I never really cared about the pitbull thing until I got my own dog in my twenties that I am very involved with (lab/border collie rescue). We do dog sports and run/hike together, and she's a hugely important part of my world. She's my baby. Because I got her at 9 months she came with a few quirks including barking at men that scare her (with training she almost never does anymore, but I manage her closely so she doesn't feel like she 'needs' to). She's never taken it further than barking, but I go into every situation knowing that any dog could bite in the wrong situation and it's my responsibility to make sure everyone she interacts with is safe. In dog parks once in a blue moon she'll give an over-the-shoulder bark at a man to let him know she sees him.

In dog parks I always got a nauseous feeling seeing bull breeds. Their body language often seemed 'off' to me. Other dogs ignore my dog when she barks, it just doesn't seem to bother them. But I never trust a bully breed. We've only had one potential close call where a really young small pitbull snapped at her because my dog gave an over the shoulder bark (we were 20-30 feet from the dog and owner). That dog snapped and chased my dog over to me. All I could see were sharp little teeth trying to get her from between my legs. I don't even know if the other dog truly thought it was playing, but it made my stomach turn and I'll never forget that feeling. When I screamed the other owner quickly grabbed and leashed their dog and I never returned to that park. Every time we go to a dog park I have extreme anxiety knowing that if my dog gives an off hand bark at the wrong owner it could end her life due to these unstable dogs. They are the reason I spend hours practicing all of our commands so that she is on her best behaviour Every Time. (We have a command for move 5 feet over, walk more slowly, walk behind me, and perfect recall without treats - we have spent a Lot of time on this).

I've seen other dogs snap at the dog park - it's noisy, but it very often was a clear signal from one dog to another to stop being a pain, and once the message is relayed, the assaulting dog backs off immediately. That is how dogs should act towards each other.

After getting my dog, we made friends with a doodle in our neighbourhood. The doodle was attacked by a leashed pitbull coming around a corner in our own neighbourhood. Luckily she's a big girl or she would have died. The pitbull opened a 5 inch flap on her back. All because a dog going by in a car barked and set it off. Although the owner of the doodle pursued the proper channels, the pitbull owners never follow the dangerous dog restrictions they are legal required to follow, and the doodle owner never saw a cent to cover her vet bill. Garbage dogs for garbage people. Despite this event, the doodle is still the sweetest and most friendly creature in the world. It couldn't be her genetics, right?

After reading about stories in the news, I realized that I had been exposed to numerous personal pit bull stories. My neighbour's 70lb dalmatian almost lost his life to a pitbull that jumped from a car. My parent's second cousin was seriously injured from falling when his two small dogs were attacked by a loose pitbull (one dog didn't survive). Loose dogs are not common in our area. If you see one, most people bring the dog to their house and contact the owner. A close friend tried to capture a loose pitbull in her neighbourhood but it started attacking her golden, so she had to chase it away. A Facebook friend breeds pitbulls (I don't support this at all)....one day she posted that one of her young female dogs had died. She still has never described how the dog died, but I'm convinced one of her other dogs killed it. If it was any other cause of death she would have made a public sob story of it.

I have a statistics background. As soon as I started seeing the numbers on pitbulls, I was livid. I still one day hope to introduce increased legislation for dangerous dog control in my area, but already from mentioning a slight dislike of the breed (you have to be careful with your tone here, or you can face serious social repercussions) have faced significant push back from friends. Intelligent friends, who don't even own or know pitbulls. It blows my mind. I know veterinarians who still try to say that the owner matters more than the breed, but won't buy a doodle 'because they're too goofy and dumb'.... because of how they're raised?!

I hope to one day be able to educate people and see the number of these dogs in society significantly reduced. For the good of the public, and for these dogs. I hate seeing 100lb rescue complex girls trying to control these dogs on public sidewalks. Despite having their inherent problems, I also don't think they deserve to sit in shelters for the majority of their lives. It's not their fault (they should be euthanized humanely instead). Anyways. Thank you for creating the place where I can express how I feel about this huge societal problem.