”unfortunate or unkempt”(Macquarie) 

and the New Oxford gives us an example (!):.”the wretched stupidity of the nation's leaders..”

So Dr Wirth, it seems, brands “pitbull terriers” an inferior and miserable, unfortunate breed.

How interesting that our TV Aussie croc hunter, Steve Irwin, and wife, own a pit bull and so does Brad Pitt, the actor—of course, Mary Tyler Moore rescued two so they'd have company and the very popular and very rich Mr Bing Crosby owned Pit Bulls, as did President Roosevelt.

It had escaped our attention these poor dogs lived wretchedly! We had thought that particular ones rescued from the illegal dog fighters had been wretchedly treated,…
And we know the Dog Holocaust in UK and Germany resulted in much suffering in hidden camps, even death and/or psychological damage to family pets, but “wretched?”, 

when the family dog lives like a KING??

It is relevant  to question exactly which “breed” Dr Wirth refers to when he calls these dogs “pit bulls”---as 
we have been told by none other than a Government minister that there is no such breed.

Is Dr Wirth referring to the media interpretation or that of the experienced breeders when they contributed to ”Project Pit bull”? Mary L Harwelik writes: ”This booklet uses the term “pit bulls” when referring to the American Pit Bull Terrier ONLY. 

However, in some circles this same term is often used incorrectly to describe a certain group of dogs that includes no less than three distinct breeds, mixes containing a part of any of these breeds, or dogs that simply look like any of these breeds..”

In the interests of truth, this interpretation is important, because the public is constantly told in emotive and  generalized statements of viciousness and unreliability and worthlessness of a total group of dogs, no distinction of pure breeding is applied to any of them, with the result numerous broad headed, short coated, long tailed, strong crossbreeds are identified as “pit bulls” and in lots of instances  are destroyed because of it. 

Is Dr Wirth’s “wretched breed” the same as these examples?

*27th Feb,2002, The media reports stated a pit bull had taken the ear off Hayden Alexander, 3 yrs, in Waterloo NSW. A picture used was actually taken by Barbara Killingworth a year before and depicted an American Staffordshire Terrier, and information from owners showed their dog was a Staffordshire cross.

*Michelle Pountney wrote an article, in Herald Sun Oct. 31st, 2001, where, after showing the tabular results of breeds involved in attacks, she outlined the study findings. Tabulated, American Pit Bulls had 21 bites, but in the report, Michelle quoted 58 from APBT and Pit bulls and this total could only be obtained  from the sum of 21 pits attacks and 37 Bull Terrier attacks—the dirty tricks department, surely and quite absurd, as Bull Terriers are a breed in their own right. Why did she not add also the Staffordshire bull terrier 
numbers? It would have had no more or no less validity! 

*March 2001, Minister Hamilton wrote to shelters in Victoria and asked for pit bulls to be destroyed ” As you will be aware, the pit bull terrier is not a recognized breed but a “type” resulting from crossbreeding’”. Ignoring the difficulties of identification and innocence of crossbreeds when many GSD/Mastiff/Labrador/Rhodesian Ridgeback etc., etc. crosses do look like a“pit bull type”

So if Dr Wirth ‘s understanding is so very flawed in this matter of what constitutes a pit bull, please convince us those shelters have NOT killed innocent  crossbred dogs since March 2001, as Dr Wirth and Dr Smith of Lost Dog Home seem to proudly display the number of dog destruction orders have been carried out on “pitbulls”???
 
 

With a sweep of hyperbole and imaginative claims, Dr Wirth wants us to believe this legislation will work a miracle! He proposes that restricting one type of dog which the media has vilified and shown as the worst biting offender when official statistics and common experience don't support this, will suddenly make dog owners recognize their ownership is a privilege! 

Such a sweeping statement begs explanation—is the Dr telling us we had all better beware or the restrictions could apply to our other breeds also? In other words, is this a warning note??

Or does he suggest restrictions of one type of dog is all owners require to magically turn them into “good and law abiding “ owners? It might come as a shock, but common experiences of bans and restrictions should be explained to the Dr! 

Those who are acting illegally usually, hide , ignore or falsify to keep doing as they wish. An example in this case is the already established black market trade in dog “papers”! Would those with unregistered dogs or fighting dogs be likely to rush to obey the restrictive law at such cost to themselves and their dogs?? Not likely! Ask yourself, reader, as an owner of another breed, what effect will this restriction of a type of dog have on you? Will you change anything because of it? Will the irresponsible, cruel and negligent owners change their ways or change breeds?

How disappointing to hear from the eminent Dr Wirth such old myths and unscientific hyperbole about fight bred dogs!—he is a practising vet and the Australian Veterinary Association Policy supplies scientific facts which do not support the banning of any breed of dog as ALL bad. This too, is the kind of Policy Dr Wirth’s own organization fosters at the same time he and other state leaders promulgate their unsubstantiated claims about the dangers of pit bulls at the sacrifice of opportunities to actually advise, refer and educate e.g. to promote obedience clubs/suggest research into breed suitability before purchasing a dog etc. 

Is there really a need to compel everyone to conform to what is seen as the “right” decision of dog ownership?—even to suggesting somehow we must justify time-honoured dog/human associations and assuming in the process that all citizens will accept welfare experts as arbiters of their freedom of choice and ability to make lawful decisions in a democracy!

The history of  pure bred “fight” dogs goes back to the original Staffordshire Bull Terriers imported into USA from Britain and Ireland and developed into the American Pit Bull Terrier— the APBT has the same ancestral characteristics of Australia's 4th most popular dog!

Ignore the rhetoric about current day fighting , as the RSPCA knows there was dog fighting long before APBT were first imported!-- the illegals are the ones who continue this practice and every responsible owner of every breed would want to see them stopped if just for the cruelty they often carry out on their poor dogs!
The original fighting dogs were “nanny dogs”, referring to the fact they could be safely handled by many humans and  reliable with children in their family. Any aggression to any human was culled from these “Bull” breeds.

The development today presents us with the two strains—The American Staffordshire Terrier which was the APBT registered with American Kennel Club and set to a show standard, in 1936. The original standard of the ideal was taken from the famous APBT of the time, Colby’s Primo…and APBT. The other breeders who wished to maintain a performance type of dog, not necessarily to use it for the illegal purpose but for weight pull, agility, endurance and the like, kept to the United Kennel Club (which  dual registers with 
Amstaffs also allowed as APBT) and produced lines of dogs which do not conform within height and weight ranges as recognized dog standards demand—another reason APBT dogs are hard to identify even amongst owners!!

It really is a puzzle how Dr Wirth argues at times that breeders have changed the original purpose of all their breeds over centuries, yet states  so uncompromisingly that APBT dogs are all vicious and bred still for fighting! He could benefit from reading both the article from Dr Stephen Collier and the Hansard 
report from Victorian parliament on Nov. 21 ,2001. It is so simplistic and so wrong to label ALL of this breed as worth nothing and bred for fighting!

Illegal dog fighters are criminals—how many do you know who obey or respect the law?? Police and detection work to bring criminals to justice is one thing, applying “bad” labels and persecution of breed bans to thousands of innocent companion dogs is clearly another!! With thousands of pit bulls in most states, common sense dictates the majority are family pets.

WHY not treat them like all other family dogs, with the same expectation of sensible selection and responsible handling on the part of their owners???

For a “Wretched” breed. The American Pit Bull Terrier has NUMEROUS “FINE” HEROES!!

*Our Gang, USA’s beloved children's program ALWAYS featured a Petey that was an APBT 

*Weila, Ken-L-Ration’s Dog hero o the Year 1993 was an APBT who swam creeks to  rescue people and other animals!

*Dixie, the APBT, put her 50 lb. body between three children and a deadly snake. 

*Norton, a rescued APBT type, was a Purina hero Awarded, for saving his mistress’ life!

*Buddy, another APBT, also  50 lbs in weight saved two women from a house fire!

*RCA, Alaska's first certified Hearing Dog was an  APBT!

*Popsicle, who was rescued from an old refrigerator and a plastic bag tomb by a 
policeman, became the Top Sniffer Dog!  Yes an APBT!

*Cheyenne and Dakota have made their mark in Search and Rescue, two APBTs at first rejected, now the stars –when the GSD, Golden and Labrador teams were stopped by a barbed wire fence, Dakota pushed through, oblivious to the pain and found the missing Boy Scouts!
These two also do Therapy visits in hospitals!

*APBT CH Bandog Dread. HC, B, WH, CD, TD, UC-D, U-CDX, ScH 1 ScH 2, ScH 3, IPO 1, IPO 3, WD, WDX, WDS, STD-d, STD-s, HTD-1 & OFA. 
This makes Ch Bandog Dread the dog that holds the most titles in the world to date. 

Australian unsung hero APBTs, an attack by any dog resembling this breed will make news nation wide as an APBT, yet these and many more are never reported on TV.

Nugget. 
Nugget made it into the running for hero dog of the year for saving the life of 8 year old Shawn Coggin, lost in the bush with temp reaching 0º Celsius.  Nugget refused to leave Shawn and kept him warm. Nugget did not sleep at all and alerted rescuers to their location by barking, which woke Shawn. Rescuers reported Nugget as friendly but VERY protective of Shawn. Location Bush land near Gold Coast.

Sharney.
Owner Michael Egan who has suffered cerebral palsy all his life and is confined to a wheel chair. Michael says dogs only become savage if they are treated savagely. Sharney is his constant companion, and learned quickly at obedience and the companionship has turned Michael’s life around. 

Rock.
 Fire Fighters declared him a hero, after Rock awoke his masters “David & Heidie” and alerted them to a House blaze by jumping on them and barking. While they suffered burns to their face and hands & had to jump from their bedroom window they are lucky to be alive said fire fighters. David said I jumped but I threw Rock first, there is no way I would ever leave him now. Location Rockhampton QLD.

Honey.
Her owner describes her as sweet and gentle with her children. But she rose to violence only to protect me. The reason she bit my ex boy friend was he broke into our house and was assaulting me. I am pregnant and when he started hitting me she bit him three times until he ran away. He was not that badly hurt, but I am sure she could have done much Worse if she needed to, but she is not a mean dog by nature. Doctors said it took special Medication to stop a miss carriage and a week or so in hospital and everything 
should be OK. Location Sydney. 

*Although not  ANKC accepted, the American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia is nonetheless an approved organization under law, with a Code of Ethics to encourage Responsible Ownership/Breeding. Many fine dogs can be seen first hand at one of its special shows.

Perhaps Dr Wirth can supply details of another breed's achievements  to equal this record—EDBA suggests that would not be an easy  task- NO Breed deserves the name“Wretched”! although perhaps some irresponsible OWNERS do!!
Further it seems the APBT has saved more lives in Australia that it has taken as it has never been responsible for a fatal attack in Australia.