December 14, 2013

Dear Sir,

I read the letter to the editor by Fae Sapsford, about how lovely pit bulls are.

Well, here is the other side of the coin. I lived with a ‘Red Zone’ pit bull (before they were banned). Yes, dogs CAN be born that way. They can be born mentally ill. He was well trained and can be very loving one moment and the next will attack his own owners, he also killed every creature in sight! He was an uncontrollable deadly weapon.

This pit bull puppy (Hershey) was put to sleep, because:

1. It was illegally bred, so it was not gotten from a responsible reputable breeder.

Yes all puppies look cute and innocent, it doesn’t mean they grow up to be that way. With all the in-breeding of Pit Bulls in Bermuda, the new owner didn’t know what kind of dog they were going to get. Would they have been able to handle a problem dog? Dog training does not help, behavioral issues. A ‘Red Zone’ dog can be fully trained in doing repetitive commands, but when they (turn) they hear nothing and only see the object they are after.

2. Just how responsible were the new owners?

When obviously they didn’t have experience with owning a dog. By their own admission, didn’t even know dogs needed to have a license. So was this dog also not going to get flea treatment, heart-guard treatment, his annual shots, due to ignorance?

Bermuda needs to step up and punish the Breeders. They are creating the ‘pit bull’ problem. Most pit bulls want to please their owners.

Instead of banning breeds, why don’t we investigate the breeders of the now banned breeds. If the breeders are reputable and the new owners experienced and responsible, then they should be allowed to own these dogs. These owner should also be visited to prove there isn’t any issues with their dog.

Red Zone

Pembroke