3 dog attacks made the news this weekend in Philly and South Jersey papers. All 3 were reported to be "pit bull attacks". The BSL hysteria is already in the air.
The after-effects of these attacks remain to be seen, but RPB would like to take a moment to remind everyone that dogs are animals, with instincts and behaviors unique to their species. As a whole, dogs have much more to fear from humans than humans have to fear from dogs. Having said that, dogs can and do bite, and oftentimes cause serious harm or, extremely rarely, even death (there has not been a fatal Pit Bull attack in PA in the past 45 years; there HAVE been 19 other attacks, but NONE were committed by Pit Bulls). An argument between humans, erratic behavior, unsupervised children and dogs, can all be contributing factors in attacks. Spending time researching attacks, and gaining even a rudimentary grasp of canine behavior, can help one make sense of such incidents, and shed much light on the how's and why's, and more importantly the prevention of dog attacks.
Using a breed of dog as a scapegoat while ignoring normal dog behavior, contributing abuse/neglect, and human-canine interaction patterns, as well as the usual common denominators in dog attacks, will simply mean more human pain and suffering, not to mention persecution of innocent animals.
1 comment:
Thus far, Philadelphia Animal Control has received 38 dogs surrendered, many of which cited the news stories as the reason for surrender. They are desperate for foster and adoptive homes as they are now over full and will have to euthanize for space tonight.
Post a Comment