The Alaunte: the Medieval Gripper

Read about the pit bulldog's ancestor at America's Dog. They, too, were known to kill their masters.

The Problem with Pit Bull Service Dogs

Sue Manning, long-time pit bull promotor and journalist for AP, has written an article about rescue pit bulls being trained as service dogs.  (YIKES)  She mentions two organizations doing this -  Animal Farm Foundation, the best funded pit bull ownership advocacy organization in the world,  and Pits for Patriots in Chicago.  When we first blogged about Pits for Patriots in 2012, this outfit was less than a year old, and they had not yet placed any pit bulls as service dogs for veterans with  PTSD.  They noted that they started with four candidates, but that two had washed out.  There's a photo below of the two successful training candidates fitted with prong collars.  Today, three years later, they still haven't placed any service dogs with a veteran and the two candidates below both developed a case of the dog aggression for which there is no cure.

They are up for adoption.  The white one, Odie, had to have his CGC and Therapy Dog certificates revoked.  He must go to an experienced pit bull owner who will not "set him up to fail."  FYI: That means potential owners must set up strict containment and movement protocols with zero margin of error allowable or there will be a bloodbath.  And to think he was once a therapy dog.

Sheena and Odie have since washed out of the pit bull service
dog program

Pits for Patriots cites as their inspiration two "successful" pit bull service dog organizations, one in New York, and one in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Tampa Bay organization, called Pit Bulls 4 Patriots, was founded with the intention of training rescued pit bulls as service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Unfortunately, by the time the Chicago Pits for Patriots had cited them as their inspiration, Pit Bulls 4 Patriots had already been forced to abandon their original concept. They retooled and renamed themselves Hounds 4 Heros, a program that uses rescued greyhounds instead. Why? The pit bulls were not working out as service dogs. They took too long to train, and they found that pit bulls were too "sensitive" to work with handlers with PTSD because they "reflected" the symptoms of their handler's PTSD. Evidently, the pit bulls were exhibiting common symptoms of PTSD: anger, irritability, hyper-vigilance, and anxiety whenever their owners did. Irritable pit bull service dogs. N o  T h a n k  Y o u.

"We became clear that we need dogs who are able to provide calm in any situation rather than matching the handler's feelings. Also, it is critical that PTSD service dogs can adapt and recover quickly from stress, and to be resiliant enough to do that again and again"

In addition, the wonderful pit bull "washouts" could not be easily adopted so the founders of the organization are now the proud owners of a boatload of pits. Rescue pit bulls, it seems, are not inherently (genetically), suited to service dog work.  Unfortunately Hounds 4 Heros not only took down the page the above quote comes from, there is no archive of it either.

However, Hounds 4 Heros has written in depth about just what makes rescued greyhounds such great candidates as service dogs for veterans.  Knowing that they were forced to scrap their original concept, it is not hard to read between the lines.  It seems that greyhounds possess inherent (genetic) characteristics that that make them good PTSD service dogs and pit bulls do not:

"In our search for the "perfect" PTSD service dog, we are very excited to have Murray join us. Greyhounds tend to be calm, loving but not pushy, caring but not overly sensitive, and are happy to relax and go wherever their person needs them to be."

This second quote speaks directly to their experience with pit bulls and they speak to both genetic and a reasonably knowable and appropriate early experience for the greyhounds:
Our dogs are carefully selected for having exceptionally calm and stable temperaments. We like working with greyhounds because we do not have to train over any strong genetically bred instincts and drives (such as protection/guarding, being territorial, herding, dog aggression, or hunting). It was surprising for us to learn that although some greyhounds have a strong prey drive, most do not. While growing to adulthood in preparation for racing, greyhounds remain in daily contact with their litter mates and other hounds. They are spared from the jarring loss of their pack at an exceedingly young age, unlike most other dogs, who are bred and quickly sold as pets. This continued companionship with their own kind is extremely healthy for balanced brain development and canine social skills. Since they are being groomed to become racing dogs, their lives are disciplined, with plenty of exercise, routines, and very clear guidance from all the humans they come in contact with. As a result, they tend to be peacefully submissive to people, and easily accept direction. This is very helpful in their new roles as service dogs for our PTSD veterans.

This next quote perfectly explains the very real dangers of trying to shape dogs bred for fighting into service dogs:

We can't overstate the importance of the balanced minds and good nature of these dogs for their job as psychiatric service dogs. It is critical that our dogs are going to be calm and stable "on their own" without the necessity of great guidance and leadership from their handler. When living with someone who has fluctuating weak energy and leadership skills, such as anyone with a psychiatric disorder, a dog will revert to its genetically bred instincts and/or to default behaviors learned in puppyhood. Skilled training can override weaknesses in temperament and high-drive instinctual behaviors, but our PTSD handlers will not be able to maintain training over the top of these things. The longer the team spends together, the more the dog's training would "unravel" and revert to the genetic predisposition of the dog. Examples of this would be an unbalanced German Shepherd who falls back inappropriately to his instinct to guard and bite when threatened, or a herding dog who neurotically begins nipping at the feet and heels of anything that moves around his person. With the greyhounds their default is to either relax, or quietly withdraw into themselves. As a result, they don't act out, become dangerously unbalanced, or create problems for their handlers or the public. They are able to maintain and return to their trained behaviors with relative ease.These gentle, intelligent, and malleable dogs respond very well to our positive training methods. They are able to perform the many kinds of tasks and work that most benefit people who face the daunting challenge of living with PTSD.

And that is the crucial issue for safety - what instincts (genetically controlled behavior) does the dog default to when not under guidance or under the guidance of someone who is not an expert dog handler.

Animal Farm Foundation is the other pit bull service training dog organization mentioned in Manning's article. They are going at it the right way. They have put out a nationwide call for pit bull service dog candidates that they will evidently transport to the Farm at their own expense. They must figure that by casting an enormous net, they will be able to find one or two pit bull outliers with the temperament of a lab.  But the best news is Animal Farm Foundation now admits that anyone can identify a pit bull, because they will accept any dog that was identified by anyone at a shelter as a pit bull for the program.  They have evidently already placed five pit bull service dogs with handlers, but stopped promoting their feat after blogging about the first three.  The serviceman with PTSD and his dog are not listed as being one of the pit bull service dogs placed by AFF.

Stunt pit bull service dogs are dangerous for the reasons Hounds 4 Heros outlined above.  And Animal Farm Foundation's efforts to promote pit bulls as service dogs and to emphasize that you can train your service dog yourself makes them even more dangerous.

Here is a video of a rottweiler service dog.  The owner/handler/trainer of this dangerous breed dog was billed as South Africa's Dog Whisperer  - a supposedly Ace dog trainer.  The Rottweiler is supposedly his service dog.  Watch the service dog launch a predatory attack on a little girl in a restaurant.




In many respects, pit bull service dogs are silly stunts.  If it takes 4 years to train a dog to be a service animal, one can conclude that dog is not really suited to the job.  This is just like BFAS crowing about a fight bust dog getting a CGC certificate after 6 years of training when normal dogs need only 8 to 10 weeks of basic obedience classes to become a good citizen.  But, even if all of Animal Farm Foundation's pit bulls are truly cream puff pit bull outliers, they are encouraging everyone to pick up a rescue pit bull, train it up themselves, and seat it under the restaurant table next to yours.  Bon Appetit!

Read more:
Service and Therapy Pit Bulls that Turned Pit Bull
defrocking the asshole priests of the savage lion tamer cult
Animal Farm Foundation Service Dogs
Anyone can ID a Pit Bull for AFF's Service Dog Program
AP syndicated article by Sue Manning New York Times

leopard vs gripper

liveleak

There's a Werewolf in Waddy Kentucky

Ledy VanKavage on pit bulls:

"They're just dogs, not werewolves" 2007
"They're dogs - they're not werewolves," 2010
"Because of all the media bias, it's going to take awhile to realize 'pit bulls' are just dogs, not werewolves," 2012

Get your T-shirt at Sixth Street Printhouse!

On November 28, 2012 Theresa Parker discovered five of her pet goats mutilated in what turned out to be only the first attack of a months long spree of mutilating attacks on livestock including attacks on three bulls in Waddy KY.

“Their ears had been chewed off, their tongues had been ripped out, their lips had been torn off; their faces had just been literally ripped off. When I found them that way, all covered in blood, I just started screaming and screaming.”

The rural community of Waddy KY was left shaken by the horrific mutilations. The local Animal Control Director Rusty Newton said the attacks are mystifying to him because they don’t resemble any animal attack he has ever seen.

“It is not doing this for food; it’s just mauling them,” he said.

That’s something that Teresa Parker said was so distressing to her.

“It just mutilated them; just for fun, just to torture them,” she said. “It just tore them to pieces and left them to die.”

“I’m scared to death to go outside without a gun,” she said. “Because this thing, whatever it is, you could just turn around and it could be right there.”

David Theiler agreed.

“Having to go around armed all the time is getting old,” he said.

Over the course of a few weeks the mystery animal had mutilated, sometimes fatally, 6 goats, four calves, and three bulls.  Neighbors say that it only attacks at night, and they fear it is lurking in the woods.

One couple found tracks they believe to be the culprit's:

Speculation ranged from loose exotic animals, to bears, wolves, a pack of wild dogs and supernatural entities.

As word spread and fear mounted among some, others set up a Waddy Werewolf twitter feed and a printer made up some T-shirts.

A town meeting was called and it was decided to do forensic tests on the mutilated animals.  Dog DNA turned up.

When an owner-described "gentle" pit bull named Wacko was caught mauling Speckles, a small, elderly dog right after attacking some horses in January, animal control officers thought they had their culprit even though the owner claimed Wacko could not possibly have been the Waddy Werewolf because he was definitely chained up at the time of each and every other attack.

Cementing her credibility, Wacko's owner, BRENDA TILLETT,  added that the only reason Wacko was out and able to maul the small, elderly dog and some horses was because the night before Wacko's attacks, a mysterious car had pulled into her driveway and someone had stolen Wacko.

Animal control held onto Wacko for a while to see if the attacks would stop while he was in custody.  They did.  However, since there was no proof that Wacko had committed all the atrocities, he was returned to his owner.  (yeah, I don't get that either - Wacko unquestionably did attack horses and a little dog requiring heroic efforts to get him off the little dog he was locked onto.)

When yet another attack occurred - a calf was killed - several months later in April, an animal control officer was dispatched to Wacko's place and found him there where he should be sans blood.  So, its either time to put the T-shirts back on or conclude there are two pit bulls in Shelby Co. Kentucky....

Yes, Ledy, it was just a pit bull, not a werewolf, but you have to admit you can see why the town of Waddy was confused.

Mystery animal attacks livestock in Shelby County

Shelby Co. authorities say dog responsible for attacks on livestock

Sisters capture pit bull while it attacks a family pet; officials look for its owner

Calf killed in another attack in Waddy

Content of character?

bumped for MLK

I came across a picture of a poor poor pit bull with a contradictory statement. We all know that the pit bull party contradicts themselves. I'll admit that some of them probably don't know they are, but I really hope they realize this fallacy.

"I have a dream that one day I will not be judged by my appearance, but by the content of my character."

This statement contains multiple errors:

1. Pit bulls' appearance isn't really what makes them dangerous. Sure, their visible strength plays a major part in the danger, but the appearance of their face has not killed anybody as far as I know. (However, looking at a pit bull can trigger an attack.)
2. It's the "content of character" - their behavior - that makes these dogs so dangerous. Pit bulls have so much character that they maul the children they're playing with!

Long story short, the "content of character" already is what these wiggle butts are judged by. I'd like to thank the original creator of this picture for furthering the pro-BSL efforts. It's this kind of contradiction that will soon become the downfall of the pro-pit propaganda.

another pit bull seizure moment...

liveleak

i'd like to see the feds grow a pair and restrict pit bulls from people who suffer from ANY kind of disability. this pit nutter puts everyone around him at risk.

video can be viewed at
gothamist
nydailynews

Dirty Liars Exposed: Bulladelphia

Pit bull advocates are known to lie through their teeth with no sense of shame or guilt. This lying contributes to the pit bull problem; unsuspecting owners get a "nice" pit bull, only to later be killed by their own dog.

I found a site that is no different - it is full of blatant lies. What I wonder is why people believe this bullshit even when faced with the facts. Here's a breakdown on a couple of the lies on bulladelphia.org.

Lie #1: "No spayed/neutered, indoor pit bull has ever killed a person."


It doesn't take much digging around to find cases of loved, spayed/neutered indoor pit bulls killing people. Like Tina Marie Canterbury.

October 2, 2007 | Middleburg, FL
Tina Marie Canterbury, 42-years old, was killed by her two red-nosed pit bulls. She had raised both dogs, Rebel and Thor, since they were pups. Both had been neutered and lived indoors. According to her cousin, Bill Canterbuy, the dogs often slept with her at night. Tina had been taking out the trash when the dogs attacked. Her son attempted to rescue her and was also bitten. Authorities eventually shot and killed both dogs. Animal Crimes Detective Annie Henderson said,"This was a responsible owner. These animals never had any history of any type of aggression."

Dirty lie exposed.

Lie #2:
"According to studies by the CDC, a person is more likely to be killed…
- by a family member
- by a falling coconut
- in a bedroom slipper-related accident
- choking on a marble
- drowning in a 5-gallon bucket
- getting struck by lightning
…than by a pit bull."

These "studies" were never performed. I emailed the website and asked them politely if they could send me a direct link to the source of the material, but all they could provide was the front page. How do I know these studies weren't performed? Besides n extensive search of the CDC's website, I took the liberty to ask the CDC whether or not the studies were conducted. Their response when asked if the scenarios listed by bulladelphia.org really are more likely to kill a person than a pit bull:

"NCHS [CDC's National Center for Health Statistics] does not collect data to confirm the statistical claim you are referring to."

Translation: They doesn't perform that kind of study. If they don't perform those studies, there is no way that bulladelphia.org could have acquired that information from the CDC. However, in the same email response was this, that contradicts bulladelphia.org's claims:

"A CDC study on fatal dog bites found that at least 25 breeds of dogs were involved in 238 human deaths over 20 years. Rottweiler and pit bull-type dogs were involved in more than half of the deaths."

I also found a report conducted by the CDC on breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, which also contradicts bulladelphia.org's claims:

"...the data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF [dog bite related fatalities] in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities."

That's right. Breed-specific problem.

It's worth noting that for falling coconuts to be more likely to kill somebody than a pit bull, a falling coconut would have to kill a U.S. citizen every 21 days. I don't know about you, but where I live in the Midwestern U.S., there are more pit bulls than palm trees.

Case closed. Again, pit bull advocates are quite often liars, because to justify keeping a pit bull, one must tell blatant, dirty lies. Pit bull advocates also choose to ignore the facts because it will go against their twisted worldviews. Why do they not feel guilty?

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's the story behind the "coconuts kill more people than X" myth. It started with sharks, and it was recycled for pit bulls. Whatever you plug the myth into, it's false.

Pit Bull Service Dogs: They're too sensitive but they still need prong collars

The recent near-fatal mauling of Joe Finley in Chicago revealed a great deal about who runs Chicago Animal Care and Control and how it operates.

Finley's brutal attack left him without a foot or the use of his arm. In response, the CACC and the city attorney's office did exactly nothing to prosecute the irresponsible owner that let his dogs, which were known to be aggressive, run at large. Local residents and aldermen were appalled and wanted action to ensure public safety. When Alderman Fioretti raised the question of a pit bull ban, the obligatory pit bull service dog handler was trotted out to state he was afraid that his pit bull service dog would be taken away if BSL were enacted in Chicago. The service dog handler in this case was Chris Maddeford and the service dog is in fact a service dog in training from Kelly and Greg Yearwood's non-profit called Pits for Patriots which was started up less than a year ago. They started with four pit bulls and two of those washed out - one for health and one for temperament reasons.

The remaining two pit bull service dogs in training wearing prong collars.

Pits for Patriots cites as their inspiration two "successful" pit bull service dog organizations, one in New York, and one in Tampa Bay, Florida. More about that later.

News updates have come out in which Finley describes his horrific attack at length. Though he gave up on his foot long before he was finally rescued, he never lost consciousness and he never quit fighting to keep them from getting his neck.

"Finley says he wants to run again, a hobby he took up just 10 years ago. Finley says he also wants to work on erasing the mental image of the attacks. He says he replays it over and over in his head. He will be discharged from Stroger Hospital and transferred to an in-patient rehab facility in the Chicago area."

"Trauma surgeons at Stroger say during the first few days of recovery they were not sure if Finley was going to survive. One doctor describes Finley's injures as equivalent to stepping on a landmine. Doctors credit Finley's incredible physical and mental strength for his survival."

Peggy Sue Leifer left this comment on the CBS local news update:

Peggy Sue Leifer is Snicker's fur mommy. Notice she's not sending good wishes directly to Finley, she's addressing her old pal Steve Miller, the WBBM reporter who interviewed her a few weeks earlier about bringing a pit bull to Aurelia, Iowa which has a pit bull ban.

Isn't it sweet and thoughtful that she bids Miller to send the man who just nearly was killed by pit bulls the good wishes from Snickers the pit bull, too?

Peggy Sue Leifer is the wife of ex-marine, retired Chicago cop, and stroke survivor Jim Sak. They lived in Chicago until the end of 2011 when they moved to Leifer's hometown of Aurelia Iowa. The city of Aurelia had recently enacted a ban on pit bulls in response to specific public safety problems the city was facing with regards to pit bull attacks.

The city of Aurelia, IA, responding to a petition from residents, enforced the pit bull ban it has had on the books since 2008. The pit bull in question is none other than Snickers, Sak and Leifer's pit bull which they allege is Sak's service dog. And now Sak and Leifer are suing the city of Aurelia with monetary and other support from Animal Farm Foundation, a pit bull ownership advocacy group.

Two separate advocacy groups have responded to this story, pit bull advocates and advocates for equal rights for people with disabilities.

1. Pit bull ownership advocates feel that though there is no constitutional right to own a pet dog, they must be guaranteed the freedom to own a type of dog that has killed more people than all other kinds of dogs combined in recent years, no matter the effect on the community, and with no concomitant responsibility. And they frequently and publicly wish ill will and harm to anyone who disagrees with them.

2. Advocates for people with disabilities have successfully lobbied to protect and assert their constitutional rights, freedoms and access guaranteed all US citizens.

Take a guess: which group members do you suppose have taken to the internet comments sections and participated in a collective hysterical hissy fit condemning an entire town and which group members have participated in educated, reasoned and nuanced discussions about freedom, rights and responsibility?

The Nutters:

Diann says: can these City Officials and some residents be anymore bigotted and ignorant? May the Bible you thump open to the right page and the Church pew all you good Christian folk sit on burn your bottoms! Shameful and Disgraceful behavior by the petition signers.

Clay Hund says: Burn the town down, and lynch the politicians!!!

Selwyn Marock says: I hope you do the planet a favour and choke on your turkey bone.

Commenters on the public boards on Service Dog Central:

Kirsten says: The letter of the law is REASONABLE accommodation, not any and all accommodation without having to ask for it. In the case where dogs in general are allowed in a community, reasonable accommodation assumes no special request for accommodation is necessary. But when we look at places such as housing, the accommodation must be requested. So I think they could make a case that this is a reasonable accommodation to take into account the community's right to self govern and protect their citizens AND the PWD's right to have a SD. A compromise. Reasonableness loves a compromise. Not budging is very likely to land them with a very broad "any pitbull claimed as a service dog, without proof, is allowed" and that's going to be a huge mess.

The entire thread is an interesting read as is this link to the Bronk v Ineichen suit Kirsten refers to in the thread.

You can immediately see that pit bull advocates view freedom as "I should be able to do anything I want." Kirsten and the other commenters on the Service Dog Central forum, who have had to be vigilant and pro-active about asserting and protecting their equality and rights, have a much more sophisticated and reasonable understanding of freedom.

And the people at SDC also realize that just because Mr. Sak has a disability and claims his dog is a service dog, that doesn't necessarily make it so. The Bronk v Ineichen suit demonstrates that people with a disability who own a dog, but can't demonstrate that the dog meets the standards of service dog training cannot claim the dog to be a service dog. Moreover, by following the discussion in the SDC Aurelia thread, it is clear that advanced obedience training, as well as individually trained tasks, is a requirement for a sufficiently trained service dog. It is assumed that a genuine service dog would have both the training and temperament that would make it safe in any public area.

There are a number of reasons to suspect that this dog is a genuinely beloved pet, but not an adequately trained service dog.

The description of individually trained tasks Snickers has been trained to perform listed by the physical therapist, the Animal Farm Foundation and the motion for preliminary injuctions all consistently name the same three individually trained tasks - "walking, balance, and retrieving items around the house."

Sak and his wife describe, at various times, completely different tasks than those mentioned by the physical therapist, lawyers and pit bull advocacy group; they do not mention the "retrieving items" task at all; and they contradict each other as well as the legal documents submitted in the suit. Sak says that the dog is specifically trained to regard a hand tremor as a signal to sit and wait for a command which is usually go get his wife so she can help him back up after a fall. But, Peggy Sue Leifer, his wife, says, "I have a very hard time getting Jim back to his feet, but he and Snickers have it worked out."

Sometimes, Snickers' trained task is described as dragging Sak to the wall or furniture so he can pull himself up and other times Snickers is described as being trained to stand so Sak can pull himself up by pulling on Snickers collar.

Snickers seems to be an unlikely candidate for a balance and support service dog for a grown man because he is simply not large enough to do the job. The Service Dog Project breeds and trains Great Danes as balance and support service dogs. The SDP states, "The Balance support dog should be at least 40% of the person’s height. A 6-foot tall man needs a 30” dog. This puts stability at the person’s fingertips. The dog should also weigh at least half the person’s weight." They also outline the long training period for the dogs and go into detail about how the handlers are trained to pull themselves up in a specific way so as to not injure the dog.

Snickers was supposedly trained, in the event of a fall, to drag Sak to furniture to allow him to pull himself up. Sak grabs Snicker's collar for this purpose. But, as SDC members note, this would be injurious to Snickers. Evidently, Sak did not consult any service dog information at all because the most cursory search on the internet suggests that Snickers should be fitted with a harness to safely accomplish this task.

Sak provided a letter from his physical therapist to the city council that states she "was involved in" and "supervised" therapy sessions that included Snickers. She stops short of stating she helped train the dog and she was apparently unaware of several of the quite physical tasks that Snickers had been trained to do - dragging Sak, allowing Sak to pull himself upright by pulling on him and, alerting Leifer of a fall. (See attachments at the end of the document)

If the dog is self-trained, evidence of the number of hours this dog was trained first in obedience training to an advanced level and then in individual training for specific tasks to aid his handler should be available to the judge because though it is permissible to train a service dog one's self, the owner must still put the same amount of training on the dog.

The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners has advocated for responsible service dog partnerships for 80 years. They maintain that trainers function as ambassadors for the assistance dog movement. The IAADP believes that "assistance dogs have worked successfully in public and won the public's acceptance by achieving high behavioral and training standards which set them apart from pets and other animals. Their exemplary conduct led to state legislatures granting access rights to the blind, deaf and mobility impaired. Those early teams paved the way for the Americans With Disabilities Act, which has opened the door to individuals with a wide range of physical and mental impairments being able to have access rights."

Their suggested minimum training best practice standards include a minimum of 120 hours of training logged over a period of at least 6 months.

People focus on the "individually trained tasks" that are required for a dog to qualify as a service dog, but it must be stressed that a service dog also required to be very well obedience trained and be obedient in all public situations they are exposed to. It is significant that in the motion for a preliminary injunction, Sak and Leifer stipulated that they would not take Snickers in public. One could suspect that Sak had no desire to take Snickers out in public if the dog's behavior might betray the fact that he is not highly trained to be obedient in public places.

Please note the "trainer's responsibilities" section on the same IAADP page. The first responsibility is to "know pertinent canine laws." As a former CPD tactical officer who worked in a city that banned handguns, Officer Sak's duty was to enforce a handgun ban no matter his personal views on the issue and he, more than anyone, is aware that the law applied to everyone, even those who professed ignorance of the local ban and who were otherwise responsible with handguns.

However, he and his wife used this very excuse to explain why they brought a pit bull to a town with a pit bull ban. It is highly doubtful they were ignorant of pit bull bans in general or that owning a pit bull mix would potentially subject them to bans if they moved. And it stretches credulity to think that they were unaware of the ban in Aurelia given Leifer's affiliation with Cynthia Bathurst of Best Friends Animal Society and Safe Humane Chicago. Both organizations strongly advocate for pit bulls and against pit bull bans and work closely with the Chicago Police Department about dogfighting and other pit bull issues.

Much as been made by pit bull advocate groups of the horror of having one's service dog and pet taken away. No mention whatsoever has been made about adults taking responsibility for their choices. The first choice made was to get the pit bull mix knowing that having a kind of dog often subject to breed bans would restrict their freedom of movement with the dog - whether they agreed with the bans or not. Their second choice was to attempt to make their pit bull pet into a service dog by registering it with NSAR, a scam registry, instead of looking at one of the many organizations that offer free training for veteran owners who want to train their own dog or make available genuine, trained service dogs to veterans at no cost through private donations and a federally funded pilot program through the VA:

Patriot Paws

Hero Dogs

Freedom Service Dogs

Soldier's Best Friend

Vet Dogs

Vets Helping Heros

Vets First

Yet another organization, Pit Bulls 4 Patriots, was founded with the intention of training rescued pit bulls as service dogs for veterans with PTSD. The newly minted Chicago-based Pits for Patriots claims they were inspired by this Florida organization. The history of this organization provides yet another reason to be skeptical of pit bulls paraded as service dogs.

Pit Bulls 4 Patriots had to abandon their original concept but the dedicated founders transformed the program into Hounds 4 Heros, a program that uses rescued greyhounds instead. Why? The pit bulls were not working out as service dogs. They took too long to train, and they found that pit bulls were too "sensitive" to work with handlers with PTSD because they "reflected" the symptoms of their handler's PTSD. Evidently, the pit bulls were exhibiting common symptoms of PTSD: anger, irritability, hypervigilance, and anxiety. Irritable pit bull service dogs. No Thank You.

"We became clear that we need dogs who are able to provide calm in any situation rather than matching the handler's feelings. Also, it is critical that PTSD service dogs can adapt and recover quickly from stress, and to be resiliant enough to do that again and again"

In addition, the wonderful pit bull "washouts" could not be easily adopted so the founders of the organization are now the proud owners of a boatload of pits. Rescue pit bulls, it seems, are not inherently (genetically), suited to service dog work.

It seems that greyhounds possess inherent (genetic) characteristics that pit bulls do not:

"In our search for the "perfect" PTSD service dog, we are very excited to have Murray join us. Greyhounds tend to be calm, loving but not pushy, caring but not overly sensitive, and are happy to relax and go wherever their person needs them to be."

Second quote:
Our dogs are carefully selected for having exceptionally calm and stable temperaments. We like working with greyhounds because we do not have to train over any strong genetically bred instincts and drives (such as protection/guarding, being territorial, herding, dog aggression, or hunting). It was surprising for us to learn that although some greyhounds have a strong prey drive, most do not. While growing to adulthood in preparation for racing, greyhounds remain in daily contact with their litter mates and other hounds. They are spared from the jarring loss of their pack at an exceedingly young age, unlike most other dogs, who are bred and quickly sold as pets. This continued companionship with their own kind is extremely healthy for balanced brain development and canine social skills. Since they are being groomed to become racing dogs, their lives are disciplined, with plenty of exercise, routines, and very clear guidance from all the humans they come in contact with. As a result, they tend to be peacefully submissive to people, and easily accept direction. This is very helpful in their new roles as service dogs for our PTSD veterans.
This next quote seems to speak directly to their experience with pit bulls and to the very real dangers of trying to shape dogs bred for fighting into service dogs:

We can't overstate the importance of the balanced minds and good nature of these dogs for their job as psychiatric service dogs. It is critical that our dogs are going to be calm and stable "on their own" without the necessity of great guidance and leadership from their handler. When living with someone who has fluctuating weak energy and leadership skills, such as anyone with a psychiatric disorder, a dog will revert to its genetically bred instincts and/or to default behaviors learned in puppyhood. Skilled training can override weaknesses in temperament and high-drive instinctual behaviors, but our PTSD handlers will not be able to maintain training over the top of these things. The longer the team spends together, the more the dog's training would "unravel" and revert to the genetic predisposition of the dog. Examples of this would be an unbalanced German Shepherd who falls back inappropriately to his instinct to guard and bite when threatened, or a herding dog who neurotically begins nipping at the feet and heels of anything that moves around his person. With the greyhounds their default is to either relax, or quietly withdraw into themselves. As a result, they don't act out, become dangerously unbalanced, or create problems for their handlers or the public. They are able to maintain and return to their trained behaviors with relative ease.These gentle, intelligent, and malleable dogs respond very well to our positive training methods. They are able to perform the many kinds of tasks and work that most benefit people who face the daunting challenge of living with PTSD.

the PB4P service pit bulls in training and the other kind of service dog

Pit bull service dogs that end up in the news have almost always turned out to be scams, sometimes disastrous ones. Robert Weller even got a ban exemption in Denver for his supposed service dog. It bit him many times and the last time it wouldn't let go.

That is not stopping AFF from launching their own rescue pit bull stunt service dog training program. They are going at it the right way, too. They are basically putting out a nationwide call for appropriate pit bulls that they will evidently transport to the Farm at their own cost. But the best news is they now believe that anyone can identify a pit bull, because they will accept any dog that was identified by anyone at intake as a pit bull for the program!

They undoubtedly will be able to come up with a few pit bulls with the temperament of a labrador retriever, which is basically what they're looking for, by casting such a wide net. But it is nothing more than another stunt, just like the failed Lawdogs experiment.

This lawsuit in Aurelia IA, is another stunt by the monied AFF. They are turning a grown man, a marine, into a victim to suit their agenda and they are scapegoating an entire city. Aurelia is not taking it lying down. These people love their city very much and they very articulately describe their home town and the goodness of the people in it.

Excerpts from a letter to the editor by an Aurelia citizen who's a former Marine:

After reading people's comments on Facebook and other media outlets, such as "I Hope the people of Aurelia burn in Hell and are eaten by pit bulls," and other people insulting family members of the city council, I am for sure embarrassed.

–––––––

Eight years ago I witnessed thousands of people in this rural community stand on the side of the road to salute a KIA Marine; where two young boys in the back of a pick-up truck held on to an American flag in 35 mile an hour wind to honor him; where an 83 year old veteran stood on the side of road in sub zero temperatures because he wanted to salute this young American for the last time; where fireman flew a flag over the road attached to a ladder because they felt it was their job

–––––––

I am hearing many people assault the city council members, who were simply trying to do their job and enforce an existing law after they were petitioned to do so. They have even been called unpatriotic by some. As a veteran, I will say that this is a legal issue and the subject being a veteran has nothing to do with the conflict at center.

For those of you throwing mud at the council, insulting them behind their backs in the name of patriotism, and claiming to be ashamed of Aurelia, you need to know that veterans are not victims, they are strong individuals, and to consider one a victim is an insult to those left on the battle field.

Excerpts from a Chronicle Times editorial the next day:

The national vitriol being aimed at the City of Aurelia for enforcing a City Ordinance banning pit bulls in the town is unfair, unjust, unduly harsh, and simply doesn't relate to the type of wonderful people who call that community "home."

Acting upon a citizen petition calling for enforcement of the pit bull ban, the City Council, paying heed to its constituency, earlier this month voted 3-2 to uphold the ban that resulted in a pit bull mix banned from the City limits.

––––––

After checking around, we found that having a pit bull as a "service dog" is extremely rare, if any others exist at all.

We do not know what the City of Aurelia plans on doing about the pit bull ban enforcement, or if it will recant its actions, amend the ordinance, and legally allow the man to have his "service dog" returned to him.

According to reports, the man is suing the City of Aurelia in an effort to get his dog back. Aurelia has a local attorney in the case, and the man also has an attorney paid by a national animal rights group.

Apparently, it all may be played out in a court of law.

Without getting into all the gory details, pit bull bans are on many city's books for a reason. For Aurelia, or any other city to roll the dice, run scared, and turn 'em all loose on an unsuspecting public because of the special circumstances surrounding this case is hazardous and possibly fatal folly.

Sak and Leifer have won a preliminary injunction to keep Snickers until their lawsuit against the City has been decided. It has been reported that they are asking that a judge find that Aurelia's ordinance is in violation of the ADA and unenforceable and that Sak and Leifer are seeking damages from the city. That will show them and any other city what they'll get if they try to do their duty and exercise home rule principles to protect their citizens.

Hopefully, Aurelia will keep up the good fight. No one wants to see another Johnston City, IL tragedy. Johnston City is a disastrous example of what can happen when communities are denied their right to home rule by laws crafted only to protect pit bull advocates.

pit poetry

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

when in burst two pit bulls to tear off their heads.

They ran and they screamed, it was over they feared,

but by the magic of Christmas, Santa appeared!

"Now Ruger! Now Browning! Now Mossberg and Colt!

On Remington! On Sako! Semi autos and bolts!”

And down through the chimney came Santa with shells,

he loaded his weapons and blew the pit bulls to hell!

He gathered spent rounds then returned to his sleigh,

“Good riddance to pit bulls, have a great Christmas Day!”

~Dude I Bagged Ur Pit

Find the Frankenmauler

Mary used to support pit bull rescue. However, when her husband was attacked by the neighbor's new rescue pittie in the condo building's elevator, a couple of thoughts bubbled to her consciousness. She realized that even the firm conviction that "its the owner not the pit bull" could not keep her husband from getting attacked by one.

Mary is miffed that the frankenmauler is still listed by BETH GRUFF as a success story on her IT'S THE PITS RESCUE's adopted page.

BETH GRUFF founder and president

of the largest pit bull rescue in the San Diego area It's The Pits

BETH GRUFF is a firm supporter of rehabilitating fighting dogs. She has confidence that "experienced handlers" like herself can "gauge the dog's mental condition." She's proud to report that 200 ex-fighting dogs from the largest dogfighting bust in history have been placed in homes and may be in a yard or elevator near you.

However, Mary has detected a significant flaw in this temperament evaluation scheme. If it's the owner and not the dog, while BETH is busy expertly evaluating the fighting dogs' temperaments, who's evaluating the potential owners? And while we're at it, though I don't think Mary's gotten there yet, who's evaluating the rescue operators?

Which Pit Bull Is BETH GRUFF's Elevator Frankenmauler?

Good work with the expert evaluation Beth!

BETH GRUFF should have consulted with DR. BONNIE BEAVER acclaimed animal behaviorist and former president of the AVMA who is against BSL and who condemned the recent San Antonio hospital study by saying, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." She previously has said that temperament testing is, well, basically useless and discourages veterinarians from supplying temperament assessments for insurance purposes because of the potential for liability claims. (thanks, vintage for finding this fantastic source. It should be used whenever possible)

The Beav

Thank you DubV for this take on the "which end of the leash should I blame?" quandary.

The blame game is used by pit bull owners to their advantage, and that is why I choose not to play it. If we do not accept dogs as moral agents, then they are never to blame. Therefore their breed is not to blame. However, their breed is often a cause and contributing factor to maulings. That is a conversation the pit bull owners do not want to have because it frames the issue in a way where they do not have a rhetorical advantage automatically.- dubv June 23, 2011 9:44PM

Lets stop blaming and continue regulating.

Find the Pit Bull

After hearing from someone who was frustrated that "grown men with children are still asking, 'but how can you identify a pit bull?'" and wondering if BSL is feasible because pit bulls are shape shifting , I decided to break down the "Find the Pit Bull" test. The fact that the pit bull community has now decided they can identify the headless corpse of a puppy as a pit bull kind of has taken the wind out of my sails, but I persevere anyway.

Find the Pit Bull

Click on the title to go to the original. Click on image to make it larger.

Key: 1. Boxer 2. Dogue de Bordeaux 3. Alapaha Blue Bull Dog 4. Great Swiss Mountain Dog 5. Vizsla 6. Rhodesian Ridgeback 7. Dogo Argentino 8. Chocolate Labrador Retriever 9. Bullmastiff 10. Jack Russell Terrier 11. Fila Brasileiro 12. Rottweiler 13. Presa Canario 14. American Bulldog 15. Cane Corso 16. American Pit Bull Terrier 17. Patterdale Terrier 18. Olde English Bulldogge 19. Catahoula 20. Bull Terrier 21. Black Mouth Cur 22. Alano Espanol 23. Boerboel 24. Ca de Bou 25. Thai Ridgeback

The "Find the Pit Bull" test pretends to show us that pit bulls are virtually impossible to distinguish from other breeds. The test is intended to deceive. In short, the creator uses scarce to rare breeds that are related to the pit bull's ancestry, juvenile dogs or dogs that are atypical of the breed and pretends that using one photo is the same as seeing the actual dog. The pit bull they use as an example of a typical pit bull is a puppy, for crying out loud!

The long answer:

To trick the viewer, the creator uses the following techniques:

A. Uses photos that do not show relative size.

B. Uses photos that do not show the whole dog when body type is much different than a bully breed.

C. Uses photos of juvenile dogs that have not developed their breed specific characteristics or size.

D. Uses photos of dog breeds that are rare to non-existant in the United States making it very unlikely that the general public or animal control officers have encountered or ever will encounter these breeds

E. Inclusion of many examples of similar dogs of three breed types that are known to have been used to develop the pit bull - terriers, bulldogs and mastiffs. The last two are also themselves closely related to each other.

F. Uses photos that show an atypical or less common type of a breed.

G. Uses poor photos that don't show distinguishing characteristics of the breed or that create the illusion the breed has pit bull characteristics.

The question is: Can Animal Control Officers distinguish the breeds in the photos if presented with the actual dogs?

BOXER photos:

1. BOXER - A, B, C, E, F The first german registered BOXER was half english white bulldog. However, during the 20th century, breeders have created a decidedly distinct and unique looking dog. The BOXER in the quiz is the less common white color and the dog is a young puppy. In addition, the angle of this photo does not show the characteristic scooped break in the nose bridge.

Conclusion: In real life, an animal control officer would have no problem distinguishing a BOXER from a pit bull.

DOGUE DE BORDEAUX photos:

2. DOGUE DE BORDEAUX - A, B, E This is the french version of the large mastiff dog. Both bulldogs and pit bulls have been bred to mastiffs for size since the 19th century. These french mastiffs have been bred for great size (minimum 110 pounds) and a very distinctive look for most of the 20th century.

Conclusion: Animal control officers would have no problem distinguishing a DOGUE DE BORDEAUX in real life because of their size and differing body and head features.

ALAPAHA BLUE BULLDOG photos:

3. ALAPAHA BLUE BULLDOG - D, E - The ALAPAHA BLUE BULLDOG is a mix of bulldog and pit bull and is described as "a well-developed, exaggerated bulldog with a broad head and natural drop ears."William Chester is described as an "Ol Pit-Bull Man" who bred alapahas that were often man aggressive. Chester's old family silver dollar recipe: catahoula x american pit bull terrier x mountain bulldog. It is absolutely true that it is often impossible to distinguish an ALAPAHA BLUE BULLDOG from an american bulldog or from an american pit bull terrier precisely because these bulldogs are a pit bull mix.

Conclusion: Any city seeking to establish BSL with regards to pit bulls should craft their legislation so that it covers all the variations of the american bulldog because american bulldogs are nothing more than a pit bull mix that have inherited physical, temperamental and behavioral traits of the pit bull.

GREATER SWISS MOUNTAIN DOG photos:

4. GREATER SWISS MOUNTAIN DOG. A, B,D, G As you can see a photo was purposely used that hides the muzzle length of the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Also note the fixity of the color pattern in the GREATER SWISS MOUNTAIN DOG that is both characteristic and distinguishing.

Conclusion:Animal control officers would have no problem distinguishing a GREATER SWISS MOUNTAIN DOG in real life because of their size and differing body and head types.

Photos of VIZSLAS:

5. VIZSLA - G - Often described as looking like a red Weimeraner. They look nothing like a pit bull except that they are colored like a "red nose" pit bull. The VIZSLA rescue association has been made aware that some rescues are trying to pass off red nose pit bulls as VIZSLA mixes and they're pissed off about it.

Photos of the RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK:

6. RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK - A, B

Conclusion: The ridge is a dead giveaway for the dogs that possess it. And even without the ridge, the body type and head shape are very different than a pit bull. Animal Control officers who see this dog in real life will have no problem distinguishing it from a pit bull.

DOGO ARGENTINO photos:

7. DOGO ARGENTINO - A, D, E. This is considered the Argentine version of the mastiff, but it is much more closely related to the pit bull and other fighting dogs than other mastiff breeds are. 19th century bull terriers (the pit fighting dogs of the 19th century) were bred with mastiffs and bulldogs to create the fighting dog of cordoba. That is virtually the same mix of dogs that created the pit bull breeds. From the fighting dog of cordoba breeders created the larger DOGO ARGENTINO as a big game hunting dog by breeding with the great dane, pointer, bull terrier, english bulldog, dogue de bordeaux, boxer, and pyrenean mastiff. However, DOGO ARGENTINOS have also been used as fighting dogs. DOGO ARGENTINOS are in general larger, with heavier legs, and slightly smaller jaw muscles than pit bulls. Here is a man bragging that DOGO ARGENTINOS have a bite second only to the pit bull.

Conclusion: It is indeed difficult to distinguish a DOGO ARGENTINO from a pit bull because these dogs were both bred using the same foundation stock for exactly the same purpose. Tia Torres claims she was asked to provide a white pit bull for an advertising campaign and she used this DOGO ARGENTINO for that job. Any community considering BSL should write their description so that it covers DOGO ARGENTINOS despite the dogo's relative scarcity.

CHOCOLATE LABRADOR RETRIEVER photos:

8. CHOCOLATE LABRADOR RETRIEVER - A, B, G -

Conclusion: Animal Control when faced with arguably the most common pet dog of the 20th and 21st century will see the water dog's characteristic double coat and otter tail in no time.

BULLMASTIFF photo:

9. BULLMASTIFF - A, E These dogs weigh between 110 and 130 pounds.

Conclusion: Animal Control can tell the difference between the BULLMASTIFF and a pit bull in real life.

JACK RUSSELL TERRIER photo:

10. JACK RUSSELL TERRIER - A, E JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS weigh between 14 -18 pounds. The only physical characteristic they share with pit bulls is terrier ears.

Conclusion: No problem for Animal Control to distinguish.

FILA BRASILEIRO photos:

11. FILA BRASILEIRO - A, B, D, E - This is known as the Brazilian Mastiff. These dogs are thankfully still fairly rare in the US. These dogs are so aggressive toward strangers that aggression toward dog show judges will not disqualify the dog and judges are advised not to touch the fila brasilieros while judging them. (Can you say best job ever?) Breeders acknowledge that no FILA BRASILEIRO will be friendly with strangers. Many countries ban this breed.FILA BRASILEIRO have bloodhound in their ancestry which gave them very large drooping ears. They are also extremely large, weighing a minimum of 110 pounds. These are on breed ban lists of many countries because of their their extreme aggression.

Conclusion: If AC ever encountered a FILA BRASILEIRO, they could distinguish it from a pit bull.

ROTTWEILER photos:

12. ROTTWEILER - A,B - The photo chosen deceptively shows a less typical head. ROTTWEILERS typically have rounder faces, more loose skin around the jowls, are generally larger, have a slightly longer coat, and have a color pattern that is fairly fixed.

Conclusion: Animal Control would have no problem distinguishing a pit bull from a ROTTWEILER.

PRESA CANARIO photos:

13. PRESA CANARIO - A,D, E - This is the mastiff of the Canary Islands that was , beginning in the 18th century, crossed with English fighting dogs for the purpose of dog fighting. In the 1970s PRESA CANARIOS were near extinction. The breed was revived by fanciers in the 1970s and 1980s. They are suspicious of strangers and known to be aggressive with other dogs. This is the kind of dog that killed Diane Whipple. These dogs are a minimum of 100 pounds.

Conclusion: Although these dogs are generally larger and favor their mastiff ancestry, it is indeed sometimes difficult to distinguish a PRESA CANARIO from a pit bull because PRESA CANARIOS were bred using the same foundation breeds for exactly the same purpose as the pit bull terrier. Any community considering BSL should write their description so that it covers PRESA CANARIOS.

AMERICAN BULLDOG photos:

14. AMERICAN BULLDOG - A, E - The modern American bulldog is a reconstituted breed. The old south bulldog was practically extinct by the 1950s and in an effort to bring it back, the original breeders crossed the bulldogs they could find with American pit bull terriers, boxers, and mastiffs. The Bulldog Information Library informs us that the AMERICAN BULLDOG can look like a "large, coarse, leggy white pit bull." In the 70s, some were bred for dogfighting. They are still being crossed with pit bulls from famous fighting bloodlines today. The dog used to play Petey the pit bull in the recent movie remake of Little Rascals (1994) was named Kershner's Screamer and is classified as 100% Johnson type AMERICAN BULLDOG. However, it has both american pit bull terrier and american bulldog fighting lines in its pedigree.

Conclusion: Any community considering BSL should write their description so that it covers American bulldogs because it is a pit bull mix and has inherited the same physical, temperamental and behavioral traits that make pit bulls dangerous.

CANE CORSO photos:

15. CANE CORSO - A, D, E - called the Italian mastiff, Sicillian bulldog or the Sicillain mastiff. They weigh between 80 and 160 pounds. The CANE CORSO was near extinction by the 1970's when fanciers began to redevelop the breed. The CANE CORSO came to the US in the 1980s. According to breeders' clubs they are naturally dominant dogs and will never back down from a challenge and their bite is legendary.

Conclusion: Animal Control can tell the difference between the CANE CORSO and a pit bull in real life because of their classic mastiff head, heavy build and often enormous size.

PIT BULL photos:

16. PIT BULL - A, C - The PIT BULL in the original test is a very young puppy. The next four photos are purebred examples the three breeds considered to be pit bulls. They all were bred from the same foundation stock for the same purpose - pit fighting in England during the first half of the 19th century. The first dog after the puppy is the oldest and smallest breed - the STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER. The next two dogs, the AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER, and the AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER are often virtually indistinguishable, in fact, owners can dual register their dogs as AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIERS with the AKC and as AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIERS with the UKC as the dog in the last photo is.

Conclusion: PIT BULL ownership advocates like to cloud the issue by suggesting it is important to be able to distinguish one PIT BULL breed from another, however it is very clear that all of the three PIT BULL breeds closely resemble each other, are very closely related, and can all be identified as PIT BULLS by Animal Control.

PATTERDALE TERRIER photos:

17. PATTERDALE TERRIER - A, D, E - Patterdale terriers weigh between 11-16 pounds. They have been used as pit dogs and here is a link that says that many PATTERDALE TERRIERS bred in the US have "a dash of pit bull terrier in them."

Conclusion: When animal control sees a 16 pound dog, they will be able to tell the PATTERDALE TERRIER from an pit bull.

OLDE ENGLISH BULLDOGGE photos:

18. OLDE ENGLISH BULLDOGGE - A, D, E, F - The photo used is not only not typical of OLDE ENGLISH BULLDOGGE, I don't think it is an olde english bulldogge. Unlike the other recreated breeds, this one was very well planned and documented using a line breeding scheme developed by Ohio State University for breeding cattle for a very specific look. "The goal was to recreate a specific breed of bulldogge with the look, health and athleticism of the original bull baiting dogs, but without the extreme tenacity. The foundation crosses consisted of 1/2 english bulldog, 1/6 bullmastiff, 1/6 american pit bull terrier, and 1/6 american bulldog." Unlike other recreated bulldog clubs, this club actively discourages any kind of aggressive work or training. "The club promotes obedience training and competition, agility and coNformation showing, as well as therapy work." They especially encourage ARBA conformation events. In essence, they are interested in preserving a very specific look and breed for bench and field trials.

CATAHOULA photos:

19. CATAHOULA - F- Also called a catahoula cur, Louisiana catahoula dog, catahoula leopard dog. These dogs are fearless pig and cattle herding dogs that do not have a bully look to them at all. They are common in parts of the south and uncommon in other parts of the country.

Conclusion: Animal control can tell the difference between a CATAHOULA and a pit bull terrier if they ever encounter one.

BULL TERRIER photos:

20. BULL TERRIER- E, G - Bull terriers are very closely related to pit bulls, but they have been bred to have a distinctive straight profile that is deceptively not at all evident in the photo used.

Conclusion: No confusion whatsoever.

BLACK MOUTH CUR photos:

21. BLACK MOUTH CUR - D, G - also known as Southern Cur, Yellow Blackmouth Cur, Blackmouth Cur, American Blackmouth Cur, Red Blackmouth Cur, Ladner Blackmouth Cur, Ladner Yellow Blackmouth Cur. You will notice the familiar deceptive angle in the first photo that foreshortens the muzzle and makes it look more like a pit bull. This is another southern herding and big game hunting dog that does not look like a bully breed. They are common in parts of the south and very uncommon in other parts of the country.

Conclusion: Animal control will have no problem distinguishing a BLACK MOUTH CUR from a pit bull if they encounter one.

ALANO ESPANOL photos:

22. ALANO ESPANOL - D, E, F - This is the Spanish bulldog. The breed was originally used for bull baiting, hunting big game, guarding livestock and handling wild cattle. This ancient breed played an important role in developing several molosser dog breeds such as Dogue de Bordeaux and Presa Canario. These dogs have extremely powerful jaws. I found 3 breeder listings that were all dead links for the US.

Conclusion: Although these dogs have a distinctive look, they could be easily confused with a presa canario and perhaps PIT BULLS. However, it is highly unlikely that animal control would encounter one in the United States.

BOERBOEL photos:

23. BOERBOEL - A, C, D, E, - As you can see, a deceptive photo of a very young puppy was used in the original test. Adult BOERBOEL look nothing like a pit bull. They are the most enormous mastiff type and weigh between 110 to 175 pounds and are also considered more athletic than other mastiffs. Like other large, dangerous breeds, these were nearly extinct until fanciers revived the breed in the 1980's. These are the South African mastiff bred to protect large farms and are extremely territorial and protective. They are known to have been crossed with bullmastiffs at one time. Their ancestry is largely unknown except that it is presumed that successive waves of settlers brought their biggest, fiercest mastiff-type dogs along with them to South Africa from many parts of the world.

Conclusion: The BOERBOEL will be immediately distinguishable from a pit bull by its size, and classic mastiff head

CA DE BOU photos:

24. CA DE BOU D, E, - also called Perro de Presa Majorquin, Mallorquin Bulldog - This bulldog was used for controlling bulls, baiting bulls, and dog fighting. Look at this link to see what one fancier thinks is the correct type of dog. It should not look too much like a bulldog, and looks almost exactly like a pit bull. I could find no breeders or dogs in the US.

Conclusion: This dog is extremely rare and basically non-existant in the United States. However, it looks very similar to a pit bull because it was bred with the same foundation stock and for the same purposes. If I were crafting breed restriction laws, I would include it just because pit bull advocates always threaten if their pit bulls are restricted, they're going to inflict other dangerous breeds on the public.

THAI RIDGEBACK photos:

25. THAI RIDGEBACK - B, F, G, - There are 18 thai ridgebacks in the whole country available for adoption and 5 breeders that I can find.

Conclusion: They look nothing like pit bulls and are extremely rare.

Here is what the test would look like without the purposefully deceptive photos. Can you find the fighting dogs that should be banned?

Key: 1. Boxer 2. Dogue de Bordeaux 3. Alapaha Blue Bull Dog 4. Great Swiss Mountain Dog 5. Vizsla 6. Rhodesian Ridgeback 7. Dogo Argentino 8. Chocolate Labrador Retriever 9. Bullmastiff 10. Jack Russell Terrier 11. Fila Brasileiro 12. Rottweiler 13. Presa Canario 14. American Bulldog 15. Cane Corso 16. American Pit Bull Terrier 17. Patterdale Terrier 18. Olde English Bulldogge 19. Catahoula 20. Bull Terrier 21. Black Mouth Cur 22. Alano Espanol 23. Boerboel 24. Ca de Bou 25. Thai Ridgeback

Even with the less deceptive photos, the there still remain the problems of identifying a dog by one photograph and the improbability of encountering most of these breeds.

The breeds that are most confused with pit bulls are most often breeds that are

1. pit bull mixes

2. share the same foundation breeds and were bred for the same purpose.

3. also dangerous

4. often still crossed with pit bulls to this day

Other breeds that are included are

1. protective mastiff breeds

2. also dangerous

3. often crossed with pit bulls to this day.