Pit Bulls: Dangerous or Misunderstood?
American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terriers, commonly known as “Pit Bulls”, are all breeds of dogs that are universally misunderstood. Pit Bulls are commonly seen as vicious, dangerous, and violent animals. Unfortunately, Pit Bulls are falling victim to dog breedism. Over the years, Pit Bulls have gained a negative reputation, but why? These following articles address how Pit Bulls are misidentified, misrepresented, and unappreciated.
One of the common issues regarding Pit Bulls is the ignorance of their identification. The first article “Inconsistent Identification of Pit Bulls by Shelter Staff” addressed the topic of lack of information relating to …show more content…
In addition, this study looked at Pit Bulls and their time spent in shelters and their adoptability. In an earlier study, Barber et. al noted that Pit Bulls, similar to wolf hybrids, were not eligible for adoption and more often than not euthanized. The article also noted, like the previous study, that records of Pit Bull bites might not be very accurate because individuals cannot properly identify the breed of dog (para 6). The study conducted in this article was focused on length of stay Pit Bulls have in shelters (para 19). They hypothesized that Pit Bulls would be in a shelter longer compared to dogs who looked similar, known as the lookalikes, but given a different breed label (para 19). Individuals who were interested in adopting a dog were shown pictures of the Pit Bulls and the lookalikes (para 21). They were asked to rate the dogs on adoptability and attractiveness (para 23). It was found that the dogs that had the label Pit Bull had a shelter stay of 47 days, while the lookalikes had a shelter stay of only 12 days (para 26). Interestingly enough, when looking solely on attractiveness, both Pit Bulls and lookalikes had the same score (para 28). Which verifies that the label Pit Bull is affecting their potential …show more content…
They were questioned on breed stigma, their experience with their animal, how others reacted to them having a Pit Bull, and why they decided to adopt a Pit Bull (Arluke, Patronek, Twining, 2001). After the survey they found that most owners were highly frustrated and concerned about their animal (para 11). They could tell that people were fearful when their animal would be around; people even avoid them at all costs when seeing the Pit Bull out in public (para 12). People would ask them questions like, “Why would you get a dog like that?”, and they would feel very judged (para 27). They loved their animals, but they were unsatisfied with how people treated them because of it. Some individuals took it as far as denying that their dog was a Pit Bull to avoid the judgements (para 11). It was found in the study that many of the owners who were interviewed felt like having a Pit Bull was more stressful because of how others viewed the outlawed breed (para
American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terriers, commonly known as “Pit Bulls”, are all breeds of dogs that are universally misunderstood. Pit Bulls are commonly seen as vicious, dangerous, and violent animals. Unfortunately, Pit Bulls are falling victim to dog breedism. Over the years, Pit Bulls have gained a negative reputation, but why? These following articles address how Pit Bulls are misidentified, misrepresented, and unappreciated.
One of the common issues regarding Pit Bulls is the ignorance of their identification. The first article “Inconsistent Identification of Pit Bulls by Shelter Staff” addressed the topic of lack of information relating to …show more content…
In addition, this study looked at Pit Bulls and their time spent in shelters and their adoptability. In an earlier study, Barber et. al noted that Pit Bulls, similar to wolf hybrids, were not eligible for adoption and more often than not euthanized. The article also noted, like the previous study, that records of Pit Bull bites might not be very accurate because individuals cannot properly identify the breed of dog (para 6). The study conducted in this article was focused on length of stay Pit Bulls have in shelters (para 19). They hypothesized that Pit Bulls would be in a shelter longer compared to dogs who looked similar, known as the lookalikes, but given a different breed label (para 19). Individuals who were interested in adopting a dog were shown pictures of the Pit Bulls and the lookalikes (para 21). They were asked to rate the dogs on adoptability and attractiveness (para 23). It was found that the dogs that had the label Pit Bull had a shelter stay of 47 days, while the lookalikes had a shelter stay of only 12 days (para 26). Interestingly enough, when looking solely on attractiveness, both Pit Bulls and lookalikes had the same score (para 28). Which verifies that the label Pit Bull is affecting their potential …show more content…
They were questioned on breed stigma, their experience with their animal, how others reacted to them having a Pit Bull, and why they decided to adopt a Pit Bull (Arluke, Patronek, Twining, 2001). After the survey they found that most owners were highly frustrated and concerned about their animal (para 11). They could tell that people were fearful when their animal would be around; people even avoid them at all costs when seeing the Pit Bull out in public (para 12). People would ask them questions like, “Why would you get a dog like that?”, and they would feel very judged (para 27). They loved their animals, but they were unsatisfied with how people treated them because of it. Some individuals took it as far as denying that their dog was a Pit Bull to avoid the judgements (para 11). It was found in the study that many of the owners who were interviewed felt like having a Pit Bull was more stressful because of how others viewed the outlawed breed (para