I do not own a pit bull, and in fact I think they should be bred out of existence. However, not all of these dogs are killers. Most are simply pets which will never hurt anyone.To think that if your dog escapes inadvertently, despite your best efforts, and wanders into your neighbour's yard but is not menacing anyone, he will, as a matter of course, be shot by the police on sight and left to suffer before he dies. This is unacceptable.
There are dog catchers in many areas, as well as people and entities with dog-handling skills. Can not the police make pro-active arrangements with these entities to have them on call, so to speak, so that they may accompany them to or meet them at dog escapes?If run-away dogs are corralled into a yard and nobody is in immediate danger, maybe enquiries can be made to discover their owner and get them to the scene. People love their animals and, like us all, feel the loss of pets deeply.
So while we must protect human life at all cost, please, where possible, try to preserve the life of man's best friend as well.
Sgd Janice Thornhill
via e-mail