My dog got attacked by a pit bull mix a couple of weeks ago.  We were hiking.  We were on the way up and the pit, which was on leash, was on the way down.  We gave each other a wide berth.  I thought everything was cool when I heard yelling.  The pit had wrestled out of its harness and charged us.  I only had time to kick it in the head as it went for my dog. I kicked it a couple of more times when I tripped.  I'm on my backside and kicking at the dogs head.  The owner got there pretty quickly and started kicking his dog.  The pit got my dog (a 20 lb terrier) on the shoulder pretty good. Luckily my dog is pretty scrappy and was able to tie the pit up long enough for the owner to get his dog under control.

My dog was limping a little so I didn't think much of it.  I was just glad he wasn't bleeding profusely.  So we left.  But then i saw a spot of blood.  It was much worse than I thought.  I took him to the vet and by the time we left the vet, my dog could barely move.  Luckily nothing was broken and after a few days of laying low, he was ok.

I now hike with a hiking stick.

If I owned a dog that had the potential to be aggressive, I would put a muzzle on him when out in public.   On my walking route I have to keep an eye out for a pit bull mix that wears a loose collar even though he is leashed.

I dive into driveways with my dog and have been known to turn around and reverse my direction when he makes a beeline toward my dog.

The owner just smiles and says  "He's very friendly."  as I struggle to turn around and get away.

I have told her my dog is not friendly, but I don't think she hears me!

DWL, what a scary, awful experience.  Glad your dog turned out to be ok, and you, too.

I have to side with the governor on this one. Too many sweet and non-aggressive pit bulls are languishing in shelters because these ordinances make people not want to adopt them.

The other problem is that, being a mixed breed, there are a lot of mixes and breeds that are often covered by the "pit bull" umbrella, and ordinances like boston's often rely upon an official's discretion as to whether or not a dog is a pit bull. This means a lot dogs get unfairly lumped in.

   I saw a Rottweiler lunge at a Border Collie that he was contained with in a small yard, bit him in the neck at a certain angle, the Border Collie was paralyzed and had to be put down.  So, I know what aggressive breeds are capable of,  a poodle couldn't have done this kind of damage. 

BTW the Rottweiler was a young adult rescue with no prior history of aggression and was returned to the shelter and probably re-homed. 

Anecdotal evidence is far from hard science. A former boyfriend of mine had a family greyhound that killed a chihuahua.

There is no evidence that breed-specific ordinances work. Chances are, the dogs and owners you have to worry about won't follow the laws anyways.

The best thing to do is make sure the consequences for dog attacks are firm and swift.

People have the right to own these dogs, but they should know what they are getting into and take precautions, and I don't see what the big deal is about putting a muzzle on them.

I sometimes use a muzzle on my non-aggressive breed dogs when we visit the vet.

PS: Retired racing greyhounds have a particularly keen prey drive as a result of intense training to compete in races, in addition to an instinctual desire to hunt. The damage they can inflict upon other dogs is often underestimated - and the injuries a greyhound can sustain because of thin hair and skin can be devastating, not to mention life-threatening.

it's a big deal because it's a deterrent to adoption, and many of these dogs need homes.

if people talked about the prey drive in greyhounds the way they talk about agression in pit bulls, and there were laws saying you had to pay more to license them and muzzle your greyhound because it might attack a cat or small dog, then people wouldn't want to adopt greyhounds, because all they would see is a problem animal that requires more work than any of the other dogs at a shelter.

If we're going to require muzzles, why not require muzzles on ALL dogs, that way no one can ever get attacked?

It makes more sense to make the penalties for attackes firm and swift, because that is going to be a better deterrent than a breed-specific fine. All dogs owners should feel compelled to take the necessary precautions to keep their dogs from biting people or other dogs, and the law should reflect that, not single-out a small group.

The penalty if a greyhound kills a chihuahua should be no different than if a pit bull kills a chihuahua. Penalties should deal with directly with the severity of the attack and the amount of negligence on the owner's part, not the breed of the dog.

In response to pinkkittie27's comment: