Bravo! Chap Myers (Letters, Herald, June 16) for bringing our beloved Action Line guy to task for what (I hope) was an unintentional negative stereotype about pit-bull type dogs. My three intelligent, individual, mixed-breed shelter dogs (all classified as pit-bull type), along with my Pomeranian, posited he might also like some research and reading suggestions. They highly recommend The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression by Karen Delise, who is affiliated with the National Canine Research Council and the Animal Farm Foundation (www.animalfarmfoundation.org). This organization is a supporter of the wonderful young women behind our local Pitbulls4People.
Along with current information from Tulane University and the American Veterinary Medicine Association (www.avma.org), legitimate research indicates that breed is not a factor in dog-bite related incidents. Rather, there are a specific set of human-caused and related factors that are present in almost all cases.
My furry friends opine that perhaps Mr. Action Line get to know the incredible staff, volunteers and animals at the La Plata County Humane Society.
They also offer their apology to the neighborhood and would like everyone to know they are working on the idea that pedestrians are allowed on their street without barking notification. Since we have been walking the streets of Bayfield, I know they are not alone in this challenge. They are, after all, dogs.
I will have one extra-size “large” Pitbulls4People T-shirt arriving soon, so if Mr. Action Line cannot purchase one, I will gladly deliver it to him.
Lorraine Thrasher
Bayfield
