Here we go again!! Targeting yet another breed....
MOLOSSER BREEDS WILL LIKELY BE FAR WORSE THAN PIT BULLS
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Column: Pet Advice
Provincial legislation made us say goodbye to the pit bull. Well, now there's a more dangerous dog.
For many owners, it was all about "My pit bull is bigger than your pit bull," and due to the utterly unregulated North American dog breeding industry, the breed degenerated into the mess it became.
Anyone who knows a male dog from a female can be a breeder. Most don't bother to check whether you are half-way qualified to own a high-end dog like a pit bull.
When the ban was being drafted, I asked my MPP, "What do you think the people who are attracted to the image of having a pit bull are going to do when you take away their right to have a pit bull? Do you think they're going to buy hamsters?"
Apparently not. The new status dogs are the Molosser breeds, many of which are, or were, so rare that the average trainer, veterinarian, animal control, humane society, etc. had never heard of them.
Next time you see what looks like a pit bull on steroids, something two to three times the size of a pit bull, you're liking looking at one of the Molosser breeds.
Molossers are mastiffs. You've likely heard of English mastiffs, but they're only one of more than 50 kinds.
Molosser breeds are as different in nature as they are size from pit bulls. For the most part, they originated as war dogs; their roles were not to prove "My dog is bigger than your dog," but "My dog can kill you" -- and they did. This is different from the pit bull, which was originally bred for dog-to-dog aggression and to be a decent family pet.
Bad breeding brought instability to pit bulls and I guarantee the same is coming in the Molosser breeds.
All but one of the Molossers I have assessed in the last six months has ended up being euthanized. They were all perfectly healthy, normal examples of their breeds that, in an enthusiast's hands, would still be alive today. They were just too much dog for the people who adopted them.
A year ago I might have received one call a year about a Molosser. I do at least one phone assessment a week now and see one every other week.
The most dangerous part of my job has always been getting in the front door on house calls, but with a little planning -- whether it's a pugnacious Pomeranian or an irascible Rottweiler -- I've been pretty lucky over the last 20 years.
When the backyard breeders get on the band wagon and mess up the Molossers, I have a feeling my luck is either going to run out or I'm soon going to have to do something I've never had to do and that is tell someone, "I don't feel safe. Sorry, I can't help you."
All Molosser breeds are huge and, just like pit bulls, in the wrong hands, they're guns with brains.
I'd really like to see the provincial government force breeders to regulate themselves in a meaningful way or else do it for them and get away from breed banning.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Column: Pet Advice
Provincial legislation made us say goodbye to the pit bull. Well, now there's a more dangerous dog.
For many owners, it was all about "My pit bull is bigger than your pit bull," and due to the utterly unregulated North American dog breeding industry, the breed degenerated into the mess it became.
Anyone who knows a male dog from a female can be a breeder. Most don't bother to check whether you are half-way qualified to own a high-end dog like a pit bull.
When the ban was being drafted, I asked my MPP, "What do you think the people who are attracted to the image of having a pit bull are going to do when you take away their right to have a pit bull? Do you think they're going to buy hamsters?"
Apparently not. The new status dogs are the Molosser breeds, many of which are, or were, so rare that the average trainer, veterinarian, animal control, humane society, etc. had never heard of them.
Next time you see what looks like a pit bull on steroids, something two to three times the size of a pit bull, you're liking looking at one of the Molosser breeds.
Molossers are mastiffs. You've likely heard of English mastiffs, but they're only one of more than 50 kinds.
Molosser breeds are as different in nature as they are size from pit bulls. For the most part, they originated as war dogs; their roles were not to prove "My dog is bigger than your dog," but "My dog can kill you" -- and they did. This is different from the pit bull, which was originally bred for dog-to-dog aggression and to be a decent family pet.
Bad breeding brought instability to pit bulls and I guarantee the same is coming in the Molosser breeds.
All but one of the Molossers I have assessed in the last six months has ended up being euthanized. They were all perfectly healthy, normal examples of their breeds that, in an enthusiast's hands, would still be alive today. They were just too much dog for the people who adopted them.
A year ago I might have received one call a year about a Molosser. I do at least one phone assessment a week now and see one every other week.
The most dangerous part of my job has always been getting in the front door on house calls, but with a little planning -- whether it's a pugnacious Pomeranian or an irascible Rottweiler -- I've been pretty lucky over the last 20 years.
When the backyard breeders get on the band wagon and mess up the Molossers, I have a feeling my luck is either going to run out or I'm soon going to have to do something I've never had to do and that is tell someone, "I don't feel safe. Sorry, I can't help you."
All Molosser breeds are huge and, just like pit bulls, in the wrong hands, they're guns with brains.
I'd really like to see the provincial government force breeders to regulate themselves in a meaningful way or else do it for them and get away from breed banning.
posted by pitbulljungle at 2:47 PM
3 Comments:
Is a Molosser by any chance a Tibian Bull Mastive? I just wrote about that on my blog and wondered if we're talking about the same breed.
Molosser breeds consist of many "big" dogs such as the mastiff, cane corso, bulldogs, filas, boerboels, & rotties; it also includes breeds that "LOOK" like a pitbull, but are different.
Many of these dogs were used to guard the lands, slaves, etc. I've been around a cane corso, boerboel, and filas... they are much more stout & stronger than the average pit.
Unless you're an experienced owner, they could really become a problem in the wrong hands.
I was thinking they were mainly now going to start targeting the Pressa's because they are classified as a Molosser.
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