Time Magazine Says Pit Bulls Are ‘Bred to Be Violent’ — Internet Disagrees
Just a year ago, Time magazine published “The Great Pit Bull Makeover,” a story about the bad rap Pit Bulls get — especially in mainstream media — and the efforts to do away with thisunfair negative image.
Ironically, on Friday, Time published “The Problem with Pit Bulls” by Charlotte Alter. Filled with misinformation, the one-sided piece was posted in the Living section – not the Opinion section, where it belonged.
“It’s horrible that KFC kicked out that 3-year-old girl, but let’s focus on the real problem: Pit Bulls were bred to be violent,” Alter’s story begins.
Inaccurate ‘Facts’ from Unreliable Sources
Alter goes on to quote dog-bite statistics from Merritt Clifton, a proponent of breed bans who produces the Clifton Report, a list of dog-attack deaths and maimings that is known to use inaccurate statistics.
“Clifton has for years used his report to drive hysteria about ‘Pit Bull’ type dogs; however, every bit of actual research and science disagrees with his report,” wrote Brent Toellner, president of the non-profit Kansas City Pet Project, on the KC Dog Blog.
Alter also quotes Colleen Lynn, who created the website DogsBite.org after she was bitten by a Pit Bull. Lynn is another advocate of breed bans who has no expertise in dog behavior. Like the Clifton Report, DogsBite.org is known to twist statistics to meet its own agenda.
A “root cause of the rise in Pit-Bull attacks,” Alter alleges, is Hurricane Katrina. Clifton told her the inexperienced volunteers saving dogs after the disaster became attached to them, and then became involved in Pit Bull advocacy. That’s because all the Pit Bulls they were rescued were good, he told her, while “the real badasses, the ones chained outside, were drowned.”
Huh?
Both Clifton and Lynn say the answer to the “Pit Bull problem” are breed-specific sterilization laws.
Reliable Sources Oppose Breed Discrimination
Instead of quoting Clifton and Lynn, Alter could have used more reliable and less biased resources, such as the Humane Society of the United States, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Humane Association and American Kennel Club.
Why didn’t she? Probably because all major animal welfare groups (except PETA, which she does quote), are opposed to breed discrimination, including breed-specific sterilization laws. These groups say that how a dog is treated has more effect on his behavior than his breed, and they support ordinances addressing what they regard as the true cause of dangerous dog problems: irresponsible owners.
Speaking of which, Donald Mullins, the grandfather of the little girl in the KFC case (the incident is now reported to have been a hoax) kept his nine Pit Bulls in pens outside his house. The girl was attacked by three of them when she was left unattended in Mullins’ house. He and his girlfriend were arrested and charged with child endangerment.
“The dogs were lose, the baby was unattended,” a housemate told Mississippi News Now. “If the baby would have been attended, this would not have happened.”
Hundreds Oppose the Time Magazine Article
As of Tuesday morning, Alter’s story has more than 700 comments, overwhelmingly in opposition to her “journalism.”
On the Elle the Pit Bull Facebook page, the therapy dog who won the 2013American Hero Dog Award appears in a photo with the caption, “Time??? Pit Bulls are NOT the problem!!! Responsible humans is the solution.”
Scores of Pit Bull pet parents have posted pictures of their inherently “violent” dogs on Instagram, with the hashtag #TimeMagazine.
Actress and comedian Rebecca Corry, organizer of the Million Pibble March on Washington, D.C. in May, has been tweeting photos from followers wondering what other bad things their Pit Bulls could be blamed for.
“If you choose to address this article and be the voice and representative of beautiful and loving Pibbles everywhere, please attempt to do so with intelligence, kindness and grace,” Corry wrote. “‘Cause that’s what a Pibble would do.”
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