Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Pit Bulls; But It's Not Just Pit Bulls

Amid the well-earned notoriety of pit bulls and their owners--just look up "pit bull" on Google News--comes this story from the San Francisco Examiner:

S.F. Pit Bulls: Protecting Yourself and the Controversial Breed

When angered, pit bulls are powerful and relentless. And even when not angered, they boast impressively strong jaws that you probably don't want clamped down on you. But we humans boast the gift of guile. And, over the years, our species has passed down punishing but innovative methods for handling pit bull attacks. Some say that the best way to get a pit bull to release its bite is to jam a thumb into the dog's ass. Others recommend flaming the dog's testicles with a Bic. Urgent situations, after all, call for extreme solutions.
But those methods are urban myths, says John Denny of the SFPD's Vicious and Dangerous Dog unit. Instead, Denny says the more effective strategy is to whip out a wallet or an iPhone or a nearby tree branch and stick it into the dog's mouth. This appeases its aggression and occupies its jaws. Another possibility: Avoid the confrontation by jumping onto a car.
Read it all here

But it's not just pit bulls.  Also, as this shocking story shows, there's a good reason dogs, even leashed, are not allowed in playgrounds.  It also shows that for one pediatrician, dogs are more important than children:

A Manhattan pediatrician whose 80-pound dog, Archie, is notorious for being “vicious and dangerous” took the pooch to a Long Island elementary school playground — despite signs banning dogs — where it promptly attacked a 6-year-old boy and chewed off his earlobe, a scathing lawsuit charged yesterday.
Then, instead of giving bleeding, screaming Andrew Esposito medical assistance, Dr. Deborah Levine said, “Everything’s going to be fine, It’s no big deal,” recalled Andrew’s dad, Edward Esposito.
Levine had brought the hulking black Labrador mix, Archie, on a leash on May 18 to Philip Sousa Elementary School in Port Washington, LI, where Andrew’s brother was playing a baseball game, Esposito said.
Read the rest here.  Hat-tip to Christina.


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