Posted On: August 1, 2006, 9:24 am CDT

Posted By: john more

Several reasons. But first I'd like to explain that we have 33 breeds specifically bred for dog fighting. Some like the Tosa Inu defeat pit bulls 90% of the time in Japan where dog fighting is legal. We also have a breed called the pressa canario, AKA "the pit bull on steroids". My point is pit bulls are NOT in a unique catergory to themselves and the truth is their small size makes them one of the "lesser" fighting breeds.

The reasons we see them specifically used in the U.S. is simple. Dog fighting is all about illegal gambling. That means it's not done to "create fighting dogs", it's done to make money. Of all the breeds that can whoop a pit bull, most cost hundreds a month to care for while pit bulls are an extremely hardy and healthy breed that are much easier to obtain and cost half the price to feed.

Most of the other breeds are rare in this country, meaning instead of finding one in the paper for 50 bucks or from a H.S. it's going to caost you about $8,000 for one to be shipped in if you can talk someone in Japan into mailing one(they HATE American dog fighting). This price will go down though in years to come.

Another big factor is dog fighting here has very strict rules on weight(to the ounce, remember, it's all about gambling). That means in professional American dog fighting you CAN'T fight a larger breed against a pit bull. This in itself is why the tradition is hard to break.

Lastly, I want to point out that breeding for dog fighting is no worse than breeding for hunting, chasing, guarding, killing or, for any other form of aggression. Pit bulls are not freaks of nature and the level of aggression found in them is on the same level of ALL forms of canine aggression. They still have to be trained and conditioned to actually fight, they aren't born fighters. The fact that most are discarded should highlight this. Most do NOT live up to expectations spread by myths.

These are normal dogs my friend and unless we attack the source of our problem, these thugs will just switch breeds. Banning breeds does nothing to prevent irresponsible ownership...Will our thugs just have a change of heart? With this logic we will be banning breeds for a long time. And considering over 100 breeds are bred for aggression, our problem will never be solved so long as the issue is "banning breeds" and not preventing irresponsible ownership.