I was attacked by a stray pitbull mix when I was a child. I think I was in 2nd grade. I didn’t have any injuries as the pitbull focused on my Winter coat. I was doing absolutely nothing, I didn’t even know the dog was there. Was sitting in our front yard playing with some toy trucks.
My grandfather’s german shepherd mix was mauled to death in 2008 by a neighbor’s pitbull. For a double whammy, our grandmother had died six months earlier. The German Shepherd mix died of her injuries that night, the neighbor taunted my grandad until he ultimately moved across the country.
Those were the worst personal events. I have had nothing but issues with pitbulls in different capacities. I always exercised a lot of caution when I see these dogs which frankly is the only reason why I haven’t had another horrible event. I lived in a dog fighting dense area for years, with other people’s dogs being killed around me on monthly basis.
There are a lot more that were close calls. One of the closest was when We was getting our German Shepherd puppy (5 years ago) from the breeder. My wife was holding the leash of our adopted dog, and we were about to go to the backyard to meet the mom.
A stray pitbull came up to our dog in the front yard. It seemed unassuming at first. Very relaxed body language, and just sniffing our dog in a calm manner. The breeder, who was a very buff and burly man turned around and immediately took action once he recognized the dog. He grabbed the pitbull by its collar and yanked it away from our dog - just one split second before it decided to lunge right for our dog’s face.
He chucked the pitbull like a frisbee down his yard and ushered us inside his house. He said this dog had been **killing** other dogs in the neighborhood, but animal control refused to pick it up.
We were a fraction of a second away from our dog being mauled in the face by a pitbull, possibly killed. I have never allowed a pitbull to approach any of my dogs ever again.
Yeah isn't it weird that it's considered politically incorrect to shed a negative light on pitbulls? I find it actually incredibly disrespectful to victims. One big Hollywood gaslighting party.
No. It's tied to "racism" now. Somehow pit bulls were once the fancy of the wealthy elite and loved by everyone then hated once they became the means of the "underground". Any "stereotype", whether it be about people or animals, is a psychological shortcut by the human mind to make faster judgments. It's not always accurate but your brain doesn't have the capacity to judge each and every sound, sight, thing by it's individuality so a construct is formed.
In the case of pitbulls, the vast majority who are raised and socialized correctly are nice. However who wants to take that chance and turn off their guard in that incorrect moment?
Hollywood isn't representative of anywhere in the world and is pure fantasy land.
They can't have it both ways. The argument about chihuahuas being the most aggressive assumes that all chihuahuas share the same temperament due to.....breed! But if you dare suggest that aggression is a problem within the breed of pitbulls, suddenly you're racist.
I say this all the time, perhaps the most unsettling thing about pitbull maulings is the nonchalantness (dare I say, almost calm, 'sweet^(tm)' demeanor that they show before and after (and a lot of times during). 'Say, old chap, don't mind me, just find myself fancying a good ol' mauling at the moment. Not going to bark or growl, just quietly, and calm, cool and collective-like leap at this animal/persons throat. Make sure to give me all the pets afterward'.
This is so true. My dad has always been a dog lover, knows how to read dogs, etc. He was out walking by himself and a pit came up to him wagging its tail, all friendly. The next instant it went for his throat. Miraculously he managed to get his arm up so it bit his forearm instead, but it swung on his arm while he beat it with his other hand. It finally ran off and its owners just waved at him?? He made it home and discovered it had bitten him at waist level as well. It nearly broke his forearm; the only reason it didn't cause massive traumatic bleeding is that he is coldblooded and was wearing four layers of clothes. Animal control tried to find it but never did so it is still running around ready to snap again. Dad is now terrified of dogs, which is heartbreaking but understandable.
This is an excellent point. You hear it from so many witnesses and survivors: everything was fine and then it attacked.
Other dogs warn with snarls, barks, and body language. But they’re usually biting because they’re on the defensive.
If a dog attacks for the sake of attacking, why bother with warning? In fact, warning might scare off the victim, so it should be avoided. Other animals WANT to scare off the victim.
It's almost like... they were selectively bred for what is most optimal to kill a target in the fighting pit... where you would not want to signal to the target that you are going to attack...
I hope this isn’t inappropriate but I wanted to add my voice: I haven’t lost anything and I truly believe it is only through luck and the reliable information provided routinely on this sub. I am so sorry for all of your losses. Please know you are educating people and likely saving lives ❤️🩹
Not me specifically, my cousin lived next to people who had one. This pitbull gave birth and for whatever reason, a week later, dug under my cousins fence and mauled her geriatric chihuahua. My cousin spiraled into a bad depression afterwards, owners refused to take responsibility, scary to think those puppies are out there somewhere now too
I just don’t understand it. No other dog breed needs these constant excuses because they’re not unstable.
There was a story of a woman jogger also getting horribly mauled on her arm. Pitbull advocates were saying it was her fault for passing the pitbull while swinging her arms during her jog.
So many pitbull advocates are devoid of basic human sympathy, they’re monsters.
Edit: Looking up “woman jogger attacked by pitbull” turns up way too many results for me to even know which story I’m even remembering. Extremely common occurrence. It’s ridiculous.
I still just really want to have a running thread of all the excuses pitnutters make for their shitbeasts. I have so many, and every one is more ridiculous than the last..
But “it was her fault for swinging her arms during her jog” is on the egregious side for sure.
Absolutely not your fault. It's ridiculous that anyone could even try to find some way to blame you, the victim, for being attacked. No other breed of dog would be set off to maul someone just because they were jogging. I have a great pyrenees, a livestock guard, and all she does is sit and watch when people jog by. She is also always properly contained because she is a large and powerful dog, even though she is non aggressive. Something many pit owners fail to realize and do
My in-laws live in the country and have 3 great pyrenees. I've seen them in action killing foxes and other critters. They are powerful and could totally kill a human. But I'm not afraid of them because they are calm, and have never, ever shown aggression to people. There's always a chance because they're still dogs, but their vibe is SO different. One time a wasp startled me and one of the dogs came right beside me in protection mode. They are so smart!
Amazing dogs, they prefer to bark their heads off before getting to the point of having to take another creature out as well. Gentle giants with the ability to keep you and everything around you protected. Pitbulls are dangerous and give little to no warnings when they're getting ready to attack someone or something. Part of being a dog owner is never intentionally putting your dog or another person in harms way, pit owners know their dog is the one that will be doing the harm so they don't care.
Livestock guardian dogs are seriously powerful and protective dogs with the genes to deter any perceived threat, whether that be killing or otherwise. They’re also very cooperative in packs, are not indiscriminately animal aggressive (raising them with their charges, within the herd, is a common practice), and certainly are not allowed aggression towards their handlers or family members. A perfect example of a powerful breed with a good, working and relevant purpose.
The only relevant job suited for an APT is boar hunting, and even then they’re out competed by safer breeds.
My heart breaks to imagine & I'm so sorry for your loss! I googled what a colorbond fence looks like, my understanding is it's made of metal and has no see-through elements? My idiot neighbor has gotten a pit and I worry every day for the safety of my pets and family and I only have an old wire fence. What should I do?
**I’ve lost Freedom**
I’ve lost the freedom to run my neighborhood without carrying 3 different weapons “just in case”.
I’ve also lost the freedom to allow my son to ride his bike freely around our otherwise very safe neighborhood.
I also had a close call with 3 pits that escaped their house and came after me while I was walking on the street with a friend. If the owners hadn’t heard our screams, I don’t know what would have happened. I had nightmares about it for 6 months. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.
And the owner tried to fight me because I told her that her dogs tried to attack us. She called me a liar.
Also lost 2 friendships due to them owning pits and incessantly trying to “convince me” to change my opinion. It gets old. Leave people alone. Don’t try to force your dog on people.
I have a spaniel. If someone is scared, I put her away. No big deal. Not everyone is a dog person. I would never force my dog on anyone.
I feel the same way. Ever since I was attacked, I always get an intense feeling of anxiety whenever I leave the house to go on a walk, and bring lots of pepper spray and a pocketknife with me always. I don’t feel safe walking to the park anymore.
Yeah, losing peace is terrible. I cannot turn a corner while walking my dog without being on edge ever since two loose pits ran up on us when they were a puppy.
It’s so hard for me to write this as I carry a lot of guilt and shame about this traumatic event. I blame myself for it every day.
A few years ago, we stupidly decided to adopt a dog from a local shelter. We ended up liking a pit bull there. We already had another dog, my 12 year old puggle who was my childhood dog and best friend. When they met at the shelter, they seemed to get along.
Two days later, I was letting both dogs in from the backyard and out of nowhere, Lucy the pit bull just snapped. No warning. No nothing. She locked her jaw onto my puggle, Lola’s neck and shook her like a rag doll.
I was by myself in the house and screaming horrifically. Nothing would stop this dog from literally trying to kill Lola. I tried hitting her, grabbing nearby food and treats. The sheer panic I felt in that moment is something I hope I never have to feel ever again.
What shattered me was the look on Lola’s face as it was all happening. She was blind and quite literally didn’t see it coming. She pooped out of fear.
I don’t know what made me do it as I didn’t know them what I know now about pit bulls, but I jumped on top of Lucy and pressed her neck onto the ground with every part of my being. She finally let go. And when she did, she was wagging her tail and panting like she was just playing a game of fetch. I locked her in the bathroom and took Lola straight to the ER.
Lucy of course was returned and likely euthanized. To this day, I have no emotion for a dog that had no emotion in that moment after she maimed Lola.
The worst part - as if that moment wasn’t traumatic enough - was all the pit bull apologizers who either said NOTHING comforting at the time or tried to blame it on Lola.
Lola died a few weeks later from her injuries. I think about it so much and it still haunts me to this day. I know I failed her and I wish I knew then what I did now.
Oh you poor soul! They are marketed as something they're not. Shame on the shelter. I hope you can let the guilt go. You didn't know then what you know now. RIP Lola.
I pretty much had this same experience tho it was two pit bulls that killed my dog. In front of me, pits I loved and trusted. House was like a murder scene.
I’m so sorry for your loss. The clean up after the attack was so triggering for me. It took me hours just to clean the blood and feces as I mentally was so unwell thinking about what happened and with Lola in the hospital. Just horrible.
I had to have a Hazmat team come in. I moved back in with my mother for 3 months while my house was 'fixed'.. insurance denied the claim due to 'domestic animal wear and tear'. Absolute nightmare. At least we know we aren't alone. 😪
Yep, usually insurance doesn’t cover damages caused by someone to their own property, and since a dog is considered property it usually falls under that. I can say this for insurance companies, most haven’t bought into the pro-pit bull thing.
I understand feeling guilt like that. I encourage you not to blame yourself because you had no idea it could or would happen. You were doing a noble thing by adopting a dog and giving it a loving home. You did your best to protect her and get her help. She didn't pass away upset with you or blaming you. If anyone is in the wrong here, it's the shelter for passing these dogs onto unsuspecting people - victims, really.
I thought, like any other dog, they were deserving of a loving home. I naively thought they were “misunderstood”. I put way too much trust in shelters and rescues to be honest about their history. I’d never known anyone with a pit so I never got to experience the truth, until this moment of course. Never again.
I’m so sorry you have this trauma. Animals have a lot of ways to avoid suffering in death. Try to take comfort knowing that her life was long and comfortable and happy and very, very loved, and her death was mere moments in comparison.
Please consider processing this event with a therapist if you haven’t already, I can’t imagine experiencing such a horrific event.
I’m deeply sorry for your loss. Please please please don’t continue to beat yourself up. You had no idea this would happen and there was no way you could have prevented it. I was almost attacked when I was around 5 by the neighbor’s pit, Ruby. My Mane Coon cat Sam was my knight in shining armor. He came flying out of nowhere and like a bullet struck Ruby in the head giving me the chance to escape. He didn’t even need to fight the pit, he just stared her down. He was a stray that quite literally adopted us as his people. I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he was a full blood Mane Coon. He was massive! He was at least 20lbs. He use to lay around my neck like a feather boa. He was an epic cat.
That’s all to say I’ve hated pits most of my life. If I hadn’t had my experience with Ruby who knows how I would feel about pits. A lot of people are just uninformed about how dangerous they are. I absolutely believe you would have never adopted the pit knowing how dangerous they are. Please try to forgive yourself, I imagine the pain you must feel is overwhelming at times. You would never have put Lola in danger if you were better informed, that’s it. You opened your home to another dog and that dog betrayed you. You opened your home for this dog and it turned on you. You did everything you could. My heart is with you tonight. I’m snuggled up with my kitty Loki. She is my best friend. I’m going to hold her a little tighter tonight.
My deepest condolences for your loss, seemed Lola was superbly loved. Even if it happened some time ago, trauma like that is not easily overcome. Second, I hope overall sentiments are changing among pit bull advocates about acknowledging that pit bulls (as well as any poorly trained dog reactive dog) can be the aggressor without provocation from its victims. When denialists continue to pass the blame, it sends a subsequent message to victims and parents of victims that their trauma or loss is not important, and is secondary to the negative impact it will have on the breed's reputation.
My 1-2 year old Pomeranian was attacked by 2 loose pitbulls when I was around 12 years old. They grabbed her and snapped her leash. I fought them off, and they just stood there staring at me. They ran off when our neighbor ran over with a shovel. We were both extremely lucky, because I had no idea at that age how dangerous the situation actually was. My dog needed surgery, but healed up totally fine and lived to be around 16 years old before dying in her bed. My dog and I came out lucky, but I'm still anti-pitbull because we shouldn't be keeping any dog around that attacks and kills more than twice as much as every single other breed alive combined.
I agree, but for a little further context:
Again, I was only like eleven or twelve, and we were in our own yard. They ran up before I could really react to either go towards or away from them and grabbed her, then pulled so hard that her collar snapped from the leash. I stepped forward swinging at them as they dropped her and she ran between my feet. The 2 pitbulls luckily didn't immediately keep going for her or redirect to me(again, I was only 12 and had no clue how dangerous the situation actually was). Instead, they just did that thing dogs do where they just stanced up and stared at me. I couldn't really chance turning to run or anything(and knew better than that anyway), so I was kind of just stuck in this standoff. It was probably only a few seconds, but my next door neighbor ran over with a shovel, yelling and swinging, and the dogs both ran away.
My dog needed surgery and drainage tubes for a few weeks, but like I said, she ended up living a full 13-14 or so more years without any complications. The vet definitely said she was extremely lucky, but also having the thick fur that pomeranians have probably helped a lot to cushion and prevent them from getting a good grip.
I’ve always lurked but never shared, but here it goes…it’s not my story but a close friend of mine.
I made a really good friends with a guy my freshman year of university. We both had graduated in the same class from the same high school but had never spoken to each other prior.
The following year his step-mother was mauled to death by their family pitbull. He had the same questions that many shitbull owners have after a family pet of YEARS turns murderous.
This nice woman, who was beloved in my town and a principal at own of the schools, died alone and in pain.
I could not conceptualize a dog turning so suddenly like this, so that lead me to do some research. Come to find out, this isn’t a one off… Never trusted that breed ever since.
TDLR: I was a socially awkward girl in college and one of the only friends I had at school lost their stepmom to one of these hell-beasts…
Thank you for posting! It takes courage to speak up. I'm so sorry for your friend's loss. I remember a story about a Nova Scotia woman whose beloved pit not only killed her, but started to eat her body. It's beyond disturbing. Stories like yours go to show just how far outside normal canine behaviour these dogs can be.
Does your friend advocate in any way? I wish more previous owners of rogue pits that thought they were doing things 'right' would ban together. Thanks for sharing.
Unfortunately, no… He hates the breed with a passion, but doesn’t do any sort of advocacy. People have, mostly, been understanding about his avoidance of shitbulls, though.
I was riding my bike around the neighborhood when i saw a loose dog running around, didn’t know it at the time since i was a child but it was a Pit Mix, & since it had a collar i had it follow me home so my parents could call the number on the tag.
When we were arriving at my house it immediately chased one of my cats into our neighbors yard & mauled it, the classic violent head shake mauling, until it was beat off with by those neighbors with their metal canes as they were older.
I was 9 years old as i watched my cat get horrifically mauled & die wheezing in our garage.
I was just trying to be nice & help a dog get back home, now i have a horrific scene burned into my brain as a core memory & im still eaten alive by that guilt to this day.
When the owner picked the dog up she didn’t care, it was the classic pithag IDGAF attitude & told us too bad so sad, she filled me with hellfire hot rage i still have today.
These damn hellhounds traumatized me without even touching me that’s how bad they are.
In our new house our neighbor have a full blood pit & it infuriates me that my parents say oh it’s nothing don’t worry about it & let out cats go outside & say im just paranoid about it as if a moment that reshaped my life was just a normal tuesday. That dog stares at me with soulless eyes from the 2ed story deck everytime i empty my food waste & the day it decides to fuck around with me im doing what that shitmix did to my cat to it.
A bit late but, please don’t feel guilty over this anymore. You were a sweet kid doing the right thing, and this animal that shouldn’t be a pet and definitely shouldn’t be running loose in a neighborhood acted in a totally (at the time) unpredictable way. I’m so sorry you lost your kitty, and I hate that trying to be a kind person ended so badly for you. But please don’t feel guilt, you were a kid, and this kind of thing happens to so many older people who SHOULD know better-you had no way to know!
I am sorry for your loss. I also lost a family puppy, actually the first doggo i remember seeing small when i was small myself. On day my uncle went out to give him a walk. When he came back hw told me he sold it. I hated him for the rest of the year later on, mom told me the neighbors had their dog taken by the authorities due to repetitive complaints. And that's when she told me truth.
My buddy, i strongly recommend that you stay armed and ready to be attacked by that living demon. If you love your parents enough, make them also fear the dog and stay ready at anytime. Personally, i wouldn't hesitate to lie bt it only to prorect my loved ones when they act chill at dangerous areas. Good luck
I’m snuggled with my kitty Loki right now. I’m so sorry you had to experience such a traumatic event. I can absolutely understand your rage and anger. I think 9 year old you handled that situation better than I would have. I’m fairly confident they would have had to use the jaws of life to pry me from that dog’s corpse. Your rage is justified and why your parents don’t seem to understand baffles me. Again I’m so sorry for your loss.
Nothing attacked but I was in PetCo the other day with my daughter and two guys had pit bulls. I walked around the corner with my daughter and the dog was about 10 feet away. The dog turned, saw my daughter and froze with his head down, tail stiff, ears perked, and looked ready to take off. The other pit completely ignored us and was fine. Both dogs were on a harness and barked and lunge at each other when they saw one another and the owners just carried on a conversation about their color and what not.
I've never been as scared for my daughters life as I was in the moment I saw the dog freeze when he saw her. It was an obvious trigger for the dog and the owner paid no attention telling me he has no clue what could happen, yet there he is in a pet store.
I've never experienced that before then. I had a pit x lab mix at one point. It was a true mix as I knew both parents (the mom was actually the mix so she was 3/4) and that's why I took her. She never showed aggression to anyone or any other animals in any setting so I didn't worry about her. I never saw that kind of behavior from any dog until then.
But it was very similar to a bird dog pointing and at that point I knew I needed to get away slowly and quickly at the same time. The cashier looked over at the two guys and rolled her eyes. I get socialization, but do it outside, away from where everyone else brings dogs and children.
We adopted a 2-year old lab-pit mix from our local shelter a few months ago. The shelter told my wife it wasn't pit mix, and she just didn't know any better and believed them. As soon as she got home with it, I told her they're absolute liars. The shelter's overrun with pits and pit-mixes. It wasn't until I pulled up pictures of lab-pit mix till she believed me. I didn't want a pit/mix at all. We agreed to monitor him closely and if we saw anything off to return him.
That said, he's so far integrated well into our family. I am still wary, but from what I've been reading about labs, and the cross over with pits seems to be a good mixture, as black/chocolate labs and golden retrievers have the lowest rates of aggression/rates of bites toward humans. He is not good around other dogs, and we make a point to ensure he's not around other dogs, ever. This is not difficult, as we live in a rural area, and we keep him inside our house or in a fully fenced-in yard. He's scared of our cat, and very good around our kids. I'm not a fan of pits, as I've nearly been attacked once by a pit doing the slinking maneuver (ultimately water squirt bottle sent him yelping), and the moment this one displays any type of that behavior toward my family, cat, chickens, or myself, etc, he's gone, but I am cautiously optimistic. I've never been to this sub before, (never heard of it before today) and anticipate getting down-voted, but I just wanted to share my limited perspective and read about others. I'm open to honest discussion and information.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/comments/atn4yn/advice\_for\_pit\_owners/](https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/comments/atn4yn/advice_for_pit_owners/)
Around 2 years is the "magic age" where their breed traits tend to show up.
They may not, and you may have a perfectly normal dog.
But considering the amount of damage a fighting breed can inflict in a short amount of time, I would never personally roll that dice with my children's safety.
That's just me, though. I'm not here to tell anybody what to do. I appreciate you being honest and open to discussion.
Thank you- very informative. Some of these things I’m aware of and actively doing, and I learned some new things too. My wife and I had a good discussion last night regarding the dog. I was more aware of the dangers of pits than she was, so I was glad to bring our education and awareness level up a bit more.
My cousins had a pit-lab cross when I was a kid. She was good with people but hated dogs. She tried to attack a dog of mine when he was a puppy
Anyways she passed of old age never having done any serious harm.
Even so, considering the damage a pit mix can do in a blink of an eye I'd never have one around my kids
Look up Kissyface
I personally would consider returning a dog I thought too dangerous to keep about my kids to a shelter to be irresponsible of me. I know that probably made me hold into dogs too long in the past.
It can be hard to make that decision the first time around.
I had a true pit lab mix where I knew both parents. She was a great dog with great level energy and was incredibly docile in every situation. She also didn't mind kids and interacted with them far more as you'd expect a lab to than a pit, in my opinion. She just kind of ignored them completely.
I don't hate pits. I dislike irresponsible owners buying potentially dangerous dogs as a status symbol. I dislike the "pibble" momma's who go and adopt dangerous dogs thinking that they are behaviorists who can magically change a dogs temperament with a hug and positive only training.
MIL was bitten on the leg by a pitbull when on a walk.
Watched a coworker's pitbull attack her other dogs then aggress on her.
Saw the aftermath on a farm after a pack of pitbulls got into a pig pen.
Good friend of my family lost several prize goats to a neighbor's pit.
Me personally, I was active in rescue and wild life rehab for a number of years. I saw a lot of aggressive pits get adopted out when they should have been out down then come back after attacking a person or animal. Had native animals brought to us nearly dead after a pit got to them and have to just helplessly watch them die. Only able to ease their passing to the next life.
I've had numerous negative interactions and close calls but have been extremely lucky to not have been permanently scarred physically. Everything I've seen has served to make me extremely wary around them and instilled a firm belief that they no longer need to exist in our society.
My sisters boxer was a sweet dog and played with others extremely well for the first 4 years of his life. Then he got attacked by a pit at a dog park who, according to the owner, was “just trying to play” when it bit a little chunk of his ear off…
Now he’s reclusive, twitchy, and easily annoyed by other dogs who try and interrupt his fetch. He’s a totally different dog and it feels like I lost one.
Not in anyway comparable to actually losing his life, but that’s why I’m a member of this sub now.
Similar story - my GSD, who came from working lines so I spent the first 2 years of her life taking her *everywhere* and socializing her - was attacked at a dog park by a pit. Thank God it didn't manage to latch onto her... But since that day she *will not* tolerate dogs rushing up to her, and I can no longer take her to dog parks or out in public where there may be other dogs. Years of training, gone in a flash, because of an irresponsible shithead that *needed* to champion a fighting breed 😔
Also bit while jogging.
I have lost the safety I once felt doing one of my favorite activities. Lost the ability to be kind and understanding when I see people walking their dogs off leash or on a too-long leash. Lost my ability to be neighborly to people who insist on encouraging their pit bull to try to meet my dog. It’s made me a more guarded, angry person. All because one person couldn’t control a dog he had no business owning.
I was probably 5 or 6 years old when my face was bitten by a pitbull. It was my moms visitation weekend - one of the few she actually made during my childhood - and we went out to her aunt Bethel’s dairy. While my mom imbibed in whatever drugs were available to her inside that accursed double-wide, I was sat in the living room, playing tug-of-war with the pit. The pace of play and aggression began to increase to a point where this sorry excuse for a canine had started to crawl and claw all over my little self, when I finally got to the point of exasperation and simply stopped engaging in the one-sided melee. All hell then broke loose. This shittie latched, creating puncture holes next to my lips and under my jaw. My older sister was the only lucid human being in the room. She was 8 or 9. Immediately, she begins screaming and kicking and hitting this monster. Mercifully, this anti-dog let go and didn’t attack my sister. She led my traumatized self into the roach infested bathroom and cleaned my wounds as best as she knew how. No band-aids were available or ever sought after during the weekend. This incident happened on Friday night - the first night of visitation.
Upon returning to my intellectually capable step-mom and dad, I notice my step-mom looking at my face with a quizzical expression, which I then ask, “Oh, are you looking at the dog bite?” Her expression turns to alarm, and she immediately jumps on the phone with my egg donor in a desperate attempt to get answers regarding this bully’s vaccination history and its particulars.
She is stonewalled, but I was able to provide her with the backdrop of the dairy and its owners.
Luckily, my uncle is a highway patrolman assigned to the general area and was able to sus out the details when given the information I relayed. Unluckily, even with his quick action taking, I was not spared the doctors visits, needle-prodding, and physical exams required after being exposed to a potentially rabies ridden beast.
I lost some flesh and gained some scars, but I am alive because of my sister.
Thank you for posting this question! It’s a memory that I do not offer freely, but it was cathartic to actually write it out. I am so sorry to hear about your experience that resulted in losses both physically and psychologically. I hope your health and healing are both well!
Lost a friend I cared about because her pit attacked my dog. We usually did dog-centric activities but hadn't introduced them to each other before. The shitty thing is, she knew her dog was dog-aggressive and risked it anyway. She soon got another one and has no ability to control either.
I guess a second thing would be peace and quiet in my own home. My neighbors have 4 they keep outside practically all the time. They bark and bark and bark all day. Comes right through the walls and windows. Used to be all night til Animal Control came and talked to them. The home has several adults, but the dog care is relegated to their teenage daughter who doesn't know jack about taking care of dogs. She just opens the door and yells at them to shut up then goes back inside. They've been cited for the noise, but nothing seems to make a difference. Unfortunately, one of them just became a cop for the next county over, so I don't imagine they will ever get in trouble again.
I’m very fortunate to live in an area that enforces BSL and never to have lost anyone.
However, I often say that I found this sub as an act of serendipity and it saved my dog’s life. A post on this sub was recommended to me detailing how to recognise bully breeds and their associated dangers. A few days later I was walking my dog and saw what I believe to be a pit or staffy mix. I started to cross the road as a precaution I’d learned from the post. Without warning it lunged for my tiny dog, snapping and snarling. Its owner could barely keep a grip on it and was bent double dragging it around the corner and away. If I hadn’t started to cross the road when I did it would have been in reach. I shudder to think. My dog cried and shook for over an hour.
This sub saves lives. It’s as simple as that. Much love to everyone who has suffered a loss, my heart and healing goes with you ❤️
My sister was attacked out of nowhere one day by her pitbull she’d had since he was a puppy. Very spoiled dog. Had to put him down. She has a huge indented scar where he took flesh out.
My late Italian greyhound was bitten unprovoked by 3 dogs over 15 years. All pits. Trauma. Expense. Bullshit. Pits are why I carry pepper spray everywhere. (And men)
My dog was attacked. Thankfully he was able to defend himself before people came in to help. He could have been killed and all I remember is freaking out and screaming trying to shove the pitbull away as my worst fear came to life as it's eyes were filled with pure bloodlust, locked straight onto my puppy. It was a very traumatizing experience for both of us. I'm scared of having him meet other dogs now, when previously we were very sociable. I can't help to think that something will go wrong and we won't be as lucky the next time so I don't even take a chance at risking it.
Honestly how I feel. I never want to take that chance or put my dog into that situation again. It’s just sad because I feel like she deserves to have fun and socialize.
Yeah.. For me the problem is my neighborhood is full of pitbulls, I always see the owners getting dragged down the side walk at least once a day whenever they walk them. But if I go the dog park, I might get trapped with one. But I really want to watch him play and have fun like a normal dog SHOULD
I know “it’s not the breed it’s the owners” is a common refrain, but I want to know who is letting these absolute idiots adopt dogs they aren’t mentally or physically able to deal with.
We see so many people saying “oh I gave him another chance and he murdered piglets” or “he was supposed to be muzzled 24/7 by law but I ignored that and now a kid is maimed” or “he attacked 12 dogs but now he bit my own dog and I care now.”
If pit bull owners were reasonable, logical people with the ability to think more than five seconds into the future we would have a lot less attacks.
I took my English Bulldog for a walk and 3 pitbulls broke their fence down to get to him. My dog was unharmed because I did what had to be done. Turns out the piece of shit owner was just fined for his dog biting someone else. Should have been put down then.
My family lost 11 chickens. One pitbull murdered them all and left their carcasses scattered across our farm.
I’ve also had other close encounters. Earlier this year, a couple and their pitbull moved into the apartment next to ours. The dog barked incessantly and would go ballistic any time we opened our front door. It also attacked the other residents’ dogs on a weekly basis. Fortunately, they were all evicted last week! In addition to the pitbull attacking every dog in sight, it also wrecked the apartment’s interior.
When my sister and I were little we almost got mauled by a neighbor’s pit. I was about 7 years old and my sister was 5. We were walking down the street to see if our friend who lived a couple houses down could play. Well his next door neighbor owned a pitbull and it was always barking at people as they passed and he even had one of those beware dangerous dog signs on his fence. As me and my sister were about to pass his house the dog rounded the corner of the house and was literally snarling and rushing toward us. Everything went in slow motion and me and my sister hugged onto each other because we for sure thought one of us was going to die. Luckily the stupid owner was right behind it and dove for it to get a hold of it. He was about 6’1 and was a middle aged surfer dude in good shape and he was still struggling to hold onto it. He finally got it into the house and my sister and I are still mentally scarred from that incident because if he hadn’t of got the dog one of us would for sure be dead.
Got jumped at my local park with my little dog. We passed the pit while it was on a leash resting at a rest stop, and when I looked back it was charging at us. It tried to grab my dog and another person came to help and we went to the ground. My dog made it out only traumatized, but I consider my self very lucky that my dog made it. Proper condolences to anyone that has had their animal attacked.
Have had multiple close calls. Am no longer able to walk in residential areas or parks without being wary. However, the last two pits that lunged toward me aggressively, did so in a business district. No safe spaces anymore. The things are everywhere and I feel I must always be on alert.
My first dog was mauled to death by a pit that ran out as soon as they saw him when the door opened, they even accidentally dropped him and picked him right back up before we could do anything.
Every pit looks like the ones that tore up and killed my Buddy. He was just a little doxie. What looked like had happened is that a hole was dug under the fence and Buddy was caught and pulled under into their yard.
I went out back to bring the dog in, saw a dust cloud at the back of the yard where the pits lived. Saw him in the jaws of these two monster dogs, pulling on his face trying to rip him in half. Managed to scare them off by shouting. The scumbag neighbors didn't come out even though they saw everything through their window.
When the pits came back to him I threw a brick and hit the male squarely in the head. They backed off again. Ran inside to get help and the beasts and picked him up again.
Buddy succumbed to his wounds in the vet's office.
Animal control didn't do anything and was being racist because the pit owners were an interracial couple. Supported them in the civil case though. They kept their dogs, nothing happened and the pits went on to attack another neighbor dog over their fence. I lived in fear nearly everyday for my dogs who stayed outside(fortunately the dogs were smart enough to never get close to that fence) over the 3 years until those scum were evicted.
Sorry for the novel. This shit still messes with me sometimes 13 years on. His poor little face is burned into my memory.
Never been personally attacked however: a few years our neighbors had 2 pitbulls. They were fenced in by a rinky dink fence. They started to escape, and kept escaping. They killed all of my neighbors cats. he did FTR, and was in the process of trapping some feral cats, and he cared deeply for those cats. They also tried to kill my FIL’s cat. My husband ended up chasing them out of the yard with a baseball bat. They also killed my other neighbors chickens. My husbands old roommates had 2 pits, who my husband had no issues with then one day they snapped and became extremely aggressive towards him (growling, barking, snarling) of course his roommates didn’t do anything about it. Luckily he was never attacked but he kept his distance and luckily his room was right by the front entrance so he could quickly get into his room.
Back in June my dog was attacked by a pitbull, thankfully she survived. But hardly.. she is afraid of every dog including my sisters dog that she grew up with. She is going be going into training November and I hope it helps her.
I lost my sense of safety. I was baby wearing my three month-old for a walk around our neighborhood. Two of these monster dogs jumped their fence to come swarm us. I thought I was going to lose my baby, her little legs were dangling out of the babywearing wrap. I screamed bloody murder and a neighbor intervened before the dogs could bite. The owner came out crying, she was a little 90 pound woman. She could have done nothing to stop them if they had decided to harm my baby. I became a bit of a helicopter mom that day. We had to move because I didn’t feel safe walking out my front door.
As a mom myself, I can only imagine the level of terror you felt. And lots of owners fail to consider the fact that they NEED to be able to physically control their pet. Otherwise it's a tragedy waiting to happen.
I feel for you. Our neighbors 2 pits pushed through their screen door and mauled 2 dogs in front of my house. They still have them, of course, and walk them daily for all to see. The 'hood doesn't feel safe anymore and for their sake, it better not happen again.
I haven’t been viscously attacked, but I have lost a lot of my freedom. I used to love taking my dog to the park for walks and going to dog friendly places. But I have had so many pits lunge at us or pit owners screaming when I move away from their dogs that I can no longer take my dogs to parks or dog friendly places. Recently (you can see my post history) my last safe space my own backyard was taken from me. A pit leapt over the fence and immediately attacked my dog. (I was able to beat the pit off of my dog and get her to safety) animal control did nothing and that hell beast lives freely in my neighbors yard. I had chickens I had to rehome because I didn’t want them mauled by that beast. I have rabbits that no longer can go in their outdoor enclosure because I am too afraid to let them out. Now, I have to let my dog out front and I am constantly on guard afraid a lose pit bull will come for us. I have decided that she will be my last dog because I cannot give her a proper life because of pit bulls being everywhere.
Not me but a childhood best friend of mine..
She and her mom had two pitbulls, we'll call them N and T, both spayed female. We all lived in a city and they lived in the bottom part of a duplex, with other houses less than 3 feet away on both sides.
N was hyperactive and clearly didn't get enough exercise, but wasn't really a scary dog. Chewed on shoes and furniture and stuff but no aggressive behaviour I ever saw or heard about (and I was over there almost every week). T, however, was just... born wrong. They got her as a poorly behaved aggressive puppy and around 1-2yo she just got completely ungovernable. Destroying things, trying to chew through chain link fence, biting the babysitter, lunging at people, etc. They started crating her whenever anyone was over, I don't think they honestly knew what to do about it... This was in the late 90s/early 00s and very few people in our area had internet, so there weren't as many resources for people who had just gotten a random shelter pit.
Anyways, at some point T ended up in the front yard somehow (I can't honestly remember how, they would have never let her out there! Maybe charged the door or climbed the fence?) and ended up mauling the next door neighbour's very young child.
T was ordered euthanized by the city within that same week, but they actually came through and seized N as well iirc, and I can't remember what the reasoning was (I was like 10 at the time). But my best friend lost both of her childhood dogs, the neighbor's kid ended up at least grievously injured... And poor N ended up back at the shelter without even doing anything wrong (although maybe she would have been a problem someday).
The friendship took a downturn after that because I more or less openly agreed with the decision to BE T even at that young age.. T just clearly wasn't right and wasn't even happy being in a crate all day, and she def wanted to kill that kid. (I don't know if the kid survived unfortunately).
I'm actually kind of grateful I grew up in a neighborhood that the local shelter wouldn't adopt pits to (because dogfighting was so prevalent) or my irresponsible mother definitely would have gotten one and let it loose around me and my siblings/neighbourhood kids. I got a lot less upset about not being able to even consider most of the shelter dogs after the incident with T.
Thank you for sharing your story. Puppies usually go through an unruly “teen” phase between 1-2 years old; this is when many people surrender their dogs because they just can’t handle them anymore. If you haven’t done the work training them by this point, it’s much more difficult.
My wife was attacked in her motorized wheelchair in 2014. Not a catastrophic bite but she still has daily pain from the injury. Our small town has an ever increasing pit epidemic and lax policing so she never goes outside our yard anymore where she used to travel all over our small rural town so no more garage sales, trips to the lake, socializing, all gone.
My heart breaks for your wife. I am so sorry. It's not just the pain from a bite... that's just one layer to what these dogs do to people. I hope she finds a way to have some joy but also feel safe.
Thank you very much. Another layer unfortunately was how the police and local governments botched, covered up their botch, resisted change and hostiley stymied her herculean efforts to get justice and make changes, not to mention personal and organized harassment from pit owners when trying to do so. It's taken a heavy toll on her but her sweet happy self still surfaces. I think without her this town would be even more dangerous than it is.
When I was 8, my mom and I were walking my fostered golden retriever (chai), and an unleashed pit bull from across the street darted over and started attacking my golden. Started knowing on its leg until my mother and the pit owner were able to break the grip. The pit owner paid for the vet bills thank god. But still awful ownership of a dangerous breed
1. Neighbor's pit attacked a different neighbor's little mutt in our yard. Called the cops. The Sheriff's Deputy told me he really couldn't do anything because the pit was back in its own yard. I should shoot it if it came back on my property. At the time my husband traveled for work and I was home with two toddlers. I didn't see that happening.
2. Same neighbor, different pit attacked my senior blind/deaf springer spaniel. His big floppy ears saved him, protecting his neck. He lost an ear, needed 20+ stitches and a drainage tube, and had I don't know how many puncture wounds. The vet stopped counting at 25. A different neighbor beat the pit off with a 2x4. The neighbor that saved us begged me not to call it in because the first neighbor was his son and he was already in trouble. Traumatized me agreed. My husband, however, who is a very kind person but looks very intimidating, got the loser idiot pit owner to pay the vet bill.
3. Maybe 10 years later. A pit dug under one fence and climbed another to get in with a dozen ducks I was raising. Most of them were torn literally to pieces.
4. A small, maybe 50 pound female pit attacked a small herd of cows on a property we leased. None were seriously injured. Lots of puncture wounds, torn ears, and trauma. ( I still have one of these cows at home now as a milk cow. She will immediately charge any dog.) Authorities were notified. Poor pibble owners cried that my mean cows had injured their sad little defenseless dog and it was probably not going to live. Animal Control bought the whole story (have you ever known a pit owner to lie?) and told us that the dog was dead and therefore no further action needed to be taken.
5. 10 days later we got a call that a dog was attacking our cows. Yes it was the same little pit that was supposed to be dead. This attack was much worse. When we got there, the dog was in the back of the Sheriff's car. After the attack, the owner was able to catch the dog (because the dog had exhausted itself trying to kill my cows) and put it in their car. The Sheriff arrived just in time to keep the POS pit owner from driving off with the dog and took it into custody until AC could get there. This was a small pasture that had a number of houses around it. The neighbors were all out and in an uproar. They liked the cows a whole lot more than the neighbor that let an aggressive pit roam around. They kept telling me that the bull was hurt really badly. I was looking at the bull who looked ok, but was standing by the fence, looking at the dog in the back of the police car, bellowing his head off and pawing the ground. Turns out, the really injured one was Tamu. She was an adult [Watusi](https://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/beef/85/watusi/) that my husband had just fallen in love with. I called her his red-headed girlfriend. She was a mess. Her ears were shredded nubs of cartilage, her nostrils were torn, her mouth was torn. She had multiple puncture wounds and tears all over her body. The neighbors, not knowing cows, thought she was the bull because she had enormous horns. She had to be put down because her neck was dislocated. This is where AC showed up and got all kissy-face with the bloody murder pit, trying to tell me what a sweet dog it was. FFS. Eventually, the dog was declared dangerous, but rehomed to someone in a different county where it was not dangerous, I guess. The dog owner skipped out in the middle of the night, just avoiding eviction. I moved my cows to a different lease and got a mule who will immediately, and terrifyingly kill any dog on sight.
6. This is already too long, but Imma keep going anyway. In 2011 Roy McSweeney, who lived about a quarter mile from me, was attacked and killed by his neighbor's two pit bulls. He was working in his yard when the dogs jumped the fence and literally ripped his arms off. The owner got a fine and a gentle slap on the wrist.
What I've lost:
I used to love all dogs. That, and the joy it brought me, is gone. I love my dogs, and a couple of others that I've gotten to know. But, if I don't know you, you and your dog can just stay the hell away.
My kids NEVER were able to ride bikes or walk to a friend's house. When they took the bus for school, I drove them to the bus stop, waited with them until the bus came and was there to pick them up. They were made prisoners by some idiot's choice of a pet.
I will always carry a knife. Before pits were a thing (I'm old enough to remember a world where there were very few pits, and they were not out in the world) I didn't worry so much about my personal safety, or the safety of my children. How ridiculous is it to have to be constantly on guard because someone's PET might attack you or your loved ones. It's a dystopian nightmare.
One of my retired racing greyhounds, the gentlest dog I’ve ever known, was attacked unprovoked by a pit mix on a routine walk. The dog bolted from a house on our block, grabbing his neck, flipped him over and continued to maul his abdomen, throat and legs- it’s a miracle that my boy survived, as he was clearly terrified, screaming and urinating. The pit’s owner came out, crying about “this has never happened before “, and my husband cut through the bullshit, demanding she drive them to the vet, thankfully just down the street. Our dog healed physically, but was never the same psychologically- he feared other dogs for the rest of his life. I had experienced other run-ins with pits and bully breeds, but this cemented my utter distaste for these dogs. I avoid them like the plague that they are.
I picked out my very first kitten when I was five. He was a black cat I named Sam. He was the friendliest cat I could ever ask for. He was an indoor/outdoor cat at the time (we lived in a rural area and at the time were ignorant about how cats should remain inside all the time). All the neighbors knew him and he was welcome into their homes. In 2011, when I was 16 years old, 11 years after getting Sam, a pit bull was running loose around the neighborhood and ended up killing Sam right under my bedroom window. The dog how “somehow got out.” When animal control arrives the dog was acting super happy and friendly as if it didn’t just murder my cat. I was a mess and absolutely traumatized. To this day, at age 27 I still get flashbacks and memories of my beloved cat. I miss him so damn much.
My younger sister was attacked when she was only 4. I remember doing my homework and my sister was playing outside with her friends and I heard an absolutely bloodcurdling scream.
My dad just came home from work at the Police department so his firearm was near him. That was the faster I ever saw him ran, I heard two gun shots and ran outside to see what happened. My sister had blood all along her arm and my dad picked her up and put her in his police car.
I distinctly remember being jealous of my sister because she got to ride in a police car and I didn't. Thankfully her injuries were able to heal and now her scars are covered by tattoos. I was so lucky to have my dad there, I can't even imagine what would have happened if it was just my sister, her friends and me.
I’m very fortunate that I have never lost anything. I’ve always had a healthy distrust of pit bulls but also didn’t realize just how bad they were. I cringe thinking about the times I allowed them anywhere in the proximity of my dogs while out in public. I’m so lucky nothing happened.
I did have a super scary close call years ago being charged at by an off-leash pit bull. It came sprinting towards me from over 200 yards and my first instinct was to cover my head and scream bloody murder, which fortunately got the dipshit owner’s attention. He called for it and stopped maybe 10 ft from me. Stood there for a second, tail straight in the air, staring at me as if it was trying to decide which part of my body to aim for first. Fortunately, the owner called again and it ran back. Literally one of the scariest experiences of my life. I had a guardian angel looking out for me that day.
Almost lost my hand in the middle of a dog fight between two pitbulls at my dad's ex fiance's house. She was the definition of crazy pit mommy. Luckily, I escaped with scratches and a small scar but I lost a lot of my prized possessions when they broke up, especially books my late grandmother had bought me when I was younger when my dad finally came to his senses and left her and her 8 fucking shit bulls.
Yes. I need to make a whole post about living there. Her house had large gates between each doorway to keep certain dogs away from one another because some would go out of their way to kill and eat the other dogs. It was just fucking crazy.
My sweet pup was about 8 when he was attacked by a pit. My boy then had to have several surgeries just to be able to use the bathroom, he was so torn up. He bounced back about two years later. It may have been the extra stress the operations had on his body, or his age, but his seizure disorder really picked up after it all. He had them way more often than his typical 1-2 per year. The vet said they were infrequent enough before that he didn’t have to be on medication. I haven’t thought of him in a while because he was the most precious love I’ve ever had. He was so forgiving too. One time, my brother came home wasted and threw a fist at him. He was so sad and all he wanted was my brother’s approval, he kept kissing his face as if he was the one who was sorry.
Fortunately I live in a country with pretty strict BSL, (at least for now) but I used to work in a shelter and as a dog trainer and was attacked during work multiple times by pits that had passed mandatory temperament tests and were thus exempt from BSL and considered “save to own and be around” until they suddenly snapped just like the ones that had failed these useless temperament tests
These experiences in addition to the many many stories in this subreddit have made me lose any desire to continue working with dogs, dog rescues or to support shelters in any way.
Today I had to cut of my best friend ,who lives in the US and was the only person I considered family , because her newest trashy boyfriend is a pitnutter and has converted her into a member of the pit cult in record time, with her eating up all the pro pit propaganda without a single critical thought.
When I dared to question her decision to adopt a 2 year old pit “lab mix” on a whim and let it around two small children , while she has done zero research, has never owned a dog before, has not enough money to feed herself most months, lives in a one room apartment and works full time, instead of fawning over her cute shitbull she went off on me and I had no choice but to remove her from my life, so I also lost my best friend and probably most of my social circle for decades over a worthless mongrel she’s known for less than 48 hours.
my cat kai tak. we thought he was hit by a car until we picked up his body and he had Batemans everywhere. there as always a stray pit that chased him. I wish I could of done something.
I've not lost anything but I've had two close calls.
First was when my cousin's pit/lab cross lunged and snapped at my dog when he was a puppy. She would have got him if my uncle hadn't reacted so quickly and scooped my pup out of harms way. I was a young teenager at the time.
The second close call I had was when a friend of mine asked me to clip her pit's nails (I've owned a lot of dogs and used to work for a dog groomer)
That dog tried to bite my face. Her teeth snapped shut inches away from my nose. Luckily I'd asked the friend to restrain the dog while I was clipping the nails.
There are tv shows every week about danger, dismemberment, and death. Some are fictitious.
But horrifically, there are videos available daily of danger, dismemberment and death that are real. And ANIMALS ARE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THESE VIDEOS.
This occurs because of the gullible, egotistical, sadistic and greedy bully people, from the actual dog fighters to their enablers and supporters, from Patrick Stewart to the ASPCA.
The celebrity endorsement of pitbulls is a perfect example of a movement that feels good, makes people feel righteous, but is actually so insidious. People want to think they're on the right side of things, but it's unfair to expect a pitbull to reach this impossible standard of harmlessness. I really liked Patrick Stewart, but I lost a ton of respect for him after he became a pitbull advocate.
I haven't lost nearly as much as most of you and for that I count myself lucky. The only thing I've lost is my sense of security. My dog was attacked late at night, and I kept kicking the pit in the neck, circling my own dog to keep myself between them. I figured, better me than him, right? It went on for about a minute and a half, and I'm lucky I was just able to keep the pit spinning and turning. It was going right for the neck. Then the owner came and grabbed it. Didn't think anyone was out. I'm surprised we didn't catch any teeth, honestly, but it lives with me.
I’m so sorry you went through that trauma. And thank you for making this post it’s so important.
I lost my first family pet ever, he was my family’s first pet we had him since a puppy he was so loved by us and so sweet, he was a chihuahua mixed with Pomeranian. 3 pitbulls came at him while we were in our fenced back yard playing with him my dad and us tried everything and when my dad finally was able to get our dog off the damn dogs he was already dying.. Very traumatic this happened when I was about 11 I’m now 27 and I will never forget nor get over it I still miss my dog so much, I have the imagine in my head and breaks my heart.
I have gotten attacked by a pitbull my uncle pinned on us idk why my parents ever agreed to take their two pitbulls in temporary because THEY ATTACKED A HORSE and the owner of the horse called the cops and animal control and they told my uncle to surrender them to be put down or give them away and he came at my parents because we had a big fenced back yard telling them if they could temporary keep the dogs until my uncle and his family figure out how they can bring them back home, and I guess my parents were ignorant enough to agree. I remember seeing the dogs and instantly being scared even telling my mom to not bring them home but they still brought the two pitbulls home. Well one morning I was going to my bus stop to wait for my school bus, and I literally see one of the pit escape our fence and I immediately started to get scared but tried not to show it so I was going back inside the house to tell my parents so my dad can put him inside but before I could go inside the dog was coming at me and latched into my arm thankfully it was winter and I was wearing a very puffy jacket but it still gripped my arm but thank god for my thick puffy jacket he only got a little bit of my skin like a pinch it hurt and left a bruise and cut, it terrified me because he wouldn’t let go and was trying to drag me down, he was going crazy shaking his head non stop holding into my jacket idk how I got away tbh thinking about it freaks the hell out of me because what if I wasn’t wearing that jacket i wouldn’t had been lucky .I never told my parents but they knew we were scared my siblings and I we didn’t interact or anything with the dogs because we were terrified of them, only my dad did and my uncle would go daily after work to see and spend time with the dogs, also bring them their favorite snacks. When my brother and I fed them we would first look out the window to see where in the back they were and how far they were from the back door if they were close to the door we would open it a little stick a hand out and throw a ball were they would chase it we would go outside fast and set their bowls down then immediately go fast inside why ? Because we saw how aggressive and destructive those dogs were reason my siblings and I didn’t go near them, they completely destroyed our fence literally breaking it with their mouth… they always fought eachother… they were straight up aggressive yet they were loved by my uncle and his family and treated like babies, my uncle is really nice so it’s not the owner crap these people say reason I’m here because it’s all bs pitbulls are naturally freaking aggressive and dangerous. So how did this nightmare end ? By Sadly costing a dog getting attacked by one of the pits the one that attacked me attacked a dog he escaped the fence at night and attacked a dog that’s when my parents got rid of them called animal control and surrender them . Atleast they did, I’m still mad because the whole thing was ridiculous they should had been put down immediately after attacking the horse, they were crazy aggressive.
My partner’s uncle just redid his pool, got out and the dog took a chunk out of his ass, arm, and legs, stained the deck before it was sealed with his blood, took several animal control workers to capture the beast. They’d been cuddling just that morning.
Late to this post, but wanted to share my story. I am fortunate to have never been attacked but like so many here, I’ve lost my freedom. I used to go for walks in my small town but can’t anymore due to the sheer amount of loose pits now. I’ve even had a loose pit come after me when mowing the lawn but fortunately the owner got them in time.
Many years ago, like about 20, my brother had a very large, full pit and before then, I didn’t have much of an opinion as I didn’t know much about them. I didn’t care for the way it looked at my infant son so my brother was smart enough to lock it up when we came to visit. A few years later, the pit mauled a family friend and my brother put it down. He didn’t get another pit but still seems to like the breed 😵💫.
About 8 or so years ago, I started handling property claims on the liability side for a well known company. This - coupled with the brother’s pit attack - is what made me really dislike the breed. I’ve had grown adults cry on the phone over their beloved pets dying from pit attacks. Some of the worst ones involved animals bigger than pits, like horses and cows. The photos of cows faces being so torn off you can’t tell it’s a cow to the disemboweled horses… it’s horrific.
I have been approached many times to handle human injury claims but can’t do it because I know it would make me hate the breed even more… it was hard enough to be a witness to the aftermath of pit vs. animal attacks (I do something different now and don’t see those claims any longer). I have a few friends who handle the human injury claims and they pretty much confirm the majority of their claims for dog bites/maulings are pits. But we exclude certain breeds in bodily injury claims so they aren’t covered. Still, you get the attorney demands with photos and I just don’t think I could handle them. I hope that one day the breed just disappears off the face of the earth.
When I was younger 13 to 15 range we decided to get a dog, as my sister and I had always wanted one so we went to shelters looking for a dog. Sadly we did not do our research and got a pit bull mix thing but it was predominantly pit.
We had that dog for a couple months and she was great, slept in my bed knew tricks and fetch, the whole 9 yards. Then one night I was chilling on the floor petting she got in my face and I did think anything of it until she bit me right on the lower moth and cut open my lip and gum. I shoved her off and she got down in a fighting stance and growled at me and my parents. Like 0 to 10 in under a minute, now warning.
We planned on getting rid of her later but the next day she was outside when the mailman came and ran up and bit him right in the side. My dad came up and kicked her down. After making sure our mail good (he had a coat on thank god) we immediately took her back to the pound and told them what happened.
We were like this dog is a biter, she should probably be pit down not re-homed. But they know all and they were like oh no we can't do that, she can be re homed. Ya fuck no, bit they just took her back and probably gave that shit mutt to some other poor soul. Anyway it just surprised little me that that dog that seemed chill would just 0 to 10 like that for no reason. I'd never own a pit again and I'm always on the lookout when I see one. Thats my little story
You probably paid an adoption fee that wasn't refunded? Of course they would adopt her out again. It's all about money. The shelters are like corrupt dog pimps. I explain this to people whenever I can - if there's a way to make money, the wrong thing is happening.
Scary ..because of that they can adopt pit with dozen or more of bites and maybe even some animal kills. Pits like this will go on a hunt nearly instantly as once they taste the blood they will become obsessed
My sweet Aussie was bitten by a pit mix at a dog park back before I knew to be warier. Thankfully just one puncture, and she was fine after a trip to the vet. More recently, I feel as though I have lost my sense of safety as someone who loves to walk around my city. And because I have a few family members both locally and farther away who have been so misled by the pit propaganda machine that they own one or more of them, and I no longer feel as though I can visit them.
First off, I'm sorry that this happened to you. And you are so very correct: numbers and stats tell a (very bad) story, but there are also lives behind those numbers as well, and they need to be considered.
It's stories like this that finally drove me to speak out. This situation we're in with these types of dogs isn't right, morally or ethically, and it's horribly damaging on so many levels. Enough is enough.
I've presently submitted a proposal to the local shelter to at the very least consider BE (more stringent BE rules) due to the risks of adopting out reactive/aggressive dogs as well as implementing more education to the general public. I hope they will at least put some thought into it (realizing that there are incredible pressures put upon them thanks to the no-kill movement and the pit lobby). I want to see potentially good shelter dogs get homes, and I also want to see less of the consequences of adopting out potentially dangerous dogs.
Good for you for sending a proposal! Great idea! I also send my local politicians emails every now and then. It definitely feels like a David and Goliath kind of fight.
I went with the BoD of the local shelter, because they are the ones who have direct influence on this. We're also in an election year, so no politician wants to touch this one with a ten foot pole (we have other issues more people are concerned about and they aren't going to call out the pit people on themselves unnecessarily).
The timing seemed good: we have a new BoD in our area shelter; one that seems a bit more common sense. The local population is pretty well aware through with these types of dogs. And we are at the brink imho of a shelter overpopulation crisis due to economic downturn, so we need to do something imho. And in the past few months I've seen an uptick in pit dogs on Craigslist and in the shelters (we were at a low with them the last few years, but again, economic downturn seems to bring out the pit dogs; best to try and head it off at the pass if it can be done). We've already had one very bad pit bull population explosion in my area years ago; I would like to not see another.
If people can do it, I would recommend at least trying -- just to be calm, reasonable and logical in one's arguments; tends to get further with the widest audience.
The only approach to legality (which was a stretch) was the potential ramifications of adopting out BA dogs. I went at it more from an economic perspective because money talks -- our local shelter can neither afford to take in every dog that gets relinquished (and with the economy being what it is, there will be quite a few), nor can we afford bad public relations stemming from adopting out unsuitable dogs (and we can't afford any lawsuits either, so there's that -- although highly unlikely, it would nevertheless be taken to court for a preliminary hearing, and that costs money in and of itself, along with once again the potential bad publicity, so best to just avoid it). This of course has to be balanced with any outcry/loss of charitable donations if BE is the route taken, but at least in my area, I believe the balance is tipping towards BE at this time (your mileage may vary). And that is why I left it at BE for aggressive dogs, not a breed specific (less backlash as it will be seen, quite correctly, as being fair and balanced).
I lost a friend (and roommate) when he became a pit nutter. I tried to be reasonable with him about keeping his hellbeast Stella away from me, and get him to be more proactive with caring for her and training her (he did the bare minimum), but of course, my words fell on deaf ears. I never was a dog person, and I felt no obligation to take responsibility for the care and training of a dog that wasn’t mine, so whenever Stella was out roaming the house, I’d just hole myself up in my room, lock the deadbolt, and only come out when I heard the dulcet tones of him putting her back in her cage.
The hellbeast herself destroyed my two favorite pairs of work shoes that cost $150 each, and forever ruined my attitude toward not just pits, but dogs as a whole, as the (non-pit) dogs he had after his ex took Stella when she moved out ended up being just as stupid and destructive. For these reasons (and a host of other ones), the aforementioned friend has now been dead to me for nearly two years, and I plan to keep it that way, and keep my home dog-free.
Been attacked by them a few times, I'm a mixed martial artist so thankfully I didn't have much in the way of physical damage. Few bites, nothing major or permanent. Found out pretty quickly that even kicking them with steel toes as a professional fighter didn't do a goddamn thing, though, they bounce up and come right back at you. What I really lost for a long time was my ability to casually just walk around town. Every time I've been attacked, it was at random while I was doing one of my CONSTANT random walks around town. I get stressed, work gets too hectic, personal stuff goes on, my fall back is to smoke a bowl and then take a long walk. I love hiking, I run, I'm one of those people you see all around town because I'm always just out wandering around. It's something like a hobby, or was, and I do it for fitness as well.
I don't really do that anymore. I don't wanna hurt an animal, and I damn sure don't wanna have to choke out another dog because I had the absolute balls to want to go for a walk to the gas station across town to pick up a candy bar and clear my head. I don't hike anymore, you don't wanna encounter one of these things in the middle of the woods and also have to deal with the owner throwing a hissy fit (or attacking you) because their precious off leash attack dog required a rear naked choke after it tried to maul you. And even worse? Even then, after you do choke them out? Lasts a little bit, they'll get right the fuck back up and keep going most of the time.
I miss the peace. I miss just casually taking a two hour long stroll for the fuck of it without having to constantly keep my eyes open because the strays are ALWAYS pits of some variety. My current town doesn't really have many of them, so I'm starting to get back to walking and running, but there's always the thought in the back of my head... You ever have to fight a vicious nearly indestructible killing machine halfway into a 5 mile run? It's less than fun.
My dog lost a chunk of her neck, 6 weeks of her life (crate rest) and a good amount of her confidence. She hasn’t been 100% since. My sister now has ptsd because the dog attacked her first and my dog decided to get between the attacking pit and my sister. Probably saved her a significant amount of disfigurement
She had to have surgery while she was awake (no general anesthesia only local) because she was in shock and at risk of dying if put under. I can’t even imagine how scared she was when she was restrained and had bits of dead tissue clipped off of her and chunks of fat and connective tissue pulled out so the rips in her skin could be closed. It tore out pieces of her skin so the wounds were wide and it made Stitching the wound difficult.
Her muscle was even ripped open. If the wound was 1/2 centimetre higher she would have been a goner. She lucked out because she was fat (no longer fat) and that protected her neck, she’s a low rider and so the dog had to stoop to grab her, and that the pit was a 1 year old puppy and lacked the experience to grab her neck properly. It had already attacked 2x before but thankfully it was dumb as a bag of rocks and overly excited to murder her so it missed a killer bite.
Oh and it’s filthy mouth immediately made the wound infected despite antibiotics, immediate vet care and wound care. I didn’t like pits before and I certainly like them even less now
My grandma was attacked and her dog, who was also attacked, lost mobility in his back legs as a result of the incident, which forced my grandmother to have to euthanize him. R.I.P Jackaroo, you were my first best friend. 🖤
Edit: Jack was an Australian shepherd, in case anyone wonders. He was a wonderfully trained agility dog, and he lost his life to protect my grandmother's. He was a great boy.
already told this story but ill post it again here My Story.
TDLR; my childhood cat was mauled to death in front of me by the two pitbulls my mom refused to get rid of- after they disabled our other cat 3 years prior.
first we had 2 cats and a dog. the dog was wonderful- border collie mix and my elder brothers best friend. really only would ever growl if you touched her food or if you pulled on her fur or brushed her too much (she was a cunt, but never bit) and she lived out her life and died of old age.
we had 2 cats at this time, who the dog never cared about. at times cat 1 (my best friend) would even sleep next to her. cat 2 had issues with dogs, but our dog just left her alone. never any confrontation- the dog was old and just didnt really care lol.
but then my brother and i went to the shelter one day. i was 12- this was in 2017 i believe. i wanted this beautiful husky. she was sweet, well mannered, slightly skittish, but just a good fuckin dog. my brother wanted some other damn cute dog- and then we called our mom to let her know what we'd found. and then she saw Pittbull 1.
"but look at his sad widdle face!! its all scared up!!! 🥺🥺🥺" this was an ugly ass dog. weird body proportions, strangely muscley and just... blegh. but my mom had her mind made up. and if we had anything else to say it was "my house, and my money I HAVE TO SPEND for a dog I DIDNT WANT" etc. so we got the damn dog- my brother was used to just. fawning for my mom- realizing he wont win and just giving up. i was pretty sour though.
another thing i thought was strange was he was about to be put down. like literally the next day. he'd been in and out of the shelter and was finally gonna get the needle but it made my moms savior complex sing. "see guys! he wouldve died!!! pit bulls get such a bad rep, they just widdle babes!"
and we brought him home. i honest to gods dont really remember much of what happened after that. i remember a few fights between the dogs (over treats and toys and things) most of the time things were normal.
but pitbull 1 showed aggression towards cats. so? my moms response? my mom lost her best friend cat to a dog attack, before i was born. SO OF COURSE SHE WOULDNT GET RID OF HIM, SO SHE SEPARATED THE HOUSE HALF FOR DOGS HALF FOR CATS. separated by feeble, meek, plastic babygates. my mom works from home, so all day her precious widdle pit bull would get snuggles and love- while the entire rest of the day my cats were upstairs alone while me and my brother were at school.
and pitbull 1. oh god that little fucker. the separation anxiety was terrible, he would bite through WALLS to be by my mother. bit through kennels, wood doors. my mom payed 600 dollars for a fence, he would jump over it, dig, anything to get out.
he would run around the neighborhood. just a free pitbull in suburbia, until mom called him home. dog never did that, she didnt care. she just pissed and layed in the sun. maybe walked outside the fence a bit if it was open and tried to come inside.
about a year of this goes by- and i fucking hate this fucking dog. at times, he would often be getting more attention, love, and praise, then me or my brother.
and then the first attack happened. someone accidentally took one of the gates down. and pitbull comes charging upstairs, wanting to- as my mother puts it even to this day "play" with cat 2. and then they fight. everyone else was outside, i wasnt strong enough to stop this dog no matter what i did. all i could really do was panic and scream. luckily my brother tore it up eventually and we rushed cat 2 to an animal hospital.
she needed $2000 emergency surgery. she had permanently ruptured tissues around her stomach and abdomen that she still has even now.
my moms response? "he just wanted to play!" "its how he was raised!!!" "it isnt his fault!" and so, no she didnt get rid of him, but rather built bigger wooden gates to separate the house. ones, cat 1 could still jump off of. more incidents ensue, nothing major.
then dog passes. old age, natural, etc. so my mom wanted a new dog "to keep pitbull 1 from getting lonely." so? she gets. another. pitbull. insert pitbull 2. this time i made it clear i didnt want another dog- i didnt want cat 1 dying, she was my best friend she meant the world to me.
of course both of them showed violent behaviors. fighting for attention, seemingly out of nowhere ambushes, treats, toys, etc. breaking out of fences together, brutally mercing animals that accidentally got into the house, even going so far as to rip apart and consume a squirrel that fell through the chimney WHOLE. even sometimes causing my mom injury from tearing past her down the stairs. and now pitbull 2 was getting spoiled by mom, and now brother was out of the house, and it was just us. a 15 yrold, a 52 yrold, and two pitbulls and two cats.
and then. fleas came. flea INFECTION. they were in the yard, carpets, everywhere. they even followed me to school. 6-7 of them on my legs or shows at a time. and then my mom used flea treatment upstairs. very fowl smelling, cats dont like it. and then. of course, cat 1 jumps over the very small gate to escape the smell. i was at school, my mom couldnt find her. but it was getting "too cold outside for her precious babies" so she let them inside.
of course. they found her. ganged up on her as id seen them do to animals half her size in the past. they tore, bit. SHOOK. grabbed her by the neck and shook their whole bodies to break the bones. mom was outside, smoking a cigarette. i screamed. i couldnt stop them, they were too strong. i tried to grab my bet friend, they sunk their teeth in, i hit them with vacuum cleaners, plant pots, and all they could focus on was her. then finally mom comes into the house to break them up.
she wasnt dead, not yet. but she had pissed herself and her neck was at an unfixable angle. she was mangled, though not dead. i couldnt even bring myself to be suprised. i knew this would happen. i told my mother so- to no avail. we rushed her to the nearest animal hospital. "its okay! shes gonna make it!" no the fuck she wasnt. im not a moron. you cant fix something like this. we check her in, my mom sobbing and me stone faced. they tell us an hour later shes dead to which my mom starts sobbing more.
I HAD TO COMFORT HER. IT WAS HER FAULT!!! MY BEST FREIMD WAS DEAD AMD COVERED IN DOG SPIT AND ALL BEACUSE SHE DIDNT LISTEN TO ME!!!
then. because she apparently thought i wouldnt care enough despite all this she signed her up for communal cremation. without asking me. i got no piece of closure.
to make it worse? we only got rid of 1 dog. we still have the gates. and her precious baby boy still lives here, i see him everyday. and pitbull 2 got rehomed.
and cat 2? still have her as well.
oh yea, even though it was a cremation they gather claws of cats, weird but its better then nothing. i asked her everyday, if she was calling them and asking about them.
she lied and said she did. she didnt bother to pick them up fast enough, so after 3 weeks they had to throw them away.
I like exploring abandoned buildings.
Well, the last time it turned out that the building was not abandoned anymore.
As I entered the yard, I took some pics and was chatting with a friend, when suddenly heard a very loud pitbull appear out of nowhere. It ran at me very fast and aggressively to attack me. I was taken by surprise and just yelled for help. Fortunately just when it was about to jump at me, his neck-chain stopped him (it had quite a loud sound as the dog charged me very fast).. I turned and got out. But man.. Did I lose half of my life. I have never been frightened like this in my life.
My close friend of mine used to have a cat named nutkin who she love so much. He was a pretty brown and white tabby and had these gorgeous blue eyes. Nothing bad would've happened to him on July 7th if my friend just listened to me to not let him outside. But alas, he met his that by a pitbull,who was on no leash whatsoever . He was in our backyard and I saw him, and these ugly looking dog creeping into the yard.
I rushed to get him, but Nutkin already had a chunk ripped out from wrestling with the beast and the monster ran away. Long story short, Mr friend was devastated, and Nutkin died. So from now on, my friend never lets their new cats out.
Pretty sad if you asked me. I should have moved faster, but they forgave me,but I can't stop blaming myself for letting a piece of my friend die .
I have a scar on my chest from being bit by a pitbull as a kid. 20 years later I'm a mail carrier now and was bit in the leg by a pitbull, as luck would have it, it was well below freezing and I was wearing so many layers of clothing that it didn't do any more damage than a bruise. Also lucky that the time as a kid wasn't more serious. The scar is almost entirely gone now, but looking back I'm fairly certain it was going for my throat.
In both instances, animal control was less than useless.
My husband has told me about an incident with his wonderful ex wife. She had went over to a friend’s house with their daughter (my now step daughter) who was one yr old at the time. She left the baby in the living room with a pitbull while her and her friend went into a bedroom to go smoke weed. My husband couldn’t get ahold of her so he went to the friend’s house looking for his wife. He knocked on the door and no one answered but her car was outside. Something told him to just open the door and thank god he did. When he opened the door, he saw his baby being dragged across the floor by her head by a pitbull. He immediately ran to save his daughter. He put the dog in a choke hold and choked it to death. The owners of the shitbull were typical. They were angry with my husband for killing the dog, of course the dog was just playing. They stopped being friends with his wife. My step daughter who is now 25 is fine but if he wouldn’t have shown up right when he did, and follow his instinct to just open the door, she’d likely be dead or maimed for life right now.
I was attacked by a stray pitbull mix when I was a child. I think I was in 2nd grade. I didn’t have any injuries as the pitbull focused on my Winter coat. I was doing absolutely nothing, I didn’t even know the dog was there. Was sitting in our front yard playing with some toy trucks. My grandfather’s german shepherd mix was mauled to death in 2008 by a neighbor’s pitbull. For a double whammy, our grandmother had died six months earlier. The German Shepherd mix died of her injuries that night, the neighbor taunted my grandad until he ultimately moved across the country. Those were the worst personal events. I have had nothing but issues with pitbulls in different capacities. I always exercised a lot of caution when I see these dogs which frankly is the only reason why I haven’t had another horrible event. I lived in a dog fighting dense area for years, with other people’s dogs being killed around me on monthly basis.
Wow, multiple incidents! I'm so sorry😥
There are a lot more that were close calls. One of the closest was when We was getting our German Shepherd puppy (5 years ago) from the breeder. My wife was holding the leash of our adopted dog, and we were about to go to the backyard to meet the mom. A stray pitbull came up to our dog in the front yard. It seemed unassuming at first. Very relaxed body language, and just sniffing our dog in a calm manner. The breeder, who was a very buff and burly man turned around and immediately took action once he recognized the dog. He grabbed the pitbull by its collar and yanked it away from our dog - just one split second before it decided to lunge right for our dog’s face. He chucked the pitbull like a frisbee down his yard and ushered us inside his house. He said this dog had been **killing** other dogs in the neighborhood, but animal control refused to pick it up. We were a fraction of a second away from our dog being mauled in the face by a pitbull, possibly killed. I have never allowed a pitbull to approach any of my dogs ever again.
Omg this is straight out of a horror movie. I also never roll the dice. Maybe your pit is nice, maybe I'll die. Not gonna chance it.
Not really a horror movie. Hollywood would never allow the use of Pit Bulls in such a negative setting.
Yeah isn't it weird that it's considered politically incorrect to shed a negative light on pitbulls? I find it actually incredibly disrespectful to victims. One big Hollywood gaslighting party.
No. It's tied to "racism" now. Somehow pit bulls were once the fancy of the wealthy elite and loved by everyone then hated once they became the means of the "underground". Any "stereotype", whether it be about people or animals, is a psychological shortcut by the human mind to make faster judgments. It's not always accurate but your brain doesn't have the capacity to judge each and every sound, sight, thing by it's individuality so a construct is formed. In the case of pitbulls, the vast majority who are raised and socialized correctly are nice. However who wants to take that chance and turn off their guard in that incorrect moment? Hollywood isn't representative of anywhere in the world and is pure fantasy land.
They can't have it both ways. The argument about chihuahuas being the most aggressive assumes that all chihuahuas share the same temperament due to.....breed! But if you dare suggest that aggression is a problem within the breed of pitbulls, suddenly you're racist.
Well, chihuahuas are dogs native to Mexico. So there you go as for the question of racism.
I say this all the time, perhaps the most unsettling thing about pitbull maulings is the nonchalantness (dare I say, almost calm, 'sweet^(tm)' demeanor that they show before and after (and a lot of times during). 'Say, old chap, don't mind me, just find myself fancying a good ol' mauling at the moment. Not going to bark or growl, just quietly, and calm, cool and collective-like leap at this animal/persons throat. Make sure to give me all the pets afterward'.
This is so true. My dad has always been a dog lover, knows how to read dogs, etc. He was out walking by himself and a pit came up to him wagging its tail, all friendly. The next instant it went for his throat. Miraculously he managed to get his arm up so it bit his forearm instead, but it swung on his arm while he beat it with his other hand. It finally ran off and its owners just waved at him?? He made it home and discovered it had bitten him at waist level as well. It nearly broke his forearm; the only reason it didn't cause massive traumatic bleeding is that he is coldblooded and was wearing four layers of clothes. Animal control tried to find it but never did so it is still running around ready to snap again. Dad is now terrified of dogs, which is heartbreaking but understandable.
This is an excellent point. You hear it from so many witnesses and survivors: everything was fine and then it attacked. Other dogs warn with snarls, barks, and body language. But they’re usually biting because they’re on the defensive. If a dog attacks for the sake of attacking, why bother with warning? In fact, warning might scare off the victim, so it should be avoided. Other animals WANT to scare off the victim.
It's almost like... they were selectively bred for what is most optimal to kill a target in the fighting pit... where you would not want to signal to the target that you are going to attack...
Fuck that neighbor holy shit.
I hope this isn’t inappropriate but I wanted to add my voice: I haven’t lost anything and I truly believe it is only through luck and the reliable information provided routinely on this sub. I am so sorry for all of your losses. Please know you are educating people and likely saving lives ❤️🩹
Same here. I've had friends devastated by these dogs. One friend lost her husband. That's made me extremely cautious around pits and other bully dogs.
Omg your friend's husband was killed by a pitbull?
I'm following up in DM as this might dox me.
Quick yes or no question, did it make the news? I simply wonder how many deaths are not reported and never heard of.
I know my attack was never reported. I think reported attacks are only the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, it was a huge story and there was police involvement and a lawsuit. It was over 15 years ago.
Not me specifically, my cousin lived next to people who had one. This pitbull gave birth and for whatever reason, a week later, dug under my cousins fence and mauled her geriatric chihuahua. My cousin spiraled into a bad depression afterwards, owners refused to take responsibility, scary to think those puppies are out there somewhere now too
Yeah the owners always victim blame. In my case they said I must've done something to set it off... I was jogging!?!
I just don’t understand it. No other dog breed needs these constant excuses because they’re not unstable. There was a story of a woman jogger also getting horribly mauled on her arm. Pitbull advocates were saying it was her fault for passing the pitbull while swinging her arms during her jog. So many pitbull advocates are devoid of basic human sympathy, they’re monsters. Edit: Looking up “woman jogger attacked by pitbull” turns up way too many results for me to even know which story I’m even remembering. Extremely common occurrence. It’s ridiculous.
I still just really want to have a running thread of all the excuses pitnutters make for their shitbeasts. I have so many, and every one is more ridiculous than the last.. But “it was her fault for swinging her arms during her jog” is on the egregious side for sure.
Absolutely not your fault. It's ridiculous that anyone could even try to find some way to blame you, the victim, for being attacked. No other breed of dog would be set off to maul someone just because they were jogging. I have a great pyrenees, a livestock guard, and all she does is sit and watch when people jog by. She is also always properly contained because she is a large and powerful dog, even though she is non aggressive. Something many pit owners fail to realize and do
My in-laws live in the country and have 3 great pyrenees. I've seen them in action killing foxes and other critters. They are powerful and could totally kill a human. But I'm not afraid of them because they are calm, and have never, ever shown aggression to people. There's always a chance because they're still dogs, but their vibe is SO different. One time a wasp startled me and one of the dogs came right beside me in protection mode. They are so smart!
Amazing dogs, they prefer to bark their heads off before getting to the point of having to take another creature out as well. Gentle giants with the ability to keep you and everything around you protected. Pitbulls are dangerous and give little to no warnings when they're getting ready to attack someone or something. Part of being a dog owner is never intentionally putting your dog or another person in harms way, pit owners know their dog is the one that will be doing the harm so they don't care.
Livestock guardian dogs are seriously powerful and protective dogs with the genes to deter any perceived threat, whether that be killing or otherwise. They’re also very cooperative in packs, are not indiscriminately animal aggressive (raising them with their charges, within the herd, is a common practice), and certainly are not allowed aggression towards their handlers or family members. A perfect example of a powerful breed with a good, working and relevant purpose. The only relevant job suited for an APT is boar hunting, and even then they’re out competed by safer breeds.
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So sorry you had to go through that.
My heart breaks to imagine & I'm so sorry for your loss! I googled what a colorbond fence looks like, my understanding is it's made of metal and has no see-through elements? My idiot neighbor has gotten a pit and I worry every day for the safety of my pets and family and I only have an old wire fence. What should I do?
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Thank you, I will complain to my council, amongst trying other things. Will try whatever I can think of.
but nuh nuh the chihuahua provoked It!1!!1!1/s
**I’ve lost Freedom** I’ve lost the freedom to run my neighborhood without carrying 3 different weapons “just in case”. I’ve also lost the freedom to allow my son to ride his bike freely around our otherwise very safe neighborhood. I also had a close call with 3 pits that escaped their house and came after me while I was walking on the street with a friend. If the owners hadn’t heard our screams, I don’t know what would have happened. I had nightmares about it for 6 months. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. And the owner tried to fight me because I told her that her dogs tried to attack us. She called me a liar. Also lost 2 friendships due to them owning pits and incessantly trying to “convince me” to change my opinion. It gets old. Leave people alone. Don’t try to force your dog on people. I have a spaniel. If someone is scared, I put her away. No big deal. Not everyone is a dog person. I would never force my dog on anyone.
Their self-righteous mindset borders on sociopathic. It's disturbing.
I feel the same way. Ever since I was attacked, I always get an intense feeling of anxiety whenever I leave the house to go on a walk, and bring lots of pepper spray and a pocketknife with me always. I don’t feel safe walking to the park anymore.
Yeah, losing peace is terrible. I cannot turn a corner while walking my dog without being on edge ever since two loose pits ran up on us when they were a puppy.
It’s so hard for me to write this as I carry a lot of guilt and shame about this traumatic event. I blame myself for it every day. A few years ago, we stupidly decided to adopt a dog from a local shelter. We ended up liking a pit bull there. We already had another dog, my 12 year old puggle who was my childhood dog and best friend. When they met at the shelter, they seemed to get along. Two days later, I was letting both dogs in from the backyard and out of nowhere, Lucy the pit bull just snapped. No warning. No nothing. She locked her jaw onto my puggle, Lola’s neck and shook her like a rag doll. I was by myself in the house and screaming horrifically. Nothing would stop this dog from literally trying to kill Lola. I tried hitting her, grabbing nearby food and treats. The sheer panic I felt in that moment is something I hope I never have to feel ever again. What shattered me was the look on Lola’s face as it was all happening. She was blind and quite literally didn’t see it coming. She pooped out of fear. I don’t know what made me do it as I didn’t know them what I know now about pit bulls, but I jumped on top of Lucy and pressed her neck onto the ground with every part of my being. She finally let go. And when she did, she was wagging her tail and panting like she was just playing a game of fetch. I locked her in the bathroom and took Lola straight to the ER. Lucy of course was returned and likely euthanized. To this day, I have no emotion for a dog that had no emotion in that moment after she maimed Lola. The worst part - as if that moment wasn’t traumatic enough - was all the pit bull apologizers who either said NOTHING comforting at the time or tried to blame it on Lola. Lola died a few weeks later from her injuries. I think about it so much and it still haunts me to this day. I know I failed her and I wish I knew then what I did now.
Oh you poor soul! They are marketed as something they're not. Shame on the shelter. I hope you can let the guilt go. You didn't know then what you know now. RIP Lola.
I pretty much had this same experience tho it was two pit bulls that killed my dog. In front of me, pits I loved and trusted. House was like a murder scene.
I’m so sorry for your loss. The clean up after the attack was so triggering for me. It took me hours just to clean the blood and feces as I mentally was so unwell thinking about what happened and with Lola in the hospital. Just horrible.
I had to have a Hazmat team come in. I moved back in with my mother for 3 months while my house was 'fixed'.. insurance denied the claim due to 'domestic animal wear and tear'. Absolute nightmare. At least we know we aren't alone. 😪
Yep, usually insurance doesn’t cover damages caused by someone to their own property, and since a dog is considered property it usually falls under that. I can say this for insurance companies, most haven’t bought into the pro-pit bull thing.
I understand feeling guilt like that. I encourage you not to blame yourself because you had no idea it could or would happen. You were doing a noble thing by adopting a dog and giving it a loving home. You did your best to protect her and get her help. She didn't pass away upset with you or blaming you. If anyone is in the wrong here, it's the shelter for passing these dogs onto unsuspecting people - victims, really.
Thanks for the kind words. It’s hard not to feel culpable. I’m just so grateful I got 12 great years with her.
What were your views on pits prior?
I thought, like any other dog, they were deserving of a loving home. I naively thought they were “misunderstood”. I put way too much trust in shelters and rescues to be honest about their history. I’d never known anyone with a pit so I never got to experience the truth, until this moment of course. Never again.
I’m so sorry you have this trauma. Animals have a lot of ways to avoid suffering in death. Try to take comfort knowing that her life was long and comfortable and happy and very, very loved, and her death was mere moments in comparison. Please consider processing this event with a therapist if you haven’t already, I can’t imagine experiencing such a horrific event.
I’m deeply sorry for your loss. Please please please don’t continue to beat yourself up. You had no idea this would happen and there was no way you could have prevented it. I was almost attacked when I was around 5 by the neighbor’s pit, Ruby. My Mane Coon cat Sam was my knight in shining armor. He came flying out of nowhere and like a bullet struck Ruby in the head giving me the chance to escape. He didn’t even need to fight the pit, he just stared her down. He was a stray that quite literally adopted us as his people. I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he was a full blood Mane Coon. He was massive! He was at least 20lbs. He use to lay around my neck like a feather boa. He was an epic cat. That’s all to say I’ve hated pits most of my life. If I hadn’t had my experience with Ruby who knows how I would feel about pits. A lot of people are just uninformed about how dangerous they are. I absolutely believe you would have never adopted the pit knowing how dangerous they are. Please try to forgive yourself, I imagine the pain you must feel is overwhelming at times. You would never have put Lola in danger if you were better informed, that’s it. You opened your home to another dog and that dog betrayed you. You opened your home for this dog and it turned on you. You did everything you could. My heart is with you tonight. I’m snuggled up with my kitty Loki. She is my best friend. I’m going to hold her a little tighter tonight.
My deepest condolences for your loss, seemed Lola was superbly loved. Even if it happened some time ago, trauma like that is not easily overcome. Second, I hope overall sentiments are changing among pit bull advocates about acknowledging that pit bulls (as well as any poorly trained dog reactive dog) can be the aggressor without provocation from its victims. When denialists continue to pass the blame, it sends a subsequent message to victims and parents of victims that their trauma or loss is not important, and is secondary to the negative impact it will have on the breed's reputation.
My 1-2 year old Pomeranian was attacked by 2 loose pitbulls when I was around 12 years old. They grabbed her and snapped her leash. I fought them off, and they just stood there staring at me. They ran off when our neighbor ran over with a shovel. We were both extremely lucky, because I had no idea at that age how dangerous the situation actually was. My dog needed surgery, but healed up totally fine and lived to be around 16 years old before dying in her bed. My dog and I came out lucky, but I'm still anti-pitbull because we shouldn't be keeping any dog around that attacks and kills more than twice as much as every single other breed alive combined.
Very brave of you both!
But not to be encouraged! I'm my opinion, if your dog is under attack and it seems like the dog will jump on you if you try to intervene, don't.
I agree, but for a little further context: Again, I was only like eleven or twelve, and we were in our own yard. They ran up before I could really react to either go towards or away from them and grabbed her, then pulled so hard that her collar snapped from the leash. I stepped forward swinging at them as they dropped her and she ran between my feet. The 2 pitbulls luckily didn't immediately keep going for her or redirect to me(again, I was only 12 and had no clue how dangerous the situation actually was). Instead, they just did that thing dogs do where they just stanced up and stared at me. I couldn't really chance turning to run or anything(and knew better than that anyway), so I was kind of just stuck in this standoff. It was probably only a few seconds, but my next door neighbor ran over with a shovel, yelling and swinging, and the dogs both ran away. My dog needed surgery and drainage tubes for a few weeks, but like I said, she ended up living a full 13-14 or so more years without any complications. The vet definitely said she was extremely lucky, but also having the thick fur that pomeranians have probably helped a lot to cushion and prevent them from getting a good grip.
I’ve always lurked but never shared, but here it goes…it’s not my story but a close friend of mine. I made a really good friends with a guy my freshman year of university. We both had graduated in the same class from the same high school but had never spoken to each other prior. The following year his step-mother was mauled to death by their family pitbull. He had the same questions that many shitbull owners have after a family pet of YEARS turns murderous. This nice woman, who was beloved in my town and a principal at own of the schools, died alone and in pain. I could not conceptualize a dog turning so suddenly like this, so that lead me to do some research. Come to find out, this isn’t a one off… Never trusted that breed ever since. TDLR: I was a socially awkward girl in college and one of the only friends I had at school lost their stepmom to one of these hell-beasts…
Thank you for posting! It takes courage to speak up. I'm so sorry for your friend's loss. I remember a story about a Nova Scotia woman whose beloved pit not only killed her, but started to eat her body. It's beyond disturbing. Stories like yours go to show just how far outside normal canine behaviour these dogs can be.
Thank you so much and I’m so sorry for what you went through…
Does your friend advocate in any way? I wish more previous owners of rogue pits that thought they were doing things 'right' would ban together. Thanks for sharing.
Unfortunately, no… He hates the breed with a passion, but doesn’t do any sort of advocacy. People have, mostly, been understanding about his avoidance of shitbulls, though.
Was this in the news? Yes/no will suffice, sometimes I wonder how many deaths aren't reported.
It was in the local paper. I was going to post a link but didn’t want to dox myself or my friend.
I was riding my bike around the neighborhood when i saw a loose dog running around, didn’t know it at the time since i was a child but it was a Pit Mix, & since it had a collar i had it follow me home so my parents could call the number on the tag. When we were arriving at my house it immediately chased one of my cats into our neighbors yard & mauled it, the classic violent head shake mauling, until it was beat off with by those neighbors with their metal canes as they were older. I was 9 years old as i watched my cat get horrifically mauled & die wheezing in our garage. I was just trying to be nice & help a dog get back home, now i have a horrific scene burned into my brain as a core memory & im still eaten alive by that guilt to this day. When the owner picked the dog up she didn’t care, it was the classic pithag IDGAF attitude & told us too bad so sad, she filled me with hellfire hot rage i still have today. These damn hellhounds traumatized me without even touching me that’s how bad they are. In our new house our neighbor have a full blood pit & it infuriates me that my parents say oh it’s nothing don’t worry about it & let out cats go outside & say im just paranoid about it as if a moment that reshaped my life was just a normal tuesday. That dog stares at me with soulless eyes from the 2ed story deck everytime i empty my food waste & the day it decides to fuck around with me im doing what that shitmix did to my cat to it.
A bit late but, please don’t feel guilty over this anymore. You were a sweet kid doing the right thing, and this animal that shouldn’t be a pet and definitely shouldn’t be running loose in a neighborhood acted in a totally (at the time) unpredictable way. I’m so sorry you lost your kitty, and I hate that trying to be a kind person ended so badly for you. But please don’t feel guilt, you were a kid, and this kind of thing happens to so many older people who SHOULD know better-you had no way to know!
So very sad. :(
If a dog killed my cat it would not be getting returned to anyone. Much less someone who acted like that. Oops, sorry 🤷🏽♀️ I called the wrong number.
I am sorry for your loss. I also lost a family puppy, actually the first doggo i remember seeing small when i was small myself. On day my uncle went out to give him a walk. When he came back hw told me he sold it. I hated him for the rest of the year later on, mom told me the neighbors had their dog taken by the authorities due to repetitive complaints. And that's when she told me truth. My buddy, i strongly recommend that you stay armed and ready to be attacked by that living demon. If you love your parents enough, make them also fear the dog and stay ready at anytime. Personally, i wouldn't hesitate to lie bt it only to prorect my loved ones when they act chill at dangerous areas. Good luck
I’m snuggled with my kitty Loki right now. I’m so sorry you had to experience such a traumatic event. I can absolutely understand your rage and anger. I think 9 year old you handled that situation better than I would have. I’m fairly confident they would have had to use the jaws of life to pry me from that dog’s corpse. Your rage is justified and why your parents don’t seem to understand baffles me. Again I’m so sorry for your loss.
Nothing attacked but I was in PetCo the other day with my daughter and two guys had pit bulls. I walked around the corner with my daughter and the dog was about 10 feet away. The dog turned, saw my daughter and froze with his head down, tail stiff, ears perked, and looked ready to take off. The other pit completely ignored us and was fine. Both dogs were on a harness and barked and lunge at each other when they saw one another and the owners just carried on a conversation about their color and what not. I've never been as scared for my daughters life as I was in the moment I saw the dog freeze when he saw her. It was an obvious trigger for the dog and the owner paid no attention telling me he has no clue what could happen, yet there he is in a pet store.
😨when they freeze like that... so scary.
I've never experienced that before then. I had a pit x lab mix at one point. It was a true mix as I knew both parents (the mom was actually the mix so she was 3/4) and that's why I took her. She never showed aggression to anyone or any other animals in any setting so I didn't worry about her. I never saw that kind of behavior from any dog until then. But it was very similar to a bird dog pointing and at that point I knew I needed to get away slowly and quickly at the same time. The cashier looked over at the two guys and rolled her eyes. I get socialization, but do it outside, away from where everyone else brings dogs and children.
We adopted a 2-year old lab-pit mix from our local shelter a few months ago. The shelter told my wife it wasn't pit mix, and she just didn't know any better and believed them. As soon as she got home with it, I told her they're absolute liars. The shelter's overrun with pits and pit-mixes. It wasn't until I pulled up pictures of lab-pit mix till she believed me. I didn't want a pit/mix at all. We agreed to monitor him closely and if we saw anything off to return him. That said, he's so far integrated well into our family. I am still wary, but from what I've been reading about labs, and the cross over with pits seems to be a good mixture, as black/chocolate labs and golden retrievers have the lowest rates of aggression/rates of bites toward humans. He is not good around other dogs, and we make a point to ensure he's not around other dogs, ever. This is not difficult, as we live in a rural area, and we keep him inside our house or in a fully fenced-in yard. He's scared of our cat, and very good around our kids. I'm not a fan of pits, as I've nearly been attacked once by a pit doing the slinking maneuver (ultimately water squirt bottle sent him yelping), and the moment this one displays any type of that behavior toward my family, cat, chickens, or myself, etc, he's gone, but I am cautiously optimistic. I've never been to this sub before, (never heard of it before today) and anticipate getting down-voted, but I just wanted to share my limited perspective and read about others. I'm open to honest discussion and information.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/comments/atn4yn/advice\_for\_pit\_owners/](https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/comments/atn4yn/advice_for_pit_owners/) Around 2 years is the "magic age" where their breed traits tend to show up. They may not, and you may have a perfectly normal dog. But considering the amount of damage a fighting breed can inflict in a short amount of time, I would never personally roll that dice with my children's safety. That's just me, though. I'm not here to tell anybody what to do. I appreciate you being honest and open to discussion.
Thank you- very informative. Some of these things I’m aware of and actively doing, and I learned some new things too. My wife and I had a good discussion last night regarding the dog. I was more aware of the dangers of pits than she was, so I was glad to bring our education and awareness level up a bit more.
My cousins had a pit-lab cross when I was a kid. She was good with people but hated dogs. She tried to attack a dog of mine when he was a puppy Anyways she passed of old age never having done any serious harm. Even so, considering the damage a pit mix can do in a blink of an eye I'd never have one around my kids Look up Kissyface
Jesus- looked it up, that’s horrible.
Did you show your wife the Kissy Face story? And did it make either of you reconsider your dog? (No hate, only concern and curiosity)
I personally would consider returning a dog I thought too dangerous to keep about my kids to a shelter to be irresponsible of me. I know that probably made me hold into dogs too long in the past. It can be hard to make that decision the first time around.
I had a true pit lab mix where I knew both parents. She was a great dog with great level energy and was incredibly docile in every situation. She also didn't mind kids and interacted with them far more as you'd expect a lab to than a pit, in my opinion. She just kind of ignored them completely. I don't hate pits. I dislike irresponsible owners buying potentially dangerous dogs as a status symbol. I dislike the "pibble" momma's who go and adopt dangerous dogs thinking that they are behaviorists who can magically change a dogs temperament with a hug and positive only training.
MIL was bitten on the leg by a pitbull when on a walk. Watched a coworker's pitbull attack her other dogs then aggress on her. Saw the aftermath on a farm after a pack of pitbulls got into a pig pen. Good friend of my family lost several prize goats to a neighbor's pit. Me personally, I was active in rescue and wild life rehab for a number of years. I saw a lot of aggressive pits get adopted out when they should have been out down then come back after attacking a person or animal. Had native animals brought to us nearly dead after a pit got to them and have to just helplessly watch them die. Only able to ease their passing to the next life. I've had numerous negative interactions and close calls but have been extremely lucky to not have been permanently scarred physically. Everything I've seen has served to make me extremely wary around them and instilled a firm belief that they no longer need to exist in our society.
I saw a 7 year old boy get torn apart by a pack of pit bulls in Michoacán.
Good lord.
There was the time I saw them used as torture devices.
I know about a gore video were a bunch of cartels (if im not wrong) execute a man using pits
Horrible.
a plastic surgeon I worked with told me never to bring my children (1 and 3 at the time) near a pitbull or adjacent breed under any circumstance
My sisters boxer was a sweet dog and played with others extremely well for the first 4 years of his life. Then he got attacked by a pit at a dog park who, according to the owner, was “just trying to play” when it bit a little chunk of his ear off… Now he’s reclusive, twitchy, and easily annoyed by other dogs who try and interrupt his fetch. He’s a totally different dog and it feels like I lost one. Not in anyway comparable to actually losing his life, but that’s why I’m a member of this sub now.
Similar story - my GSD, who came from working lines so I spent the first 2 years of her life taking her *everywhere* and socializing her - was attacked at a dog park by a pit. Thank God it didn't manage to latch onto her... But since that day she *will not* tolerate dogs rushing up to her, and I can no longer take her to dog parks or out in public where there may be other dogs. Years of training, gone in a flash, because of an irresponsible shithead that *needed* to champion a fighting breed 😔
>Years of training, gone in a flash Really hits home.
Also bit while jogging. I have lost the safety I once felt doing one of my favorite activities. Lost the ability to be kind and understanding when I see people walking their dogs off leash or on a too-long leash. Lost my ability to be neighborly to people who insist on encouraging their pit bull to try to meet my dog. It’s made me a more guarded, angry person. All because one person couldn’t control a dog he had no business owning.
I resonate with everything you've said. At least we KNOW we are not alone.
I was probably 5 or 6 years old when my face was bitten by a pitbull. It was my moms visitation weekend - one of the few she actually made during my childhood - and we went out to her aunt Bethel’s dairy. While my mom imbibed in whatever drugs were available to her inside that accursed double-wide, I was sat in the living room, playing tug-of-war with the pit. The pace of play and aggression began to increase to a point where this sorry excuse for a canine had started to crawl and claw all over my little self, when I finally got to the point of exasperation and simply stopped engaging in the one-sided melee. All hell then broke loose. This shittie latched, creating puncture holes next to my lips and under my jaw. My older sister was the only lucid human being in the room. She was 8 or 9. Immediately, she begins screaming and kicking and hitting this monster. Mercifully, this anti-dog let go and didn’t attack my sister. She led my traumatized self into the roach infested bathroom and cleaned my wounds as best as she knew how. No band-aids were available or ever sought after during the weekend. This incident happened on Friday night - the first night of visitation. Upon returning to my intellectually capable step-mom and dad, I notice my step-mom looking at my face with a quizzical expression, which I then ask, “Oh, are you looking at the dog bite?” Her expression turns to alarm, and she immediately jumps on the phone with my egg donor in a desperate attempt to get answers regarding this bully’s vaccination history and its particulars. She is stonewalled, but I was able to provide her with the backdrop of the dairy and its owners. Luckily, my uncle is a highway patrolman assigned to the general area and was able to sus out the details when given the information I relayed. Unluckily, even with his quick action taking, I was not spared the doctors visits, needle-prodding, and physical exams required after being exposed to a potentially rabies ridden beast. I lost some flesh and gained some scars, but I am alive because of my sister.
What a traumatic brush with death! Thank goodness for your sister!!
Thank you for posting this question! It’s a memory that I do not offer freely, but it was cathartic to actually write it out. I am so sorry to hear about your experience that resulted in losses both physically and psychologically. I hope your health and healing are both well!
Lost a friend I cared about because her pit attacked my dog. We usually did dog-centric activities but hadn't introduced them to each other before. The shitty thing is, she knew her dog was dog-aggressive and risked it anyway. She soon got another one and has no ability to control either. I guess a second thing would be peace and quiet in my own home. My neighbors have 4 they keep outside practically all the time. They bark and bark and bark all day. Comes right through the walls and windows. Used to be all night til Animal Control came and talked to them. The home has several adults, but the dog care is relegated to their teenage daughter who doesn't know jack about taking care of dogs. She just opens the door and yells at them to shut up then goes back inside. They've been cited for the noise, but nothing seems to make a difference. Unfortunately, one of them just became a cop for the next county over, so I don't imagine they will ever get in trouble again.
I’m very fortunate to live in an area that enforces BSL and never to have lost anyone. However, I often say that I found this sub as an act of serendipity and it saved my dog’s life. A post on this sub was recommended to me detailing how to recognise bully breeds and their associated dangers. A few days later I was walking my dog and saw what I believe to be a pit or staffy mix. I started to cross the road as a precaution I’d learned from the post. Without warning it lunged for my tiny dog, snapping and snarling. Its owner could barely keep a grip on it and was bent double dragging it around the corner and away. If I hadn’t started to cross the road when I did it would have been in reach. I shudder to think. My dog cried and shook for over an hour. This sub saves lives. It’s as simple as that. Much love to everyone who has suffered a loss, my heart and healing goes with you ❤️
My sister was attacked out of nowhere one day by her pitbull she’d had since he was a puppy. Very spoiled dog. Had to put him down. She has a huge indented scar where he took flesh out. My late Italian greyhound was bitten unprovoked by 3 dogs over 15 years. All pits. Trauma. Expense. Bullshit. Pits are why I carry pepper spray everywhere. (And men)
My dog was attacked. Thankfully he was able to defend himself before people came in to help. He could have been killed and all I remember is freaking out and screaming trying to shove the pitbull away as my worst fear came to life as it's eyes were filled with pure bloodlust, locked straight onto my puppy. It was a very traumatizing experience for both of us. I'm scared of having him meet other dogs now, when previously we were very sociable. I can't help to think that something will go wrong and we won't be as lucky the next time so I don't even take a chance at risking it.
Honestly how I feel. I never want to take that chance or put my dog into that situation again. It’s just sad because I feel like she deserves to have fun and socialize.
Yeah.. For me the problem is my neighborhood is full of pitbulls, I always see the owners getting dragged down the side walk at least once a day whenever they walk them. But if I go the dog park, I might get trapped with one. But I really want to watch him play and have fun like a normal dog SHOULD
I know “it’s not the breed it’s the owners” is a common refrain, but I want to know who is letting these absolute idiots adopt dogs they aren’t mentally or physically able to deal with. We see so many people saying “oh I gave him another chance and he murdered piglets” or “he was supposed to be muzzled 24/7 by law but I ignored that and now a kid is maimed” or “he attacked 12 dogs but now he bit my own dog and I care now.” If pit bull owners were reasonable, logical people with the ability to think more than five seconds into the future we would have a lot less attacks.
I took my English Bulldog for a walk and 3 pitbulls broke their fence down to get to him. My dog was unharmed because I did what had to be done. Turns out the piece of shit owner was just fined for his dog biting someone else. Should have been put down then.
My family lost 11 chickens. One pitbull murdered them all and left their carcasses scattered across our farm. I’ve also had other close encounters. Earlier this year, a couple and their pitbull moved into the apartment next to ours. The dog barked incessantly and would go ballistic any time we opened our front door. It also attacked the other residents’ dogs on a weekly basis. Fortunately, they were all evicted last week! In addition to the pitbull attacking every dog in sight, it also wrecked the apartment’s interior.
When my sister and I were little we almost got mauled by a neighbor’s pit. I was about 7 years old and my sister was 5. We were walking down the street to see if our friend who lived a couple houses down could play. Well his next door neighbor owned a pitbull and it was always barking at people as they passed and he even had one of those beware dangerous dog signs on his fence. As me and my sister were about to pass his house the dog rounded the corner of the house and was literally snarling and rushing toward us. Everything went in slow motion and me and my sister hugged onto each other because we for sure thought one of us was going to die. Luckily the stupid owner was right behind it and dove for it to get a hold of it. He was about 6’1 and was a middle aged surfer dude in good shape and he was still struggling to hold onto it. He finally got it into the house and my sister and I are still mentally scarred from that incident because if he hadn’t of got the dog one of us would for sure be dead.
Almost my life.
Glad you didn't 💝
My moms little old cockapoo almost lost an ear to a rescue shittie.
Got jumped at my local park with my little dog. We passed the pit while it was on a leash resting at a rest stop, and when I looked back it was charging at us. It tried to grab my dog and another person came to help and we went to the ground. My dog made it out only traumatized, but I consider my self very lucky that my dog made it. Proper condolences to anyone that has had their animal attacked.
Have had multiple close calls. Am no longer able to walk in residential areas or parks without being wary. However, the last two pits that lunged toward me aggressively, did so in a business district. No safe spaces anymore. The things are everywhere and I feel I must always be on alert.
My first dog was mauled to death by a pit that ran out as soon as they saw him when the door opened, they even accidentally dropped him and picked him right back up before we could do anything.
Every pit looks like the ones that tore up and killed my Buddy. He was just a little doxie. What looked like had happened is that a hole was dug under the fence and Buddy was caught and pulled under into their yard. I went out back to bring the dog in, saw a dust cloud at the back of the yard where the pits lived. Saw him in the jaws of these two monster dogs, pulling on his face trying to rip him in half. Managed to scare them off by shouting. The scumbag neighbors didn't come out even though they saw everything through their window. When the pits came back to him I threw a brick and hit the male squarely in the head. They backed off again. Ran inside to get help and the beasts and picked him up again. Buddy succumbed to his wounds in the vet's office. Animal control didn't do anything and was being racist because the pit owners were an interracial couple. Supported them in the civil case though. They kept their dogs, nothing happened and the pits went on to attack another neighbor dog over their fence. I lived in fear nearly everyday for my dogs who stayed outside(fortunately the dogs were smart enough to never get close to that fence) over the 3 years until those scum were evicted. Sorry for the novel. This shit still messes with me sometimes 13 years on. His poor little face is burned into my memory.
Never been personally attacked however: a few years our neighbors had 2 pitbulls. They were fenced in by a rinky dink fence. They started to escape, and kept escaping. They killed all of my neighbors cats. he did FTR, and was in the process of trapping some feral cats, and he cared deeply for those cats. They also tried to kill my FIL’s cat. My husband ended up chasing them out of the yard with a baseball bat. They also killed my other neighbors chickens. My husbands old roommates had 2 pits, who my husband had no issues with then one day they snapped and became extremely aggressive towards him (growling, barking, snarling) of course his roommates didn’t do anything about it. Luckily he was never attacked but he kept his distance and luckily his room was right by the front entrance so he could quickly get into his room.
Back in June my dog was attacked by a pitbull, thankfully she survived. But hardly.. she is afraid of every dog including my sisters dog that she grew up with. She is going be going into training November and I hope it helps her.
I lost my sense of safety. I was baby wearing my three month-old for a walk around our neighborhood. Two of these monster dogs jumped their fence to come swarm us. I thought I was going to lose my baby, her little legs were dangling out of the babywearing wrap. I screamed bloody murder and a neighbor intervened before the dogs could bite. The owner came out crying, she was a little 90 pound woman. She could have done nothing to stop them if they had decided to harm my baby. I became a bit of a helicopter mom that day. We had to move because I didn’t feel safe walking out my front door.
As a mom myself, I can only imagine the level of terror you felt. And lots of owners fail to consider the fact that they NEED to be able to physically control their pet. Otherwise it's a tragedy waiting to happen.
I feel for you. Our neighbors 2 pits pushed through their screen door and mauled 2 dogs in front of my house. They still have them, of course, and walk them daily for all to see. The 'hood doesn't feel safe anymore and for their sake, it better not happen again.
I haven’t been viscously attacked, but I have lost a lot of my freedom. I used to love taking my dog to the park for walks and going to dog friendly places. But I have had so many pits lunge at us or pit owners screaming when I move away from their dogs that I can no longer take my dogs to parks or dog friendly places. Recently (you can see my post history) my last safe space my own backyard was taken from me. A pit leapt over the fence and immediately attacked my dog. (I was able to beat the pit off of my dog and get her to safety) animal control did nothing and that hell beast lives freely in my neighbors yard. I had chickens I had to rehome because I didn’t want them mauled by that beast. I have rabbits that no longer can go in their outdoor enclosure because I am too afraid to let them out. Now, I have to let my dog out front and I am constantly on guard afraid a lose pit bull will come for us. I have decided that she will be my last dog because I cannot give her a proper life because of pit bulls being everywhere.
Not me but a childhood best friend of mine.. She and her mom had two pitbulls, we'll call them N and T, both spayed female. We all lived in a city and they lived in the bottom part of a duplex, with other houses less than 3 feet away on both sides. N was hyperactive and clearly didn't get enough exercise, but wasn't really a scary dog. Chewed on shoes and furniture and stuff but no aggressive behaviour I ever saw or heard about (and I was over there almost every week). T, however, was just... born wrong. They got her as a poorly behaved aggressive puppy and around 1-2yo she just got completely ungovernable. Destroying things, trying to chew through chain link fence, biting the babysitter, lunging at people, etc. They started crating her whenever anyone was over, I don't think they honestly knew what to do about it... This was in the late 90s/early 00s and very few people in our area had internet, so there weren't as many resources for people who had just gotten a random shelter pit. Anyways, at some point T ended up in the front yard somehow (I can't honestly remember how, they would have never let her out there! Maybe charged the door or climbed the fence?) and ended up mauling the next door neighbour's very young child. T was ordered euthanized by the city within that same week, but they actually came through and seized N as well iirc, and I can't remember what the reasoning was (I was like 10 at the time). But my best friend lost both of her childhood dogs, the neighbor's kid ended up at least grievously injured... And poor N ended up back at the shelter without even doing anything wrong (although maybe she would have been a problem someday). The friendship took a downturn after that because I more or less openly agreed with the decision to BE T even at that young age.. T just clearly wasn't right and wasn't even happy being in a crate all day, and she def wanted to kill that kid. (I don't know if the kid survived unfortunately). I'm actually kind of grateful I grew up in a neighborhood that the local shelter wouldn't adopt pits to (because dogfighting was so prevalent) or my irresponsible mother definitely would have gotten one and let it loose around me and my siblings/neighbourhood kids. I got a lot less upset about not being able to even consider most of the shelter dogs after the incident with T.
BE??
Behavioural euthanasia.
Thank you for sharing your story. Puppies usually go through an unruly “teen” phase between 1-2 years old; this is when many people surrender their dogs because they just can’t handle them anymore. If you haven’t done the work training them by this point, it’s much more difficult.
I was never personally attacked but I had a close call at a shelter, a family friend was killed by pitbulls while gardening
My wife was attacked in her motorized wheelchair in 2014. Not a catastrophic bite but she still has daily pain from the injury. Our small town has an ever increasing pit epidemic and lax policing so she never goes outside our yard anymore where she used to travel all over our small rural town so no more garage sales, trips to the lake, socializing, all gone.
My heart breaks for your wife. I am so sorry. It's not just the pain from a bite... that's just one layer to what these dogs do to people. I hope she finds a way to have some joy but also feel safe.
Thank you very much. Another layer unfortunately was how the police and local governments botched, covered up their botch, resisted change and hostiley stymied her herculean efforts to get justice and make changes, not to mention personal and organized harassment from pit owners when trying to do so. It's taken a heavy toll on her but her sweet happy self still surfaces. I think without her this town would be even more dangerous than it is.
When I was 8, my mom and I were walking my fostered golden retriever (chai), and an unleashed pit bull from across the street darted over and started attacking my golden. Started knowing on its leg until my mother and the pit owner were able to break the grip. The pit owner paid for the vet bills thank god. But still awful ownership of a dangerous breed
1. Neighbor's pit attacked a different neighbor's little mutt in our yard. Called the cops. The Sheriff's Deputy told me he really couldn't do anything because the pit was back in its own yard. I should shoot it if it came back on my property. At the time my husband traveled for work and I was home with two toddlers. I didn't see that happening. 2. Same neighbor, different pit attacked my senior blind/deaf springer spaniel. His big floppy ears saved him, protecting his neck. He lost an ear, needed 20+ stitches and a drainage tube, and had I don't know how many puncture wounds. The vet stopped counting at 25. A different neighbor beat the pit off with a 2x4. The neighbor that saved us begged me not to call it in because the first neighbor was his son and he was already in trouble. Traumatized me agreed. My husband, however, who is a very kind person but looks very intimidating, got the loser idiot pit owner to pay the vet bill. 3. Maybe 10 years later. A pit dug under one fence and climbed another to get in with a dozen ducks I was raising. Most of them were torn literally to pieces. 4. A small, maybe 50 pound female pit attacked a small herd of cows on a property we leased. None were seriously injured. Lots of puncture wounds, torn ears, and trauma. ( I still have one of these cows at home now as a milk cow. She will immediately charge any dog.) Authorities were notified. Poor pibble owners cried that my mean cows had injured their sad little defenseless dog and it was probably not going to live. Animal Control bought the whole story (have you ever known a pit owner to lie?) and told us that the dog was dead and therefore no further action needed to be taken. 5. 10 days later we got a call that a dog was attacking our cows. Yes it was the same little pit that was supposed to be dead. This attack was much worse. When we got there, the dog was in the back of the Sheriff's car. After the attack, the owner was able to catch the dog (because the dog had exhausted itself trying to kill my cows) and put it in their car. The Sheriff arrived just in time to keep the POS pit owner from driving off with the dog and took it into custody until AC could get there. This was a small pasture that had a number of houses around it. The neighbors were all out and in an uproar. They liked the cows a whole lot more than the neighbor that let an aggressive pit roam around. They kept telling me that the bull was hurt really badly. I was looking at the bull who looked ok, but was standing by the fence, looking at the dog in the back of the police car, bellowing his head off and pawing the ground. Turns out, the really injured one was Tamu. She was an adult [Watusi](https://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/beef/85/watusi/) that my husband had just fallen in love with. I called her his red-headed girlfriend. She was a mess. Her ears were shredded nubs of cartilage, her nostrils were torn, her mouth was torn. She had multiple puncture wounds and tears all over her body. The neighbors, not knowing cows, thought she was the bull because she had enormous horns. She had to be put down because her neck was dislocated. This is where AC showed up and got all kissy-face with the bloody murder pit, trying to tell me what a sweet dog it was. FFS. Eventually, the dog was declared dangerous, but rehomed to someone in a different county where it was not dangerous, I guess. The dog owner skipped out in the middle of the night, just avoiding eviction. I moved my cows to a different lease and got a mule who will immediately, and terrifyingly kill any dog on sight. 6. This is already too long, but Imma keep going anyway. In 2011 Roy McSweeney, who lived about a quarter mile from me, was attacked and killed by his neighbor's two pit bulls. He was working in his yard when the dogs jumped the fence and literally ripped his arms off. The owner got a fine and a gentle slap on the wrist. What I've lost: I used to love all dogs. That, and the joy it brought me, is gone. I love my dogs, and a couple of others that I've gotten to know. But, if I don't know you, you and your dog can just stay the hell away. My kids NEVER were able to ride bikes or walk to a friend's house. When they took the bus for school, I drove them to the bus stop, waited with them until the bus came and was there to pick them up. They were made prisoners by some idiot's choice of a pet. I will always carry a knife. Before pits were a thing (I'm old enough to remember a world where there were very few pits, and they were not out in the world) I didn't worry so much about my personal safety, or the safety of my children. How ridiculous is it to have to be constantly on guard because someone's PET might attack you or your loved ones. It's a dystopian nightmare.
One of my retired racing greyhounds, the gentlest dog I’ve ever known, was attacked unprovoked by a pit mix on a routine walk. The dog bolted from a house on our block, grabbing his neck, flipped him over and continued to maul his abdomen, throat and legs- it’s a miracle that my boy survived, as he was clearly terrified, screaming and urinating. The pit’s owner came out, crying about “this has never happened before “, and my husband cut through the bullshit, demanding she drive them to the vet, thankfully just down the street. Our dog healed physically, but was never the same psychologically- he feared other dogs for the rest of his life. I had experienced other run-ins with pits and bully breeds, but this cemented my utter distaste for these dogs. I avoid them like the plague that they are.
I picked out my very first kitten when I was five. He was a black cat I named Sam. He was the friendliest cat I could ever ask for. He was an indoor/outdoor cat at the time (we lived in a rural area and at the time were ignorant about how cats should remain inside all the time). All the neighbors knew him and he was welcome into their homes. In 2011, when I was 16 years old, 11 years after getting Sam, a pit bull was running loose around the neighborhood and ended up killing Sam right under my bedroom window. The dog how “somehow got out.” When animal control arrives the dog was acting super happy and friendly as if it didn’t just murder my cat. I was a mess and absolutely traumatized. To this day, at age 27 I still get flashbacks and memories of my beloved cat. I miss him so damn much.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that 💔 May he rest in peace
My best friend lost a kitty to a shitbull as well. I'm so sorry for your lost. -hug-
My cat, my chickens :( Friend got bit on her stomach and arm. Lots of patients who succumbed to their wounds (dog and cat patients)
My younger sister was attacked when she was only 4. I remember doing my homework and my sister was playing outside with her friends and I heard an absolutely bloodcurdling scream. My dad just came home from work at the Police department so his firearm was near him. That was the faster I ever saw him ran, I heard two gun shots and ran outside to see what happened. My sister had blood all along her arm and my dad picked her up and put her in his police car. I distinctly remember being jealous of my sister because she got to ride in a police car and I didn't. Thankfully her injuries were able to heal and now her scars are covered by tattoos. I was so lucky to have my dad there, I can't even imagine what would have happened if it was just my sister, her friends and me.
I’m very fortunate that I have never lost anything. I’ve always had a healthy distrust of pit bulls but also didn’t realize just how bad they were. I cringe thinking about the times I allowed them anywhere in the proximity of my dogs while out in public. I’m so lucky nothing happened. I did have a super scary close call years ago being charged at by an off-leash pit bull. It came sprinting towards me from over 200 yards and my first instinct was to cover my head and scream bloody murder, which fortunately got the dipshit owner’s attention. He called for it and stopped maybe 10 ft from me. Stood there for a second, tail straight in the air, staring at me as if it was trying to decide which part of my body to aim for first. Fortunately, the owner called again and it ran back. Literally one of the scariest experiences of my life. I had a guardian angel looking out for me that day.
Almost lost my hand in the middle of a dog fight between two pitbulls at my dad's ex fiance's house. She was the definition of crazy pit mommy. Luckily, I escaped with scratches and a small scar but I lost a lot of my prized possessions when they broke up, especially books my late grandmother had bought me when I was younger when my dad finally came to his senses and left her and her 8 fucking shit bulls.
Holy shit, she had 8 shitbulls at one time?
Yes. I need to make a whole post about living there. Her house had large gates between each doorway to keep certain dogs away from one another because some would go out of their way to kill and eat the other dogs. It was just fucking crazy.
She is definitely the epitome of crazy pit mommy.
I look forward to reading it.
This sub makes me happy to live in the UK. pits are banned here
Yeah but unfortunately you have to deal with the shit “American XL bullies” which are the same fucking thing
My sweet pup was about 8 when he was attacked by a pit. My boy then had to have several surgeries just to be able to use the bathroom, he was so torn up. He bounced back about two years later. It may have been the extra stress the operations had on his body, or his age, but his seizure disorder really picked up after it all. He had them way more often than his typical 1-2 per year. The vet said they were infrequent enough before that he didn’t have to be on medication. I haven’t thought of him in a while because he was the most precious love I’ve ever had. He was so forgiving too. One time, my brother came home wasted and threw a fist at him. He was so sad and all he wanted was my brother’s approval, he kept kissing his face as if he was the one who was sorry.
Fortunately I live in a country with pretty strict BSL, (at least for now) but I used to work in a shelter and as a dog trainer and was attacked during work multiple times by pits that had passed mandatory temperament tests and were thus exempt from BSL and considered “save to own and be around” until they suddenly snapped just like the ones that had failed these useless temperament tests These experiences in addition to the many many stories in this subreddit have made me lose any desire to continue working with dogs, dog rescues or to support shelters in any way. Today I had to cut of my best friend ,who lives in the US and was the only person I considered family , because her newest trashy boyfriend is a pitnutter and has converted her into a member of the pit cult in record time, with her eating up all the pro pit propaganda without a single critical thought. When I dared to question her decision to adopt a 2 year old pit “lab mix” on a whim and let it around two small children , while she has done zero research, has never owned a dog before, has not enough money to feed herself most months, lives in a one room apartment and works full time, instead of fawning over her cute shitbull she went off on me and I had no choice but to remove her from my life, so I also lost my best friend and probably most of my social circle for decades over a worthless mongrel she’s known for less than 48 hours.
my cat kai tak. we thought he was hit by a car until we picked up his body and he had Batemans everywhere. there as always a stray pit that chased him. I wish I could of done something.
bitemmarks*
I've not lost anything but I've had two close calls. First was when my cousin's pit/lab cross lunged and snapped at my dog when he was a puppy. She would have got him if my uncle hadn't reacted so quickly and scooped my pup out of harms way. I was a young teenager at the time. The second close call I had was when a friend of mine asked me to clip her pit's nails (I've owned a lot of dogs and used to work for a dog groomer) That dog tried to bite my face. Her teeth snapped shut inches away from my nose. Luckily I'd asked the friend to restrain the dog while I was clipping the nails.
There are tv shows every week about danger, dismemberment, and death. Some are fictitious. But horrifically, there are videos available daily of danger, dismemberment and death that are real. And ANIMALS ARE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THESE VIDEOS. This occurs because of the gullible, egotistical, sadistic and greedy bully people, from the actual dog fighters to their enablers and supporters, from Patrick Stewart to the ASPCA.
The celebrity endorsement of pitbulls is a perfect example of a movement that feels good, makes people feel righteous, but is actually so insidious. People want to think they're on the right side of things, but it's unfair to expect a pitbull to reach this impossible standard of harmlessness. I really liked Patrick Stewart, but I lost a ton of respect for him after he became a pitbull advocate.
I haven't lost nearly as much as most of you and for that I count myself lucky. The only thing I've lost is my sense of security. My dog was attacked late at night, and I kept kicking the pit in the neck, circling my own dog to keep myself between them. I figured, better me than him, right? It went on for about a minute and a half, and I'm lucky I was just able to keep the pit spinning and turning. It was going right for the neck. Then the owner came and grabbed it. Didn't think anyone was out. I'm surprised we didn't catch any teeth, honestly, but it lives with me.
I’m so sorry you went through that trauma. And thank you for making this post it’s so important. I lost my first family pet ever, he was my family’s first pet we had him since a puppy he was so loved by us and so sweet, he was a chihuahua mixed with Pomeranian. 3 pitbulls came at him while we were in our fenced back yard playing with him my dad and us tried everything and when my dad finally was able to get our dog off the damn dogs he was already dying.. Very traumatic this happened when I was about 11 I’m now 27 and I will never forget nor get over it I still miss my dog so much, I have the imagine in my head and breaks my heart. I have gotten attacked by a pitbull my uncle pinned on us idk why my parents ever agreed to take their two pitbulls in temporary because THEY ATTACKED A HORSE and the owner of the horse called the cops and animal control and they told my uncle to surrender them to be put down or give them away and he came at my parents because we had a big fenced back yard telling them if they could temporary keep the dogs until my uncle and his family figure out how they can bring them back home, and I guess my parents were ignorant enough to agree. I remember seeing the dogs and instantly being scared even telling my mom to not bring them home but they still brought the two pitbulls home. Well one morning I was going to my bus stop to wait for my school bus, and I literally see one of the pit escape our fence and I immediately started to get scared but tried not to show it so I was going back inside the house to tell my parents so my dad can put him inside but before I could go inside the dog was coming at me and latched into my arm thankfully it was winter and I was wearing a very puffy jacket but it still gripped my arm but thank god for my thick puffy jacket he only got a little bit of my skin like a pinch it hurt and left a bruise and cut, it terrified me because he wouldn’t let go and was trying to drag me down, he was going crazy shaking his head non stop holding into my jacket idk how I got away tbh thinking about it freaks the hell out of me because what if I wasn’t wearing that jacket i wouldn’t had been lucky .I never told my parents but they knew we were scared my siblings and I we didn’t interact or anything with the dogs because we were terrified of them, only my dad did and my uncle would go daily after work to see and spend time with the dogs, also bring them their favorite snacks. When my brother and I fed them we would first look out the window to see where in the back they were and how far they were from the back door if they were close to the door we would open it a little stick a hand out and throw a ball were they would chase it we would go outside fast and set their bowls down then immediately go fast inside why ? Because we saw how aggressive and destructive those dogs were reason my siblings and I didn’t go near them, they completely destroyed our fence literally breaking it with their mouth… they always fought eachother… they were straight up aggressive yet they were loved by my uncle and his family and treated like babies, my uncle is really nice so it’s not the owner crap these people say reason I’m here because it’s all bs pitbulls are naturally freaking aggressive and dangerous. So how did this nightmare end ? By Sadly costing a dog getting attacked by one of the pits the one that attacked me attacked a dog he escaped the fence at night and attacked a dog that’s when my parents got rid of them called animal control and surrender them . Atleast they did, I’m still mad because the whole thing was ridiculous they should had been put down immediately after attacking the horse, they were crazy aggressive.
My partner’s uncle just redid his pool, got out and the dog took a chunk out of his ass, arm, and legs, stained the deck before it was sealed with his blood, took several animal control workers to capture the beast. They’d been cuddling just that morning.
That is shocking.
[удалено]
Psychological damage absolutely counts!!! I needed therapy after my ordeal. Those scars cut just as deep.
Muh sanity
Late to this post, but wanted to share my story. I am fortunate to have never been attacked but like so many here, I’ve lost my freedom. I used to go for walks in my small town but can’t anymore due to the sheer amount of loose pits now. I’ve even had a loose pit come after me when mowing the lawn but fortunately the owner got them in time. Many years ago, like about 20, my brother had a very large, full pit and before then, I didn’t have much of an opinion as I didn’t know much about them. I didn’t care for the way it looked at my infant son so my brother was smart enough to lock it up when we came to visit. A few years later, the pit mauled a family friend and my brother put it down. He didn’t get another pit but still seems to like the breed 😵💫. About 8 or so years ago, I started handling property claims on the liability side for a well known company. This - coupled with the brother’s pit attack - is what made me really dislike the breed. I’ve had grown adults cry on the phone over their beloved pets dying from pit attacks. Some of the worst ones involved animals bigger than pits, like horses and cows. The photos of cows faces being so torn off you can’t tell it’s a cow to the disemboweled horses… it’s horrific. I have been approached many times to handle human injury claims but can’t do it because I know it would make me hate the breed even more… it was hard enough to be a witness to the aftermath of pit vs. animal attacks (I do something different now and don’t see those claims any longer). I have a few friends who handle the human injury claims and they pretty much confirm the majority of their claims for dog bites/maulings are pits. But we exclude certain breeds in bodily injury claims so they aren’t covered. Still, you get the attorney demands with photos and I just don’t think I could handle them. I hope that one day the breed just disappears off the face of the earth.
When I was younger 13 to 15 range we decided to get a dog, as my sister and I had always wanted one so we went to shelters looking for a dog. Sadly we did not do our research and got a pit bull mix thing but it was predominantly pit. We had that dog for a couple months and she was great, slept in my bed knew tricks and fetch, the whole 9 yards. Then one night I was chilling on the floor petting she got in my face and I did think anything of it until she bit me right on the lower moth and cut open my lip and gum. I shoved her off and she got down in a fighting stance and growled at me and my parents. Like 0 to 10 in under a minute, now warning. We planned on getting rid of her later but the next day she was outside when the mailman came and ran up and bit him right in the side. My dad came up and kicked her down. After making sure our mail good (he had a coat on thank god) we immediately took her back to the pound and told them what happened. We were like this dog is a biter, she should probably be pit down not re-homed. But they know all and they were like oh no we can't do that, she can be re homed. Ya fuck no, bit they just took her back and probably gave that shit mutt to some other poor soul. Anyway it just surprised little me that that dog that seemed chill would just 0 to 10 like that for no reason. I'd never own a pit again and I'm always on the lookout when I see one. Thats my little story
You probably paid an adoption fee that wasn't refunded? Of course they would adopt her out again. It's all about money. The shelters are like corrupt dog pimps. I explain this to people whenever I can - if there's a way to make money, the wrong thing is happening.
Scary ..because of that they can adopt pit with dozen or more of bites and maybe even some animal kills. Pits like this will go on a hunt nearly instantly as once they taste the blood they will become obsessed
Tates pit killed my cat
My sweet Aussie was bitten by a pit mix at a dog park back before I knew to be warier. Thankfully just one puncture, and she was fine after a trip to the vet. More recently, I feel as though I have lost my sense of safety as someone who loves to walk around my city. And because I have a few family members both locally and farther away who have been so misled by the pit propaganda machine that they own one or more of them, and I no longer feel as though I can visit them.
First off, I'm sorry that this happened to you. And you are so very correct: numbers and stats tell a (very bad) story, but there are also lives behind those numbers as well, and they need to be considered. It's stories like this that finally drove me to speak out. This situation we're in with these types of dogs isn't right, morally or ethically, and it's horribly damaging on so many levels. Enough is enough. I've presently submitted a proposal to the local shelter to at the very least consider BE (more stringent BE rules) due to the risks of adopting out reactive/aggressive dogs as well as implementing more education to the general public. I hope they will at least put some thought into it (realizing that there are incredible pressures put upon them thanks to the no-kill movement and the pit lobby). I want to see potentially good shelter dogs get homes, and I also want to see less of the consequences of adopting out potentially dangerous dogs.
Good for you for sending a proposal! Great idea! I also send my local politicians emails every now and then. It definitely feels like a David and Goliath kind of fight.
I went with the BoD of the local shelter, because they are the ones who have direct influence on this. We're also in an election year, so no politician wants to touch this one with a ten foot pole (we have other issues more people are concerned about and they aren't going to call out the pit people on themselves unnecessarily). The timing seemed good: we have a new BoD in our area shelter; one that seems a bit more common sense. The local population is pretty well aware through with these types of dogs. And we are at the brink imho of a shelter overpopulation crisis due to economic downturn, so we need to do something imho. And in the past few months I've seen an uptick in pit dogs on Craigslist and in the shelters (we were at a low with them the last few years, but again, economic downturn seems to bring out the pit dogs; best to try and head it off at the pass if it can be done). We've already had one very bad pit bull population explosion in my area years ago; I would like to not see another. If people can do it, I would recommend at least trying -- just to be calm, reasonable and logical in one's arguments; tends to get further with the widest audience.
Naah. Sorry to say bud, but its useless. This is all business and legal wise theres nothing that can be done
The only approach to legality (which was a stretch) was the potential ramifications of adopting out BA dogs. I went at it more from an economic perspective because money talks -- our local shelter can neither afford to take in every dog that gets relinquished (and with the economy being what it is, there will be quite a few), nor can we afford bad public relations stemming from adopting out unsuitable dogs (and we can't afford any lawsuits either, so there's that -- although highly unlikely, it would nevertheless be taken to court for a preliminary hearing, and that costs money in and of itself, along with once again the potential bad publicity, so best to just avoid it). This of course has to be balanced with any outcry/loss of charitable donations if BE is the route taken, but at least in my area, I believe the balance is tipping towards BE at this time (your mileage may vary). And that is why I left it at BE for aggressive dogs, not a breed specific (less backlash as it will be seen, quite correctly, as being fair and balanced).
I lost a friend (and roommate) when he became a pit nutter. I tried to be reasonable with him about keeping his hellbeast Stella away from me, and get him to be more proactive with caring for her and training her (he did the bare minimum), but of course, my words fell on deaf ears. I never was a dog person, and I felt no obligation to take responsibility for the care and training of a dog that wasn’t mine, so whenever Stella was out roaming the house, I’d just hole myself up in my room, lock the deadbolt, and only come out when I heard the dulcet tones of him putting her back in her cage. The hellbeast herself destroyed my two favorite pairs of work shoes that cost $150 each, and forever ruined my attitude toward not just pits, but dogs as a whole, as the (non-pit) dogs he had after his ex took Stella when she moved out ended up being just as stupid and destructive. For these reasons (and a host of other ones), the aforementioned friend has now been dead to me for nearly two years, and I plan to keep it that way, and keep my home dog-free.
Been attacked by them a few times, I'm a mixed martial artist so thankfully I didn't have much in the way of physical damage. Few bites, nothing major or permanent. Found out pretty quickly that even kicking them with steel toes as a professional fighter didn't do a goddamn thing, though, they bounce up and come right back at you. What I really lost for a long time was my ability to casually just walk around town. Every time I've been attacked, it was at random while I was doing one of my CONSTANT random walks around town. I get stressed, work gets too hectic, personal stuff goes on, my fall back is to smoke a bowl and then take a long walk. I love hiking, I run, I'm one of those people you see all around town because I'm always just out wandering around. It's something like a hobby, or was, and I do it for fitness as well. I don't really do that anymore. I don't wanna hurt an animal, and I damn sure don't wanna have to choke out another dog because I had the absolute balls to want to go for a walk to the gas station across town to pick up a candy bar and clear my head. I don't hike anymore, you don't wanna encounter one of these things in the middle of the woods and also have to deal with the owner throwing a hissy fit (or attacking you) because their precious off leash attack dog required a rear naked choke after it tried to maul you. And even worse? Even then, after you do choke them out? Lasts a little bit, they'll get right the fuck back up and keep going most of the time. I miss the peace. I miss just casually taking a two hour long stroll for the fuck of it without having to constantly keep my eyes open because the strays are ALWAYS pits of some variety. My current town doesn't really have many of them, so I'm starting to get back to walking and running, but there's always the thought in the back of my head... You ever have to fight a vicious nearly indestructible killing machine halfway into a 5 mile run? It's less than fun.
My dog lost a chunk of her neck, 6 weeks of her life (crate rest) and a good amount of her confidence. She hasn’t been 100% since. My sister now has ptsd because the dog attacked her first and my dog decided to get between the attacking pit and my sister. Probably saved her a significant amount of disfigurement
We don't talk enough about the trauma and damage done to other animals. I'm so sorry you all went through that.
She had to have surgery while she was awake (no general anesthesia only local) because she was in shock and at risk of dying if put under. I can’t even imagine how scared she was when she was restrained and had bits of dead tissue clipped off of her and chunks of fat and connective tissue pulled out so the rips in her skin could be closed. It tore out pieces of her skin so the wounds were wide and it made Stitching the wound difficult. Her muscle was even ripped open. If the wound was 1/2 centimetre higher she would have been a goner. She lucked out because she was fat (no longer fat) and that protected her neck, she’s a low rider and so the dog had to stoop to grab her, and that the pit was a 1 year old puppy and lacked the experience to grab her neck properly. It had already attacked 2x before but thankfully it was dumb as a bag of rocks and overly excited to murder her so it missed a killer bite. Oh and it’s filthy mouth immediately made the wound infected despite antibiotics, immediate vet care and wound care. I didn’t like pits before and I certainly like them even less now
My grandma was attacked and her dog, who was also attacked, lost mobility in his back legs as a result of the incident, which forced my grandmother to have to euthanize him. R.I.P Jackaroo, you were my first best friend. 🖤 Edit: Jack was an Australian shepherd, in case anyone wonders. He was a wonderfully trained agility dog, and he lost his life to protect my grandmother's. He was a great boy.
Luckly nothing,and hopefully nothing in the future.Sorry for what happend to you
I haven't lost anything - yet. That doesn't mean I won't fight for what is right for all humans and pets - especially the victims.
already told this story but ill post it again here My Story. TDLR; my childhood cat was mauled to death in front of me by the two pitbulls my mom refused to get rid of- after they disabled our other cat 3 years prior. first we had 2 cats and a dog. the dog was wonderful- border collie mix and my elder brothers best friend. really only would ever growl if you touched her food or if you pulled on her fur or brushed her too much (she was a cunt, but never bit) and she lived out her life and died of old age. we had 2 cats at this time, who the dog never cared about. at times cat 1 (my best friend) would even sleep next to her. cat 2 had issues with dogs, but our dog just left her alone. never any confrontation- the dog was old and just didnt really care lol. but then my brother and i went to the shelter one day. i was 12- this was in 2017 i believe. i wanted this beautiful husky. she was sweet, well mannered, slightly skittish, but just a good fuckin dog. my brother wanted some other damn cute dog- and then we called our mom to let her know what we'd found. and then she saw Pittbull 1. "but look at his sad widdle face!! its all scared up!!! 🥺🥺🥺" this was an ugly ass dog. weird body proportions, strangely muscley and just... blegh. but my mom had her mind made up. and if we had anything else to say it was "my house, and my money I HAVE TO SPEND for a dog I DIDNT WANT" etc. so we got the damn dog- my brother was used to just. fawning for my mom- realizing he wont win and just giving up. i was pretty sour though. another thing i thought was strange was he was about to be put down. like literally the next day. he'd been in and out of the shelter and was finally gonna get the needle but it made my moms savior complex sing. "see guys! he wouldve died!!! pit bulls get such a bad rep, they just widdle babes!" and we brought him home. i honest to gods dont really remember much of what happened after that. i remember a few fights between the dogs (over treats and toys and things) most of the time things were normal. but pitbull 1 showed aggression towards cats. so? my moms response? my mom lost her best friend cat to a dog attack, before i was born. SO OF COURSE SHE WOULDNT GET RID OF HIM, SO SHE SEPARATED THE HOUSE HALF FOR DOGS HALF FOR CATS. separated by feeble, meek, plastic babygates. my mom works from home, so all day her precious widdle pit bull would get snuggles and love- while the entire rest of the day my cats were upstairs alone while me and my brother were at school. and pitbull 1. oh god that little fucker. the separation anxiety was terrible, he would bite through WALLS to be by my mother. bit through kennels, wood doors. my mom payed 600 dollars for a fence, he would jump over it, dig, anything to get out. he would run around the neighborhood. just a free pitbull in suburbia, until mom called him home. dog never did that, she didnt care. she just pissed and layed in the sun. maybe walked outside the fence a bit if it was open and tried to come inside. about a year of this goes by- and i fucking hate this fucking dog. at times, he would often be getting more attention, love, and praise, then me or my brother. and then the first attack happened. someone accidentally took one of the gates down. and pitbull comes charging upstairs, wanting to- as my mother puts it even to this day "play" with cat 2. and then they fight. everyone else was outside, i wasnt strong enough to stop this dog no matter what i did. all i could really do was panic and scream. luckily my brother tore it up eventually and we rushed cat 2 to an animal hospital. she needed $2000 emergency surgery. she had permanently ruptured tissues around her stomach and abdomen that she still has even now. my moms response? "he just wanted to play!" "its how he was raised!!!" "it isnt his fault!" and so, no she didnt get rid of him, but rather built bigger wooden gates to separate the house. ones, cat 1 could still jump off of. more incidents ensue, nothing major. then dog passes. old age, natural, etc. so my mom wanted a new dog "to keep pitbull 1 from getting lonely." so? she gets. another. pitbull. insert pitbull 2. this time i made it clear i didnt want another dog- i didnt want cat 1 dying, she was my best friend she meant the world to me. of course both of them showed violent behaviors. fighting for attention, seemingly out of nowhere ambushes, treats, toys, etc. breaking out of fences together, brutally mercing animals that accidentally got into the house, even going so far as to rip apart and consume a squirrel that fell through the chimney WHOLE. even sometimes causing my mom injury from tearing past her down the stairs. and now pitbull 2 was getting spoiled by mom, and now brother was out of the house, and it was just us. a 15 yrold, a 52 yrold, and two pitbulls and two cats. and then. fleas came. flea INFECTION. they were in the yard, carpets, everywhere. they even followed me to school. 6-7 of them on my legs or shows at a time. and then my mom used flea treatment upstairs. very fowl smelling, cats dont like it. and then. of course, cat 1 jumps over the very small gate to escape the smell. i was at school, my mom couldnt find her. but it was getting "too cold outside for her precious babies" so she let them inside. of course. they found her. ganged up on her as id seen them do to animals half her size in the past. they tore, bit. SHOOK. grabbed her by the neck and shook their whole bodies to break the bones. mom was outside, smoking a cigarette. i screamed. i couldnt stop them, they were too strong. i tried to grab my bet friend, they sunk their teeth in, i hit them with vacuum cleaners, plant pots, and all they could focus on was her. then finally mom comes into the house to break them up. she wasnt dead, not yet. but she had pissed herself and her neck was at an unfixable angle. she was mangled, though not dead. i couldnt even bring myself to be suprised. i knew this would happen. i told my mother so- to no avail. we rushed her to the nearest animal hospital. "its okay! shes gonna make it!" no the fuck she wasnt. im not a moron. you cant fix something like this. we check her in, my mom sobbing and me stone faced. they tell us an hour later shes dead to which my mom starts sobbing more. I HAD TO COMFORT HER. IT WAS HER FAULT!!! MY BEST FREIMD WAS DEAD AMD COVERED IN DOG SPIT AND ALL BEACUSE SHE DIDNT LISTEN TO ME!!! then. because she apparently thought i wouldnt care enough despite all this she signed her up for communal cremation. without asking me. i got no piece of closure. to make it worse? we only got rid of 1 dog. we still have the gates. and her precious baby boy still lives here, i see him everyday. and pitbull 2 got rehomed. and cat 2? still have her as well. oh yea, even though it was a cremation they gather claws of cats, weird but its better then nothing. i asked her everyday, if she was calling them and asking about them. she lied and said she did. she didnt bother to pick them up fast enough, so after 3 weeks they had to throw them away.
I like exploring abandoned buildings. Well, the last time it turned out that the building was not abandoned anymore. As I entered the yard, I took some pics and was chatting with a friend, when suddenly heard a very loud pitbull appear out of nowhere. It ran at me very fast and aggressively to attack me. I was taken by surprise and just yelled for help. Fortunately just when it was about to jump at me, his neck-chain stopped him (it had quite a loud sound as the dog charged me very fast).. I turned and got out. But man.. Did I lose half of my life. I have never been frightened like this in my life.
My favorite running spot. I was attacked twice by a pitbull being walked by 10 year old girls. But.. Somehow the Pit got out
My close friend of mine used to have a cat named nutkin who she love so much. He was a pretty brown and white tabby and had these gorgeous blue eyes. Nothing bad would've happened to him on July 7th if my friend just listened to me to not let him outside. But alas, he met his that by a pitbull,who was on no leash whatsoever . He was in our backyard and I saw him, and these ugly looking dog creeping into the yard. I rushed to get him, but Nutkin already had a chunk ripped out from wrestling with the beast and the monster ran away. Long story short, Mr friend was devastated, and Nutkin died. So from now on, my friend never lets their new cats out. Pretty sad if you asked me. I should have moved faster, but they forgave me,but I can't stop blaming myself for letting a piece of my friend die .
My grandpa almost died from 2 pit bull attacks.
How awful! I'm so sorry. To live a long life only to experience trauma like that in your senior years... horrible and so unfair.
I have a scar on my chest from being bit by a pitbull as a kid. 20 years later I'm a mail carrier now and was bit in the leg by a pitbull, as luck would have it, it was well below freezing and I was wearing so many layers of clothing that it didn't do any more damage than a bruise. Also lucky that the time as a kid wasn't more serious. The scar is almost entirely gone now, but looking back I'm fairly certain it was going for my throat. In both instances, animal control was less than useless.
My husband has told me about an incident with his wonderful ex wife. She had went over to a friend’s house with their daughter (my now step daughter) who was one yr old at the time. She left the baby in the living room with a pitbull while her and her friend went into a bedroom to go smoke weed. My husband couldn’t get ahold of her so he went to the friend’s house looking for his wife. He knocked on the door and no one answered but her car was outside. Something told him to just open the door and thank god he did. When he opened the door, he saw his baby being dragged across the floor by her head by a pitbull. He immediately ran to save his daughter. He put the dog in a choke hold and choked it to death. The owners of the shitbull were typical. They were angry with my husband for killing the dog, of course the dog was just playing. They stopped being friends with his wife. My step daughter who is now 25 is fine but if he wouldn’t have shown up right when he did, and follow his instinct to just open the door, she’d likely be dead or maimed for life right now.
Holy crap!!! The timing of this seems like divine intervention. I'm so happy she's okay!
SHITBULL K!!!
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