Pit bulls. Are pit bulls savage beasts or passive puppies? Are pit bulls actually savage? Do pit bulls attack for no reason or do they attack to protect their owner? Do you know enough about pit bulls to come to a conclusion that they are savage beasts or do you just assume that by what the media says? Does it depend on the owner?



The way that the media portrays the pit bull is that the media will exaggerate the story by choosing words that will attract your attention. The media will use words such as: vicious, ferocious, dangerous instead of stating the truth and saying that the pit bull was protecting its owner because it thought that its owner was in trouble. Whenever a pit bull attacks a dog that most people like and think is adorable, (e.g. golden retriever) the media will say that the pit bull attacked the dog for no reason, instead of saying the dog's gender and that it was for territorial reasons or for protective reasons.



The Michael Vick case is a good example of how the media portrays pit bulls. The Michael Vick case is about a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons who participated and helped to pay for a dog-fighting ring on his property. In the beginning he lied about the whole thing and said that he didn't participate in the dog fighting and he didn't know that the dog fighting was happening on his property. After the prosecutors (offense) had the other members of the dog-fighting ring testify against Vick, he soon told the truth. Evidence said that by banging the dog's head on the floor and other brutal methods of killing dogs were used. In the Michael Vick case the main dogs that were used were pit bulls. They were used mostly because of the pit bulls history and reputation.





The history and reputation of the pit bull makes most people think that they are dangerous and ferocious dogs. Their original ancestors were wolves. However, pit bulls did not evolve from wolves directly; they evolved from bulldogs and terriers that lived in England. Since one of the pit bull's ancestors was the bulldog, this can really affect most peoples' opinion of pit bulls.



Most people's opinion of pit bulls is either created by personal experience with pit bulls or what they hear from the media. Other people's opinion is created by what they hear from friends, family, or the outside world. The rest of the people either don't care about pit bulls or they respect the pit bull (that is small amount of people). Since the media exaggerates stories about pit bull attacks, the viewer will believe the story and automatically think that pit bulls are dangerous, vicious, and horrible pets. Since most people think that pit bulls are dangerous and vicious, they are used in dog fighting, in gangs, and in dangerous neighborhoods.



The behavior of a pit bull really depends on the owner. If the owner is mean and beats the pit bull most of the time, the dog will become scared. If it feels like a person or dog is about hurt it, it will attack the person or dog. However, if the owner is kind and spoils the dog, it will become a "puppy" that always wants attention. Like every other dog, pit bulls have to be trained while they are still puppies.



Pit bulls aren't automatically vicious when they are born. It depends on the owner. The owner has to train the pit bull while it is still a puppy. The owner is the one that decides what the pit bulls personality and behavior is going to be like. However, because of the pit bulls reputation and history, it is used for reasons that are absurd. Finally, because the media affects society and peoples' opinion, the pit bull has the reputation as dangerous, vicious, and a horrible pet. They will keep that title unless a highly important person or the media tells the truth about pit bulls!



Here's a link to a video called Pit Bull Viciously Attacks Baby at www.youtube.com.