Is a pitbull dog dangerous ?
Students of journalism are often taught that if a dog bites a man, that is not news; but if a man bites a dog that is definitely a juicy news item. The example is alright as far as the definition of news is concerned - because such stories where a man has attacked and bitten a dog are never seen. On the other hand, the fact that a dog has bitten a man should not be considered news is being proved wrong time
How dangerous and life threatening this
ferocious dog's attack can be is vouchsafed by the following fact that there is
a voluntary organisation in the USA by the name of The Pit-Bull Victims'
Foundation.' This foundation helps a person mauled and mutilated by a pit-bull
dog to receive all the help required. The wound inflicted by this genetically
violent dog's terrible jaw is so horrific that a person who suffers it has to
treat it for months in order to recover from it. More often than not, the
person has to undergo corrective plastic surgery also. Many a times, a victim
does need psychiatric treatment too to help him/her come to terms with the
mutilated physique and the trauma of the attack. During the long drawn out
treatment, it is quite possible that the person may lose his/her job too. It is
the responsibility of the The PitBull Victims' Foundation' to rehabilitate such
people and give them back a semblance of their old life. The organisation
collects funds through open appeals for this cause. It is also going to erect a
memorial for the people who have lost their lives to pit-bull attacks.
The reason for this dog's
violent nature actually lies on the doorstep of humans. Years ago there were no
pit-bulls. None of the 114 types of pit-bulls existed. About 15 million years
ago an animal known as Tomarctus (picture above) with small legs and a long tail evolved out
of which animals with two different genii were born. One genus had species of
violent animals like wolves and foxes while the other genus had animals that
could be easily tamed, i.e. dogs. As time passed each genus was divided even
further. Only one of the genera was such that all the types of dogs could be
tamed easily.
These were of four types. The first was
the one whose descendants evolved as sheep dogs. They knew how to mind the
sheep grazing in the meadows. From yet another type after a long number of years
of evolution the hardworking breed of dog, the husky, evolved. The husky helped
the Eskimos to pull their sleds. The third kind of dogs were themselves
hunters, the blood hounds, grey hounds, and fox hounds etc. while the fourth
kind of dog breed had heavy and strong jowls like bull dogs, mastiffs, St.
Bernard, bull terriers, etc.
When the Stone Age man inhabiting Europe
befriended dogs for the first time, they both had more or less the same
interest at heart. Both, dog and man were hunters; therefore, they complemented each other. The dog would sniff
out the prey with its keen sense of smell and then man would trap the prey.
This animal proved most helpful, so much so that the breeders of the bygone
eras bred different types of dogs for hunting various types of animals. These
offspring were quite different physically as well as mentally from their
ancestors. For example, eight thousand years ago the Egyptians bred the
greyhound that could run and give chase even to the swiftest of deer. When the lineage
of this dog progressed further the pedigreed dog of the Saluki kind was born.
(FYI: Saluki is an Arabian word which means of a noble birth or family). This
dog which had evolved due to careful, correct and controlled breeding was the
first of its kind in the world. The Greeks developed the mastiff which was
ferocious enough to attack deer and challenge lions.
After these preliminary experiments
proved successful, humans did not look back upon trying out new ways and means
of breeding better or more ferocious types of dogs. The ancestors of the
Tomarctus were only four, but due to selective breeding man created a horde of
dogs of different breeds and took the count up to 114. Man succeeded in
inculcating qualities -mental as well as physical-according to his needs in
every breed he developed. Nevertheless, had the breeding been done
thoughtlessly O instead of extremely thoughtfully then bad qualities would have
developed in lieu of good ones.
This is just what happened in the case of
pit-bulls. Years ago in England, the third generation of the dog known as
mastiff produced squat dogs with hair-trigger tempers known as bull dogs. It
was famous for its explosive temperament and high-degree muscle power and was a
favourite of farmers – cowherds and shepherds. The prefix bull' was added
because sometimes these dogs would even control bulls that attacked their
owners. When a bull taken perforce to the slaughter house would revolt the
brave, obstinate and pugnacious bulldog would take a grip on its nose and not
let go until the bull would calm down, surrender itself and allow the owner to
tie it up securely.
These bulldogs were mated with old white
terrier dogs of England. While the bulldogs were extremely strong, the old
white terriers were very swift; therefore, the resultant progeny that came to
be known as the bull terrier had both strength and speed. On the other hand,
the negative result was that the temperament of the dog was twice as bad since
it had got its explosive nature from both the bull dog and the old white
terrier. The English people who loved to gamble got exactly what they wanted
due to this trait. They started organising dog fights between two bull 7
terriers. This duel would always be arranged with a 'fight to finish' point of
view in which the heavily wounded and profusely bleeding bull terrier would
eventually lose its life. The ones who had put their money on the winner would
leave with a packet. Since such dog fights would be arranged in a pit dug in
the ground with the spectators sitting around in a circle, some people started
calling these fighter dogs as 'pit bull terriers' but breeders stuck simply to
'bull terrier.'
As shown in the photographs here, the
breeding line did not stop at the bull terrier. Now breeding was done
thoughtlessly instead of being done carefully. Consequently, from generation to
generation respectively three new species viz. the Jack Russell, Levriero and
Staffordshire terrier were developed and their cumulative faults and
viciousness was given to the pitbull as a legacy. Anger and cruelty were the
main faults. The pit-bull entered the USA with settlers who emigrated from
England, where the numbers of these harbingers of death was going to reach
20,00,000.
Today, the pit-bull is responsible for
setting up new records of human fatalities with each passing year. Apart from
its explosive temperament, another major problem of this dog is that there is
no saying when it will suddenly lose its temper and attack. Even when not
disturbed in any way, it will suddenly attack an innocent passerby and bite so
hard that it pulls out lumps of flesh. Sometimes it can even attack its own
master. The pit-bull itself has no idea about which moment the devil of
violence captures its body. Once angered its outlook is even more ferocious and
terrible than an attacking cheetah.
Sometime back, in June 2013, a six-year
old boy had gone to visit his grandparents and had played with the pet dog for
quite some time. The dog also was quite friendly and playful. The excited child
then felt like riding the pit-bull and tried to get onto its back. No sooner
did the boy exert some pressure than the volcanic temper of the pit-bull
erupted in full force and turning around it pulled the child off, attacked and mauled
it. The dog bit the boy in various places and wounded him terribly. The boy
finally succumbed to his injuries. During interrogation the family members
informed the police officials that the dog had never displayed such a fierce
temperament at any time before the incident.
Truth to tell, having such a dog as a pet
is nothing short of sleeping with a live hand grenade next to one's pillow.
However, there is no dearth of people feeling proud at being owners of pit-bull
dogs. For the Gen-Next a pit-bull is a status symbol. They think that they look
impressive when they take their pit-bull for a walk with an elephantine chain
tied around its neck to control it. They feel that they receive VIP treatment
when other dog owners as well as passersby move out of their way and give them
a wide berth. Quite a few shop owners also have these satanic dogs as night
watchers. Drug peddlers as well as drug addicts hide these intoxicating
substances in the collars of pit-bulls.
The root cause of the pitbull's negative
qualities lies in the reticular activating system of its brain. Nevertheless,
it is a fact that the brain is in the end connected to genes and so the
breeding done thoughtlessly has made this dog the owner of all the wrong types
of genes. It has so happened that the part of the pit-bull's brain that should
produce L-Tyrosine the substance that controls stress levels is inactive and
does not produced the requisite compound. On the other hand this defective
region produces an anesthesia-like effect and renders the pit-bull resistant to
pain and increases its pain threshold.
This brain defect produces two separate
problems. Should the dog be stressed it is not even advisable to look at it
directly for even a short while leave alone touching it or pulling its tail
playfully. If one is having a loud conversation with someone, crossing the path
of a pit-bull quietly or starting up a motorbike that is parked near it; it is
quite probable that the pit-bull will live up to its name and behave accordingly
which unfortunately is very dangerous. The skewed biochemistry of its brain
troubles the pit-bull for an average of 15 minutes. It is not possible to
control or stop it during this time, which again is quite another problem. It
is useless to even beat it with a stout stick since due to its genetic defect
it does not even feel pain to a great extent. A normal dog will accept defeat
after receiving two or three hefty blows from a stick and retreat, while the
pit-bull is fit for only a bullet. And then again the bullet should prove fatal
the first time itself since it does not give much importance to a flesh wound
due to the fact that it does not feel pain to a great extent.
A genetic defect concerning body language
is also seen in this dog. Like humans, animals cannot express their feelings
through conversations and so they resort to body language. When a normal dog
wants to play with its human master, it gives itself up to the master. It
accepts man's mastery and may even playfully attack the master and try to nip
him, but the dog never forgets who is boss and does not cross the limits. This
is its body language which shows that it does not have any other intention
except teasing. Its master also invites his pet to play with his body language.
Unfortunately, the pit-bull does not know
this language since its genetic blueprint is faulty. Even if the dog is called
in a slightly raised voice or in another tone it sees a challenge. (Photo,
below) A teasing sort of pampering may seem like hurting it. Thus man has to
bear its sudden attacks many a times. During an attack the sight of
human blood and flesh actually aggravates the dog even more. Quite some time
back in the American states of Michigan and Atlanta two pit-bulls mauled and
killed a couple of children in separate incidents. Even after the children had
died, both the pit-bulls that had been maddened by the smell of flesh and the
sight of blood continued to gore the dead bodies of the children.
Even though the number of fatalities has
been increasing every year there are plenty of pit-bull lovers in the USA. Just
as scientists grow in America there is no dearth of perverts in this country.
All the appeals to legally ban this dog have proved vain due to such people's
intervention. Of course, even if the ban is imposed, its successful
implementation is quite another matter. Many years ago all the fifty states of the US
had declared the fatal dogfights that happened for gambling purposes as
illegal, but even then those who would organise the sport underground did not
heed the ban. Today there is a ban on pit-bull fights only in a handful of
states including Miami and Denver.
Whatever the behaviour of the western countries is towards the pit-bull but the terror that this dog has spread gives us only one message that one cannot fool around with Nature. One should let the animal created by Nature remain in its original form, since in the long process of evolution that animal has achieved its latest form of the present day. Its mental and physical adaptations are also according to the environment and atmosphere of the Earth. Each defect is taken care of and good qualities are enhanced. If man takes up the mantle of evolution nothing constructive is going to happen but naturally the result is going to be calamitous.
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