Miryan no Trunks
Jan 12th, 2004, 01:42:07 AM
New York -- Pit bull terriers are being "rebranded" across the U.S. in an effort to relaunch them as family-friendly dogs instead of fearsome fighting dogs.
The plan was devised by Ed Boks, the director of New Yorks's pound, after he learned that 6,000 of the abandoned or confiscated terriers were put down in the city last year.
Boks, who arrived in New York last month from a similar job in Arizona, believes most pit bulls are "misunderstood" and decided that marketing was the answer to to problem. Last week, the pound - officially known as the City Animal Care and Control Agency - declared that pit bulls would henceforth be known as New Yorkies.
"I figured that we need to do a little marketing here, however wacky the idea, and rebrand this dog." Boks explained.
His plan initially faltered when the new name was greeted with howls of protest from human New Yorkers - and the owners of Yorkshire Terriers, known commonly as Yorkies. The agency has now asked the public for suggestions for a new name, with front-runners including Yankee terrier, and Patriot terrier.
Last year, only 460 of 6,300 pit bulls were reclaimed or retrieved from the pound. The others were put down in "an appalling slaughter," Boks said.
"The only solution is to persuade people to adopt them, and people are wary of adopting a 'pit bull' - with all that the name implies."
Pit bull terriers were banned in Britain under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 following a series of attacks there. Imports and breeding were outlawed and dogs already in the country had to be registered, neutered, marked with a tattoo and fitted with a microchip.
First imported to America at the end of the 19th century, pit bulls because the dog of choice amongst U.S. drug dealers in the 1980's.
In New York, the are the fourth most popular breed, after labradores, alsatians, and shih tzus. They are also responsible for the second greatest number of bites, after alsatians.
Bernadette Peters, a popular Broadway musical actress, owns a pit bull named Stella, who has shown no signs of aggression.
Peters believes that a name change could rescue the breed, and that "with a different name, maybe the guys who train them to be macho won't want them anymore."
But Keith Galley, a 37-year-old doorman for a Park Avenue apartment building, expressed doubt about the renaming excersize, as he walked Jade, his three-year-old, 30-kilogram terrier in Central Park:
"It will only last until the next time that there is a big story over a bite."
.......
The sheer stupidity to think that giving a dog a different name will make it's nature less vicious... It's not the name Pit bull that stops people from wanting to raise the breed, it's the fact that someone can Have a pit bull for 12 years, without the slightest sign of aggression, and have it randomly one day decide to attack them and tear their throat out..
"Hmm... Maybe if we rename poison ivy to patriot ivy, it'll stop hurting people and they'll want to grow it at home..
The plan was devised by Ed Boks, the director of New Yorks's pound, after he learned that 6,000 of the abandoned or confiscated terriers were put down in the city last year.
Boks, who arrived in New York last month from a similar job in Arizona, believes most pit bulls are "misunderstood" and decided that marketing was the answer to to problem. Last week, the pound - officially known as the City Animal Care and Control Agency - declared that pit bulls would henceforth be known as New Yorkies.
"I figured that we need to do a little marketing here, however wacky the idea, and rebrand this dog." Boks explained.
His plan initially faltered when the new name was greeted with howls of protest from human New Yorkers - and the owners of Yorkshire Terriers, known commonly as Yorkies. The agency has now asked the public for suggestions for a new name, with front-runners including Yankee terrier, and Patriot terrier.
Last year, only 460 of 6,300 pit bulls were reclaimed or retrieved from the pound. The others were put down in "an appalling slaughter," Boks said.
"The only solution is to persuade people to adopt them, and people are wary of adopting a 'pit bull' - with all that the name implies."
Pit bull terriers were banned in Britain under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 following a series of attacks there. Imports and breeding were outlawed and dogs already in the country had to be registered, neutered, marked with a tattoo and fitted with a microchip.
First imported to America at the end of the 19th century, pit bulls because the dog of choice amongst U.S. drug dealers in the 1980's.
In New York, the are the fourth most popular breed, after labradores, alsatians, and shih tzus. They are also responsible for the second greatest number of bites, after alsatians.
Bernadette Peters, a popular Broadway musical actress, owns a pit bull named Stella, who has shown no signs of aggression.
Peters believes that a name change could rescue the breed, and that "with a different name, maybe the guys who train them to be macho won't want them anymore."
But Keith Galley, a 37-year-old doorman for a Park Avenue apartment building, expressed doubt about the renaming excersize, as he walked Jade, his three-year-old, 30-kilogram terrier in Central Park:
"It will only last until the next time that there is a big story over a bite."
.......
The sheer stupidity to think that giving a dog a different name will make it's nature less vicious... It's not the name Pit bull that stops people from wanting to raise the breed, it's the fact that someone can Have a pit bull for 12 years, without the slightest sign of aggression, and have it randomly one day decide to attack them and tear their throat out..
"Hmm... Maybe if we rename poison ivy to patriot ivy, it'll stop hurting people and they'll want to grow it at home..