Trinidad Guardian, Headline: April 20, 2000

Vanishing breed
Rush to dump 'devil dogs'

VETERINARIANS were inundated with telephone calls yesterday from pit bull owners to have their pets put to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trinidad Express, Editorial: April 20, 2000
Pitbull ban welcome
WE are relieved by the Government's decision to treat the dangerous pitbull as severely as the threat posed by these ferocious animals.

People have been killed, others have been badly mauled. And yet in spite of this we seemed reluctant to rise to the challenge posed by this threat to society at large.

Fortunately the Government eventually bowed to widespread public sentiment with the passage of the Dangerous Drugs Bill in the Senate on Tuesday.

We have long urged this move and remain grateful to those senators who led the attack on the original legislation which sought to make it difficult for people to own pitbulls rather than the outright ban which has found favour in other countries and which, in fact, is the only real way to end public disquiet.

Now, however, with the passage of the new Dangerous Dogs Bill the government will not only ban the importation and breeding of pitbull terriers but will make it difficult for the existing pitbull owners to keep their dogs. There is also to be a ban on pitbulls for use as guard dogs by State or security forces and an imposition of heavy penalties on anyone who doesn't comply with the law.

We welcome the new Dangerous Drugs Bill in its entirety and we sincerely hope that with its passage, the threat to the society at large posed by the pitbull will soon be removed entirely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOTEP
The headline should be;

THOSE WHO FORGET THEIR PAST ARE
DOOMED TO REPEAT THEIR ERRORS
I spoke on numerous occasions on the radio about the problems people were having with the Pit bull dogs and their owners. The arguments have always been in favour of banning the breeding of the dogs and killing off what was already in the country.

I told them that I did not support their approach to dealing with what is a human problem.

These dogs did not suddenly get up one morning and decided to kill people. What we are dealing with are irresponsible people at all levels of society who were having problems treating with their own insecurities.

Some people were buying and training these dogs to be as vicious as possible, trying to boost their status amongst their peers. These dogs were akin to walking around with a loaded gun and these youths were no different to the people who felt powerful and courageous when they owned a gun.

Some other people, who felt threatened by the growing crime in the country, purchased these dogs for added security.

We are still dealing with the insecurities of people.

The dumb animals in Trinidad were bred and trained, (enslaved and abused), to deal with this human problem. Of course insecure people are also irresponsible people, and their careless actions normally creates more threats to their own security.

When the 'shit hits the fan' people normally blame the 'weaker' of the victims rather than admit their own shortcomings. In this case, the other victim is the dog. At one time, it was African people, the Jews, the gays, women, fat people, thin people and the list goes on. 'Pass the buck' rather than accept responsibility and improve their attitudes and conduct. Ten to twenty pit bulls attack some people and the solution is to get rid of them all. Call them the Devil dogs to ensure that they are stereotyped, annexed to peoples' greatest fears.

Were the dogs responsible for the type of training they got?

Are all pit bulls vicious animals waiting for some human to bite?

Does this not sound familiar?

The answers from the ignorant masses and the misleaders are to encourage another type of hatred. Make the dogs the enemy of mankind. Call them Devils. Heighten the paranoia, and then kill them all. Tell me; does this not sound very familiar?

Are they going to continue using these standards for people and other situations? Those standards are what have us in our present dilemmas. History has shown that they have been doing so for a long time.

Do I need to publish the history of slavery and 'religion' to explain how African people got derogatory labels? Peoples' 'religious' sentiments were also inflamed by annexing African people to the Devil. Do I need to remind people of the holocaust and the language used by Hitler? What about the ongoing problems of domestic violence brought on by the poor training of people? Again, they sought to legitimize their behaviors by using 'religion.' We all know the attitude of people towards snakes, and the role 'religion' plays in reinforcing the negative attitudes.

We have the US experience with the near extermination of wolves. This was another attempt by people to deal with their own insecurities without the use of history to best inform them.

Are we to label the dogs 'devils', and encourage hatred for an animal that is not responsible for its behavior?

Recently there were irresponsible taxi owners with music blasting from their cars. Their answer was to ban all cassette decks in taxis, not withstanding the fact that they do not have the resources to enforce the laws. They have succeeded in turning numerous other people, who were not the inconsiderate ones, into criminals. The inconsiderate ones are still blasting their music.

The real problem is the attitudes of people shaped by a history of abuse and disrespect. This lack of true self-esteem leaves them evaluating situations in terms of the master and slave relationship where the slave is the perpetual victim. They feel to be superior distances them from the sufferings they inflict on whatsoever they believe is lesser. They are the masters today and the dogs are their slaves. They can train, and then dispose of them as they wish.

They believe that their 'God' divinely ordained this behavior. Slavery lives on.

They are simply repeating the errors of the past only because the lessons from history are not informing them. They will not succeed in exterminating the dogs. The dogs, just like guns, will become a status symbol for the affluent and 'criminals'.

Until our schools and media pay heed to my request for proper programs that can inform people about their historical experiences, then those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat their errors.