all of the breed are not looked on as one but rather based on the actions of the individual misbehaving dog.

    This can be done in a very aggressive proactive manner so that as soon as a dog like a lab lets say starts behaving inappropriately severe consequences can be brought to bare on the owner and their dog in an escalating manner as needed to deal with a situation that has developed.

    This duel track approach can deal with the pits issue as other normal dog breeds can be dealt with as well so vicious dogs of other mainstream breeds are also held accountable for their actions.

    There should be mandatory Spay/Neuter programs for all breeds but clearly the one that needs it the most and where the most change would be effected would be with the Pit Bull type dog.!

  46. Cesar Millan quote unquote:

    “Yeah, but this is a different breed…the power that comes behind the bull dog, pit bull, presa canario, the fighting breed – They have an extra boost, they can go into a zone, they don’t feel the pain anymore. … So if you are trying to create submission in a fighting breed, it’s not going to happen.

    They would rather die than surrender. If you add pain, it only infuriates them…to them pain is that adrenaline rush, they are looking forward to that, they are addicted to it… That’s why they are such great fighters.”.

    He goes on to say: “Especially with fighting breeds, you’re going to have these explosions over and over because there’s no limits in their brain.” Wow, is that what you want in a pet? A dog that has “explosions over and over” in its brain?.

  47. Sadly one does not even have to search for the many attacks of these savage mutant undog’s on humans and pets, there are literally hundreds of new incidents every day carried out by these disgusting creatures, here is another.

    These are all major daily newspapers and network TV station accurate factual reports with direct access to Doctors, ER’s Animal control officers, Police, the victims family, witnesses, the guilty pit nutters, all in news reports from major city newspapers and TV stations, as legit therefore as it possibly can be.

    There is only one breed that has every been or is a threat to public safety and that is the pit bull, the sooner they are exterminated the sooner tragic attacks like the one below will be ended.

    Ban the breed and end the deed.!

  48. Ryan Maxwell
    7-years old | Galesburg, IL.

    Ryan Maxwell, 7-years old, was attacked and killed by a pit bull while visiting family friends at a home on Whiting Avenue. Ryan had spent the previous night at the home. At the time of the attack, the boy had been playing in the backyard. Investigators believe the dog was tethered before the attack, but broke free. When police arrived, the pit bull was still clamped onto the boy’s neck.

    After police “disengaged” the dog, the animal was shot to death to prevent additional attacks. The boy was transported to Cottage Hospital where he later died from his injuries. The owner of the pit bull, Ashiya Ferguson, said she tried everything she could to get the dog off the boy, including beating the dog with a shovel. “I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop it.” Ferguson repeated in anguish after the attack.

    She vowed to never own another pit bull again. In June, authorities announced that no charges would be filed. According to Knox County Assistant State’s Attorney Elisa Tanner, there was no evidence that a crime occurred.
    [source citations]Date of death: March 2, 2013.
    Chained: No
    Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Non-family.
    Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Family friend.
    Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No
    On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No.

    Daxton Borchardt
    14-months old | Walworth, WI.

    Daxton Borchardt, 14-months old, was savagely mauled by his babysitter’s two pit bulls while under her care. Susan Iwicki, 30-years old, was babysitting the boy at her home on North Lakeshore Drive when her two pit bulls attacked. Iwicki called 911 stating that she and the boy were under attack by her two dogs.

    Capt. Dana Nigbor said that a deputy arrived at the attack scene just minutes after the call, which occurred outdoors. The deputy discovered Daxton in one of the rooms of Iwicki’s home. The toddler was fully naked and lying motionless on his back on the floor in a puddle of blood. He was barely alive. Daxton was transported to a hospital then airlifted to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin with critical injuries.

    He died less than 3-hours later. Both pit bulls, each 3-years old and sterilized, were removed from the home and euthanized. No criminal charges against the babysitter are pending.
    [source citations]Date of death: March 6, 2013.
    Chained: No
    Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family.
    Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Babysitter.
    Spay/Neuter: Yes Multiple dogs: Yes
    On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No.

    Monica Laminack
    21-months old | Ellabelle, GA.

    Monica Laminack, 21-months old, was mauled to death by a pack of family pit bulls in the backyard of her home. Authorities believe Monica crawled through a doggie door unnoticed and was attacked — the dogs lived both inside and outside the home. A 911 call at 6:36 pm reported the girl’s grandmother woke up from a nap after hearing dogs barking, looked out the back window and saw the attack happening.

    She and other family members rushed outside to pull the dogs off the toddler, but it was too late. Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said that when EMS arrived on scene the child’s body was already cold, indicating she had been dead for awhile. Authorities believe Monica was attacked at about 6 pm, a half hour before the 911 call.

    The child’s 18-year old mother, Summer Laminack, two adult relatives and two young boys were inside the home during the mauling. Summer was subsequently charged with second-degree cruelty to children.
    [source citations]Date of death: March 27, 2013.
    Chained: No
    Breed of dog: Pit bull (7) Relationship to dog: Family.
    Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Family.
    Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes
    On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Yes.

    Tyler Jett
    7-years old | Callaway, FL.

    Tyler Jett, 7-years old, was brutally attacked by two pit bull-mix dogs while playing in the front yard of his home on April 2. Tyler was flown to Scared Heart Medical Center in Pensacola with life-threatening injuries. The boy suffered a punctured carotid artery and his head, face and neck were badly bitten. The two dogs, owned by Edward Daniels II, 21-years old, escaped their owner’s fenced-in property prior to attacking.

    Several days earlier, Daniels had been cited for allowing his dogs to run free and terrorize neighbors. Daniels was charged with a felony count of tampering with evidence; he washed the blood off the face and paws of one of the dogs after the attack. Tyler did not regain consciousness while in intensive care. He died five days after the attack.

    Authorities subsequently upgraded the charges against Daniels to manslaughter. On August 29, 2013, a jury found Daniels guilty of manslaughter after two hours of deliberating.
    [source citations]Date of death: April 7, 2013.
    Chained: No
    Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family.
    Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Neighbor.
    Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes
    On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Yes.

    Claudia Gallardo
    38-years old | Stockton, CA.

    Claudia Gallardo, 38-years old, was mauled to death by a “big, nasty pit bull,” according to Sgt. Tom Rees of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies received a report of a dog mauling in east Stockton about 8:20 pm. When deputies arrived, they found a woman in the driveway of a residence with massive wounds.

    She was pronounced dead on the scene. Neighbors said the same pit bull, named Russia, had been terrorizing the area for months. The owner of the dog, Brian Hrenko, was away when the attack occurred. His female roommate was home. She alleged the victim jumped over the front fence and claimed to be there to clean the house when the dog attacked.

    After being detained and questioned by police, Hrenko admitted that the victim had been to his home at least once before and had interacted well with his dog. As of April 25, 2013 there have been no additional updates. [source citations]Date of death: April 11, 2013.
    Chained: No
    Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Non-family.
    Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Property owner.
    Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No
    On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No.!

  49. First of all there is not such thing as a pit bull. Second they are a great dogs, They like all dogs are a product of how they are raised. And to all of you who think their vicious please with the assistance of a friend try and pull your head out of your ass.
    How do you think you would act if you were forced to fight for your life on a daily basis, how would you act if I chained you in the back yard for years, gave you little or no food and water, How would you act if you got loose. I don’t really care what you think I have three staffies and they are great , kind, gentle and loving dogs. I would imagine many of you are raising kids they are way more dangerous than my dogs. but I’m not trying
    to ban your little animal.

  50. We see the usual suspects have shown up to yet again prevent discussion. We are encouraged to see that people who actually live here are not posting the vitriol and half truth information that these people are. Well done fellow Coloradoans. We look forward to having a conversation about how best to protect public safety and hold all reckless owners responsible. Let’s make sure that we hear the voices of all Colorado residents so we can create communities we would like to have and not ones dictated by those who may not have even set foot in our great state.

  51. I am ACTUALLY a Colorado resident, unlike the spammer that keeps posting on here. I read the actual accounting of the Stallone story and this version has many flaws and inaccuracies. If you go further down you will find the accurate recounting from ms. Juliet piccone who was the attorney representing stallone. I believe BSL should be done away with. Any dog can be trained to be mean, and any dog can bite. The time that I have been bit it was by a corgi/Chihuahua mix. He bit me multiple times and did some damage to my hand. I and my family own a pit bull. She is the best behaved out of my 3 dogs who are LAB mixes. She is also the friendliest, most loving and most open with other people. She greets everyone with a tail wag and gives kisses to people from babies to older people. She is also canine good citizen certified. I have friends that own pit bulls as well, and these people are just normal folks, families with kids, soccer moms, scout leaders, and more who have a nice family pet. They are not “vicious” and the people that own them are not criminals. This way of thinking should really end.

    1. Thank you RRC3 Continuing proof that residents of our state who get a chance to speak up about issues that are in our communities are not likely to agree with the cyber hijackers. We believe the one thing that these people did not take into account is that the majority of Coloradoans are educated, responsible and fair minded individuals who can have this discussion and find common ground.

      1. Common ground? Most victims of pitbulls are left with huge medical bills, several successive surgeries, PTSD ,and they are not recovering one penny from pitbull owners. They are better off getting hit by a drunk driver. Ignoring the plight of the victims is just plain cruel. No other dog breed is causing so much pain and suffering to people and there pets and to deny this by listening to the Pro Pitbull Propaganda that is spread by wealthy dog fighters is pointless. There is a reason they push the dogs on Unreality t.v. They never spent a penny promoting them until governments made dog fighting illegal. Then they hatched a plan to popularize the breed so they can hide their billion dollar sport in plain sight. So many have been duped. Bears have not even killed as many people as pitbulls have… Funny how easy it is to sway the public with crafty slogans and propaganda.

        1. Jaloney- You do know that this comment seems a bit deluded yes. We would suggest you look at some other, less myopic websites. YES, we absolutely want to hear ALL Coloradoans voice in this. Because the majority of Colorado residents are thoughtful, educated and capable of respectful dialogue, we believe there is common ground. What we don’t appreciate are people who travel the internet and come to these boards only to insult or residents and try to shut down their voices. While the vitriol that we are seeing may speak for a minute section of Colorado, we can’t even hear their voices because of the relentless commentary of out of state people. Additionally that fact you would minimize the intelligence of our population by saying that: “Funny how easy it is to sway the public with crafty slogans and propaganda,” is insulting to every resident of this state whether we are in agreement or not. The people of Colorado are capable of discussing this issue without the input of some people who seem to spent a great deal of time and energy on certain hysteria websites, and we will continue to have this conversation long after you, and the others, have left this far behind. The first piece of advice we might want to give all of you is if you are coming onto a community paper’s discussion, you might not want to insult the very residents who live here.

        2. and the source of your information is what? I see you putting out lots of words but no sources to come with it. You know if you are going to engage in a conversation you should at least have something to back it up with other than just empty words.

        3. lol, Please “JaLooney” keep making these arguments. They help the Anti-BSL argument by making it obvious how irrational a lot of Anti-dog & Anti-bull breed people really are and showing exactly how uneducated they are about a topic they claim to care so much about.

    2. Mortality Maiming and Mauling by Vicious Dogs, Annals of surgery, April 2011 normalized data for pitbull attacks to Labador Retreiver attacks and found that you have a more htan 2500 times higher change of dieing from an attack by a pitbull than an attack by a Lab. Labs have killed 3 people in all of recorded history and pitbulls which have only been popular for a short time have killed over 300. You are right that many people have been duped into owning these dogs. That doesn’t make it an intelligent choice. At one time more than half of our population smoked cigerettes too.

      There is a reason
      they are not paying stars to promote poodles on t.v. When dog fighting was
      legal, no one incuding dog fighters promoted pitbulls as pets. After the
      government made dog fighting illegal they spent millions on a public relations campaign to popularize the breed so
      they can hide their vicious and sadistic “sport” in plain sight. “stars” are paid a lot to peddle
      pitbulls on t.v. just like big tobacco used stars to promote cigerettes. Pitbull owners are duped. They are the pawns
      of wealthy dog fighters that don’t care about victims or pitbulls. Every pitbull owned helps hide dog fighters. We have a sea of one million overbred unwanted
      pitbull euthanized each year in the USA. There is a billion dollar untaxed
      economy surrounding pitbull dog fighters. Pitbull owners should know that their choice
      helps a pitbull die in a fight pit everyday. If you own a pitbull you are
      supporting dog fighters.

      dupe (dp, dyp)

      1. An easily deceived person.

      2. A person who functions
      as the tool of another person or power.

      3. To deceive (an unwary person). See Synonyms at deceive.

      tr.v.
      duped, dup•ing, dupes

    3. The pitbull you have today might be the monster that kills
      tomorrow. Not every animal behaviorists is a sell out to the wealthy dog
      fighter promoted pitbull lobby! Words from a world reknown animal behaviorist
      and evolutionary biologist that isn’t a
      sell out to the wealthy dog fighters: I’ve
      seen many pit bull puppies that have
      seemed fine until their sixth or seventh month, at which point they suddenly
      tried to kill a playmate they’d been fine with until then. And so on, including
      family pit bulls that suddenly killed a child or an adult owner at the age of
      five or eight years. The bad wiring can’t be detected in the pitbulls first six
      months of life, — or at any time until the pit bull has been cremated. There is no training that will counteract
      genetically determined behaviors SEE
      Heritability-of-Behavior-in-the-Abnormally-Aggressive-Dog-by-A-Alexandra
      Semyonova on scrib dot com.

      Several of the genes
      involved in this sudden, pathological aggression have been identified.
      The differences in brain structure and chemistry that they cause are clear
      (training doesn’t fix deviant brain structures). The mechanism — why the genes
      activate when they do — hasn’t been figured out yet.

      Get a hold of this animal behaviorists book: The 100
      Silliest Things People say about Dogs.

      1. If you really think the people you are confronting are a “lobby” or backed by dog fighters you are willfully ignorant. If you don’t and are just saying that to make your point sound better and degrade the views of the mothers, fathers, children, vets, business owners, etc., than you are guilty of libel and slander.
        Either way, you are outrageously wrong. Please keep underestimating those you oppose, it serves us well.

  52. It is sad but expected to see that the dogsbite.org brood had quickly made the jump from stereotyping dogs to stereotyping people. They have started posting “scientific stats and studies” regarding the nature of pit bull owners and advocates.
    Perghaps Yoka124, Thomas and Banallpits can describe the typical pit bull owner for us. Tells how they look, talk and dress.
    Then maybe we can move on to checking the bumps on peoples heads to determine if they are likely pit bull owners.
    They are using an old strategy, when you can attack the message, discredit the messenger.
    Nice work. Gypsies beware, you are next on the list.

    1. We don’t have to describe what kinds of people choose pit bull type dogs instead of ordinary, non-vicious dogs. Several peer-reviewed journals have researched it and described the personality characteristics of the majority of people who choose high risk dog types.

      1. Exactly…you are stereotyping people.
        You think you know better than others and should make their decisions for them.
        Tell us, what should we be on the look for…I would like to make sure I can spot a pit bull owner if I see one on the street.
        Should I start going through a list of other studies into the nature of certain groups people and how well those have worked in history?
        You are treading on thin ice.

          1. Your handle is cravendesires and you are calling me an idiot for pointing out the danger in stereotyping a group of people as deviants.
            Nice call genius!

          2. There you are Craven Desires. And starting off with insults to boot, though your blog would show that it is par for the course. Thank god the people of Colorado can read all these posts. Your vitriol makes it easy to prove our point. Would you also like to post some re-edited research from your site? Again, not a Coloradoan but happy to take over our forums.

          3. this will make my upcoming blog post on the recent service dog lawsuit in colorado so much sweeter. thank you coloRADogs.

          4. I am sure your 6 readers will love it.
            Remember, get in there and attack everyone. Make sure ou you maul anything anyone has to say. Bite in and never let go of your hatred. Even if you aren’t provoked, you better just go for the throat and tear your critics appart.
            Also, don’t forget to really focus on how everyone who has ever owned a pit bull is a terrorist… oh and is dead too…because their dogs ate them and then nuked Christmas.

          5. Your welcome! We always look forward to your hysteria based inaccuracies and your reader’s responses who enjoy being very visible about their racism, classism and in some disturbing cases, very violent tendencies. Will it be as informational as you last blog about the ASPCA that spoke about the fact that pit bulls dogs are popular to adopters, and that DNA results are not the indicator of whether a dog is adopted but rather the behavior of the dog? Or will you re-edit this new “proof” also? You are always very helpful to us and we thank you for that. Please don’t forget to mention us so your followers can make sure to call us names and provide threats. It will give us an opportunity to have an honest discussion with them.

          6. Good to know. We will be looking forward to your continued misinformation and your readers racist, classist and threatening remarks. In the meantime we will continue our respectful conversation with the good people of Colorado.

  53. I can’t believe it. Aurora is worried about dangerous DOGS? I think we all know what the real risk is, but you’re too afraid of the NRA to mention it. So much for the brave crusading journalist schtick, Perry.

  54. Some day, historians will tell their students there was once a country that banned dogs but not assault rifles. And their students will laugh and say that couldn’t have happened.

  56. The comments here are actually frightening in their complete dissociation from the real threat: men with automatic weapons. Do you realize how weird it is to be going on and on about canine genetics and bite stats when your city was the site of a mass shooting that killed 12 people?

  57. This comment is from a friend of mine who is a pitbull owner but did not want to give her email addy to post on this site. She has 5 kids spanning from a baby to 11 years old.

    “Any vicious dog that has caused damage because of unresponsible owners, should not be in the city. I have always owned German Shepherds and never had a single problem, now I have a pitbull and he has been with us for two years. He is the sweetest, most well trained and well behaved dog we have ever had. If he was a danger then of course, by all means take action. He is not, in fact he is a service dog and goes every where with us. He is a perfect ambassador of his breed. He is eager to please and will do anything we ask. The reason these dogs have a bad rap, is because more and more rough people have gotten them for protection or to look tough and treated them horribly. Any dog treated badly can cause damage, and yes pitbulls have potential to do great harm, when in wrong hands. That is what attracted the wrong crowd to them, the pitbulls eargerness to please and potential for great harm. Pitbulls in general are not anymore aggressive, it is just in the training and raising. So people who are not responsible and mistreat their animals or have vicious dogs of any breed should not be aloud to have them. Do not take away peoples right to have any dog they choose if they are responsible pet owners. It has not always been this way, pitbulls were the go to American family dog and not a threat. Over the years, like I said, some people from the wrong crowd started owning them and more problems occured.”

    2. Wrong people? Get educated. Before the 1980s, essentially all pits were owned by those who fought them, but most pit owners prevented them from reaching victims. There were zero pits/pit mixes in our community and zero dog home invasion murders, which is no longer the case, now that pit pollution has flooded our community.

      “Good” pits mature to wantonly attack/kill dogs, or in some cases, dog sized humans= children. Your pit might not be a good pit (yet), but you won’t know it’s happening until it’s too late. And even if your pit never goes “pit bull”, other good pits will keep killing neighbor dogs.

      That’s unacceptable to those who think about others.
      “

  58. Thank you Dave Perry, that puts it plain and clear. These mutants of the canine kingdom were never designed to be pets, just read the books written by their designers. They have no place in society these days.

      1. I might be OK if pits only maimed/killed their consenting adult owners but more often the victims of “good” pits going pit bull is a leashed dog walking down the street or in his own yard, a child playing two doors away, or a senior citizen making the mistake to feel that she should be able to walk to her mailbox. The fact that these become pit victims is unacceptable to compassionate, thinking people.

        Read any pit book from before the pit propaganda and lies began in the 1980s. Killing dogs is the trait for which pits were created. Your pit might not be a good pit (yet), but it is insane to want to make more dog-killing pits. And it’s animal abuse too.

        Since pits were so mutated to wantonly kill their own kind, no other species is safe when their pit instinct kicks in.

  59. I absolutely agree with Dave Perry on all counts. Of the 28 people who have been KILLED by dogs so far in 2013, 26 were KILLED by pit bulls. The same thing happens every single year.. pit bulls consistently KILL more people than ALL other dog types COMBINED! With that kind of track record, it’s no wonder that people are getting fed up with seeing their kids, grand parents and pets become victims of these ill bred dogs. Please keep the ban Aurora and continue to be an example of how to put public safety concerns above the selfish and ill advised choices some people want to make regarding the type of dog they want to keep.

  60. They always pull this nonsense with “Ban the Deed, Not the Breed!” What deed are they referring to?? Dogfighting? Guess what! It already IS banned. In every single state in this country! And guess what! Innocent people are STILL getting mauled to death by these “teddy bears.” Miraculously, none of these deaths are occurring during dogfights or as a result of a dogfight. So ENOUGH with that saying already! Find something new to make yourselves sound stupid.

    1. Blame the Deed, not the breed, it means make all dog owners equally responsible for their dog’s actions, regardless of the breed of the dog. Why should my pittie mix be put to death for looking like a pit when she’s never hurt a fly but the guy next door’s Doberman savagely attacks a kid at a sleep over. You punish the Doberman’s owner, not me because my dog didn’t do anything other than being born looking like a cute pittie. And by the way, I have to walk around with my DNA test showing she’s under 50% restricted breed, because no matter how sweet she is, those Nazis can seize her based entirely on how she looks. That’s really fair, isn’t it?

    2. BAn the deed refers to judging each dog by its actions, be they good orbad. That we not judge a breed based solely on the actions of a few. The dogs will be a reflection of their owners. I got bit by a corgi/Chihuahua multiple times, should I therefore hate EVERY corgi/Chihuahua. No. That one had some issues is all.

      1. Breed doesn’t matter? Behavior is all training and management?Then let pits become extinct. The dog fighters will miss them, as they know that pits are the best fighters (they’re right, they created pits!).It will take them many decades to create dead game fighting dogs from non-bully dogs. But let’s stop enabling dog fighting. Now that dog fighting is illegal, it’s time to make breeding THE fighting dog illegal too

        .Mandatory spay/ neuter microchipping of all pits, pit mixes, all dog aggressive dogs. Suspect dog fighting but proof is lacking? At least the dogs can be s/n, so the business of breeding fighting dogs will be ended.

  61. It is true that not all pit bulls kill. But it is true that we have never seen the rate of attacks, serious maulings and killings that we currently see – from any other type of dog than the molessers. Temperament tests are nice, but they are theoretical. In reality a good number of pits who passed these tests have eventually attacked or killed.

    Okay, not all pit owners are criminals. But apparently all pit owners can and do put their own interests above the welfare and rights of other people in the community and above the welfare of the dogs they claim to love so much.

    The only thing that has saved pit bulls from suffering are well written BSLs that require special attention be paid and special responsibility be assumed if you choose to own an especially powerful dog with special genetic predispositions for fighting and especially high prey drives. The only places that have reduced the deaths of pit bulls in shelters have been the communities that do recognize that they are not like every other dog and pass strong regulations. Frankly, it is all right with me if pit bull dogs kill their owners and even the children in the household. If you want them – you assume that risk. But pit owners and their dogs should not have the right to kill me or my pets or my livestock – or any other people or animals.

    If you want society at large to respect you and/or your dogs – you will look for real solutions to the real public safety tragedies that really occur. Insulting victims who lose their lives or their limbs and insist that they are making stuff up, or that the media is making up these stories, or insisting that these attacks or deaths that literally ruin lives (not just the victims but of their families), or insisting that all these deaths combined are not important enough to be worthy of your consideration, are not important enough to be prevented – just proves that you are – in fact – irresponsible and sociopathic. You don’t have to be a gang member to have those characteristics. Sociopaths are often quite respected members of the community.

    So if you care about people or dogs or anything other than yourself, you should organize and propose a strict breed specific law that will actually keep other people safe and reduce suffering and death of pits. Take a look at San Francisco’s. It seems to be working pretty well. Some communities might need more regulation, but theirs is a bare minimum.

    Screaming in print (or anywhere) that these dogs are the perfect dog for every home is a poor strategy. The dogs themselves seem to work overtime to remind everyone that they can often be horrific killers. You will never be able to find them all homes, or change public acceptance of them while the dogs themselves continue to generate the accurate perception that they can be quite dangerous. You should instead insist that they are special dogs, but need special care and special owners. You should fight for a massive reduction in the numbers that are bred and insist that they be adopted only into the homes of responsible owners who actually understand them.

    Why don’t you want what would be best for the dogs?

  63. People are now looking for resorts, campgrounds, parks and communities online that are PIT FREE.. for the peace of mind as life changing or ending attacks keep happening in areas where the dogs are allowed, and it is family raised unabused dogs that the owners never expect to attack that are causing so much carnage. Neutered pitbulls often attack unprovoked as well. Pitbull regulations promote tourism, raise property values, reduce the amount of taxes used on housing over bred pitbulls and are much more humane for the dogs as areas with bans do not hide dog fighters and they do not have to euthanize overbred pitbulls.

      1. Better idea, ColoRADogs, why not tell all these people how you are importing pits off the mean streets of LA to put onto the streets of Aurora.

    3. Do you hate animal abuse? Breeding more dogs born with the heritage, instinct and ability to kill all other size dogs, is ANIMAL ABUSE, both for the victim and the pits.

  64. Its interesting how a city that supports marijuana smoking (which kills WAY more people every year via DUI/DWI than all dog breeds combined) is so against certain breeds – Dave Perry’s priorities, and Aurora’s, are really twisted…get real

    1. Glad you support removing BSL…..but show the list of deaths related to marijuana. Anither myth promoted by media, police and companies who have an interest in keeping in illegal. Compare whatever list you come up with to alcohol.
      My point – Prohibition does not work.

  65. A Pit Bull named Mercey is being hailed as a hero for saving her guardian’s life, after four men forced their way into the woman’s apartment on Tuesday.

    The three men and a teenage boy allegedly became violent towards the 30-year-old woman when they entered her home in Edmonton, Canada. That’s when Mercey jumped to protect her guardian, sacrificing herself to keep her guardian safe. Mercey was badly slashed with a machete but managed to keep her guardian from serious harm. The men then fled the apartment.

    Mercey suffered life-threatening injuries and was rushed to hospital. She pulled through surgery and is making a quick recovery.

    “She’s recouping well and her spirits are good,” veterinarian Brent Jackson told the Edmonton Sun. He added Mercey is a “very well behaved dog.”

    Police chipped in to help with the vet bill as did the veterinary clinic. Also, an man stopped by the vet clinic and gave $1000 anonymously to go towards Mercey’s care. With the outpouring of support, Mercey’s bill was paid in full.

    The attackers appeared to have been acquaintances of the victim and all four have been arrested by police. The men face several charges including cruelty to an animal and assault.

    Mercey is expected to recover and went home on Thursday.

    Read more at https://www.dogheirs.com/larne/posts/4511-heroic-pit-bull-saves-woman-from-machete-attack#GJ75tobXkxmIUBkI.99

    1. That’s their tale, I sit on mine. Pit owners have been caught so many times lying about the attack. I remember the one where the ‘cougar’ attacked a couple. When it was investigated, their own pit bull had attacked them. Pit owners love to lie about their pits without a doubt.

  66. What’s a pit bull? It’s not a breed. The only dog that has the name pit bull in it is the American Pit Bull Terrier. The generic term pit bull includes several breeds of dogs and mixed breed dogs with some type of block head and the breeds and mixed breed dogs included in the generic term pit bull varies from town to town and shelter to shelter and person to person. This is all done without DNA testing being done on the dogs. When the term pit bull is used in the media, it essentially means nothing except some type of mixed breed dog. The hype about these dogs is media fueled, hence the article above as an example. There are 72 million dogs in this country and on average 30 to 33 fatalities by dogs (mainly mixed breed dogs and some purebreds) out of 300 million people. When a mixed breed dog bites, what breeds bit in that dog? All the breeds in the dog. All types of dogs bite but do not get the media attention that the “pit bull” gets. Again. Pit bull is not a breed but a very overused term that essentially means nothing or something, depending on who you ask. All dogs are individuals, as are people. What one dog did or one dog owner did is no reflection on another dog or dog owner.

    1. Good, pit bulls don’t exist? (don’t tell the AKC which registers the AST, or the UKC that has their APBT) Let’s make breeding or selling them illegal, require and enforce spay/neuter microchipping of all pits/pit mixes, all dog aggressive dogs.

      Since you say they don’t exist, you won’t miss the mauler mutants when they mercifully become extinct. You can adopt “any dog” and manage/train her to be your charming pet.

      When a mixed pit bites and begins shredding the senior citizen neighbor, , it’s the pit bull part that doesn’t stop when the victim is down, submitting and its the pit part that won’t let go.

      Pits are victims too of the mutations created by the sadistic pit men. Stop making more victims!

  67. Here is just a few responses to Perry’s most asinine claims:

    “Well-organized lobby”?
    No one needs a “lobby” when the absolute truth shows that millions and millions of these animals are completely innocent and have done nothing negative to anyone. The “lobby” portion of this debate are people like yourself, promoting statistics from hate groups like DogsBite dot org (another “lobby”), in an effort to criminalize millions of dogs through legislation for the actions of 0.0000000001% of the same dogs that are visually identified (by you) to fit the determination of a “Pit Bull.”

    “The evidence is unwavering and indisputable”?
    Again, total opposite day hogwash. Actually, evidence shows that 99.9 infinity 9 percent of these dogs are innocent. You want to talk about evidence? Evidence actually shows that any dog who has ever fatally killed a person almost exclusively is a roaming or a chained dog that is acting under not a lick of supervision from its owner. That’s evidence. The “evidence” that you use against Pit Bulls is cherry-picked nonsense that hardly ever gets verified on any level.

    “Pit Bull owners have conspired to perpetuate a host of myths”?
    This sounds like what you are doing, by typecasting entire groups of literal millions as one. That’s common sense. I know it hurts to be called out.

    It’s quite ironic that the people that soak themselves in doublespeak all too often end up accusing others of the exact acts that they routinely carry out. They are folks without mirrors, and without a shred of conscience or ability for self-examination. They are folks who scoff at questioning, and only want to pay attention to the bits and pieces of information that (in their minds) confirm what they already think.

    Finally, you claimed that people who adopt Pit Bulls are “misguided.” Really? Listen to yourself. Listen to how extraordinarily judgmental you sound. I’m not even going to provide other contextually relevant versions of that statement, people are certainly smart enough to do that on their own.

    Dave Perry, for all intents and purposes, you are a fool. So with that, I’m not going to bother with calling such a flagrantly arrogant and ignorant person anything but a fool. Fool.

    1. Right on. Thank you for calling out Dave on is half truths, misleading and false statements, projection and hypocracy.
      Funny thing about liars….they get mad when you point out they are lying.

    2. Your arguments, Josh, failed you in Riverside and San Bernardino. They didn’t believe them then and hopefully, Aurora won’t believe them either.

  68. I’m sorry, evidence? And I guess in looking at this “evidence”, you throw out the “evidence” that dog bites, including severity of bites, have not gone down AT ALL since the ban was enacted in Aurora? You throw this “evidence” out because it isn’t supported by your belief, but you grasp at media reports of pit bull attacks as evidence that your belief is true. True 21st century logic. Cold hard facts are bogus, but media reports are the gospel. The numbers are the same pre & post ban in Aurora. The only difference between now and pre-ban is that the dogs at the top of the list are no longer dogs that are called pit bulls. This is common sense. The large breed that appears to be the most populated in a given area is going to be the one on the top of the bite list and that is no longer pit bull looking dogs in Aurora. And I say “appears to be” because most people can’t tell a staffordshire terrier from a boxer, mastiff, or Lab, including experts, many of whom admit visual identification of breed is a joke. Throw out the actual numbers and verifiable statistics and throw in media reports instead for your facts. Wow. Can society get any dumber?
    Oh, and I’m NOT a pit bull owner, nor will I ever be. However, I am a concerned citizen who feels its about time we quit sensationalizing dog bites and pointing fingers that lead to death and instead get off our lazy butts and put in real brain power and real work to minimize dog bites and dog attacks, Frankly this pit bull finger pointing is A. not doing anything anywhere in the world to lower bite/attack numbers as has been proven time and time again, as more cities/countries/county overturn their bans due to cost and lack of effectiveness in lowering bite numbers and B. is the easy & lazy way out for people to pat themselves on the back for “taking a stance” while not really having to put in any work to fix a problem. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
    Of course, in this editors case, it’s probably more driven, not by laziness or true belief, but by attracting readers. Which ever stance will attract the most, is the stance he’ll write about. That’s how low journalism has gotten. Bloggers masquerading as journalists.

      1. How about doing like others concerned have done and calling Aurora yourself and asking? Just because you don’t live in Colorado doesn’t mean you can’t pick up a phone. Everyone’s getting the same answers from them. If you care enough to form an opinion on it, don’t take anyone’s word for it. Do the actual legwork that everyone else has done to find the answers and quit expecting people to spoon feed the info to you. At the very least, do a google search where you will find the answers readily available. Aurora’s own fact sheet they used when they discussed changing the ban to drop all but three breeds from the restricted list and add DNA testing for dogs in question is online easily found and includes bite numbers lumped into “restricted breed bites” and “Non restricted breed bites”. Of course, if you call them, they will tell you that the “Non restricted breed bites” is just a guess, since they haven’t kept track. But luckily for us, the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment has compared dog bites in cities with breed bans in Colorado with cities without bans and they have bite stats. So contact them. Contact ColoRADogs which has the info readily available also. Contact any number of humane societies in my state to ask, but don’t wait for me to do YOUR research for you just because you demand it. I’ve spent enough time posting fact sheets on articles that have been posted on by several people on here. They ignored them then and they will ignore them now, so if you want the info, get off your butt and get it, unless it really means nothing to you since you don’t live here and don’t have a stake, in which case, why are you here. 9news just did a report last night with bite numbers from cities without a breed ban and pits were not at the top of the list. That story is online if your too lazy to contact the experts. It’s a media report, so can’t verify the numbers, but if it’s good enough for pro-ban people to use media reports stats when supporting their cause, it’s good enough to use the data when it doesn’t support their cause. I hope you question your own towns politics also and don’t just concentrate on Colorado. Have fun researching.

  69. More fear mongering prose. Opinion columns are such a waste these days. Get off your soap box buddy and stop telling people that their family members are monsters. You would think mankind would have learned the moral lesson about stereotyping and discrimination by now… but not at the Aurora Sentinal I guess. In response to the ridiculous cartoon image trying to equate “vicious dogs” with pit bulls….please watch these videos to see what pit bull owners look like:

    1. Disgusting video. Now go look at the faces of the victims of pit bulls. That child beside you, think of all the other mothers who have sat beside closed caskets with their child inside. Have some feelings for innocent children rather than the breed most noted for killing them. https://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/

  70. Indisputable: 4 white male teenagers killed 25 Colorado residents and wounded 93 others in the last 15 years. Maybe you should institute a ban on white teenagers too. I mean, while you’re on a roll.

  71. There is no such thing as a pit bull bait dog. The dogmen (fighters) laugh at that myth. No dogman will put a pit bull in the ring for training against his champion fighter, he won’t take a chance on his champion being hurt. Bait dogs are for one purpose, to kill, taste the blood. They don’t want another dog who will fight just as strongly as their dog. Bait dogs are an invention of the pit community to solicit sympathy in hopes of pimping off another pit onto an unsuspecting family. Keep your ban, Aurora, don’t end up like the rest of us in this country. Afraid to walk down the street, come out of our houses. Pits are known for home invasion attacks, we aren’t even safe inside our own homes. The question now is not how to save the pit bulls, but rather how to save ourselves from the pit bulls.

  72. Wow Mr. Perry! Just wow. Thanks for that. Everything you said was dead on. The reality is that these dogs don’t belong in society. That may be hard for people to swallow but who cares. They are simply wrong. And it’s time for the sane people to stand up and say enough is enough. Your obsession with this breed type should not put the rest of our communities and pets in danger. And that’s simply what it is: an obsession and with time and professional mental health, you can get over your obsession. But in the meantime, the rest of us shouldn’t have to pay the price for your poor choices and mental health issues.

  73. So you are willing to put owning a particular dog breed type above the health and safety of the rest of the community? Your obsession comes before that? Do you know how narcissistic that is? Humans and their welfare come before a dog. It really is as simple as that. Why don’t all of you pit bull owners buy an island somewhere and you can all live in pit bull heaven and stop foisting your bad choices and obsessions on the rest of us?

  74. It’s interesting to see that the out of state crowd has moved back here as the people of Colorado discuss this respectfully at channel 9 forums, and ask to be allowed to have this conversation without the non-productive and dishonest rants that the usual suspects bring to the table. We are SO proud of all Coloradans who took to forums last night to speak about this issue and their thoughts no matter which side they stand on and handled it with the class and decorum so common is our state.

    1. Oh give it a rest. You are siding with a dog breed type over the safety and public welfare of human beings. At what point do you start to think that maybe you are on the wrong side of this issue and just go away?

  76. Many thanks to Dave Perry for iterating the TRUTH!! Oh, how we love to see some truth about pits in print. So refreshing, your editorial really just made my day and I thank you. Now, just hit delete a bunch of times for all that hate mail you’ll be getting. Know you’re awesome and honest and not afraid to call a spade a spade. That mail is coming from a place of petulance and narcissism anyway. I truly hope the good people of Aurora will be behind you and voting for keeping the restrictions in place and maintaining a safer community for all. Bravo Sir!! Thanks again!!

  77. Daxton’s Friends for Canine Education & Awareness was formed in honor of Daxton Borchardt, who passed away on March 6, 2013 due to severe injuries sustained in a dog attack. Daxton’s Friends would like to educate the public about the importance of understanding dog breeds and how, with proper education and pet care, the number of dog-related incidents can be reduced.

    The American Pit Bull Terrier Breed Description:
    Read more by visiting: https://www.daxtonsfriends.com/american-pit-bull-terrier/

    “The ‘bull and terrier’ type was originally developed in England in the early 19th century. The lineage goes back to the mastiff / molosser types, including what we now call the Olde English Bulldogge, that were used for bear-, bull- and horse-baiting from the 12th through the 18th century. This isn’t the bear-baiting we think of today, when hunters feed bears in order to bring them out in the open to shoot them. Rather, the bear, bull or horse was confined in a public arena where the mastiff ‘bulldogs’ would slowly tear them apart alive for the public’s amusement.

    The ‘sport’ was banned altogether by Act of Parliament in 1835.

    The lovers of blood ‘sports’ turned to dogfighting to satisfy their fancy, breeding the large, mastiff-type bulldogs to smaller working terriers to get dogs both smaller and more agile, easier to keep and to hide, but just as willing to attack and fight to the
    death. With the rise of the kennel clubs and the desire to distinguish dogs by looks and pedigree as well as by performance, this ‘bull and terrier’ type eventually divided into many official breeds. They all share the same ancestry and function, distinguishing themselves mostly by slight differences in appearance.

    The American Pit Bull Terrier is, like all the ‘bully’ breeds, one of this group of descendants of the British ‘bull and terrier’ type fighting bulldogs. Once imported into
    the United States, it was bred up to be bigger again, and again used in baiting animals and in dogfighting. The American Kennel Club (founded 1884) was unwilling to register these fighting dogs, so in 1898 the United Kennel Club was founded specifically to register working pit-fighting dogs and to promote dogfighting. In order to be registered, a dog had to first win three pit fights. The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) became a ‘breed’. As dogfighting declined in popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, Colby (the most famous and prolific breeder of these dogs) began to search for a new market and began promoting the APBT as family pets. This despite the fact that his breeding lines included child killers.

    The American Pit Bull Terrier has a history and bloodline deep rooted in the blood sports of animal baiting and dogfighting. As with all breeds, they retain their original traits. They often to do not accept other animals, especially dogs, and can be extremely aggressive towards them. They may accept animals they are raised
    with, but have been known to kill other family pets even after years of living together happily.

    It is recommended that American Pit Bull Terrier owners have and carry a break stick. A break stick is a device designed to open a Pit Bull type dog’s mouth while it is engaged in fighting. Pit Bull type breeds have a very distinctive fighting style and often
    will latch on their opponent and not let go. They usually will shake the other animal violently when they are latched on. This can cause horrific damage quickly. The break stick was designed by dog fighters to be inserted into the Pit Bull’s mouth and release his grip. The original purpose was to safely end a dog fight. The break stick often is the ONLY thing that will release the dog’s grip. People have been known to hit Pit Bulls with objects such as a bat or even shoot them and the dog still will not let go. Bully Breed owners should always have one handy in case of an emergency. The break stick is not safe to use on other breeds of dogs and is only recommended for dogs in the Pit Bull family that were once used for dog fighting purposes.”

    In North America, from 1982-2013, Pit Bull breeds and mixes have seriously attacked
    2,990 humans that resulted in 1,777 maimings and 275 deaths.

    If Daxton’s Friends is provided substantial evidence that we have shared incorrect information, we will correct or retract statements. We welcome feedback and invite you to share your thoughts about our organization. Please e-mail us at DaxtonsFriends@gmail.com.

  78. Yet another example of out of state people trying to insert their influence into Colorado’s politics…..right here on this comment page and every other one concerning pit bulls in Aurora on the Sentinel. For shame….for shame.

  79. Dave Perry you got it all right on the money! KUDOS! Coloradogs poster on this thread and others has been found to be a person who doesn’t want to get a real job. They want to breed pitbulls in Aurora and sell them out of state. Untaxed organized crime for those who don’t care about the million unwanted overbred pitbulls. Nothing about pitbull advocacy is what it appears. Its all about MONEY. We have been down this road before with big tobacco using stars and programs targeting gulliable youth to dupe the majority of the public into smoking. There is a reason they pay stars to peddle pitbulls instead of poodles: Dog fighting is a lucrative international organized untaxed crime for the sadistic degenerates that don’t want to get a real job. Keep them and their gang related violence OUT. Keep the ban.

  80. Pitbull owners blocked a memorial for canine attack victims in Grand Rapids Michigan this September and showed how they hate the first amendment rights of Americans and want the truth about the dogs that kill the most CENSORED. They laughed and joked and used the memorial as a PHOTO op just like they do online when someone is mauled or killed by a pitbull. Who could stoop so low? Do you want these kind of people living near you?

  81. The American Pit Bull Terrier (HISTORY OF FIGHTING DOGS Series) Paperback

    by Joseph L. Colby

    ISBN-13: 978-1846642562

    Originally published in 1936, this book is extremely rare in its early editions. Hugely informative and in-depth, it is a complete treatise on the breed covering the entire field, with particular emphasis on dog-fighting.

  82. Journal of Interpersonal Violence

    Volume 21 Number 12 December 2006

    Ownership of High-Risk (“Vicious”) Dogs as a Marker for Deviant Behaviors

    Implications for Risk Assessment

    The analysis revealed that owners of HR (high risk) dogs had significantly more criminal convictions and traffic citations in all categories except crimes involving children.

    Owners of HRL dogs were 7.9 times more likely to have had at least one aggressive conviction than owners of LRL dogs, t(164) = 2.66, p < .000; 2.6 times more likely to have been convicted of domestic violence, t(164) = 1.83, p < .000; 2.6 times more likely to have been convicted of illegal use of a firearm, t(164) = 1.61, p < .001; 11.9 times more likely to be convicted of a crime involving alcohol, t(164) = 2.94, p < .000; 5.3 times more likely to be convicted on drug charges, t(164) = 2.97, p < .000; 3.5 times more likely to be cited with a minor traffic violation, t(164) = 3.69, p < .000; and 6.6 times more likely to be cited with a major traffic violation, t(164) = 2.70, p < .000.

    Professionals such as child and adult protection investigators, law enforcement officers, pediatricians and medical practitioners, home visiting professionals, domestic violence investigators, and public health nurses may find it useful to be informed about the breed and specific behaviors of the dogs that share the environment with their clients. First, be aware that the dog breed, especially owning a Pit Bull, may be a risk marker.

  83. I can’t stand dogs at all, especially pits. I wish we could ban them from the country.

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