Читать книгу American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook - Joe Stahlkuppe - Страница 21

This hysteria strangely had an added bonus for the people who so greatly caused it—drug dealers, gang members, and other street criminals. They gained immeasurably in terms of added reputation and intimidation potential when their pit-type dogs instilled fear in the general communities. These thugs often created situations in which the savagery of their dogs could be prominently displayed.

Owning the most feared dog on the block became a goal. These street punks-turned-dogfighters were far removed from the pit dogfighters of the earlier part of this century. This new dog-fighting element quickly outraged the American people in a way the traditional fighters never had. Accounts of renewed fights and actual crimes using “pit bulls” as weapons were duly reported, and the dog breed with the wrong name at the wrong time—the APBT—gained a completely undeserved reputation as a canine monster. This myth grew and grew.

Some communities have piously tried to sweep their streets of the effects of the drug dealers and criminals. In a time of enlightened civic responsibility, these cities banned the dogs they most closely identified with the punks and criminals. Since the leaders of some cities were content to remain in a state of ignorance in response to a public outcry, they banned all APBTs and certain judiciously selected other breeds.