Uzi

I would NOT be surprised if it's not dogs being dumped but dogs being released purposefully for them to cause trouble. There are people out there who don't care, the end justifies the means. If people are half cocked in I'd they support the legislation or not, a few dog bites from all these "abandoned" pitties would help get the public on board. I mean I fail to see the logic in dumping my "dangerous dog". If I love my pet and don't want it taken I can: Register it. Take it somewhere safer for the time being. If I need to get rid of it (which is abandoning it) and don't want more trouble for the breed or for society I let the council come and take the dog off my hands where it's fate is sealed. It might sound far fetched for some but give it some thought. Who's gonna defend the dogs and say that it wasn't the owners who dumped them? The dog?

Gotta start small I guess. Don't keep your dogs out of sight in fear, be a spokesperson and socialize your dogs when you walk. People will generally have no qualms telling you they're afraid of such and such dog or you'll be able to read the body language. When they do if your confident enough, don't get defensive and lash out with a snide remark, acknowledge their fear and drop a little fact on them. Educate yourself on how many attacks were made in the last x years and how many pitties or bully types attributed to. Somtimes a little gem like that could spark them to look deeper, and when they do they're more than likely to tell somebody else. They may say oh but the pitbull x killed that girl, but any larger dog could do enough damage to hurt somebody small like that, it's just unfortunate that the child was in the way of the warpath that particular dog was moving. It's also your immediate circles. Many people Im related to or know have had conceptions of what these dogs are like but through me have converted into lovers of the breeds. So what's this do? When the dogs end up on the news for who knows what, people love a chat, and the people who know better will voice more educated facts to people who are only fed via mainstream media.

Joe public needs this information. It's sickening how people just watch the news, read the newspaper and take all the bullshit as gospel, but it is the way MOST of us live. Doing a bit of research uncover the truths, but most won't have the desire or motivation to do so, so I guess it's up to us to speak out and attempt to inform. We can either say something or say nothing.

At least owners will have half a chance, im in the city of Casey myself, in Lyndhurst. My dogs should be fine since they are both pure bred and papered, English and American(the bureaucracy of it)staffords respectively. Seriously, the new legislation would be fine if it werent for targeting dogs based on a look as oposed to the deeds at hand. I think all responsible owners, of ANY breed think that putting the onus onto owners is more than sufficient, the rest leaves too much room for pre concieved predudices on particular breeds, either through misinformed justification (they have LOCK JAWS!), fear mongering (tragic cases from the news making us point the finger at specific breeds) or somtimes the more sinister unjustified hatred of a breed/s. I personally, instead of hiding my dogs from the public like a criminal have taken to showing them outside more often and giving people a better chance to see their temperment as stable, fun dogs. Just yesterday I took my family up to Sky High, Dandenong Mountain and we stopped for lunch in Olinda. Some people were doing double takes and wide berths. More attention was given their way when a little white yapper (and i wont pidgeon all small dogs as trouble makers, its just their owners can somewhat aford to be less in control of them as they pose a much smaller threat than what a larger dog might) had a go at my boys who barely looked at it when it walked past. This little dog was lunging for them and barking quite aggressively but people seemed quite amazed that my 'crazed killer' dogs were more interested in being well behaved, and no few people did mention their good behaviour thereafter. By showing more people that they can be as good as any other dog i think we can help people see that it is about owner responsibility almost all of the time, and when people ask, i tell them that these sort of animals can be likened to trucks or motorbikes. When responsible people are behind them theres rarely any trouble, but when irresponsible people are, it can be disasterous.

I hear that! Plain doesn't like them, he just puts out a statement as fact without any real justification. And the 'if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, it is a duck' nonsense is revolting too.

That bloke from the lost dogs home is an idiot! You did very well..... be proud, you represented responsible dog owners very well. Could not agree more! Your dogs look great by the way! Tonight my wife was walking our 9 month of ESBT and a lady crossed the road quite hastily. My partner told our boy Uzi to sit and he obliged and so the woman made the comment 'id want my dog under control too if i had one like that'. If it had been me walking him I probably would have told her that if i had a brain like hers id keep it inside the house with some more colorful words, but then I guess i would just further her thinkings of these breeds and their owners.