Should Pit Bulls Be Banned in Eldersburg? Readers Respond

ELDERSBURG, MD–A recent attack by a pit bull of its owner in Anne Arundel County has again ignited a debate in Maryland about whether the breed is inherently dangerous.

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On April 4, a dog was euthanized by police after it attacked a Churchton woman and would not let go. The incident prompted comment from Tony Solesky, a Towson man whose son was mauled by a pit bull in 2007.

After Solesky’s child was attacked, a Maryland court ruled pit bulls are “inherently dangerous.” The ruling held dog owners and landlords liable for any attacks by pit bulls, prompting landlords statewide to ban the dogs from rental housing.

A 2014 Maryland law supported by the Humane Society overturned the breed-specific ruling, reports The Huffington Post.

We asked Patch Readers in Eldersburg if pit bulls deserved the title of “Most Dangerous Dog in America” and the ban that sometimes comes along with it. Here’s what they had to say:

• "There should be bans against stupid people who raise dangerous dogs. Yup, I'm a proud companion to the most lovable dog anyone could want to meet. He just happens to be a pit-mix."
• "The problem with this idea is how on earth would this be implementable, with so many abandoned pit bull and pit bull mixes who need homes? (Would you propose euthanization for these animals, then?) It's like trying to solve the problem by blaming the victim. If you tried to ban pit bull breeding, which might be another approach, this would likely go underground and continue to go on anyway."
• "No."

The ASPCA released a statement stating that they “oppose any state or local law to regulate or ban dogs based on breed.”

They explain that the data collection methods that go into forming dog bite statistics are often unreliable. Specifically, breed identification can be difficult, especially with mixed-breed dogs, which can lead to an inaccurate calculation of a breed’s bite rate. Further complicating things, "pit bull" is not an actual breed.

The National Canine Research Council says that responsible pet ownership is the key to aggression prevention, and that it’s the duty of the owner to not allow “a pet to become a threat or a nuisance.”

While the question of “bad breeds” is still up in the air, for every bad pit bull story, there’s a good one to match.

Do you have an opinion on pitties? Share it with us in the comments below or on our Eldersburg Patch Facebook page.

Make sure to check out our national Patch Pets Facebook page for the latest news from the animal kingdom.

>>Photo by Getty Images via Flickr