Bring on the Abuse

Every time there is a news report of a dog attack that identifies breed, owners of that breed immediately email, write and call the newspaper to complain.

We anticipate your complaints and will be happy to publish them.

This week we are publishing an article about a woman and her son who were attacked by two Pit Bulls. The woman is in critical condition. The reason the dogs were identified as Pit Bulls is because they are Pit Bulls.

Had she been attacked by a swarm of Chihuahuas that is what we would have reported but in this case Pit Bulls were the culprits.

We often run news articles with headlines that state something like “57-year-old Keysville woman charged with assault.” This is not because we are attempting to denigrate 57-year-olds, women or Keysville.  These are the facts.

It doesn’t matter that dozens of other 57-year-old Keysville women didn’t do anything. We are not writing about them.

I am personally a big fan of Labradors and Golden Retrievers. However, nothing I can do or say negates the fact that according to statistics Labs have killed three people in the past thirty years. Goldens are responsible for 11 attacks and three deaths.  These are facts. So far my Labs and Goldens are responsible for no human attacks but will attack a chicken in a heartbeat.  But we are not writing about my dogs.

Unless your Pit was one of the ones involved in the recent attack our article wasn’t about YOUR dog.  The fact that your Pit is wonderful (and I know several wonderful Pits) doesn’t change anything.

Our article reported what happened.