Jeffrey Liu 41025 Lynch 19 March 2010 Pit Bulls In "Let's Not Fool Ourselves: Pit Bulls Are

Dangerous", Kerry Dougherty writes about pit bulls and how they are too dangerous to be kept as pets. She believes that pit bulls are "hard-wired to fight" and that everyone should get rid of these "unpredicatable beasts". To her, breed is the ultimate quality in a dog, and everything about a dog can be known by its breed. She believes that the few deaths each year caused by pit bulls are a good reason to outlaw them. Her opinion is wrong because it assumes that dogs cannot learn; however, by raising a dog properly, any dog can become a good pet. Dougherty says that pit bulls cannot be taught to behave because of their genetics. This is not true. Studies on conditioning have shown that dogs can learn and regardless of breed, be taught to behave. The most famous example of learned dogs are documented in the experiments of Ivan Pavlov. He conditioned dogs to salivate at the ring of a bell by teaching the dog to associate a bell with food. Dogs are not born with the instinct to salivate when they hear bells, but Pavlov's dogs were taught to do it. His studies show that dogs can be taught something that isn't natural for them. Dogs are often trained to help the disabled, which is unnatural, but it is still done. Pit bulls may be powerful and innately aggressive but they can be taught to behave just like any other dog. Pit bulls may be generally prone to aggression, but that is not a reason to get rid of them. That is nothing short of racism and she may as well be saying that blacks should all be

hung because the American criminal population is predominately black. These sorts of generalizations are logically fallacious because the whole group cannot be generalized by a few of its individuals. Race is not the primary determinants of human traits and breed is not that of a dog's. That sort of deterministic essentialism is not supported by studies and cannot be taken seriously. Dogs are not predictable by breed. I have been chased by runaway Labradors and I have experienced the hospitality of the gentlest pit bulls. The temperment of a dog is determined by his upbringing, and not its genes. The responsible dog owner will raise any dog regardless of breed to be an outstanding pet, and the irresponsible will have a cranky angry animal. The burden of a dog's attitude is solely placed on the owner. An overly aggressive dog is the result of a neglectful owner. Before anyone gets a dog, it is important that they know how to take care of them. The treatment and the environment of a dog is very important when it comes to its behavior. If an owner ties a dog to a tree and doesn't feed it, the dog will become angry, not because it is genetically aggressive, but because it has been abused. Genetics are involved, but they are trumped by how the dog is raised. Pit bull attacks resulting in death have happened but they are not a common occurrence A few deaths each year is not a reason to completely abandon pit bulls as pets. The cases are very few, and during the attacks, the dogs have been stressed by something. In the attack involving the 12 year old San Francisco boy, the pit bull attacked because "because the female was in heat". That wouldn't have happened if she had been properly fixed. The owners neglected to give their dog a neccessary surgery, and as a result, the dog attacked. If the owners had been responsible and had treated the dog the way it should have been treated, the attack could have been prevented. The pit bull was not to blame. The fault is the owners

because they didnt take proper care of their pet. A dog may be naturally inclined towards violence, but it can be changed through proper training. A pitbull might have a violent instinct but it can be taught to be gentle. Everything cannot be known thorugh merely knowing a dog's breed. The upbringing of a dog is way more influential than it's genetics and by putting a dog in a caring enviroment, it can grow up to be gentle and completely controllable.