Guns & Dogs & Humans

From Hot Air:

Listen to this advertisement and you’ll reasonably assume that what’s for sale is something forlorn, lonely, cute and cuddly … a stray puppy, perhaps.

“They’ve been mistreated and misunderstood for generations,” the ad begins. “Abusive owners have done severe damage and given these beautiful creatures a bad reputation.”

That’s how it’s supposed to sound. The owner of PRK Arms in Fresno, Calif., brainstormed this brilliant way to sell guns — and, so far, it’s worked.

[snip]

“You can make a difference by giving a gun a loving home,” the ad says. “These guns want nothing more than to adore and protect you. So, please, have a heart. … PRK Arms has the kinds of guns that need a loving home more than anything else — like AK-47s, Glocks and the biggest selection of AR-15s in Fresno.” [my emphasis]

Video here.

From The Complete Dog Book: The History and Standard Breeds Admitted to AKC Registration, and the Training, Feeding, Care and Handling of Pure Bred Dogs; Copyright 1961 by the American Kennel Club:

Staffordshire Terrier

In mentioning the gameness of the Staffordshire, it is not the intention to tag him as a fighting machine, or to praise this characteristic. These points are discussed because they are necessary in giving the correct origin and history of the breed. The good qualities of the dogs are many, and it would be difficult for anyone to overstress them. ... As to character, they exceed being dead game; nevertheless they should not be held in ill repute merely because man has been taking advantage of this rare courage to use them in the pit as gambling tools. These dogs are docile, and with a little training are even tractable around other dogs. They are intelligent, excellent guardians, and they protect their masters' property with an air of authority that counts; they easily discriminate between strangers who mean well and those who do not. (p. 234) [my emphasis]

An obedient young pit bull

Daughter C got Rocky when he was five or six months old. He was healthy and hadn't been abused. But he had been tied to a tree-- all day every day. There were many problems with that living arrangement, not the least of which was Rocky's vulnerability to humans with bad intentions. Just last year three pit bulls were seized and a man was arrested on felony dog fighting charges in the town where Rocky was tied to a tree.

A docile young pit bull

To paraphrase: You can make a difference by giving a gun dog a loving home. These guns dogs want nothing more than to adore and protect you. So, please, have a heart.  

Bronwen Dickey has a nice article in the latest issue of Garden and Gun about pit bulls.

~~

Some stats on pit bull fighting in Mississippi below the fold. 

According to Pet-Abuse* dot com, there have been 24 cases-- not incidents, cases-- of pit bull fighting in the past 11 years in Mississippi. The worst of these in terms of number of dogs seized happened in Monroe County in 2005.  Thirty-three dogs were seized. 

I let this post sit on my computer almost all day thinking that I'd be able to think of something insightful to say about the sub-human individuals who would take a critter like Rocky and turn him into a "fighting machine." And then I realized I do not want any insights.

*I can't vouch for this source, but the site is very searchable.