Editor:
Re: Bad owners, not bad dogs, July 1 letters.
There is a simple solution to stop the constant reporting of pit bull dog incidents in the news, once and for all.
The solution is to put a muzzle on all pit bulls when they are out in public like unleashed dog parks.
My dog has passed on, but when I used to take her to the dog park, there was a pit bull there that had a muzzle on it. This pit bull had a great time playing with all of the dogs as the pit bull was now playing instead of fighting.
Pit bull dogs are taking a lot of blame these days, but a lot of the blame is due to the pit bull owners themselves in the way that they are raising their pets.
The muzzle can also be used on other dog breeds that seem to have a problem with other dogs around them. A muzzle does not constitute cruelty to a animal.
The emphasis to put this solution into action is the full responsibility of the animals owners.
Joe Sawchuk, Duncan
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Over the past few months, I have heard or read of pit-bull dogs attacking people of all ages in B.C. resulting in serious and/or fatal injuries, and at the same time reading letters to the editor of this newspaper relating to these attacks, some stating that it is due to the owners of these dogs that these incidents occurred with no responsibility being placed on the dogs themselves.
I would like to state a few facts about pit bulls.
Pit bull dogs were initially bred to attack and kill, but in the late 20th century this killing was banned but they were still allowed to be bred.
A lot has changed since those days regarding the sale and breeding of these dogs, and now the only countries in the ‘civilized’ world that allow pit-bull-type dogs into their country or to be bred are in fact Canada and the United States – and even in Canada these types of dogs are banned in Ontario and Manitoba and most other provinces they are banned in the major cities.
In the U.S. they are banned in a number of states, including California.
A total of 39 counties have a total ban on them including all of the U.K. countries, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. If one is found, it is immediately picked up by police and euthanized as a matter of course. Why do all these 39 countries have a total ban on them? Because they are killers, not because the owners haven’t trained them properly.
I am in my 80s and many years ago owned one of these dogs, our pet, but after it had attacked neighbourhood dogs and then started to circle our newborn baby, we had to have it euthanized.
James Taylor, Surrey
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Re: Right to live in fear of some dogs, July 6 letters.
An alternative to muzzling is to do something about their unnecessarily long and sharp teeth.
Fen Kong Liew, Surrey