A 36-year-old woman was admit to the hospital in a critical condition after she was attack by a Pit Bull dog in Gurugram, causing serious injuries.
The woman, a domestic help, was attack by the dog in the morning when she went to a house where she works, the police said.
Munni, a native of West Bengal, suffered injures mainly on neck and all over the body.
And the incident is alarming, it is not the only one report in recent times.
An old woman in Lucknow was maule to death by her pet dog in Qaiserbagh in Uttar Pradesh last month.
A pit bull, kept biting and attacking the elderly owner for over an hour before she died of the injuries.
Another incident from UP was report on 7th August 2022 when a a pit bull attack and critically injure a teenager who is currently hospitalise in Meerut.
These incidents have left animal lovers and organisations questioning the safety of keeping the pit bull breed as a pet.
PETA has also has renew its call to the government to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2017, to prohibit the keeping, breeding, and sale of foreign breeds of dogs bred for fighting and aggression, such as pit bulls.
History of Pit bulls
While reports state that pit bulls can be a potentially dangerous dog breed, a deeper delve into the history of the animal would be require to understand why this may have happen.
The Pit bull’s origins can be trace back to the early 1800s in the United Kingdom, according to a report by the organisation Love-a-Bull.
Pit bulls were bred from Old English Bulldogs which gain popularity in the British Isles through a cruel blood sport known as “bull baiting.”
One to two Bulldogs were program to harass a bull for hours until it collapse from exhaustion, injuries, or both.
These matches were held for the entertainment of the working classes, as a source of distraction from the monotony of hardship.
In 1835, the British Parliament pass the Cruelty to Animals Act, which outlaw the baiting of certain animals, including the bull and bear.
When bull and bear baiting was made illegal, the public’s attention was drawn to “ratting.”
This practise pitted dogs against rats and time them to see which dog could kill the most rats in the shortest amount of time.
Pit bull gets its name from ratting, when rats were place in a pit so they couldn’t escape.
And, the public focus on dog fighting because it was more easily hidden from view and thus the law.
Ratting and dogfighting both demand greater agility and speed from the dog, so Bulldogs were cross with Terriers to create “Bull and Terriers,” more commonly known as the first Pit Bull Terrier, the report states.
Immigrants from the British Isles arrive in the United States shortly before the Civil War, bringing their Pit bulls with them.
As Pit bull terrier was dub the “American” Pit Bull Terrier.
Despite the fact that these dogs were bred specifically for fighting, they quickly became a much larger and invaluable fixture in a developing country.
These frontier dogs serve multiple functions in early America.
They were in charge of herding cattle, sheep, protecting livestock and families from thieves and wild animals, assisting on hunts, and acting as hog catchers.
Their loyal and loving demeanour with humans, particularly children earn them a prominent place not only as working dogs but also companions.
The report goes on to explain dogfighting instances in the US and the Congress amending the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 to address dog fighting, among many other issues, in 1976.
Subsequent positive and negative media attention towards the dog breed with rescue and rehabilitation programmes, led to a revival of liking towards pit bulls in the US.
Why Pit Bulls Are Dangerous?
Pit Bulls also have exceptional tenacity.
They set their minds to something and complete it.
That is why they are ideal for sports such as weight pulling.
The report goes on to say that the decision to own a pit bull should not be taken lightly.
The breed has prohibited in some US cities and towns, as well as the UK.
Pit bulls are more likely to attack.
The American Veterinary Medical Association, and other organisations have advise against breed-specific legislation.
They cite a study publish on 15th September, 2000, in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association.
The study, which focuses on fatal dog attacks, notes difficulties in identifying different breeds and calculating a bite rate.
The researchers point out that there isn’t consistent data on breed populations and bites, particularly when the injury isn’t severe enough to necessitate an ER visit.
A variety of factors can contribute to an aggressive personality.
Breeding dogs for protection, dog fighting, social status, or financial gain is an example of this.
Abuse, neglect, tethering, chaining, and insufficient obedience training and supervision are many other examples.
Pit Bulls in India
In India, inciting dogs to fight is illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
Yet organise dogfights are prevalent in Punjab, Haryana, other parts of north India, and Rajasthan, making pit bull-type dogs use in these fights the most abuse dog breeds.
They are commonly bred to be use in illegal fighting or kept on heavy chains as attack dogs, resulting in a lifetime of suffering.
Many endure painful physical mutilations such as ear-cropping, an illegal process that involves removing part of a dog’s ears to prevent another dog from grabbing them in a fight, thereby losing the fight.
In a fight, the dogs are encourage to continue until both dogs become exhaust and at least one gets seriously injure or dies.
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), the statutory body establish under Section 4 of the PCA Act, 1960, states that greyhound races commonly held in Punjab are illegal.
PETA India Veterinary Policy Advisor, Nithin Krishnegowda, said :
“The two back-to-back attacks are a wake-up call that if India continues to allow dogs typically use for cruel human exploits such as criminal dogfighting to be bred, more people will get hurt. A prohibition on all breeds use for unlawful fighting and racing and those with breathing difficulties would protect these dogs from being born only to face cruelty and suffering and protect many humans too.”
