Mistruzzi
December 9th, 2004, 02:35 PM
---Transcipt below---
Are pit bulls born or bred to kill? We ask that question a lot in the
world of news. In Ontario, Canada, a total ban on the breed is now
under consideration. And here in the United States dozens of cities
and communities have already restricted certain breeds including pit
bulls. DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi joins us now with more on the
dogs and the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to the doggie. Yeah, what a good boy.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice over): It is kind of like taking
candy from a baby.
Petie, from our gang was a pit bull, so was Nipper the dog from "His
master's voice", for many though, the words pit bull evoke terror.
MICHAEL BRYANT, ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: We've seen enough evidence
to say that this dog seems to be a breed apart. And if it is a breed
apart, we have an obligation to do something about it.
VELSHI: Michael Bryant is behind legislation to ban pit bulls in
Canada's largest province. He's Ontario's attorney generally, not a
tyranny general.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we need to understand is that in any breed
there can be individual dogs that have a problem, that have issues.
And it is up to the owners to understand and take responsibility for
their pet, regardless of breed.
VELSHI: At a pro pit bull really in Toronto, a familiar refrain, pit
bulls aren't the problem. Irresponsible dog owners are. They say if
raised properly the dogs are harmless.
Bryant is unmoved.
BRYANT: For me it is not actually about the people who own the dogs.
It is about the dogs themselves. It is a classic nature versus nurture
debate.
VELSHI (on camera): Rocco is a two and a half year old dog, who would
be affected by the legislation. Now, Rocco's owner says this dog has
never hurt anyone and while she doesn't object to legislation that to
control dangerous dogs, what she does object to is breed specific
legislation.
(Voice over): She'd rather see laws that punish the deed, not the breed.
(on camera): There is something about this breed that makes them very
strong, they're jaws are big, they are strong dogs. So, for whatever
reason this dog decides to be aggressive, I might get more hurt than I
would with other dogs?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As opposed to a poodle? Or opposed to a Rottweiler?
VELSHI (voice over): Half the dogs waiting for adoption at the Toronto
Human Society are pit bulls. If the ban goes through, and that could
happen by spring 2005, they can't be adopted.
(on camera): Ten minutes ago this dog was acting like it was going to
bite somebody's head off. And now, she's acting like a family pet. But
the Toronto Human Society says dogs like Dusty have a bad reputation.
(voice over): The contradiction is hard to explain, though, to
11-year-old Lindsey Grandy, who was attacked by her next door neighbor
son's pit bull last summer.
LINDSEY GRANDY, ATTACKED BY PIT BULL: I think the whole pit bull breed
is a bad breed, because it is bred to fight.
VELSHI: Good dogs, or bad, for Lindsey's father the question is much simpler.
STEVE GRANDY, FATHER: Why have them? Why do we need to have dogs that
are bred to be vicious fighting animals in a populated area?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Well some developments this side of the border, too. This year
Colorado became the fourteenth state to outlaw the banning of specific
breeds by municipalities. Saying that breed specific legislation is
unfair. The city of Denver is challenging that legislation. And there
are so many cities in the United States, about 200 of them that have
laws to control this.
What a passionate story. I have to tell you, I spoke to people on both
sides of this. The people who love the dogs and say, it's not the
dogs, it's the owners. And people, like Lindsey and her father.
COSTELLO: You can say that, you know, I owned a beautiful golden
retriever who wouldn't attack anyone, but when I walk near a pit bull
or a Rottweiler, actually. I mean, they always wanted to attack my dog
or attack me. Not every time, but it went through your mind.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Because the dogs have that reputation. And you see news
stories all the time about these dogs going on the attack.
VELSHI: And a lot of the pit bull lovers, say -- they were saying, to
us, isn't you guys who always do that. You do that the stories on
that. I mean, we don't do a lot of stories of poodles that attack
people.
(CROSS TALK)
COSTELLO: Well, come on.
(CROSS TALK)
But golden retrievers, big dog, strong dog. They don't -- you don't
hear many stories of golden retrievers killing people.
VELSHI: But is it the dogs or is it the way they are trained? Or is it
the owners? I mean, this is the thing. It is a hard -- you saw those
dogs I was with. They looked like the friendliest things in the entire
world. Then you do see the reports and you hear people talk about it.
COSTELLO: I don't know. Years ago I did a story about a two- year-old
who killed by a pit bull and ever since that story.
VELSHI: Your impressions have been set.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I'm just a little...
VELSHI: That's a tough one. And it is a tough one if you are otherwise
a dog lover, because you kind of try and reconcile what is going on.
It is a remarkably impassioned discussion.
COSTELLO: It certainly is. Thank you, Ali.
Are pit bulls born or bred to kill? We ask that question a lot in the
world of news. In Ontario, Canada, a total ban on the breed is now
under consideration. And here in the United States dozens of cities
and communities have already restricted certain breeds including pit
bulls. DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi joins us now with more on the
dogs and the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to the doggie. Yeah, what a good boy.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice over): It is kind of like taking
candy from a baby.
Petie, from our gang was a pit bull, so was Nipper the dog from "His
master's voice", for many though, the words pit bull evoke terror.
MICHAEL BRYANT, ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: We've seen enough evidence
to say that this dog seems to be a breed apart. And if it is a breed
apart, we have an obligation to do something about it.
VELSHI: Michael Bryant is behind legislation to ban pit bulls in
Canada's largest province. He's Ontario's attorney generally, not a
tyranny general.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we need to understand is that in any breed
there can be individual dogs that have a problem, that have issues.
And it is up to the owners to understand and take responsibility for
their pet, regardless of breed.
VELSHI: At a pro pit bull really in Toronto, a familiar refrain, pit
bulls aren't the problem. Irresponsible dog owners are. They say if
raised properly the dogs are harmless.
Bryant is unmoved.
BRYANT: For me it is not actually about the people who own the dogs.
It is about the dogs themselves. It is a classic nature versus nurture
debate.
VELSHI (on camera): Rocco is a two and a half year old dog, who would
be affected by the legislation. Now, Rocco's owner says this dog has
never hurt anyone and while she doesn't object to legislation that to
control dangerous dogs, what she does object to is breed specific
legislation.
(Voice over): She'd rather see laws that punish the deed, not the breed.
(on camera): There is something about this breed that makes them very
strong, they're jaws are big, they are strong dogs. So, for whatever
reason this dog decides to be aggressive, I might get more hurt than I
would with other dogs?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As opposed to a poodle? Or opposed to a Rottweiler?
VELSHI (voice over): Half the dogs waiting for adoption at the Toronto
Human Society are pit bulls. If the ban goes through, and that could
happen by spring 2005, they can't be adopted.
(on camera): Ten minutes ago this dog was acting like it was going to
bite somebody's head off. And now, she's acting like a family pet. But
the Toronto Human Society says dogs like Dusty have a bad reputation.
(voice over): The contradiction is hard to explain, though, to
11-year-old Lindsey Grandy, who was attacked by her next door neighbor
son's pit bull last summer.
LINDSEY GRANDY, ATTACKED BY PIT BULL: I think the whole pit bull breed
is a bad breed, because it is bred to fight.
VELSHI: Good dogs, or bad, for Lindsey's father the question is much simpler.
STEVE GRANDY, FATHER: Why have them? Why do we need to have dogs that
are bred to be vicious fighting animals in a populated area?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Well some developments this side of the border, too. This year
Colorado became the fourteenth state to outlaw the banning of specific
breeds by municipalities. Saying that breed specific legislation is
unfair. The city of Denver is challenging that legislation. And there
are so many cities in the United States, about 200 of them that have
laws to control this.
What a passionate story. I have to tell you, I spoke to people on both
sides of this. The people who love the dogs and say, it's not the
dogs, it's the owners. And people, like Lindsey and her father.
COSTELLO: You can say that, you know, I owned a beautiful golden
retriever who wouldn't attack anyone, but when I walk near a pit bull
or a Rottweiler, actually. I mean, they always wanted to attack my dog
or attack me. Not every time, but it went through your mind.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Because the dogs have that reputation. And you see news
stories all the time about these dogs going on the attack.
VELSHI: And a lot of the pit bull lovers, say -- they were saying, to
us, isn't you guys who always do that. You do that the stories on
that. I mean, we don't do a lot of stories of poodles that attack
people.
(CROSS TALK)
COSTELLO: Well, come on.
(CROSS TALK)
But golden retrievers, big dog, strong dog. They don't -- you don't
hear many stories of golden retrievers killing people.
VELSHI: But is it the dogs or is it the way they are trained? Or is it
the owners? I mean, this is the thing. It is a hard -- you saw those
dogs I was with. They looked like the friendliest things in the entire
world. Then you do see the reports and you hear people talk about it.
COSTELLO: I don't know. Years ago I did a story about a two- year-old
who killed by a pit bull and ever since that story.
VELSHI: Your impressions have been set.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I'm just a little...
VELSHI: That's a tough one. And it is a tough one if you are otherwise
a dog lover, because you kind of try and reconcile what is going on.
It is a remarkably impassioned discussion.
COSTELLO: It certainly is. Thank you, Ali.