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May 23, 2008 Editorial

Angry citizens have been calling us and expressing the view that not until such time as a member of the government or of Parliament or one of their relatives is attacked by pit bulls, will measures be put in place to outlaw these beasts. There has been a callous neglect by the authorities to move swiftly and decisively with the recent upsurge in pit bull attacks.

For this year we have had a number of incidents involving pit bull attacks. In one such incident a security guard was killed and the wife of a pastor badly bitten. That attack, following closely on the heels of two other highly publicized incidents, has so far failed to catch the attention of the government most of whose high officials drive around in expensive Sports Utility Vehicles, quite unlike the ordinary citizens who are forced to walk the streets and thus expose themselves to the risk of attacks from these rampaging dogs.

The number of pit bulls and its crossbreeds has in recent years increased tremendously in Guyana. Almost in every area of this country, these dogs are to be found. They are used as guard dogs and they are also kept as pets. Within our midst reside these killer-dogs. Who knows, one may be right next door to you as you read this.

While every dog owner has a responsibility to ensure that his or her dog is kept under control and does not present a public threat, as we have seen in the last two incidents, pit bulls have managed to find a way out of their owners’ yards.

They have viciously attacked passersby, resulting in the most recent incident in the scalping on a man. Inches more and the man’s brain would have been eaten by dogs, resulting in almost immediate death.
Pit bulls have proven time and time again that they are temperamental and unpredictable. The solution therefore cannot be to drag owners before the courts for failure to keep their dogs within bounds.
The authorities are seemingly content for the time being on doing just this.

This approach, however, overlooks the fact that the most serious of attacks have come from a particular breed of dog. This is the case in Guyana as it is elsewhere.

There is therefore a need to ensure that the focus is on the killer dogs and that these animals should be outlawed so that eventually they will become extinct from our country.

Dogs are not gifted with the powers of reason; that is the sole preserve of human beings. But does this mean that dogs should be excused every time they attack human beings? Or should such threats be reduced by outlawing these beasts?

Just what will it take for the government to accept that pit bulls and their mixed breeds should be banned from Guyana? These dogs pose an ominous danger to the lives of our citizens. How many more will have to suffer? How many more will have to die before good sense prevails?

Or are the authorities accustomed to closing the kennel after the dog has bolted before they take action to reverse a serious threat within our society? Is it because most of the victims so far of these attacks are ordinary citizens that no action is being taken?

This ought not to be. We have a wealth of experience to go by. Other countries, including those within the region, have had similar concerns about these dogs and some such as Trinidad have taken steps to outlaw their breeding.

This we believe should be the first step in reducing the threat of pit bull attacks. All breeding of pit bulls should be outlawed so that the population of these dangerous dogs is not increased.
Secondly, we believe that all dog fights should be outlawed. Most of these fights are known to involve wagers of huge sums of money.

More often than not, the end of the fight leaves one or more of the dogs seriously harmed and disfigured and in other cases dead. Legislation should be immediately passed outlawing such scraps and severe penalties should be imposed on those who promote such gaming.

We call on the government to act and act decisively on this question. Outlaw dog fights and outlaw pit bulls and their crossbreeds!

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