Pit bulls, often stigmatized as dangerous, are recognized by advocates of the breed as misunderstood, loyal pets whose aggressive reputations are unfounded.
People don’t need to be fearful of pit bulls, said Angel Tunstall, owner of Ligonier Paws on Main Street.
“These dogs have no voice. We have to be active for them,” she said Friday. “It has nothing to do with the breed.”
It all boils down to dog owners and how pit bulls are raised, experts told TribLive.
Three people suffered bite wounds and were taken to hospitals for treatment following a pit bull attack on Halloween night in Tarentum.
While none of the injuries were considered life-threatening, some of them will need “more intensive medical attention,” police said.
Tarentum police said they were alerted to the dog attack around 5:42 p.m. Officers encountered three pit bulls, two of which were threatening residents.
Officers killed one of the three dogs, while a second was “safely contained.”
“Yes, there are some breeds that do react more,” Tunstall said. “(The owner is) the one who (is) responsible for this action.”
For 25 years, Tunstall said she was “deathly afraid” of dogs after one bit her in high school. But then she got her own husky. She later opened up Paws on Main.
“I’m a big advocate when it comes to the protection of dogs and the lack of human responsibilities,” she said. “It just makes me so ill.”
As a retired veterinarian and current president of the Allegheny County Animal Relief Fund, Lawrence Gerson said the pit bulls he saw in his Point Breeze practice were pretty nice.
“Much of what occurs with dogs is now they’re treated and how they’re cared for,” Gerson said.
Dogs are not at fault, he said, but rather, the owners shoulder the blame for situations like the one in Tarentum.
“That owner knew previous to the event that (the pit bulls) had an aggressive tendency,” Gerson said. “Halloween is a crazy time for any dog … a normal dog’s going to go half-ballistic.”
He said pit bull is a common breed in Pittsburgh, and many end up in local animal shelters and rescues or used in pit bull fighting rings, which should not be tolerated.
“In general, the dogs are very, very nice,” Gerson said. “There are people who fight pit bulls, and that’s where the abuse comes in.”
Gerson has been called as an expert witness in numerous animal abuse cases, he said.
“The question is who was responsible for that dog, and were they a responsible pet owner?” he said. “There’s more to the story.”