Stop it with the stereotypes

If you hate all pit bulls, I ask you to read through the pages of this blog.
You may find that you have to remind yourself I’m blogging about a dog who is 75 percent pit.
And for all those people who stereotype my dog’s breed and the type of people who own pits, I hope these pages also serve as reminder as to why stereotyping is ignorant.
I am sick and tired of hearing people say that all pit bulls are inherently blood thirsty killers and that the only people who own pit bulls are low life thugs.
I am a proud pit bull owner. I am a responsible young woman. I have a college degree. I have a full time job. I am married to a good man who also works a full time job. We are homeowners. We are taxpayers. We are good people and by God, we are pit bull owners too.
Reading some of the comments to stories on our Web site, like the some of ones on the dangerous dog ordinance being considered in Rochester Hills, just make me sick.
I am not ignorant and I will not defend the pit bulls nor the owners who allowed this atrocity in Rochester Hills to occur. Without a doubt, it’s owners like that who are responsible for the reputation the breed has.
I feel terribly for the owners of the little dog who was killed. I wish them not just healing, but justice. I hope that justice involves someone taking a serious look at whether the owners of the pit bulls are fit to own more dogs in the future.
If I ran the world, you’d have to have a lick of common sense to be an animal owner. Of course, I feel the most important lick of common sense to have is the one that tells you to keep your pets in your yard.
Unfortunately, I think the majority of dog owners out there don’t subscribe to that, so to those of you who like to let your dogs run loose, be grateful I don’t run the world.
There is nothing good that comes from letting your dog run. Nothing at all. Your not-dog-friendly neighbors get angry because little Fluffy poops in their yard, your dog risks its own life and limb each time it darts out into the road, your dog can also get into roadkill and other dead animals and I have known at least one dog who died after eating from a rotting deer carcass, and the worst of all is the risk that your dog could hurt or kill another person or pet.
Even if you think your dog is super friendly, that is only how you know your dog to behave when you are around. By itself, having to make decisions for itself and take leadership for itself, your dog could behave entirely differently. A little fear can turn into a lot of aggression very quickly.
And for the sake of good sense, if a fence doesn’t hold your powerful breed dog, modify. Find something that works.
Working on training too, and that goes for everyone and all the breeds out there.
But please, stop it with the stereotypes. Me and my dog deserve better.