Trip20 said:
I don't feel they're all the same... but these dog threads degenerate into breed bashing that is not necessary.
I know certain breeds have natural aggressive tendancies, where others have much less of the same. Your correct, to ignore this, one would be kidding oneself.
But, so much of the above really relies on the owner, as your proof positive of this. Your German Shepard (I'm assuming) wasn't a rampant killer... you raised it properly.
I wasn't flaming you, just trying to steer this away from an unproductive debate.
We stand up against the use of the term "assault weapon" stating they're not more deadly than any other firearm.
While guns are inanimate objects - and their use is SOLEY dependant upon their owner, I feel dogs should be treated the same way.
Even though a dogs own natural tendancies are a factor (where a gun does not have this factor), when owned and used properly, "aggressive breeds" (assault weapons) should be no more deadly than what is considered a "safe breed" (non-assault weapon) .
Trip,
This is not a flame and I am not bashing so please don't take this as a personal attack. Certain breeds, like certain weapons, ARE DEADLIER!
If a chihuahua got loose and mauled someone, then could just punt it into the next county. If a pit bull or rottweiler jumped you, that would be a different story altogether. We are not only talking about power and size, which indicates the animal's physical ability to kill, but genetics and behavioral characteristics. Why do pit bulls have such a bad rap? Because they are agressive dogs. Are there nice pits out there. I'm sure there are. Pits like Sharpeis were commonly used in dog fights. This affects their personalities. How many cases have you heard of labrador maulings? I'm sure they are a lot fewer because the breed is more protective by nature rather than agressive. A lab can be trained to be agressive and would probably be agressive if constantly abused, but pits have to be trained not to be agressive. I have an 85 lb. female akita. Akitas are also on the agressive dog breed list. She has never been abused and has been treated very well by my wife and myself since she was born. She will, however, tear apart any dog that gives her crap. That is in her nature. Akitas also have tremendous prey drive and love to chase things. They may just want to play, but pouncing and biting (especially when we are talking about an 85 lb. dog) is not considered playing when people are on the receiving end.
My point is that too many people out there don't invest a sufficient amount of time training and socializing these powerful breeds to make them "safe" around people. I feel owners of these powerful and traditionally agressive breeds should have special licensing for their dogs which can only be attained through special training and socializing classes. A specialist should then evaluate whether the dog should ever be allowed off leash or contained in an inspected and safe cage. This may seem draconian and like those anti-gun people but dogs can bite on their own while guns cannot shoot on their own. At the same time, guns cannot escape on their own and wander freely. My dog climbed on my AC unit and jumped my fence. Dogs are smart and, with enough time, will find any escape routes that exist.
As for certain guns being deadlier, would you like to face a person armed with a machine gun while you only had a mouse gun? Certain guns are deadlier. Do I feel that we need to limit our personal freedoms for the safety of society on a whole? To some degree, yes. For those wanting to own assualt weapons, they should have additional screening and licensing because they have a greater resoinsibility to keep those weapons out of the hands of people whould should not have them. If these steps are taken further, I know they can be used by gun grabbers, but there has to be a balance between just letting the general public have access to whatever they want to get their hands on.
I am ready for some bashing now so I'll just put on my flame suit. If you guys are honest with yourselves, you will find some truth in my comments.
I will tell here only what I think we can further agree upon:
Still, there's no doubt that some of them, without provocation, and off their territory - will go after you; has happened to me more than once. If you are small and/or panic, that is really, really bad news.
