MUSKEGON, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Like in many other communities across the country, the city of Muskegon had restrictions on the ownership of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes including having to post “Beware of Dog” signs, getting liability insurance, and having to walk them with a muzzle. However, their new dangerous animals ordinance does not target these dogs any longer. The new Muskegon ordinance currently defines a dangerous animal based on behavior and not breed.
Lana Carson, Executive Director of Pound Buddies animal rescue and shelter in Muskegon told mLive about the ordinance change in Muskegon, “It’s about time” and says the Pit Bull laws are antiquated, archaic and contain false narratives.
The city of Muskegon obviously agrees. Muskegon City Manager Jonathan Seyferth said, “It’s a step toward destigmatizing one breed of pet. Really, any dog can be dangerous, particularly if it’s trained to be dangerous.”
The American Kennel Club (AKC) doesn’t even have a definition for a “Pit Bull.” The breed is not recognized by them. Nevertheless, local government leaders across the country have acted as self-appointed judges and juries of these dogs over the years. In doing so, they legislate their existence, demonize them and some outright ban them from their communities.
The Pit Bull description is often used to generally describe a dog with physical characteristics of having a muscular body and broad head. What most people commonly describe as a Pit Bull is a characterization of what the AKC calls the “American Pit Bull Terrier” and it’s a breed that they label as good natured, confident and smart.
But American Pit Bull Terriers aren’t the only dogs that often fit the description of what people call Pit Bulls. According to the Animal Foundation, other breeds are lumped into the group as well including the American Staffordshire Terrier, the English Bull Terrier, the American Bulldog and the Boxer. And a search for a “Pit Bull” at the Petfinder website will turn up all kinds of different looking dogs.
That’s because shelter staff, as well as veterinarians, have been found to be poor at correctly identifying dog breeds. In a 2017 study by the University of Florida, 5,922 canine stakeholders (breeders, veterinarians, trainers, groomers, animal shelter staff, vet techs, etc.) tried to identify dog breeds and when their guesses were compared to DNA, they correctly identified a prominent breed an average of only 27% of the time, with only 15% of the dogs being correctly identified more than 70% of the time. People, including experts, make their identifications of dogs solely on the dog’s looks and their own histories and interactions with dogs.
So if dog experts can’t identify a breed, why do our governments think they can? And why do they think they have the right to regulate something that has no basis in science or facts – and at the same time, often sentencing these dogs to death. Once labeled a Pit Bull in many animal shelters across the country, these dogs are often euthanized because of the shelter’s policy or the lack of adoptions.
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According to the website Rescue Dog Home, “Regardless of whether a dog really is a Pit Bull or not, being labeled one can have disastrous consequences for the dog. Many more Pit Bulls come into the shelter than are adopted.”
They go on to say, “Pit Bulls come into the shelter more than any other breed, and they are euthanized in the greatest numbers as well. Only one in 600 Pit Bulls in shelters will win the lottery and find a forever home. Around 33% of dogs coming into shelters are labeled Pit Bulls. In large cities, as many as 40%-65% of dogs entering shelters are Pits. Around 75% of municipal shelters euthanize Pit Bulls immediately upon intake. It is estimated that one million Pits are euthanized every year. That’s nearly 3000 Pit Bulls every day. Some estimates are even higher. Nationally, it is estimated that there is a 93% euthanasia rate for Pit Bulls.”
And those Pit Bulls who make it out of the animal shelter and into good homes, can still find themselves being demonized and regulated with rules and financial mandates for their owners.
So where did these dogs come from and what happened to the once revered Pit Bull?
According to the Animal Foundation, the term “Pit Bull” originated in the British Isles in the early 1800s when the barbaric sport of “bull baiting” arose. Bull baiting involved tying a bull to an iron stake that gave him about a 30-foot radius in which to move, blowing the bull’s nose full of pepper to enrage the animal, and then setting dogs on him to immobilize the bull for public entertainment. The sport was outlawed in 1835, but it was from this sport the term “Pit Bull” came into being. The dogs used in the sport were English bulldogs and then English bulldogs crossed with terriers.
According to the website Bark, “Many immigrants brought their treasured Pit Bull dogs over as part of their families. Though the dogs were bred for fighting sports, they were also incredibly intelligent and friendly.” They were used for a variety of jobs that included “farming, protecting the family from predators, watching the children, and providing companionship. As the popularity of newspapers and media grew throughout the years, many of these dogs were brought to attention for the number of exemplary deeds they performed.” It’s also been reported that they were called “nanny dogs” as they watched children while families were out working in the fields or busy with other work.
In the early 1900’s, Pit Bull Terriers were generally regarded as America’s national dog and they were used on U.S. recruiting posters in World War I and World War II as well as being used as corporate mascots. Even presidents and famous people had Pit Bull Terrier-like dogs including Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, General Patton, Humphrey Bogart, Dr. Seuss, Fred Astaire and many others past and present.
Pit Bulls continued to be popular pets in America and were considered to be gentile giants until the 1970’s and ’80’s when a movement arose to get rid of dog fighting. The Pit Bull became the scapegoat of the dog fighting issue instead of the humans doing the crime. The Pit Bull’s size, jaw strength, high tolerance to pain and loyalty to their owners has led to them be used in dog fighting. The publicity of former football player Michael Vick’s arrest and conviction for dog fighting added to the demonization of the breed.
In addition to Pit Bulls being portrayed as dangerous dogs because of their use in dog fighting, attacks by Pit Bulls also continue to appear in media stories quite frequently. The media, and most people hearing about the attacks, appear to blame the dogs and not the owner of the dogs. The owner’s lack of control over their dogs and their handling of them, including purposely training them to be aggressive, is rarely discussed. The news media accounts of Pit Bulls biting and attacking people are always written in a matter that demonizes the breed.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are 4.5 million people in the United States bitten by dogs every year. A 2019 article from the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) says that “Pit Bulls” are responsible for the highest percentage of reported bites across all studies (22.5%) followed by mixed breeds (21.2%) and German Shepherds (17.8%).
But who are the ones identifying the biters as “Pit Bulls” – and why are the breeds being pointed to as the determinate of the dog’s aggression and not the owner?
Bronwen Dickey, the author of “Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon” appeared in an interview with Global Animal and said, “The breed identifications are often not accurate.” He goes on explain a more likely cause for dog bites and attacks, “A study on fatalities between 2000-2009 in the journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that in over 80 percent of those cases there were four or more significant factors related to the care and control of the dog. These were dogs that had not been socialized; were large and sexually intact; and had no relationship to the person who was killed. In other words, perfect storm of factor upon factor.”
The city of Muskegon figured that out. How many others will?
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