Читать книгу American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook - Joe Stahlkuppe - Страница 17

A number of breeds have been forced to wear the unjust mantle of “canine Frankenstein.” Great Danes, now one of the mildest of dogs, once wore it. Malamutes, German Shepherd Dogs, Dobermans, and Akitas have worn it. Wolf-dog hybrids, Rottweilers, and Chow Chows still sometimes wear it. But no breed of dog in history has ever been loaded down with as much terribly evil baggage as has the APBT.

Fans of the breed look back to the good old days when their dogs got positive, or at least neutral, grades in the minds of the general public. In the past two decades, the instant-information society caught up with and chronicled every dog bite and attack occurring anywhere in the civilized world. Tabloid journalists—and some writers and broadcasters who simply didn’t dig deep enough—got the most exposure possible out of these incidents. Some sensationalized their accounts simply by affixing the “pit bull” tag. Bogus dog bite victims have found that their pleas for sympathy and possible legal claims are greatly strengthened if the incident in question involved the “dreaded pit bull.”