First of all I do not live in a suburban setting, second I maintain a
legally recieved license to carry a firearm. If this (or any other animal
for that matter) was an imediate threat to myself or my child it would have
been shot post haste. As far as a gun control issue, I have NO problem
controlling my weapon. I believe that Pittbulls are notoriously used as
weapons against police and other persons. They have a deep seated instinct
to kill, and this instinct can be buried within the dogs mind but never
removed.

How can I as a parent allow my child to play in his own yard with a
dangerous animal running loose? I can't, so why should I keep my child
locked up in a house while this dog runs loose? Dig deeper into the internet
and you will find that "faithfull" dogs have turned on thier owners in the
middle of the night for no apparent reason.
By the way I am a dog owner, a pure bred Yellow lab, so this is not about
dogs. It is about the safety of my child.

Searcher1

"Jay Knepper" wrote in message
...
To make the bald statement that "...those pit-bulls are nasty
creatures..." is wrong.

However, I can sympathize with this view having once lived in Denver for
several years. Now Colorado is a wonderful place, but one that attracts
some unique "individuals" who live in the country for good reason--they
don't belong around people. This type, along with drug dealers and gang
lords, fancy having the meanest creatures around. A pit bull is an
awesome, and beautiful, physical specimens that, along with many breeds,
can be made into deadly weapons (If you have the stomach you might do a
little reaserch to find out what this takes). The upshot of this is that
several of these individuals owned pit bulls that were trained to be
aggressive, let to run free, and did some horrendous things to people,
including children. The Denver newspapers played the horror up to the
hilt, underplaying the less interesting fact that irresponsible oweners,
and breeders, are responsible. Denver then enacted a law that banned the
breed. In my ignorance I agreed with the law at the time. (Colorado has
very recently passed a law making it illegal to ban dogs based on breed
alone, and Denver is fighting it. )

Several years after leaving CO for the Chicago suburbs, my adult daughter
was living with us and fell in love with a dog at a local humane society.
It was a pitt bull. Crunch time. I began a program to educate myself on
the breed. The library and the internet turned up a number of very
enlighening articles that made me open to the idea. The clincher was a
neighbor who owns a large, well known dog training school. She, an owner
of three golden retrievers, proclaimed that pit bulls were among her
favorite dogs, and make wonderful pets.

We adoped Mo. By the time my daughter moved out we decided that we could
not be without a dog. We now have two pit bulls. The first was bought from
a breeder and the second was rescued (a Chicago cop "took " her from a
drug dealer as a young puppy). Our dogs have been trained, loved, walked
daily, and in five years have never bitten any person, any other animal,
or our cats. We aren't unique in having great pit bulls. Most of them are
cherished family pets, and they have served our country in war, and have
been owned by individuals such as Helen Keller and Theodore Roosevelt.

It is smart to be cautious about any dog. Large, athletic breeds
especially can do damage if they have been trained to do so. The most
popular breeds tend to be overbred and thereby create some nasty animals.
Remember Cocker Spaniels of 10-20 years ago, and now, I fear, Labs are
suffering from this. But do advocate responsible ownership and don't make
the mistake of condeming a dog based on breed alone.

Now the original poster, apparently distraught at not being able to use
his ".44" in what is apparently a suburban neighborhood, unwittingly
presents an argument for gun control. But that's another OT for this
group.

Jay


"Prometheus" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 02:51:08 GMT, "Searcher"
wrote:

A dog here almost became filled with lead today, I was out in my yard
with
my 3 year old son, doing a little yard work. Luckily, my siter in law was
close to my son when from around the garage came a pit bull at full
charge.
After my siter in law grabbed up my son the dog took off after another
couple walking thier dog, it was then that I retrieved my .44 with every
intention of dispatching that animal. The dog was still roaming as I was
cleaning up our garden tools and I was ready. I saw the dog take off
after
another person walking his dog. I kept cleaning up and went in. I have
not
seen that dog before or again. But if that dog had come near my yard it
would have been hauled off in a bag!

I love dogs, but those pit-bulls are nasty creatures. I never
understood why the people who own them seem to like to let them roam
around loose all the time.