‘Hold owners to account’ for pit bull attacks

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Humane Society President Kim Aranha said dog owners who fail to train or restrain their pit bulls properly should be heavily fined, but pit bulls should not be banned.

She wants people who breed pit bulls forced to obtain a costly permit.

In April, St Anne’s MP Adrian White urged legislators to consider banning pit bulls. Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell supported his views. Carmichael MP Keith Bell also expressed concern about the dog breed earlier this month.

Ms Aranha’s comment came after a woman said she would complain to the police after a pit bull attacked her 13-year-old potcake, tearing its stomach open.

Erica Aust said her dog, George, was attacked after her handyman’s pit bull escaped its leash. The dog survived and was taken to the Caves Village Veterinary Centre, where it is mending.

Ms Aust said the attack happened suddenly. She said the blood she saw looked “straight out of a horror movie”.

BHS president Kim Aranha said pit bulls must be better managed, not banned.

“I’m not a big fan of breed-specific banning,” she said. “One, the wrong people are handling these dogs, and they’re actually encouraging them to be aggressive. And so if you have dogs that are being encouraged to be aggressive by being tied up, by not being fed regularly, perhaps being teased or taunted, sometimes they’re even beaten, it makes the dog aggressive.

“An awful lot of the people who own pit bulls want them to be aggressive, so they’re sort of creating a monster, and they’re being totally irresponsible with keeping that monster behind a fence.”

Ms Aranha said she believes fining owners who improperly train or restrain pit bulls is the solution.

“I think that the best response to this is to make it unbelievably expensive, painful, complicated and difficult for the owners of these dogs so that they actually get the message and stop being irresponsible,” she said.

“There should be huge enormous fines. The last fine for the shih tzu that was killed was like $6,000, $6,000-plus handed down by the magistrate. And this has to be consistent and it has to be for everyone and that’s a dog-on-dog attack.”

“A dog-on-person attack should be much higher. Where Erica lives, there is a little boy or child. That dog could have killed that kid. But I don’t think it is reasonable to put all the blame on the dog. The blame is on the human.”

Ms Aranha also demanded permits for people to breed pit bulls so the government could adequately regulate the population.

“I think breeders should be charged a heck of a lot of money to have a permit,” she said.

She wants people with spayed or neutered dogs to be charged $20, while those who don’t spay or neuter their dogs are charged $1000 for a licence.

“If you refuse because you want to breed it then pay for it. Pay for that privilege,” she said.

“This situation needs to be managed not banned. It needs to be managed by everybody, it needs to be accepted by everybody. Every arm of the law and the judiciary needs to take this very seriously.”

Comments

bahamianson says...

Owners whom fail to bring up children right, should be fines.also.

Posted 22 May 2023, 4:05 p.m. Suggest removal

rosiepi says...

The problem with these type of breeds is the enormous damage they can inflict in seconds due to their powerful jaws, a child simply hasn’t a chance.
And I agree that people not animals need to be held accountable, in the case of injury and deaths of persons, prison time needs to be on the table.
Banning the breed, new laws and fines are only good if the laws are upheld, the RBPF, the courts haven’t been in a position to police laws in decades.

Posted 22 May 2023, 8:30 p.m. Suggest removal

SP says...

St Anne’s MP Adrian White, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, and Carmichael MP Keith Bell are 3 blind mice!

Thank you, Mrs. Aranha, for talking some sense into these 3 blind mice.

We are guided by blind men that became geniuses on election night.

Posted 22 May 2023, 8:44 p.m. Suggest removal

LastManStanding says...

Pit bulls are responsible for over 60% of dog bites in the United States. Only those in a state of pure delusion cannot see that it is absolutely a breed problem.

Posted 22 May 2023, 10:13 p.m. Suggest removal

JokeyJack says...

I have no problem if the govt decides to put owners "to sleep" instead of the dogs. Just beware many will become Judas overnight and not admit to being the owner. Dog registration?

Posted 23 May 2023, 9:10 a.m. Suggest removal

JokeyJack says...

And if you die before your dog, then your children jointly become the owners and they are put to death. Why is it if someone kills a child we are angry, but if a dog kills a child we give it a treat?

Posted 23 May 2023, 9:12 a.m. Suggest removal

DillyTree says...

Thank you, Kim!

There are many responsible put bull parents who hate to see the whole breed given a bad name by irresponsible and ignorant pit bull owners. We are tired of seeing these loyal, intelligent and gentle dogs being blamed for the actions of a few bad ones.

While out and about, we take every opportunity to educate people on the "good" pit bull, and people see how loving and playful a well-adjusted pit bull can be.

The old adage holds true -- there are no bad dogs, just bad owners.

The bad owners need to be held accountable -- not their dogs.

Posted 23 May 2023, 12:50 p.m. Suggest removal

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