It’s the breed. It’s the owner. It’s a problem.

Since the late 80s, people have been going back and forth about the pit bull dog breed. It’s a bad breed. It’s not a bad breed. Pits are evil. Pit’s aren’t evil – the owners are.

I never really thought much about it one way or the other. They’re beautiful dogs to look at and I’ve been around many that were just sweet as they could be – kept them even. I’ve also seen some that scared me to death. So when happening upon Facebook pages or posts about the breed and whatnot, I kinda judged on a case by case basis.

Then ‘Mickey the Killer Dog’ mauled the entire right side of a 4 year old’s face. I saw a few posts about it and refused to read them because I knew it would make me mad. I ignored blog posts, videos, stories, anything and everything having to do with the case because I knew the animal rights cuckoo birds were in full throttle.

I knew because I have been at the receiving end of their hatred. Hatred for anyone who chooses a person over an animal. For several weeks, I was harassed via FB, email and snail mail for posting a picture that some thought LOOKED like abuse. A small side note here… I have never posted anything that shows animal abuse – unless it was to show how wrong it is. No picture I have ever posted has animal abuse in it. For 2 years after the picture posted I was still harassed through the mail. So, I avoided the Mickey story completely.

Last Wednesday, while waiting in the doctor’s office, the “Mickey” story came on the TV in the waiting room. Of course I was just absolutely disheartened to hear about it all, but I flipped my lid when I heard not only that the dog had an attorney, but the attorney (who is the epitome of every lawyer joke in existence) referred to Mickey as a “poor, innocent dog.”

WHAT THE HECK?!

I don’t care what side of the fence you’re on when it comes to euthanizing or not euthanizing it, the dog’s not innocent.

“You don’t punish the victim, you don’t punish Kevin for taking the bone, and you don’t punish the animal that was minding its own business,” said Kimberly Rosenberg.

I *really* got drawn into the drama when I saw the love and outpouring for the dog was FAR more than the child. Support, love and a claim of ‘innocence’ for a dog that could do this to a kid – fault or no fault on the kid’s part. It disgusted me that ANYONE could defend a dog ripping off the entire right side of a child’s face, much less fight to get him freed.

Flabbergasted.
Astounded.
Disheartened.

It’s absolutely disgusting. But… I digress. (How much these ‘people’ disgust me has already been addressed. The comments on the story are astounding! Sorry, but the whole thing still discourages me that the human condition finds fault with a kid…)

So, because of all that – I started having people send me links and information and things about dog related deaths and breeds and so on. I was asked what I thought about pits, what I thought about BSL, and all sorts of things.

I have done a lot of reading, I have searched my feelings, I have thought about analogies I’ve used, how I’ve said for so long that it’s not the gun’s fault – it’s the person who hold the gun and tried to apply that same thought to these dogs. I’ve read statistics, I’ve seen what the experts say, etc.

I wanted to be fair. I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon and hate a breed. I don’t want to hate pit bulls because some have killed anymore than I want to hate a specific race or group of people because they’ve killed.

The problem I’m having reconciling is one small fact that is really kind of huge.

In the United States, there were 32 dog bite-related fatalities in 2013. Of those 32 deaths, 25(78%) were caused by pit bulls.

That’s pretty alarming, but I was still on the fence until I learned that pit bulls make up only 6% of the entire dog population.

 

Yet, people insistently, intently (and angrily), state it’s the owner – not the breed.

Okay, well then… there’s still a problem. A problem that’s being ignored. Why are so many pit bulls going to bad owners? Why do so many bad owners want and have pits?

“It’s the breed”/”Its’ the owner”

It doesn’t really matter. Either way, — it’s a problem.

Mia, who would have been 5 next week, was killed by the family dog.

On Wednesday, a 4 year old girl – Mia, was killed by the family pit bull. It belonged to her mother’s boyfriend, who lived with them.

Nancy Grace was a bit vocal about it and shared a link to her broadcast on her Facebook page. She upset a lot of people and they were quite vocal in saying so.

 

 

 

The following are comments from the post Nancy Grace shared

And then, if you quote facts and sources, you get:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ones on the Save Mickey page are even more disturbing…

Time to neuter, defang and rehabilitate those who support the dog mauling a child.

 

It gets even more twisted. These comments are in response to this cartoon (on left) that Arizona Republic printed.

 

The more and more I interact with and read the things animal cuckoo birds and pit owners say…  The more and more I agree with them.

It’s the owners. Not the breed. CLEARLY it’s the owners breeding hate.

***Side note: It is no secret that I have little respect or tolerance for grammar correctors. It is why I do not point out grammatical errors on the internet. However, it doesn’t mean I am not grammar conscious. I am. I can’t help but notice the horrid grammar and spelling that accompanies the hatred and it troubles me. Is the grammar bad because they’re so angry or is it something more? *shrug* Hmmmm…

And there are those that continually post pictures of their dogs with children with captions of how safe their dog is. And they’re absolutely correct. The pictures are perfect examples of how safe their child is around their dog(s) — Until they aren’t.

This is a picture of Mia with Niko. She is happy, perfectly safe and in good company with the dog. He was harmless and loving —Until Wednesday night when he turned and killed her.

And now, they’re both dead. Both paid for another person’s ignorance – with their lives.

 

Is it the breed? I don’t know.
Is it the owner? I don’t know.

What I do know is —there’s a problem.

These people that put the lives of animals before human life are disturbing. They’re sick. And they’re scary because they think this way. It’s …. Well, I don’t know —Perverse.

I’m spent, tired, and wrought with emotion thinking about them and their skewed beliefs. I just can’t do it anymore.

 

So, for now – and I hope ever, I am moving on. No, I’m moving away – and separating myself from this subject. The callousness of this breed, meaning the animal rights cuckoo birds breed, – is too much for me to comprehend. I have too much compassion for the lives of my fellow man and the innocence of children to tolerate them any longer. I just pray that they never have to choose between an animal and their child. Their animal and their child. Their animal and the child of a friend or loved one.

May God have mercy on us all.
Especially those who value animals over man.

Where is Michael Vick When You Need Him?

Unless you live in a very deep hole, you’ve no doubt seen or heard all the hullabaloo about the poor misunderstood dog, Mickey, and the mean nasty 4 year old, Kevin, who was mauled – nearly to death – by Mickey. At least that’s the way the animal rights cuckoo birds are telling it. Kevin shouldn’t have taken the dog’s bone and the babysitter should have been watching Kevin closer. Right?

Wrong.

Lets go back a bit and do a brief coverage of things based on official reports and not things found on Facebook. A lady, and the boy – Kevin – in her care, go to a neighbor’s house for a play date with other kids. The neighbor has a dog named Mickey, who is chained up 24/7 because six months or so ago it killed a puppy.

Kevin and the other kids were playing in the back yard, while being watched by the sitter and other adults that were there. Kevin unknowingly came within reach of the chain that Mickey was on. He had his back to the dog, and the dog, unprovoked, tackled and mauled Kevin.

Kevin did nothing more than get within the 12 foot radius of the dog. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kevin was rushed to the hospital where the nurses and doctors state he was so horribly disfigured they could barely stand to look. The whole right side of his face was hanging off and he’d lost so much blood he was in shock. He’s had several surgeries, a feeding tube and a breathing tube, and will have to have more surgeries for years to come.

Fast forward to now and you find that there is a campaign by animal rights activists to keep Mickey from being euthanized, a fund started in order to raise money for Mickey’s legal fees and Mickey has, somehow, hired a lawyer.

You’ll also find that there are double and triple the number of people who support the dog and its behavior, fighting to keep it from being euthanized, than there are who support the child and his family.

More money has been sent in the dog’s defense than to help Kevin’s mom, a single mother with no family, pay for the surgeries he’s had or the hundreds more he’ll need.

It’s rather disgusting really. Disgusting and sick.

I do not understand – and I will never understand – why anyone values an animal’s life over a human’s life. Many have said it’s not about valuing the dog’s life over Kevin’s, I disagree, but even if that were the case the dog’s life is, obviously, still valued more. Keeping the dog alive puts people at risk and wanting to keep him alive means you don’t mind that the hundreds or thousands of people he’ll come into contact with will be at risk.

Truthfully, the dog should have been euthanized after it killed a puppy, but it wasn’t. It was put on a chain – where it only made the dog more aggressive.

Some have said that they don’t value animal life more than human life, but value animal life more than I do. Color me confused on that one. I don’t value animal life, why? Because I think euthanizing a dog is a better alternative than forcing it to live life on a chain?

You may have heard of Tillikum, the killer whale that killed the Seaworld trainer in 2010. Many were dumbfounded and confused by this horrific accident at the proverbial hands of such a “gentle giant”. What people didn’t realize, because it was covered up, Tillikum had already killed twice before.

As a result of the last incident, Tillikum is now kept in isolation (most of the time) from other whales and isn’t allowed in the water when people are. He is tended and cared for from platforms and gates and the only physical contact he has is with the pressure washers the trainers use to pet and massage him. He is still used for breeding purposes – even though he, clearly, is aggressive – and has sired 21 offspring, 11 are still alive and all are in captivity.

No one wants to say it, but he is kept in isolation and denied any contact, rather than freed or euthanized, because his sperm is worth millions. He’s successfully sired more ‘cows’ than any other in captivity.

It makes no sense to me why people feel keeping an animal in (almost) complete isolation is a more desirable option than euthanization. I’m cruel and don’t love animals because I’d rather seen one dead than held in isolation? How is what they’re putting Tillikum through *not* cruel? How is it okay to keep him alive but deny him any sort of physical contact?

It’s the same with Mickey. What’s going to happen to him if he isn’t euthanized? Is he going to go back to a chain? Is he going to have to be kept in isolation away from other animals? Away from human contact?

Mickey’s attorney, John Schill, states that Mickey is the victim in all this – which is perverse and sick. He, and others, say Kevin provoked the dog. I guess that means he had it coming…? He wants the dog put into some rehabilitation program and then into a home that doesn’t have children.

That’s all well and good, but how successful has dog rehabilitation, with a dog this violent, been in the past? And putting him in a home without children doesn’t mean he won’t attack children in the area or even the adult whose care they are in. Dogs have turned on and killed their owners before. It’s nothing new.

One person, who later claimed they were joking said:

Joking, or otherwise, about euthanizing the babysitter is one thing. What confounds me about this comment is the fact that the blame is being displaced from the dog – because it was chained – to the babysitter.

Clearly, people who want to blame the sitter do not have children. You can’t possibly watch a child 24/7 and never take your eyes off of them. Which, is moot anyway when the report shows that she and other adults were watching him when it took place. A person is no match for a dog on the attack. A dog moves much faster.

No one places blame on the dog. I’m not sure I do either. I know I wouldn’t be very happy if I was forced to wear a collar and only given a 12 foot radius to move around every day. Keeping dogs chained make them more aggressive. Who can blame them? If blame is to be placed on a person, it should be placed on the owners of the dog for not eradicating him from the face of the earth after his first kill.

Six or seven months ago, when the dog killed a puppy, it should have been rewarded with a bullet in the head. Not punished to a life on a chain. The death of an animal isn’t cruel when human life is at stake or when the alternative is living life on a chain. Besides, dogs on chains have killed many times before.

The Humane Society website states that approximately 3-4 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year. Why is the whole world focused on this dog and saving it? Why are they so quick to send money to defend a dog that has a history of attack and killing when perfectly innocent dogs – that have harmed no one and just want to be loved – are killed daily?

What’s interesting is that in many cases it’s the same people who say the dog isn’t to blame that want to blame guns when a shooting takes place. An inanimate object is at fault when used for murder, but it’s the fault of the person watching the kid when a dog attacks?

That’s equivalent to blaming teachers for students getting shot. How does that make sense?

I was just reading an article about a man who shot his neighbor’s dog when it came onto his property. The comments on the article are filled with people outraged at the man’s behavior. Which I can understand. He could have handled the situation much better. I’m not saying I think he was right. However, the number of people who want to shoot him, is not only… stifling, it’s dumbfounding.

It’s dumbfounding because an idiot shoots a dog and everyone wants him to pay, but an idiot goes and shoots a group of innocent movie goers or children, everyone wants wants the gun to pay.

I can’t possibly imagine what would happen if a group of children were to kill a dog. I can guess though… The same people who say “Think about the poor innocent children” when talking about banning guns would be saying “Those sick and twisted children should pay for what they did!”

Those that defend the dog say that dogs are a product of their environment. I tend to agree, but when the pro-gunners make that same assertion for a kid that takes his mom’s guns and shoots up a school, they’re made to feel like heartless people who don’t care for the safety of children.

When did this world get so upside down? I mean, I know it’s been coming for awhile, but this is so far past upside down it’s almost right back up again.

There is something, clearly, mentally wrong and unstable about a people who are okay with the murder of innocent babies or simultaneously fight against the euthanization of vicious dogs and for the euthanization of elderly people or people with illnesses.

The dog has representation and several thousand dollars raised for its defense. The attorney should do the case pro bono and send the money to pay for the boys surgeries. If not, the family of the boy should sue the dog in civil court for duress and the cost of medical bills.

My thoughts, love and prayers are with Kevin and his mother.

In the meantime, maybe Michael Vick is interested in adopting a dog that’s in need of a home…