what's the one thing that would help dogs the most

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Lucille

I am the Sock- Bandit!!!

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 11:28am PST


	Better Humans. The beginning of all the positive changes on these lists comes from compassion toward all creatures great and small.

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Trigger

*Blackdog*

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 11:35am PST


	Another way to look at BSL Adam... Some dogs, because of the way they are handled, end up being "bad" dogs that hurt others, and your original thought is because of that those breeds should be extinguished. On that same line of thought: Some people, because of the way they were raised, end up being "bad" people that commit crimes that hurt others, so the parallel would be then...to extinguish the human race? Neither scenario would be fair to the good representation of either species. Sure Trig has a "job" (and someday Hoyt will too), but Cooper and Fynny sure don't in the same respect by a long shot lol. Doesn't matter, they're still worth more than their weight in gold in my eyes because I love them and they're a part of my life. The owner of a bully breed feels no differently I'm sure.

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Trigger

*Blackdog*

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 11:46am PST


	To answer the original question: EDUCATION. Would help dogs eat better, live better, be happier, owners train smarter, stop the pet overpopulation problem and better manage shelters, pair owners up with more appropriate breeds for them, stop the suffering of strays etc. etc. etc.

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Nicky

it's my party &- i'll cry if i- want to

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 1:40pm PST


	It's fine to say pits aren't just for you, but it's just a different thing calling for their complete eradication. Adam, I believe the media does it simply for sensationalism. A story about a pit bull attack draws people in much the same way tabloid stories about celebrities do. Edited by author Thu Dec 16, '10 1:41pm PST

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Winnie Mae

Just let me jump- it!

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 2:17pm PST


	Better Humans. The beginning of all the positive changes on these lists comes from compassion toward all creatures great and small. AMEN Lucille Agreed with Trigger. Education.

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Echo

mischief is my- middle name

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 5:04pm PST


	I think the number one thing that would help animals would be COMPASSION coupled with EDUCATION. They have to go hand in hand or else you end up with a hoarding situation, too much compassion and too little education. After the compassionate people are educated about dogs, then the proper LAWS should be put in place to protect the dogs and then ENFORCED. If the laws that are in place now were actually enforced, then byb, irresponsible breeders, puppy mills, dog fighters etc... could be shut down. I also think that if ALL dog fighting operations were shut down (what a miracle that would be!) today, then the lives all animals involved would change instantly for the better. Dogs wouldn't have to be ripping each other to shreds to please some psyco, innocent bait dogs/other animals wouldn't be fed to the champion fighters, failed fighters wouldn't be inhumanely executed........ I could go on. But the only thing that could change this is if the people involved actually opened their eyes to the carnage they're causing, had a change of heart(compassion), and turned themselves and their dogs over to authorities. But that's not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately. If people had compassion, you wouldn't see skeletal dogs out on thick huge chains shivering in the cold on a muddy ground next to a poor excuse for a dog house. If people had compassion, you wouldn't see children setting dogs on fire for the fun of it. If people had compassion, you wouldn't see dozens of dogs crammed into rusting rabbit cages and forced to breed their lives away, if people had compassion you wouldn't see puppy mills dogs with destroyed voice boxes and all manner of diseases..........I have to stop.

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Valentine

I has a happy.- It is for you.

Barked: Thu Dec 16, '10 6:50pm PST


	Adam, most dog bite statistics are difficult to decipher. In the U.S., dog bite stats include scratches (with nails), puppy nips, bites by dogs who've been injured (struck by cars, etc.), and other incidents which don't (IMO) qualify as an attack. In the U.K., statistics show that dog bites (by any breed) have actually increased by 12% since the DDA was put in place, BUT...: U.K. stats include any contact with a dog that required medical treatment - including kids who were knocked to the ground by an exuberant dog... Very difficult to justify the condemnation of a group of breeds based on those sorts of criteria.

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Goodman

Be Cool

Barked: Fri Dec 17, '10 1:37am PST


	Here in Israel, there is a BSL against 8 breeds, including Rottweiler, Bull Terrier, Tosa Inu and APBT. However, the dog bite statistics that are collected by the government here don't separate dog/dog bites and dog/human bites, so it's impossible to say by them if these laws have changed anything. And even with the BSL, I still see many young pitties and rotties although breeding and importing them is illegal. Furthermore, I have seen ads for Cane Corso puppies (which are not under the BSL) advertising them as "tough dog that where almost in the BSL!" Not exactly a selling point I want to see for any breed :-(

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Daddy

Changing one- mind at a time - APBT style

Barked: Fri Dec 17, '10 11:19am PST


	"Better Humans. The beginning of all the positive changes on these lists comes from compassion toward all creatures great and small." Lucille, you took the words right out of my mouth. "And what other use do pit bulls have? They can be therapy dogs sure, but that's about it besides just pets." They make great search and rescue and therapy dogs because of their general love of people. They make great bomb detection, drug sniffing dogs because of their working drive and eagerness to please their owner, and they are used as a catch dogs to control dangerous wild boar populations when they go onto private land and put people at risk because that's one of the things they were bred to do. MOST dogs today are "just pets" though, maybe we should stop breeding working breeds because most of them are kept as pets. "I can stand and like APBTs but I won't have one as long as I have other animals and/or children." That's your prerogative. I live in a household with an APBT, an APBT mix with guinea pigs, the APBT previously lived in a home with small children and three other APBTs without any serious issues other than extreme curiosity on Daddy's part. But I know my dog and my mother's dog, their temperaments and how they react with other animals. I of course don't leave them unsupervised but I wouldn't with any breed because dogs are predatory by nature. I also wouldn't leave a Labrador alone with children or smaller animals for the same reasons, them being powerful and being a natural predator like all dogs. "APBTs purpose was always to fight. Maybe some rodent catching too but not really. " The American Kennel Club states that both the American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier both were originally bred to take down large game and work on farms pulling heavy equipment, and then unsavory folk began breeding them for bull baiting. Even the UKC states their original purpose was bull baiting, then being used for large game, then dog fighting once bull baiting was banned. Then they both state that there was a big demand for them as pets and show, and they quickly became a popular American pet and working dog. You also might like to know that MOST terrier breeds have a history of being used for dog fighting, many bull breeds have a history of fighting bulls and larger animals, and numerous Mastiff and working breeds also have histories being used for dog fighting. Even some popular pet breeds now like the Jack Russell Terrier and Boston Terrier have been bred and used during certain times for fighting other dogs.

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Sandy Baby- ♥

I may look- little, but I'm- ALL dog!

Barked: Thu Dec 30, '10 11:43am PST


	Beat me to it, Daddy. American pit bull terriers, even to this day, serve many purposes. Do not forget that though they are terriers, they are also workers. They make great service dogs, there are some in the K9 industry working as police dogs, some of them still work on the farm, and they also make great family dogs. The American pit bull terrier, as Daddy pointed out, has been used for a lot more than just "fighting" throughout history. And where it concerns fighting, many other breeds have been used. The pit bull definitely is not the only one, and thinking that he is, I've always found, isn't fair to the other poor dogs that go through it. Like the Akita, for just one example. If BSL were to eliminate pit bulls in their entirety, dog fighters that do own pit bulls would either a) move onto another "fighting breed" or b) find a new breed entirely. The solution isn't banning the breeds they use, the solution is cracking down on them as often as possible and getting as many dogs as possible out of the situation. I agree with many about education and compassion. See, most dog problems all boil down to the same roots: humans. We wouldn't have puppy mills if more humans were educated and had compassion for dogs. We wouldn't have BSL, either. There are a lot of educated and caring people on Dogster, but there just aren't as many offline. Too often I speak to a friend who bought a puppy from a puppy mill, or have a friend tell me my pit bull is dangerous just because the media said it was so. I try to educate as often as I can. Because for everyone that won't listen, there will be someone who will. Sadly, you can't always teach someone compassion. That is the hardest lesson to teach, I find.