4/16    Last night while out walking my dog I had my first ever encounter with
        a pitbull.  Idiot head teen actually let the thing off leash as I went
        by with my dog on leash.  The pitbull beelined for my dog from about
        20 yards away and attacked.  I kicked at it many many times and nailed
        it hard half a dozen times but it ignored blows hard enough to lift it
        into the air and drop it 2 feet back.  Eventually the stupid owner
        finally stepped in and grabbed it while it was trying to latch onto my
        dog.  I was about half a second away from grabbing the collar and
        gouging its eyes out with my fingers at that point.  I'm a dog person
        closely involved with dog raising and training for many years but I've
        never met a pitbull before.  After last night I now firmly believe the
        entire breed should be destroyed.  If you're considering buying or
        raising a pitbull you should know that in CA as of this year you are
        now legally responsible for the full damages your pitbull inflicts.
        If your pitbull kills or injures another dog, the monetary penalty is
        no longer the replacement street value of the victim but you can be
        sued blind for the standard array of emotional damages, loss of
        companionship, full medical bills, funeral costs and everything else.
        If you know someone with a pitbull let them know how the law works now
        and how much someone like me is going to enjoy utterly destroying
        their life when their pitbull attacks.  In my case, I was able to beat
        on it long enough to keep my dog from being physically harmed which
        was *very* lucky for everyone involved.  The other group left the park
        immediately but I expect them to return.  When they do, I'll be
        sending the cops or animal control there to pick up their dog for
        behavior testing.  When it fails and is determined to be a vicious
        dog, it will either be destroyed or at a minimum the owners will be
        required to spend thousands on fences and special locks and not be
        allowed to take their dog out in public ever again for any reason.  If
        I see that thing off leash again I'm going to kill it on the spot and
        then call the police.   Pit bull owners: fuck you.  The rest of you
        please be alert and aware when around them.  These creatures are not
        misunderstood.  You, your dog, or your child *will* be attacked if the
        dog can get to you.  [restored several times]
        \_ My dog was attacked by a psycho poodle, and had several stitches.
           Even the "nice" breeds can be mean. It's all in how they are raised.
           \_ Poodles are responsible for more bites than any other breed.
              Poodles and chows are not nice. They are mean!
        \_ get a less wussier dog , aren't dogs suppose to fight for you?
           not vice-versa
           \_ no, my dog is a pet.  if i wanted a weapon, i'd carry a weapon.
              is it now necessary for everyone to get a pitbull so we can
              safely walk our dogs without being attacked?
              \_ let me guess, you have a cocker spaniel (which is more prone
                 to biting people than pit bulls are) which provoked the attack
                 \_ I'm not the person you are responding to but I've seen two
                    pit bull attacks. Both times the pit bill suddenly bolted
                    and went straight for the neck of the dog/child in
                    question. Once was a kid, other time was a little fluffy
                    white thing. Both times the pit bull started from a
                    distance of about twenty yards or more away. I don't see
                    how these attacks were provoked.
                    BTW, I also know of a pitbull
                    that is so docile it simply hides behind it's master's legs
                    when new dogs appear. I'm not in the pit bulls=evil crowd.
                    There does seem to be something about them that requires
                    more care taken by the owner is all. One of the above
                    attacks took the pit bull owner completely by surprise.
        \_ Your post is poignant to me but you may want to do the psb thing and
           summarize with a link to an off-motd fuller text. -- ulysses
        \_ I have owned and trained dogs my whole life, and I agree with you.
           Perhaps some day they AKC will destroy the killer instincts of the
           pit bull through the same kind of breeding they've used to destroy
           the good qualities of other breeds, but the problem is a lot of pit
           bulls come from the ghetto, where they're still bred to be vicious.
           One side effect of the vicious ghetto dog phenomenon is that if
           you live in the ghetto, all the hoods will be terrified of your
           sweet, harmless border collie because they all figure it's another
           kind of pittbull.
        \_ Yikes! A close friend has a 6-yr-old female pit bull. Gracie's
           the sweetest dog I've ever encountered (during my friend's
           divorce, the only point of contention with her husband was
           over the dog), but it took *hours* of training & reinforcement
           to reign in her baser instincts. Getting a pit bull should be
           like buying a handgun, with required background checks,
           psychological testing, etc., etc., -elizp
           \_ that would be a great analogy if all handguns were required
              to run buggy AI software written by Microsoft, which are
              connected to the internet and have as a default that they
              can be fired by romote users or by the AI on its own in
              certain modes.
        \_ God, I would hate to see you robbed and beaten.  You will probably
           then call for genocide of the ... breed in question, no doubt
           invoking the 'killer instincts'. -- ilyas
           \_ You understand the difference between poor breeding and the
              problems in society, right?  A bad dog in a good home is still
              a bad dog.  Or were you just trying to be funny?  It can be hard
              to tell on the net sometimes.
              \_ Did you miss the brilliant 'my dog was attached by a pitbull
                 therefore all pitbulls must be destroyed' argument in the
                 original post?  -- ilyas
              \_ are you saying it's hard to tell funny from stupid on the
                 motd?