Editor:
Re: City seeks help with dog attacks, Sept. 20; Parents thankful girl, 4, survives pit bull attack, Aug. 28.
I don’t think I am surprised by people’s reaction to the news, but I am annoyed with the pit bull story.
I am sorry about what happened to the little girl but you can’t generalize. Every decade had its own breed of dogs that were considered aggressive.
I still say it’s not the breed, it is the dog. We people tend to generalize and give names to things we don’t understand – like calling one group of people all drug dealers, another white trash and another terrorists – but we know there are a few bad apples, and you can’t generalize and use these terms on everybody.
We are individuals. So are the dogs.
When people say there were no warning signs, that is not true. There is always a warning sign; maybe not at the instance when the dog attacks, but before.
A dog is an animal; you cannot trust them 100 per cent. You don’t know what can trigger the attack, especially when there are children involved.
I have a dog; it’s not a pit bull. And my boyfriend had a dog who was mellow, especially with kids, till one day it reacted to a little girl. It did not harm her, but there was a sign. One day a lady came to the house and, out of the blue, the dog bit her – thank God not too hard.
Later, it growled a few times at people – there was the sign again.
It was the hardest decision, but we put the dog down. We knew if it happens once, it can happen again.
We tend to ignore small signs because we love our dogs. You have a choice to keep it on a leash and ask for professional help or, if the aggression grows, it’s your responsibility to put the dog down.
I see many little dogs totally aggressive, and the owners find it cute because they are small. It is not cute; it is an out-of-control animal that can create problems, but we tend to be more afraid of big dogs because of their size and strength.
Don’t condemn the breed.
We people with dogs should help each other create a safer place for everyone.
Eva Hompoth,White Rock