Lurker > ParanoidObsessive

Second_Chances posted...

people will go to such lengths to defend whatever dog they have and the pit bulls get into trouble the most

And there are more black people than other ethnicities in most US prisons, therefore black people are clearly more disposed to commit crimes.

Statistics are a bitch, son. They don't always mean what you think they mean.



darcandkharg31 posted...

I love the "There is no bad dogs there's just bad owners" argument.

Like dogs don't have their own personalities, some are just assholes like people.

To be fair, the usual implication there is that if you own a breed of dog that is potentially dangerous (which, to be honest, is most breeds - any breed can be vicious, and anything over small/medium size could theoretically kill a human), then it's your responsibility to train that dog to overcome its negative potential. If you see your dog is aggressive, you need to either find ways to train it to be less aggressive, or keep it away from situations where it might become uncontrollably aggressive and hurt someone. If you have a larger breed of dog with the physical strength to maul a human, it's on you to make sure its personality is such that it never WOULD.

If you just throw your dog in the yard and ignore it 90% of the time, and it starts to develop antisocial or aggressive behaviors, and you do absolutely nothing to address them (while still leaving the dog in areas where it CAN potentially attack strangers), then you ARE a shitty owner. Unless you're specifically training it to be an attack guard dog, in which case you sort of created the situation yourself entirely.

Because honestly, for most dogs (even the "problem" breeds), if you're a proactive owner and actually care for the animal rather than just using it as a leftover food disposal, an occasional emotional crutch, or as a crime deterrent you barely pay attention to, almost any aggression or bad behavior issue CAN be fixed. And if you can't meet the minimum level of effort to actually socialize your animal, you probably shouldn't have one in the first place (a standard I would say should absolutely apply to having children as well).

The "bad owners" argument also usually goes hand-in-hand with the idea that dog owners should be legally liable for actions committed by their dogs - so, for instance, if your dog winds up mauling your neighbors' kid, you can potentially be prosecuted for assault (or even negligent manslaughter if someone dies) yourself. With the logic being that if people might actually have to suffer negative consequences for their failure to socialize their dogs (or for actively making them more aggressive for guard or fighting purposes), they might actually develop something resembling a sense of responsibility and take better care of their animals and keep them away from dangerous situations entirely.


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