My “esteemed critic” is at “it” again - splitting hairs. S/he
utters in Comments to my previous posting: “Blame
is an incorrect way to frame this issue. Dogs are not moral agents. Therefore,
they cannot be blamed. Their behavior can be influenced by breed genetics. It
is best to think in terms of cause and effect."
Cute. S/he uses the usual red herring - quibble about minutiae to distract from the message.
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| About the history of the breed |
Cesar Millan's is not a native English speaker. I am not
sure whether he said what it’s attributed to him, or whether he said it first,
or whether he said it at all, etc. OK, s/he doesn’t like “blame.” To appease our prevaricator, we can replace “blame”
with asperse, attack, bad-mouth, blot, blotch, calumniate, decry, defame,
defile, denigrate, dishonor, do a number on, give a black eye, knock, libel,
malign, rip up and down, rip, slander, slur, smudge, stain, sully, taint,
tarnish, traduce, vilify, or any other similarly-meaning word from a thesaurus.
The historical facts remain that at different times in the
history of this country people had the same visceral hatred for specific breeds
of dogs that Bully-haters demonstrate for Pit Bulls now.
The entire argument that Pit Bulls are dangerous because the
media reports fatal dog attacks is an egregious example of post-hoc ergo
propter hoc type argument. It’s a huge logical fallacy and my detractors know
this. But an agenda is an agenda and, quite obviously, selling your soul is
secondary to that.
To spare the readers of this blog a serious tension
headache, I will NOT engage in a nature vs. nurture argument here. I know for a
fact that I can modify the behavior of the dog to conform to the needs, rules,
and social requirements of the milieu in which it lives. A glancing shot at “nurture”
here: as everybody who cares to learn about Pit Bull terriers knows, the animals
that WE call Pit Bulls have been genetically selected AGAINST human-aggression.
Cause and effect? Really? Science deals with probabilities. The probability
that ANY of my Pit Bulls will bite anybody… ever… is ZERO.
I reiterate a statement that I, and all similar-minded
people, hold as truth: Only owners who take the responsibility of a Pit Bull
ownership SERIOUSLY should have Pit Bulls in their families. Is this not an
unequivocal and pretty clear statement?
In the hands of responsible owners, a Pit Bull of any sort
is not more likely to harm a person than any other breed of dog. IF, my Pit
Bull bites you, brother, you have the right to take me to court, sue the hell
out of me for medical bills, pain and suffering, and whatever else you and your
shyster desire. Plus, you also have the right to have criminal charges brought
against me.
What you DON’T have, Bully-hater, is the right to assume that
my dog will bite you because s/he happens to look like a dog you don’t like.
I will fight you and your pals with all the resources available
to me to prevent you from empowering police, dog catchers, sexual deviants, and
whoever you care to name to come barging into my house and kill my dogs because
they simply LOOK like a dog you don’t like.
