Sometimes we really have no other choice but to hold on where we are and hope for the best.

As Paul Harvey says, "Now for the rest of the story."

More About Pit Bulls

If I ask, "What is your opinion about Pit Bulls?" How would you answer? I might have said, "They are vicious dogs and can’t be trusted."

Before I wrote about the Pit Bull Ordinance, I felt obligated to do some research first. What I discovered changed my thinking completely. Now I believe Pit Bulls are getting a bad rap.

Why have I changed my opinion? I’ll begin with a little history of the breed. Once upon a time in merry old England, there was bulldog . . .

The ancestors of modern Pit Bulls came from the bulldogs and terriers of England. At one time, every county in England had its own breed of terrier. Some of these still exist, while others have evolved into new breeds. Such is the case for the English White and the Black and Tan terriers, whose descendants include the bull-and-terriers, the Fox Terrier, and the Manchester Terrier. The development of sports such as rat or badger-baiting (fighting) added to the breeds’ importance, and value.

Mastiff type dogs have a long history in England. The Mastiff is a large, massive, symmetrical dog with a well-knit frame, a broad skull, and a head of generally square appearance. The impression is one of grandeur and dignity. They are thought to have been brought to England by the Celts. It is also known that the Normans introduced the Alaunt. These dogs were used in battle and for guarding, but they also served utilitarian purposes, such as farm work. These dogs accompanied farmers into the fields to assist with bringing bulls in for breeding, castration, or slaughter. Known generally as bulldogs, these dogs protected the farmer by subduing the bull if it attempted to gore him. A dog would do this by biting the bull on the nose and holding on until the bull submitted. They worked bulls, hence the name bulldog stuck. Bulldogs were bred to have powerful, muscular bodies and the resolve to hold onto a violently struggling bull despite injury. These traits permitted the development and rise of the bloody sports of bull-baiting and bear-baiting. In Elizabethan England, these spectacles were popular forms of entertainment. In 1835, however, bull-baiting and bear-baiting were abolished my Parliament as cruel, and the custom died out over the following years.

The sport of dog-fighting, which could be carried out under clandestine measures, soon blossomed. English Bulldogs proved to be too big and uninterested in dog fighting, so they were crossed with English White, Black and Tan Terriers. They were also bred to be intelligent and levelheaded during fights and remain non-aggressive toward their handlers. Part of the standard for organized dog-fighting required that the match referee who was unacquainted with the dog be able to enter the ring, pick up a dog while it was engaged in a fight, and get the respective owner to carry it out of the ring without being bitten. Dogs that bit the referee were culled.
As a result of the breeding, Victorian fighting dogs (Staffordshire Bull Terriers and English Bull Terriers) generally had stable temperaments and were commonly kept in the home by the gambling men who owned them.

During the mid-1800s, immigration to the United States from Ireland and England brought an influx of these dogs to our shores, mainly to Boston. In America they were bred to be larger and stockier, working as farm dogs in the West as much as fighting dogs in the cities. The resulting breed, also called the American Pit Bull Terrier, became known as an "all-American" dog. Pit bull-type dogs became popular as family pets for citizens who were not involved in dog-fighting or farming. In the early 1900s they began to appear in films. One of the better-known dogs was Pete the Pup from The Little Rascals.

During World War I the breed’s widespread popularity led to its being featured on pro-American propaganda posters. (See poster.)

The Pit Bull is the only dog to have ever appeared on the cover of Life Magazine three times.