Dear Editor:
(In response to: ‘Council meeting draws ire of pet owners, neighbors,?? The Citizen, page 1, Aug. 15.)
Cute expression, that ‘punish the deed, not the breed.? I heard it in April after telling some friends about my first pit bull attack.
A cousin got very vocal when I mentioned it was a pit bull. ‘Remember, punish the deed, not the breed,? she said. At the time, I wondered if she had just thought up that little ditty, or if it was some sort of slogan used by the pit bull lobby. I guess we know the answer from the number of times it appeared in The Citizen last week. So, while I believe the village council has done the right thing by taking action against dangerous animals in general, I still find it troubling that a crowd of people can form in an instant in order to try and disprove what we all know – that specific breeds of dogs have general characteristics in common.
Like, labrador retrievers are good water dogs. Poodles are very intelligent. Border collies are good working dogs. Now along comes the American pit bull as the subject of discussion, and even though we all know they are used for dog fighting and though they are bred to be territorial and vicious, and even though we all know someone who has been attacked by one, nevertheless in this one case, we are not allowed to generalize and say that the breed is dangerous. Give me a break.
Yes, I believe any dog can be dangerous in theory. But why am I not afraid when I encounter a pomeranian, a dachshund or a brittany?
Is it irrational to not be afraid of these ‘killer? breeds mentioned by one of the letter writers? I think you know the answer to that question.
If you do not, and if you really think we cannot generalize by breed, then maybe you should race in the next Iditarod with a team of chihuahuas.
You’ll be famous – win or lose.
Kevin Travis, Ortonville