Pit bull owners

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Not your average breed

To understand the experience of owning a negatively perceived dog, Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy did a case study on pit bull owners. Researchers found that with "outlaw" breeds, such as pit bulls, the human-dog relationship is sociologically more complex than previously known. Owners of pit bulls, they discovered, directly feel the stigma targeted at their breed and resort to various tactics to mitigate it. These strategies included:
"passing their dogs as breeds other than pit bulls, denying that their behavior is biologically determined, debunking adverse media coverage, using humor, emphasizing counter-stereotypical behavior, avoiding stereotypical equipment or accessories, taking preventive measures, or becoming breed ambassadors.1
Related articles:

07/16/08: Noncompliant Pit Bull Owners Cited After Lakewood Hearing
06/22/08: Wanganui Mayor on Pit Bull Lobby "Intimidate Now" List
01/15/00: Managing the Stigma of Outlaw Breeds
Disguise breed name
As the Tufts study illustrates, pit bull owners frequently pass their dogs off as other breeds to diminish a perceived stigma. Animal organizations do as well. In 1935, the American Kennel Club (AKC) agreed to register pit bull dogs, but only under the name Staffordshire terrier. This was done to distance the breed from its dogfighting past. To muddy matters further, in 1972 the breed was renamed the American Staffordshire terrier.2
The most recent example of an animal organization attempting to obscure the pit bull name occurred in San Francisco. In 1996, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals began calling the breed "St. Francis Terriers." The hope was to make the animal more adoptable from shelters. After much screening and training, about 60 pit bulls were placed. The program was suspended after several of the re-dubbed dogs killed cats.3

The confusion of multiple names provides traction for pit bull owners who claim that people cannot properly identify the breed. They tell friends that they own a Staffordshire terrier not a pit bull. When in reality, it's basically the same breed that stems from the same gene pool. To add more confusion to the mix, the American bulldog was often called the American pit bulldog up until the 1970s.

As breed-specific laws emerged, the term "pit bull type dog" emerged too, which is far easier for people to understand. The jumble of names, however, is why breed-specific legislation includes the following breeds: American pit bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and American bulldog.

To evade breed-specific regulations targeted at their dogs, pit bull owners have taken matters a step further by calling their dogs a boxer-mix, lab-mix, terrier-mix or bulldog. This might fool some people, but not animal control officers. As Hocking County Dog Warden Don Keiger states: "Once you see the frame, posture, build and distinct head and jaw size of a pit bull - it's obvious."4

Related articles:

06/02/08: ASPCA Pushing Pit Bull Adoption: Adopt-A-Bull Contest
10/28/07: Ohio Counties Enforce New Pit Bull Restrictions
06/01/99: UK: Dangerous Dogs Threaten Comback
Don't blame the dog
Pit bull owners habitually direct negativity placed on the breed onto the "environment." A participant in the Tufts study illustrates this clearly, "If you get some kid that has been beaten all his life, he's going to go out and be aggressive towards people. And that's how it is with [my dog] and with pits [in general]."5 The intention is to assert that the environment plays a greater role in the breed's aggressiveness than genetics.
Pit bull owners commonly direct blame onto victims after an attack too. While "blaming the victim" is a universal phenomenon, pit bull owners do so outrageously. In an attack that left a horse severely injured and a rider battered, the pit bull owner speculated, "the horse injured itself running through the woods." Hundreds of park goers that witnessed the event disagreed, as did the park ranger who intervened.6

In a less outlandish instance, but more insidious in nature, a fatality victim with a history of seizures was blamed for the attack that lead to her death. 24-year old Kelli Chapman was sleeping in her bed when her two pit bulls attacked and mauled her to death. It was quickly assumed that because she suffered from seizures, she must have had a seizure and the dogs reacted to it by killing her.

The truth is we will never know the order of events: Did the seizure cause the attack or did the attack cause the seizure? What we do know is that many breeds of dogs help seizure victims. Seizure-alert dogs assist a person during and after a seizure. Many people believe they can even sense an attack before it occurs.7

Related articles:

05/03/07: Owner Denies Pit Bull Attacked Horse and Rider
01/24/08: Kelli Chapman Killed by Two Pit Bulls
Breed ambassadors
According to the Tufts study, the most public way in which pit bull owners managed breed stigma was to become a fierce advocate for the breed. These owners sought to "educate" the public -- often through their own well-behaved pets -- by discounting stereotypes and promoting the finer qualities of the breed.8
Some respondents that fell into this category were highly vocal and charged: "[Their jaws] don't lock; they don't ratchet shut! Go read facts before you bother me with this stuff!" Others took a more low key approach by saying, "Maybe you should look into this more?" DogsBite.org receives hundreds of emails from both types of breed ambassadors.

To help deflect the fear that pit bulls incite about children, one breed ambassador kept a photo handy that showed a child snuggling with a pit bull. The respondent summoned it when the need to "educate" people cropped up. A popular YouTube video, "Pit Bull Viciously Attacks Child," was crafted by a breed ambassador. The video depicts happy babies lying near pit bulls.

Some breed ambassadors take activism of the "Pit Bull Cause" to reckless levels. Despite warnings from pit bull experts to "avoid dog parks at all costs," and to "never trust a pit bull not to fight,"9 breed ambassadors visit dog parks to show other dog owners that pit bulls are safe, reliable dogs that have been unfairly stigmatized.

Related articles:

04/02/07: Pit Bull Viciously Attacks Child
The lion tamer complex
A behavioral trait not addressed in the Tufts study has been dubbed the "Lion Tamer Complex" (LTC). Many pit bull owners believe they are superior dog owners and through this superiority can control the "game bred" pit bull by teaching discipline and love. While not all pit bulls are inherently vicious, their genetic history cannot be "loved" out of them either.
LTC is currently fracturing animal groups, particularly concerning the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's dogfighting facility. On one side of the argument is PETA, who believes dogs trained for fighting are unsafe, unserviceable and should be destroyed. On the other side, Best Friends Animal Society believes the dogs can be rehabilitated through obedience training and love.10

Criminals choose pit bulls
In 2006, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence published a study that focused on Ohio dog owners. The results showed that criminals are more likely to own "vicious" dogs. For the purposes of the study, researchers used agreed definitions of "vicious dogs" found within local ordinances. All ordinances included pit bulls because Ohio state law automatically declares this breed as "vicious."
The report is summarized best by one of its authors, Jaclyn Barnes, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre:

"Owners of vicious dogs who have been cited for failing to register a dog (or) failing to keep a dog confined on the premises ... are more than nine times more likely to have been convicted for a crime involving children, three times more likely to have been convicted of domestic violence ... and nearly eight times more likely to be charged with drug (crimes) than owners of low-risk licensed dogs."11
There is no denying that dangerous people are attracted to dangerous dogs. These same people also have a higher likelihood of being irresponsible owners. Pit bulls are the dog of choice for criminals. This combination exponentially increases the danger these dogs pose to the community.

On a daily basis, US news agencies report police officers shooting pit bulls while attempting to serve search warrants. Pit bulls are commonly used in drug operations and gang-related activities as well. Such enterprises can't resist untraceable cash transactions, so it is no wonder they routinely practice backyard breeding. In these circles, the meaner the dog, the more it's valued: 1-2k per puppy and beyond.