If you think the idea of banning PITS is redic...

[MissMowgli]

Well, the ultimate goal of a lot of these wackos is to not allow anyone to keep any kinds of pets or livestock because they might get abused/mistreated/eaten. So I'm not surprised someone's trying to ban bigger dogs first. Sorta like how they're going after us herp people; it's easier to get things banned that aren't tiny and cute and cuddly.

On the BSL debate, I'm torn. I love pits, I really do. When I worked rescue in New Mexico, we had so many come through the pound that had been fought, beaten, stabbed, and one poor dog had his mouth duct-taped shut and was left in the middle of nowhere to die. None of them showed an ounce of aggression towards me. Mr. Duct-Tape's face will haunt me forever as one of the sweetest, most trusting faces I've ever encountered. His scars told the story of a long life of dog-fighting, and so he was euthanized without a chance for adoption.

That said, in a society with somewhere in the ballpark of 70 million dogs, it's tough keeping a breed around that is still being bred to fight and kill other dogs. I have seen pits turn on other dogs without notice or provocation, and they don't have the same instinct to stop that other dogs do. A couple of my neighbors used to let their dogs play together, an Australian shepherd and a pit. These two dogs played together since the pit was a puppy, and always seemed to get along fine. One day, the pit just attacked the Aussie, and ripped out its throat before either owner could do anything.

There are some really good breeders of bully breeds out there, but anyone rescuing a pit from the pound should be very, very careful. Dog fighting is still a huge underground sport, and odds are decent that a rescue pit comes from a fighting bloodline. IMO, I wouldn't trust these dogs around other dogs any more than I'd trust a Jack Russell around a pet rat, or a greyhound around my favorite pet rabbit. It's in their breeding to kill, and training can only do so much to overcome genetics.