The document discusses the history and origins of pit bull terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers. It notes that these dogs were originally bred in England and brought to the United States in the late 1800s. The document outlines some of the historical uses of these dogs, such as bear-baiting and bull-baiting. It also discusses modern sporting activities some pit bulls participate in, such as weight pulling and dock jumping. The document discusses debates around breed-specific legislation and opinions on pit bulls.

1. Are they dogs or killing machines?
Please save all comments or questions for
after my speech.

2.  The exact origin of the breed is unknown, but it
is believed breeding began sometime in Britain
in the 1700’s.
 What we can determine is that there are three
main breeds from which the terriers originate.

3.  The American pit bull terrier is interbreeding
between terriers and bulldogs to make a dog
that combined the gameness of the terrier, with
the strength and athleticism of a bulldog.
 This breed of dogs were initially bred in
England, Ireland, and Scotland, and arrived in
the United States from their immigrants.

5.  These dogs began to find their way into America
as early as 1870 where they became known as pit
dog, pit bull terrier, later American bull terrier, and
still later as Yankee terrier.
 In 1936, they were accepted by the AKC as
"Staffordshire terriers". The name of the breed was
revised effective January 1, 1972, to "American
Staffordshire terrier" since breeders in the United
States had developed a type which is heavier in
weight than the Staffordshire bull terrier of England
and the name was changed to distinguish them as
separate breeds.

9.  The Staffordshire bull terrier had its beginnings
in England many centuries ago when the
bulldog and Mastiff were used for sports.
 The Kennel Club did not recognize the breed
until 1935, a century after the sport of dog
fighting became illegal in Great Britain.
 The Staffordshire bull terrier was admitted to
registration in the AKC Stud Book effective
October 1, 1974, with regular show
classification in the Terrier Group at AKC shows
available on and after March 5, 1975.

11.  Pit bull fighting is a widely over done sport that
has been banned and frowned upon in many
states and territories.
 It is a nasty, cruel and terrible sport played by
many, resulting in server injure, death and poor
temperament towards humans.
 This is the main cause of the uncertainty of the
breed.

12.  Pit bull breeding is a widely abused right of a
dog owner.
 Many breeders do not care who buys the dog
and what their dog is used for, adding to the
fighting scene, and general misuse of the
breed.
 The reason this is, is because depending on
the bloodline of the dog, the price can range
from $50 upwards of $5,000.

15.  There are many sports they have and still
participate.
 Some older sports include bear baiting and
fighting (now out lawed)
 Some new sports include ……

16.  At an IWPA pull, each dog is harnessed and
hooked to a cart (or sled in the snow) upon which
increasing increments of weight are added. Each
dog has 60 seconds to pull the load 16 feet without
the handler touching the dog or crossing a line
which is in front of the dog. Dogs cannot be
"baited". The dog that pulls the most weight across
the line (in the fastest time in case of a tie) wins.
Dogs can earn three titles, the Working Dog (WD)
for pulling 12 times their body weight at four
different pulls. The Working Dog Excellent (WDX)
for pulling 18 times their body weight at four
different pulls, and the Working Dog Superior
(WDS) for pulling 23 times their body weight at
three different pulls. Dogs can also compete for
regional and national ranking.

18.  Dogs compete based on their shoulder height,
and most organizations offer three levels of
competition. Handlers direct their dogs to climb
over, weave around, jump over or climb
through obstacles on a course which is timed.
Dogs are off-lead and excited, and other dogs
are all around the ring, so you can see that
only well directed and trained dogs would be
feasible for this sport.

20.  In this sport, they follow the foot steps of the
target, in order to find where the target is hiding
or the direction they are traveling.

24.  The dogs generally work with hounds, which
trail the game, while the bulldogs close in and
grip the animal by the ears (most commonly).
 Boars are generally killed by the hunter
approaching, grabbing the boar by the hind
legs, throwing it and slitting its throat or
stabbing it behind the elbow. One can easily
see how very important it is that a dog be a
staunch, tough, reliable animal which will NOT
release its grip no matter how injured or hurt it
is. If the dog releases, the hunter faces serious
injury.

25.  The point is for one team of dogs to compete
against another team of dogs in a relay
contest. The dogs run down through a series of
jumps, come to the flyball box which the dog
must hit with its foot, the ball shoots out, the
dog catches it and races back to the handler.
This sport has been featured as half-time
entertainment at sporting events.

27.  There is a new sport in town. For dogs which
love the water, somebody has come up with a
contest to see whose dog can jump the furthest
off the dock and the highest off the dock. The
dogs love it.

30.  The Pit Bull was so popular in the early 1900's
they were our mascot not only in World War
One, but World War Two as well.
 They were featured on recruiting and
propaganda posters during this time period.
 Pete the Pup on the original Little Rascals was
a Pit Bull.

31.  Pit Bulls are great with kids, they were once
called the nanny’s dogs.
 Pit Bulls are not human aggressive!!!
 Pit Bulls score an 83.4% passing rate with the
American Temperament Test Society. That's
better than the popular Border Collie (a breed
who scores 79.6%).

32.  Pit Bulls are commonly used as therapy dogs.
Whether they are visiting a senior care facility or
helping someone recover from an emotional
accident, Pit Bulls are making a mark as
outstanding therapy dogs.
 Pit Bulls are used in Search and Rescue work.
One example of well known SAR Pit Bulls is Kris
Crawford and her dogs. Kris and her dogs have
helped save the lives of many people during their
efforts.
 Pit Bulls serve as narcotic and bomb sniffing dogs.
One Pit Bull, Popsicle (named that because he
was found in an old freezer) has the largest
recorded single drug find in Texas history.

33.  Sgt. Stubby. A Pit Bull war hero. Stubby was
wounded in action twice, he saved his entire
platoon by warning them of a poison gas attack
and he single handedly captured a German
spy.

34.  http://www.dog-obedience-training-
online.com/dog-bite-statistics-by-breed.html

36.  There is no evidence for the existence of a
physiological "locking mechanism" in the teeth or
jaw structure of normal pit bull-type dogs, although
a dog's jaws can be locked in a closed position by
surgically correctable jaw abnormalities.
 Despite the lack of a physiological "jaw locking"
mechanism, pit bull-type dogs often exhibit "bite,
hold, and shake" behavior and refuse to release
when biting,
 methods to force pit bull-type dogs to release their
grip include breaking an ammonia ampule and
holding it up to the dog's noseor using a "break
stick" to lever the dog's jaws open if it bites a
person or animal

37.  (CDC) published in 2000 a study on dog bite-related fatalities
(DBRF) that covered the years 1979–1998. The study found
reports of 238 people killed by dogs over the 24-year period, of
which "pit bull terrier" or mixes thereof were reportedly responsible
for killing 76, or about 32 percent, of the people killed by dogs in
the attacks identified in the study.
 The latest CDC "Dog Bite: Fact Sheet" includes a disclaimer
regarding this study, saying that
 "it does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or
kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related
to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs.
These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002
percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few
fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved
in dog bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the
number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no
measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.

38.  A large number of jurisdictions have enacted breed-
specific legislation (BSL) in response to a number of
well-publicized incidents involving pit bull-type dogs,
and some government organizations such as the
United States Army and Marine Corps have taken
administrative action as well. These actions range from
outright bans on the possession of pit bull-type dogs to
restrictions and conditions on pit bull ownership, and
often establish a legal presumption that a pit bull-type
dog is prima facie a legally "dangerous" or "vicious"
dog. In response, some state-level governments in the
United States have prohibited or restricted the ability of
municipal governments within those states to enact
breed-specific legislation, though these prohibitions on
breed-specific legislation do not affect military
installations located within these states.

39.  It is now generally settled in case law that jurisdictions
in the United States and Canada have the right to
enact breed-specific legislation; however, the
appropriateness and effectiveness of breed-specific
legislation in preventing dog bite fatalities is disputed.
One point of view is that pit bulls are a public safety
issue that merits actions such as banning ownership,
mandatory spay/neuter for all pit bulls, mandatory
microchip implants and liability insurance, or prohibiting
people convicted of a felony from owning pit bulls.
Another point of view is that comprehensive "dog bite"
legislation, coupled with better consumer education
and legally mandating responsible pet keeping
practices, is a better solution to the problem of
dangerous dogs than breed-specific legislation.[

40.  A third point of view is that breed-specific
legislation should not ban breeds entirely but
should strictly regulate the conditions under which
specific breeds could be owned, e.g., forbidding
certain classes of individuals from owning them,
specifying public areas from which they would be
prohibited, and establishing conditions, such as
requiring a dog to wear a muzzle, for taking dogs
from specific breeds into public places. Finally,
some governments, such as in Australia, have
forbidden the import of specific breeds and are
requiring the spay/neuter of all existing dogs of
these breeds in an attempt to slowly eliminate the
population through natural attrition.

41.  What's your opinion?
Now would be a good time for comments and
questions.
p.s. no applause necessary I know I am the shit!

42.  I do not claim ownership to any pictures
featured in this slide.
 Information and pictures acquired from google
pictures,
 Wikipedia,
 www.dog-obedience-training-online.com/
 http://www.pitbulllovers.com/pit-bulls-ten-
things-you-should-know.html
 http://www.workingpitbull.com/activities2ndpag
e.html