by Karla Aguirre

Created on: December 12, 2008

I strongly believe it is BOTH media and careless owners that are responsible in the demonizing of Pit Bulls. We often hear of both adults and children being seriously injured even killed by one of these dogs. The media is not solely responsible; but they add fuel to the flame. Media bias has been known to hold great influence over their audiences, and can making sway however they want. So they can have a great impact on how we perceive everything, including animals.

Everyone knows dogs are the most loyal creatures; they weep when you leave and they are overjoyed when you return. They keep us company and they protect us. However, as every dog lover knows: not all dogs are created equal. Some breeds are known to have shorter tempers than others, other breeds can be extremely hyper, and others are very mellow. With the generalization aside, the personality of every dog differs just as much as humans. One Pit Bull may be fierce to strangers, but another one can be very sweet and quiet.

We can train dogs to do or not do certain things, but we cannot change their personality or all of their instincts. Animals never attack without reason, unlike humans. And unlike us humans, dogs live on impulse; they do not stop for a moment and think about the consequences to be suffered before they make a move; having a much simpler mental blueprint than we. If a dog sees you as a threat, depending on its temper level and how comfortable it feels around other people, it will growl, bark, or even attack you. Its objective is to either protect itself or its master. And if it sees you as a threat, then this is how a dog may react.

The biggest contribution to the bad reputation Pit Bulls have received comes from careless owners. Every owner has to take the responsibility of socializing them with other people and dogs. That's the first step to ensuring the safety of anyone around them. Children must never be left unattended with the dog. EVER. It does not matter if you had the dog for five or ten years, children must never be alone with them. The dog knows you, but the dog can never be too sure around young children. The screaming, the laughing, poking, prodding, pouncing can easily set a more skittish dog into attack mode. The more skittish the dog, the more likely it will react aggressively. But even a well-raised dog can become completely unnerved with a very unfamiliar situation.

As for the media, everyone knows the more drama, the higher the ratings. Tragedy to the media is but another piece in the competition against other news channels. If they will do coverage for a celebrity no one cares about, at the same scale of coverage as the elections, then hey will hype it and make it seem more dramatic. I am not trying to trivialize the deaths and injures, but that's the spin the media puts on any and every tragedy. It's all but a part of their competition to be the top news network.

It could have easily been any other breed under the right conditions for an attack. Any dog from any breed can easily go from fiercely loyal and friendly, to fierce attacker. Owners can trust their dogs, but not put too much trust in them. They may be domesticated, but they are still animals running on instinct. Blaming solely Pit Bulls is like blaming one group of people for the high rate of crime. The media should be more sensitive in handling and distributing their knowledge, and dog owners must take the duty and responsibility in ensuring their dog does not cause harm for others and themselves.

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