[AngelinaLip]

(The below opinion is based solely on the actual television programs and not on any additional information (laws, etc. of a community, etc.) surrounding the programs.)

Yesterday, we were watching television, and we saw Dogs 101 as well as Cops. Let's start with Dogs 101...

Dogs 101: It's an "okay" program. It at least tells pros and cons of the breeds they introduce. Albeit, the pros and cons aren't complete, but it gives prospective owners a snapshot of the breed. On the episode we saw, they were introducing people to Rottweilers. It seemed okay until they got to this part...

"Care must be taken when owning a Rottweiler, and training must start from day one. A Rottweiler is second in fatalities from dog bites. [insert random info here about Rotties] Pit Bulls are number one in fatalities from dog bites."

"A Rottweiler has a powerful jaw: more powerful than Pit Bulls and German Shepherds."

The first statement would have been perfectly okay without them putting in the extra dig about Pit Bulls. The show was about Rottweilers. From what I recollect, I can't remember any other comparisons made from one dog breed to another in Dogs 101. The second statement...I thought there was a study performed by a Veterinarian from UGA showing that a dog bite PSI among Rotties, Shepherds, and Pit Bulls were the same? This study was also created to disprove the "locking jaws" statements.


Now onto "Cops." Ah, "Cops." Such interesting events on that show. Personally, I love 1990s "Cops:" mullets, tie dye and all!

This episode took place in Washington state. The officers arrive on the scene with two Pit Bulls running around a neighborhood, owned by a neighbor. Now, this neighborhood was just a simple subdivision in suburbia. The officers didn't give the camera man or viewers at home any background into it like, "this is a dangerous part of town." It looked like the Cleavers lived there.

This guy is outside saying, "yeah we were trapped in our homes because these dogs were running around. My wife grabbed our baby and ran, screaming, into the house." They show two Pitties (one an intact male) running from the police. The police, on the other hand, went something like this:

1. Police officer speaking in a calm voice to the two terrified dogs, making kissing noises, saying, "c'mon, buddy. Here, pal."

2. Police officer with pistol drawn, crouched down, jogging behind the dogs.

3. Police officer with an M4, drawn, sighting in on the Pit Bulls as they ran among a couple of yards, jogging after them.

4. Animal control guy.....standing by his truck.

These are not subjective point of views on my part. All of this can be seen in the episode. Officer #1 and #2 end up being able to chase the two dogs back into their own yard which was privacy fenced all the way around. However, there was one broken panel they got through, and that's how they escaped.

What made these dogs receive the label of "dangerous dogs?" The dogs slipped through the fence, and they went after a cat that was in the road. A "neighborhood cat" as one of the neighbors said. The dogs, in turn...doing what dogs do, had the cat in their mouth (one of the dogs.) Originally the AC officer told the witness, "well we don't know that the dogs killed the cat, right?" The witness says, "no - we didn't see them kill the cat. We just saw a cat in one of their mouths."

The owner shows up at her house, and Police Officer #1 tells her that her dogs got loose from the yard through a broken panel, and they killed a neighborhood cat. He tells her the dogs will be brought in, just as that town's procedure, and she would have to pay fines to get them back.

As this is going on, the AC Officer has a loose temporary leash (slip leash) around the dogs' necks and is saying, "c'mon, buddy, let's get you in there." The Pit Bull is wagging his tail as the officer puts him in the truck followed up by Pit Bull #2.

They end the episode with, "Both dogs will be euthanized. The owner decided with all that happened and the neighborhood that it's in the dogs best interest to be euthanized. So that's what we will do."

Dogs...euthanized? Over killing a cat? The dogs had no bite history. The dogs didn't go after any of the humans. A neighbor saw one of the dogs with a dead cat in its mouth. I should mention...neither dogs had any blood on them whatsoever either. "It's in the dogs' best interest?" Ask the dogs about that one.

[Michael-jeckson2]

I watched "Dogs 101" about Chihuahua's they had to put a ding for "pit bulls" on there to:
"Because of their size, extra attention must be paid when you take your dog outside, you don't want a pit bull come and snatch it thinking it is a fluffy toy."
Ignorance is bliss.

[wmtravelservice]

nor has Dogs 101 ever made a episode of APBT to educate people. But if they every do im afraid they wont even get the facts right on how an apbt really should be.

[iodillalm]

This is why I don't have tv.
Ugh.
The dogs probably were better off... without an irrresponsible owner who obviously didn't care about them. If he had, he would have apologized to the owners of the cat and neighbors. Paid the roaming dog ticket, and built a better fence. But noooo. It was just easier to put the dogs down.
And I bet it isn't too long till he gets more dogs.

[Thomas12400]

aww and i generally like watching that show :/

[AngelinaLip]

This is why I don't have tv.
Ugh.
The dogs probably were better off... without an irrresponsible owner who obviously didn't care about them. If he had, he would have apologized to the owners of the cat and neighbors. Paid the roaming dog ticket, and built a better fence. But noooo. It was just easier to put the dogs down.
And I bet it isn't too long till he gets more dogs.

In defense of the males here....the Pit Bull owner was a "she." It was sad to see little tail-wagging Pit Bulls loaded up into the AC van.

[noingenah]

I watched "Dogs 101" about Chihuahua's they had to put a ding for "pit bulls" on there to:
"Because of their size, extra attention must be paid when you take your dog outside, you don't want a pit bull come and snatch it thinking it is a fluffy toy."
Ignorance is bliss.

I saw this episode too. the weird thing is the guy who said it owns a pit bull.

[Pdarassenko]

That Dogs 101 thing confuses me. I always thought they were kind of pro-PB ever since I watched an episode where they had a little blurb about how great APBTs are with kids. They said that while the breed has a bad reputation, they are actually excellent family dogs and very tolerant of small children. Go figure...

The Cops thing is really sad. You would think that the AC would have just put them up for adoption since the dogs were friendly and didn't have any bite history or anything. I don't really know the rules of that kind of thing.

[iodillalm]

i don't get that. i see so many dogs who get adopted and the rescue or shelter folks just make sure they get adopted to people with proper fencing, chains, kennel etc. and tell them "keep it away from other animals!" and honestly, it's not that difficult.
heck, i have 5 DA and AA (prey) dogs- three of them can't be with each other unsupervised either... and it's just really not that difficult to keep them properly contained... a good fence, a good chain, some concrete and stone under the fence- that's all that's really needed (and a topped kennel with a chain for the nutty houdini APBT)

[AngelinaLip]

The fence from which the dogs "escaped" was a tall privacy fence. There just happened to be a break in one panel of the fence where they escaped. To me....euthanizing two dogs that may/may not have killed a cat (since there was no blood on either dog, and the witnesses only said the one dog had a dead cat in its mouth) is ridiculous.

My fiancé said, "I bet they told the owner....'well, you can pay this much $$$$ in fines, or you can sign your dogs over to us to be euthanized.'"

[themsrsdude]

This is why there are roaming fees, to encourage people to be more careful with their animals...

the euthanize option should not even be available there.

[Michael-jeckson2]

This is why there are roaming fees, to encourage people to be more careful with their animals...

the euthanize option should not even be available there.

Some people see it as an easiest way out - put the dog down and the problem disappears, poof. But we know it too well it is not a part of the solution.

[gusunsuth]

Wow.

To a dog, a dead cat is like finding gold.

Another reason why people should keep their freaking cats inside. You don't want your cat to be killed by a car, dog, raccoon etc? Don't let it out.

I've had to go over this with my neighbor SO many times. She lets her cats outside. They get into my yard. My dogs chase them out, just like they do with all the stupid squirrels my neighbor feeds. I used to get notes from her about how I should fix her fence for her (she's on disability, because she's morbidly obese, don't get me started on that. Our neighbors bend over backwards for her.) so her cats can't get in my yard. First I explained that, my dogs were raised with cats. Yes, she has every right to worry about them. But if she's that worried, don't let them outside. I'm not fixing your effing fence. It was also impossible for her to get that, if a cat is trapped in your yard and wants to escape, it will.

Now she gets angry notes from me because her cats climb on top of my garage, then perch on my power lines. They obviously have a death wish (the cats are around 12 years old) dangling 15 feet above a St Bernard, an APBT and a Rottweiler.

I hope my dogs eat one of those bastards.

[YTmWSOA5]

exactly...
why are there SO many stray cats and SO many of the owners of those cats that would go NUTS over someone running over their cat with the car or an owners dog killing a cat?

around here allmost EVERYONE lets their cats roam...
it's actually quite rare to see owners contain there cats in the house.
my family doesn't, I most certainly will.
we had 2 of our most beautiful kitty's stolen along with a whole bunch of other *strangely enough* very pretty cats at the same time, with a year in between them.
both neutered males that were NOT fond of other people and that I never saw leaving the street.
that is just one reason why I would keep my kitty's inside.

I would be mad if one of my current cats was ran over or killed by a dog, but I wouldn't be mad at the person/dog that killed my cat, but I would be SO mad at my family for not listening to me and letting those damn cats out.

[AngelinaLip]

There's nothing I can't stand more...than to go outside on a nice Spring day to read a book or just hang out on my patio....and be driven back inside by the awful stench of cat urine baking on my patio, my house, my planters, etc.

We have so many cats (OWNED by people) that wander around our neighborhood that it's not even funny. It's like playing Frogger on my drive home from work. I stop for no less than 3 cats darting across the street from one house to the next. At least I stop.