
(Beth Clifton collage)
Going to the root of things is always a good idea if you really intend to change things.

(Beth Clifton collage
Breeds in dogs, just like races in humans (2)(3), are an inescapable reality, and in dogs this reality is not limited to appearance, but also concerns behavior.
Genes versus training

(Beth Clifton collage)
“No bad dogs, but only bad masters”?

(Beth Clifton collage)
“Unpredictable & incredibly violent”

(Beth Clifton collage)
(See Why pit bulls will break your heart, by Beth Clifton.)
Statistical black hole
- Registration of dogs is not required in each of the municipalities of the province.
- The application of this obligation, when it exists, is often uneven and incomplete, as it is not mandatory to report the breed of the registered animal.
- Unlike in much of the U.S., police officers, doctors, and veterinarians are not required to report bites unless rabies is suspected.
- The right of veterinarians to secrecy in the case of an aggressive dog is also a substantial obstacle.
- To make things worse, since all dogs are legally equal, some mass media, CBC for instance, for egalitarian reasons no longer name the breeds of canine delinquents involved in a biting incident.

Trooper. See Why pit bulls will break your heart.
Without knowing the population of each breed, the number of bites as well as the breed involved, it is almost impossible to find out precisely which breeds are the most dangerous. This lack of statistics might be good for business, but it is also a flagrant flight from responsibility as well as a denial of breed reality and the importance of biology in behavior.
The case of Toronto
Pseudoscience is their creed

(Beth Clifton collage)
(See 2018 dog breed survey: at least 41% of U.S. pit bull population are seeking homes and 57 dog attack deaths & 645 disfigurements in 2017, led by pit bulls.)
Root causes

(Beth Clifton collage)
Society must choose

Charles Danten
Charles Danten earned his undergraduate degree in agricultural sciences program at MacDonald College, McGill University, and his veterinary science degree from the University of Montreal. A practicing veterinarian for 18 years, Danten now works as a scientific translator.
His book Un vétérinaire en colère, originally published in Quebec in 1999, was reissued in 2008 in Spanish as Un veterinario encolerizado, and then appeared in English as Slaves of Our Affection: The Myth of the Happy Pet in 2015.
Charles Danten speaks the truth and provides references to support it. As a result, he should prepare to be villified.
Pit bull advocates steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that the pit bull is any different from any other dog. In fact, as pointed out in the article dogs are very different and vary by breed. In fact, they are quite possibly the most plastic of species having been altered by man into a vast array of physical and behavioral types.
While I can at least understand the pit fanatics, I am shocked and dismayed that this same position is held by humane organizations and shelters, who promote the adoptions of pit bulls of unknown genetic and behavioral backgrounds as a viable choice for a pet. When tragedies occur they shield themselves from liability by saying the dog passed a behavioral test, when the behavioral genetics of the dog breed would argue against the validity of the test for this breed of dog.
Wait for the shit storm sir.
Thank you! I was attacked by 2 bullies in January 2018, for simply walking in the street. The owners fled their home 2 days later, I assume fearing legal consequences. I could have died. I had and have severe injuries. Moments after the attack, a school bus carrying approximately 20 seven-year-olds pulled up and released the children at the exact spot where I was attacked. Better me than them, but it still hurt, should never have happened, and will happen again.
Ms. Cleek has expressed my own thoughts eloquently. And I share her consternation over humane organizations’ seeming stubborn refusal to accept that too many of these unpredictable dogs have maimed and killed other living beings to justify protecting and promoting the breed(s). I am a longtime supporter of Best Friends Animal Society, deeply appreciating most of the work they do and the inroads they have made in the reduction of innocent lives taken in our nation’s animal control centers, humane societies and other shelters. Their position is that they treat others as they wish to be treated themselves — living what some refer to/are familiar with as the “Golden Rule”. I also believe in this and whenever possible, practice it. But I do not believe in protecting killers, maimers and potential killers/maimers at the cost of the victims’ lives and health. So we must agree to disagree on the pitbull issue.
I hope Animals 24-7 will report on additional responses to this article. Perhaps the article had been shared elsewhere and more responses are there.
I have 30 years in the field experience regarding animal rescue, spay neuter and responding to animal complaints as a volunteer.
Several years ago I stopped walking with my two older dogs along a rural one lane road due to three pit bulls chained about a half mile from my house. In spite of the fact I never walked close to or past the house our ACO at the time, who I knew, had been to that property and he told me if the pit bulls were to break loose and ended up attacking my dogs I would never get them off my dogs or off of me unless I shot them with a weapon powerful enough to kill them. He told me pepper spray would be useless. Why should any citizen have to live like that?
We are warned about and told to ‘watch out’ for serial killers, child predators, robberies, etc. For a short period of time we were even told to be on the lookout for a black bear wandering around our area. Our hands are already full ‘watching out’ for danger. Now we have be on guard against pit bull attacks. Something is seriously wrong.