Whitney Pier Pit Bull "Eats" Corgi Mix

So after the uplifing post about the Michael Vick dogs I have to make a post about the news story of the pit bull down in Cape Breton who attacked and killed the neighbourhood dog who was tied.

I of course wrote a letter to the Editor at the Chronicle Herald, because that is what I always do. The topic of pit bulls always brings out the best in people.

The article at the Chronicle Herald website is allowing comments to be left there - and some of the comments are absolutely fantastic - I especially loved this one -

traispealot wrote:
It’s perhaps to time to consider banning all dogs except for working dogs. For a society extremely anxious about disease, injury and risk to health, it makes absolutely no sense to keep dogs as pets. Dogs that live with us lick themselves and trod in their own dirt and how sanitary is that when our health care system is falling apart? When you throw in that people in many parts of the world are struggling to feed themselves, how can we justify keeping as pets animals that are better fed than they are? Better, would it not be, to make the disadvantaged of the world a priority rather than surround ourselves with animals us that put our lives us at risk.

What a maroon! I loved it. How CAN we justify keeping as pets animals that are better fed than starving people in foreign countries? I think what I'M going to do is - I'm going to go over to Africa and adopt 2 or 3 starving adult men and bring them home with me - and THEY can be my companion animals. Then I can really do something. Maybe that will make Traispealot happy. I'm sure they'll love the Orijen grain free kibble and raw recreational bones I feed the dogs.

I'll post the letter I wrote first, and then the article that was in the paper.

The Pit Bull Dog who got loose in Whitney Pier Cape Breton and killed the corgi mix that was chained outside was indeed a tragedy for all involved - and for all dog owners who are responsible dog owners and love their chosen breed of dog that they've brought inside their home - and some of those dogs are pit bull type dogs, rottweillers, and other targetted breeds. On the news it said that the owners of the corgi mix were starting a petition to ban certain breeds from the subsidized housing development that they - the pit bull owner, and their own family - were living in. I'd like to propose another option. I'd like to propose that instead of banning certain breeds of dog - they instead ban the chaining out and abandoning to their back yards any breed of dogs. The news mentioned the corgi mix was chained in the back yard - did anyone see the chain he was tethered with? And I'd imagine the pit bull was chained too and that's how he got loose and was allowed to roam freely. If either of those dogs had been full members of their human's family - this tragedy would not have occurred. Supervision is always the key - and chained dogs are not supervised. Ban the chains - NOT the dogs.

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Man stabs pit bull after his dog attacked

By LAURA FRASER Cape Breton Bureau
Wed. Jul 9 - 7:21 PM

SYDNEY — The owner of a corgi-mixed terrier stabbed a pit bull Monday night after it got loose and attacked his dog while it was tied up.

Neither animal survived.

The pit bull likely snapped the neck of the smaller dog, said Ken Manning, a special constable with the Cape Breton SPCA. The pit bull was given to SPCA officials, who had it euthanized late Monday.

Police were called to Caroll Crescent in Whitney Pier after the attack and the pit bull also came after one of the cops, Mr. Manning said. The dog was finally subdued when a police officer zapped it with a stun gun.

The owners could not say how the pit bull got out and told officials that they had never before had any problems with it.

Mr. Manning is still investigating exactly what happened and said it’s too early to know whether charges would be laid. The owner of the smaller dog will not be charged, he said, although his grandchildren beat the pit bull with sticks and the man stabbed the dog with a knife.

"People have a right to (use) whatever force necessary to stop an attack, whether it’s a stick, a shovel, a knife, or it can even be a bullet," Mr. Manning said.

Pit bulls have gotten a bad reputation after several highly publicized attacks but Mr. Manning said the breed is not necessarily to blame.

"The pit bulls and the Rotties do a lot of damage when they attack, depending on the circumstances, but there’s not any breed that’s any more vicious than another," he said. "It’s all in the upbringing (and) sometimes dogs get cranky — just like humans."