New call to ban pitbulls in SA

New call to ban pitbulls in SA

2010/08/31
Linda Sparg WEEKEND POST CORRESPONDENT

PITBULLS in South Africa should be phased out and eventually banned completely, says one of the country’s top animal behaviourists – but breeders are adamant such measures are too extreme.

John Faul, who trained at London’s Animal Care College and is a registered practising member of the Animal Consultants of South Africa, said pitbulls were “monsters” that could not be trained as pets, as they were hybridised to be aggressive, working dogs.

He suggested phasing the breed out through castration.

Weekend Post interviewed Faul in the wake of two pitbull incidents reported in the Eastern Cape this week. Uitenhage emerging farmer Siphiwo Dikana was mauled by a group of dogs, one of them a pitbull, last Thursday, and three of East London breeder Ronnie Courtney’s “highly dangerous” pitbulls bolted with fright, probably at the sound of a motorbike rally, and were found apparently beaten to death and floating in a dam on Tuesday.

The East Londoner had warned the public via the media not to approach the vicious dogs as they would attack.

Faul said pitbulls were extremely aggressive and nervous, and it was “just a matter of time” before they snapped.

They could attack at any time, for instance if they got a fright or felt threatened. He said when the dogs reached the age of seven to eight months, after thir puppy stage, their owners usually realised they were uncontrollable.

Faul said he loved dogs and had 35 years of both practical and theoretical experience with them, but keeping a pitbull offered “no quality of life for the dog – it’s a threat to the owner and a liability because of possible (attacks)”.

“An active defence reflex (ADR) dog, when pressurised, will react immediately with teeth and violence. The breeds most prone to do this are pitbulls, then boerbulls, English bull terriers and Rottweilers,” said Faul.

“These are the dogs with the most powerful ADR. If given the opportunity, they’re subjected to Pavlov’s freedom reflex. Often because they’re behind a gate for too long, they can’t access the things they most want, so they will immediately attack to release their freedom reflex.

“Pitbulls and boerbulls are bullies that wait for an opportunity to express dominance through their teeth.

“Boerbulls are more dangerous because they are larger and can actively provoke an incident.

“Most people buy these dogs thinking they’re going to protect them, but the first person in the line of fire is often the owner.”

Faul said pitbull crosses also posed a risk. “You’re going to end up in hospital if you have dogs like these. A lady called me about her boerbull cross pitbull. She simply tried to move him off the couch, but the dog sank its teeth into her.”

But some breeders say the problem is not with the dogs, but with their owners. National Dog Breeders’ Council of SA owner Andre Kruger says pitbulls were never bred to be human-aggressive.

“People train dogs to be human-aggressive. They don’t realise what they’re doing. They realise the dog is not vicious enough, so they cross-breed with a boerbull, Alsatian or Rottweiler – that’s where the viciousness gets in.

“Cross-bred dogs are more aggressive than pure-bred ones. I’ve got nine pitbulls and not one is human aggressive.”

Tokkie Ysel, of Bundu Valley Boerbulls, which breed boerbulls, said: “Dogs aren’t naturally aggressive – you’ll never get an aggressive puppy, but dog owners intentionally raise them that way and encourage them to attack people walking past their homes, for example, and then reward them when they are aggressive.”


The Herald Online


PITBULLS in South Africa should be phased out and eventually banned completely, says one of the country’s top animal behaviourists – but breeders are adamant such measures are too extreme.

 

Faul is an expert huh? with 35 years of experience? 35 years of experience at what, being an idiot and a fearmonger? :confused:

 

they make pets out of wild animals yet think the pit bulls are dangerous? LOL

 

The key words are "group" and "one" here. Out of a group of dogs "one" was a Pitbull. What about the other dogs? Why not bring up their breed? The media's the media in every country. Use words to incite fear in people, and throw in the so-called "experts".

@ brindlexpitt The last I checked every animal's naturally wild (But also take into account artificial selection) so I don't get your point. People own birds that are "wild animals".

 

what a load of BS!!

 

We knew this day would come , time to fight:mad:

 

Shame a fancier somewhere in SA wasn't rich enough to take this expert (and newspaper) John Faul to court for libel.

 

The media, no matter where they are, always seem to find the most ignorant "experts" ........what kind of dogs has this guy been training for 35 years?:confused:

 

Why ban the breed (any breed) when clearly there are breeders / owners like this idot out there? ANY dogs, cat, bird etc can turn on its owner if it has not been raised the way it should? if this douchebags dogs are aggressive should we not be asking what did he do to them?

Faul is not expert if he is this narrow minded

 

How can anyone from south africa want to ban animals of any kind, i thought that part of the world was rich with animal life ????????

 

John Faul is a Dagga user and uses marajuana extensively.

 

Come on give me a break. A bunch of BS. Really?

 

Ok so all of you jumping to pitbulls defense are also experts with the same credentials as Mr. Faul? Or even the British government and multiple states in the USA for that fact? I can go into my personal experiences with this breed but I won´t . The facts are clear and straight forward.

 

I'm willing to bet Mr. Faul never seen an APBT let alone have experience with one. People here are in defense of the APBT that is classified as a "pitbull" which now includes anything and everything (mix breeds included) that somewhat resembles the features and characteristics. Hell, it could have been a lab/boxes mix but because it bit someone it must be a pitbull right? We should be promoting responsible ownership and discipline individuals on a case by case basis. I've seen collies human aggressive as any dog but we don't care about those right?