Fact Check: Were Pit Bulls 2011

This is unwelcome reading to many Pitbull fans, and often totally at odds with the loveable, affectionate people pleasers that we have come to know and love in our own homes. Unfortunately, it is also historically accurate and can be fact checked. Many books on dogs from the 18th and 19th century describe the origins of the Pitbull. The New York Times still has on its site an archive piece from 1908, reacting to a controversy of the day (yes, controversy over Pitbulls is nothing new) by providing a history of what they call the “bull terrier” and describing “the greatest fighting machine, pound for pound, on four legs.”

It’s worth noting that the very victim of that attack is now one of the locals most outspoken in her defence of Pitbulls. There’s even a book about this whole nationwide struggle, Bronwen Dickey’s “Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon”.

Many counties and states in the USA have enacted breed-specific legislation. One of the most controversial of all was in Tijeras, New Mexico, where local legislators reacted to a terrible attack on a child by banning all Pitbulls and Pitbull cross breeds and enabling them to be killed on sight and without warning or compensation.

The first are the anti-Pitbull activists, the most extreme of whom will often distort facts in their bid to persuade the world that all Pitbulls are murderous and should be eliminated. The second are the pro-Pitbull enthusiasts, a minority of whom can also be selective with facts in their efforts to protect the good name of their beloved Pitbulls.

Increasingly, two polarized camps have battled in public and in every corner of the Internet over the reputation of the Pitbull.

After spending most of the twentieth century as America’s most beloved dog, considered staunch, loyal and loveable enough to feature in both military advertising and children’s comedies, their reputation began to decline in the sixties and reached a nadir in the 80s, particularly after a controversial 1987 case when a Pitbull guarding a ma*****na crop killed a two year old toddler.