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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 17h

This isn’t the gotcha you think it is. Dog ownership/living with a dog increases the likelihood of getting bitten, no matter the breed.

Goldens bite their owners. Huskies, Shih Tzus, Collies can bite their owners.

I can only tell you what I’ve read & experienced WRT animal behavior for >30yrs.

Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

How you raise dogs is another significant factor. If you don’t have the resources to care for them properly, you’re not going to raise / train them to be fit for social situations, & thus responsible for any bites.

Some people are shitty human beings & should never be near dogs in the first place.

Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Dog behavior is not taught to the general public, so dogs (and every other animal on the planet) have already warned you more than once to stop whatever you’re doing.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

I don’t think multiple posts can be pinned, so I am adding this thread about dog bites. Modern day Pitt reputations are heavily rooted in anti-Black racism, dating back to the formation of the British Kennel Club in the 1800s. Rotties & Dobies never were, so rehabilitation.
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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

I am a dog professional (>13 yrs experience in shelters & daycares, was a zookeeper prior to that; 32yrs total), though.

Pitts have a temperament test rating just second to Goldies, both of whom bite people far less than Huskies/Germans/Malinois. But they’re all outpaced by Chihuahuas & the like.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

It’s not that I don’t like other breeds, but a Pitt or mix will always be my first choice. Pictured below is what looks like a Black Lab, but is a Staffy-Golden mutt. People were incredulous he was a Pitt until I showed his parents’ photos, amazed at how well behaved he was from Detroit to Key West.

A black dog sits in the grass, looking at the camera. His parents were a purebred Golden Retriever and a brindle Staffordshire Terrier.

My black lab-looking Golden Pitt is trapped under a plaid blanket by two tiny black kittens, sisters who loved him until the day he passed.

He was fine while they were all sleeping, but now he wants to get up, and is imploring me to get the girls off of him. Don’t worry, I did once the pictures were taken.

Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Yeah. I like Pitts, and I liked them even before I got my first job as a zookeeper. Working with dogs has only made me like them more, which is why I’ve invested so much time in speaking up for them to dispel the stigma & stereotypes, and to fight back against the racism that uses them as a weapon.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

The bigger thing to remember about dog bites is how large the dog population is compared to the human population is. If you only ever hang out with your one or two dogs at home, of course the idea dozens of bites a year (& institutional racism) is scary. But cars are more dangerous on a daily basis.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Most people have a level of understanding of tail wagging as a good thing. It’s just one “word” in a whole “sentence” of body language we really should be teaching in schools. And I will maintain 95% of all bites are the human’s fault. They told them several times, but you ignored their warnings.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Pitts are a good dog to have, otherwise they wouldn’t be so popular. But that means a greater chance of bad owners neglecting or abusing them, so more of them make the news. It doesn’t help that some popular athletes like Vick & Johnson have glamorized dog fighting rings.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Racism fuels the hatred against Pitts. Sure, a lot of racists like them, but they’re perfectly fine with BSL, or eliminating them outright, if it means PoC are affected or forced to move away.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

The stats for dog bites are terrible. Small dogs have to account for 95-99% of anything that draws blood, but dogs over 30 pounds tend to have a larger bite radius regardless of their parentage. So larger dog bites get treated at a hospital, where reporting is mandatory. Breeds are misidentified.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

There are some that were standoffish or vocal because shelters can be stressful to a lost dog), to be sure.

I also find Pitts to be almost as loyal to their owners as Chows (who do give me pause).

But once they spend time with me, they are more than willing to accept affection- even demanding it.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

In my 13 years as a dog handler, at both shelters and daycares/resorts, I’ve met more well over a thousand dogs. Not once have I met any kind of a Pitt (Am Staff, Am Bulldog, Mastiff, Boxer, Cane Corso, Bull Terrier, Presa Canario) that wasn’t some sort of clingy baby who only wanted pets.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

This is anecdotal, but still relevant. In my lifetime, I have only been bitten on purpose by four dogs: A Husky/Malamute, a German Shepherd, a Malinois, and a Shepherd Mix. I know the exact circumstances & why I was bitten in each case, but I also don’t think GSDs/Huskies dogs should be eradicated.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Huskies & similar pointy nosed dogs have a bite strength nearly double or triple than Pitts, who seem scary because you can see their muscle structure due to their short fur.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Pitts don’t have locking jaws- they would starve to death.

Fighting dogs are not raised to attack humans- they would attack their handlers.

If there is any danger from them, it’s stubbornness- they lock in to a task. Remember, these are working dogs bred to pull pallets & wagons.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Aside from the erroneous reporting that identifies a Schnauzer as a Pitt, I regularly get asked by people in the shelter I work at if an uncropped Boxer or Doberman is a Pitt. Like, multiple times weekly.

The average person is just not equipped to identify dogs, and fewer of them can care for them.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

You’re correct about bite size. Bites from Chihuahuas, Lhasa Apsos, Dachshunds, are rarely serious enough to require professional medical care. But bites from larger dogs, even accidental ones, can often need wound care.

But without photos attached to specific incidents, you can’t make assumptions.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

I will note that Miami-Dade PD is no longer running the shelters, so they’re not euthanasia factories anymore. They have a high rate of adoption success, which is desired.)

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

I have personally witnessed this discrimination when I lived in Miami-Dade County. It’s already one of the most corrupt counties in the world, and infuriating to experience & see it up close. But I saw cops ignore Pitts from Cutler Bay to Star Island, and cite / remove them from Perrine & Naranja.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

The BKC (AND the AKC) literally gave us the words and legislative policies we use to police anyone who is not white and wealthy.

Breed specific legislation (BSL) is only enforced in neighborhoods with a heavy Black & Brown population, and rarely, if ever, in wealthy white neighborhoods.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

The other (increasingly growing thanks to the current political climate) half of the anti-Pitt crowd stems from racism. The origins of today’s racism (seen in Tulsa, for example) are rooted in language developed by the British Kennel Club, based on who owned & bred these working dogs in the 1800s.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

Childhood trauma has warped one person’s perception of a set of phenotypes (visual expression of genetic traits), to the point their website treats every single article about a single incident as a separate data point. This boosts the numbers nearly exponentially. Many dogs are misidentified, too.

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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

The “stats” seen in news reports & collated on notorious anti-Pitt website are motivated by both personal trauma from a childhood incident and racism. Pitt is more of a descriptor for a group of breeds, but no single breed or family can be 100% certified by DNA tests.
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Mikey Alexander 𓅃 The Riot Dog of South Florida @mikeyalexander.bsky.social · 18h

I am a dog professional (>13 yrs experience in shelters & daycares, was a zookeeper prior to that; 32yrs total), though.

Pitts have a temperament test rating just second to Goldies, both of whom bite people far less than Huskies/Germans/Malinois. But they’re all outpaced by Chihuahuas & the like.

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