Interesting read, IMO. Permission has been given to crosspost. This article would've been released the year before I got introduced to the breed.
http://www.doglegislationcouncilcanada.org/pitbullfad.html
PIT BULLS ARE LATEST FAD SCARE
DLCC NOTE**This article came from the San Francisco Chronicle Panorama Section. It was dated Thursday, July 30th 1987. It was written by Debra J Saunders who has never owned a pit bull.**
The man actually agreed to talk about it on television. He had his pit bull killed. The pet had never acted violently, he said, but his wife was so scared by TV news stories that she was suddenly afraid of their dog. In Northern California, over two dozen pit bull owners have had their pets put to sleep because neighbours were pressuring them or they had become suddenly fearful of pets whom many had loved and nurtured for years. TV is so powerful that it is more trusted than man's best friend.
This says some sad things about America. The pit bull scare illustrates how skittish we have become..... skittish and ineffective, because this fad scare will do next to nothing to lessen dog attacks. The sociopath louts who train their dogs to be attack machines aren't curbing their dogs. It's Good Neighbour Sam who responds to the pressure. He will be a sad Sam in a year's time when the hysteria has passed and only the guilt remains.
Since the Gary Hart/Donna Rice scandal, there has been a lot of talk about a new direction in American journalism. It's the old direction, sunken lower, that is truly terrifying.
"If it bleeds, It leads" has been a long time standard for TV news directors. In this decade, local TV has gone from leading with disasters to teasing with hysteria. Fad scares have been on the rise since we first learned about AIDS. Stations found that their ratings shot up whenever they ran AIDS expose or the dangers of crack cocaine. They saw that scaring viewers sells. The pit bull story is especially good because, like crack, it's easy for local TV news to cover and exploit. Any airhead can hit the streets and find a drug addict or a dog . Shake a stick at the dog and you can get it to growl and look real menacing. If it's visual it makes good TV.
Wait a few days and in any populated area, somebody is bound to get bitten by a dog. If its a German Shepherd, you ignore it. If your not sure what breed it is, you might call it a pit bull. If it is a pit bull, you can call the networks and see if they want the package too.
TV news has slunk to such a low that "Dog bites man" is actually a story. Pit bulls make for good local TV because they require no expertise. No need for facts; just get the best teeth shot.
So the public remains unaware that there is no hard evidence that pit bulls attack more frequently than other breeds. In 1984, Los Angeles County estimated that German Shepherds were responsible for 35.8% of the city's dog bites The pit bull estimate was 4.6% half that of Labrador Retrievers. These facts don't make it onto many small screens.
Pit bulls offer all the main criteria of a fad scare. There aren’t a whole lot of pit bull owners to alienate. There are no pit bull advertisers. Fad scares scare and soothe at the same time. If we stop taking crack or get rid of a near by pit bull we're saved.
Unlike the Middle East or acid rain, the pit bull problem is easy: Get rid of pit bulls. It won't upset an ecological food chain. No jobs will be lost. Most people won't be offended. This time, the price for a false sense of security is animal sacrifice: Families offering their pets to the altar of television news. The big question is who's next? Killer rabbits, junkyard dogs, autistic children, bicyclers? What is truly horrific is how readily the public has embraced pit bull hysteria. One year ago, most people didn't know what a pit bull is. Today they're ready to send the breed to the doggie gas chambers.
http://www.doglegislationcouncilcanada.org/pitbullfad.html
PIT BULLS ARE LATEST FAD SCARE
DLCC NOTE**This article came from the San Francisco Chronicle Panorama Section. It was dated Thursday, July 30th 1987. It was written by Debra J Saunders who has never owned a pit bull.**
The man actually agreed to talk about it on television. He had his pit bull killed. The pet had never acted violently, he said, but his wife was so scared by TV news stories that she was suddenly afraid of their dog. In Northern California, over two dozen pit bull owners have had their pets put to sleep because neighbours were pressuring them or they had become suddenly fearful of pets whom many had loved and nurtured for years. TV is so powerful that it is more trusted than man's best friend.
This says some sad things about America. The pit bull scare illustrates how skittish we have become..... skittish and ineffective, because this fad scare will do next to nothing to lessen dog attacks. The sociopath louts who train their dogs to be attack machines aren't curbing their dogs. It's Good Neighbour Sam who responds to the pressure. He will be a sad Sam in a year's time when the hysteria has passed and only the guilt remains.
Since the Gary Hart/Donna Rice scandal, there has been a lot of talk about a new direction in American journalism. It's the old direction, sunken lower, that is truly terrifying.
"If it bleeds, It leads" has been a long time standard for TV news directors. In this decade, local TV has gone from leading with disasters to teasing with hysteria. Fad scares have been on the rise since we first learned about AIDS. Stations found that their ratings shot up whenever they ran AIDS expose or the dangers of crack cocaine. They saw that scaring viewers sells. The pit bull story is especially good because, like crack, it's easy for local TV news to cover and exploit. Any airhead can hit the streets and find a drug addict or a dog . Shake a stick at the dog and you can get it to growl and look real menacing. If it's visual it makes good TV.
Wait a few days and in any populated area, somebody is bound to get bitten by a dog. If its a German Shepherd, you ignore it. If your not sure what breed it is, you might call it a pit bull. If it is a pit bull, you can call the networks and see if they want the package too.
TV news has slunk to such a low that "Dog bites man" is actually a story. Pit bulls make for good local TV because they require no expertise. No need for facts; just get the best teeth shot.
So the public remains unaware that there is no hard evidence that pit bulls attack more frequently than other breeds. In 1984, Los Angeles County estimated that German Shepherds were responsible for 35.8% of the city's dog bites The pit bull estimate was 4.6% half that of Labrador Retrievers. These facts don't make it onto many small screens.
Pit bulls offer all the main criteria of a fad scare. There aren’t a whole lot of pit bull owners to alienate. There are no pit bull advertisers. Fad scares scare and soothe at the same time. If we stop taking crack or get rid of a near by pit bull we're saved.
Unlike the Middle East or acid rain, the pit bull problem is easy: Get rid of pit bulls. It won't upset an ecological food chain. No jobs will be lost. Most people won't be offended. This time, the price for a false sense of security is animal sacrifice: Families offering their pets to the altar of television news. The big question is who's next? Killer rabbits, junkyard dogs, autistic children, bicyclers? What is truly horrific is how readily the public has embraced pit bull hysteria. One year ago, most people didn't know what a pit bull is. Today they're ready to send the breed to the doggie gas chambers.
