"All dogs, if you don't train them and show them love, can turn out to be mean animals,” said Rodney Taylor, of Prince George’s County Animal Management. “It has a lot to do with the owner and how you raise the pet."

It has everything to do with how you raise the pet.

Unfortunately, most of the irresponsible morons that want a vicious "badass" dog choose Pits.

What came first, the chicken or the Pit Bull??

hey dotherightthing.... you and your scared to death""German"shep""need to move back in time to where you were relevant..1939 nazi germany...all german tough guy dogs and owners fear the strength and confidence of the all america superbreed...it is evident every time Brando runs into one.he is cool and collected and the sheps and rotty's lose their minds..typical...so your weak and scared and your dog is too so ..just like any small minded person ..you feel you have to destroy what you don't understand..and as a result you must be destroyed...so do us all a favor and choke on the end of a tailpipe.

I am a dog lover and was prepared to be really ticked off at this article and comments. I can understand that a law exists if a dog attacks a person then the owner is liable. However, i agree with previous comments that it should apply to all breeds, not just pitbulls. And I don't think it should apply to landlords at all as no landlord would rent to a dog owner period, and that would just be bad. It should be strictly the owner of the dog. I have two dogs that are complete sweethearts with me and my partner and people they know. However, my one (beagle/shih tzu mix) does not care for strangers. If given the opportunity, he'll nip at someones ankles. He won't maul you to death but he can certainly cause some damage. But, he's small and fluffy and cute so people act like it's just a cute little quirk he has. He is a rescue dog who has a history of abuse so this is why he is wary of strangers. So he was not born this way. I am a responsible owner and am aware of this behavior and take necessary steps to prevent him from nipping anyone. As long as people are responsible owners, all should be OK. And I don't believe a domesticated dog who is loveable can just snap one day and go for someone's jugular. I beleive animals that attack a person to kill have probably had behavioral issues already. So comparing a tiger to a dog is just ridiculous. There are no domesticated tigers. Even one's that are in shows and handled by trainers. I still would not call them domesticated and yes they can snap anytime.

This law has valid merits. I was an animal control officer for many years and the dog most responsible for our bite cases and animal attacks was the pit bull terrier, or pit bull terrier mix, by a margin of 3:1. In my years on the job I had only seen the courts order two dogs destroyed because of the severity of the attacks and both of these dogs were pit bull terriers. I also had dozens of owners surrender these breeds for euthanasia because of temperment issues.

You may have the sweetest pit bull terrier in the world and it probably wouldn't hurt a fly, but you don't own all the pit bull terriers out there. The facts and the numbers plainly show that this is an inherently dangerous dog.

whats MORE DANGEROUS a pit bull or a NBA player /

Pit Bulls are not dangerous.Pit Bulls owned by stupid people are dangerous.

One thing is clear from these posts. Americans have an unhealthy, weird, and oddly perverted relationship with their pets. They are animals people. I hate to break it to my psych students, but your dog doesn't "love" you. You know why? Because it is an animal and can't interpret human emotion and attach meaning to it. SORRY! If I start feeding your dog, guess what? He will love me more!!

This is in reply to PocketClam-20

It has been found time and time again that the "pitbulls" from most of these attacks were actually mixed breed dogs and therefore it cannot be proven that the pitbull breed was the root of the problem. Pitbulls were originally used to watch over people's children when the breed was created back in England. HUMANS are the reason behind the pitbull being seen as a monster. A dog, any dog, will be as aggressive as the owner allows it to become. When people first started fighting pitbulls (note that HUMANS started it) they would be in the ring with the animals to separate them and the dogs would not attack the person, only the other canine, as they were trained to. Pitbulls were targeted by humans as a breed for fighting simply because of their strength and ease of training. Pitbulls come in second only to Golden Retrievers in temperament testing, they have a higher threshold for pain which actually makes them ideal pets for homes with children as they can take the rough and tumble type of play. They are incredibly loyal dogs, one of the most intelligent breeds and most eager to please their owners. They have even been used widely as service dogs. I personally own a black lab, a yellow lab/pit mix, and a pure pitbull and I would be way more wary of my black lab than my pitbull or pitbull mix, hands down. The problem is that people don't take owning animals seriously. You don't just buy a dog, put it in your house, and go about your life. Dogs take discipline, training, and dedication. They have a pack mentality and require a person who will take charge and lead, otherwise they will take it upon themselves...that is when you can end up with a dangerous animal. They are also one of the only animals proven to react to human emotion, physical movement, tone of voice, etc. Owning any breed of dog is a responsibility. So before you go along with the uneducated who love condemning pitbulls, rottweilers, and other breeds, maybe take the time to do a little research instead of going along with stories the media loves to sensationalize to get ratings.

Seattle, Washington (April 22, 2009) -- DogsBite.org, a national dog bite victims' group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks, releases its first multi-year report on U.S. dog bite fatalities. The report covers a 3-year period -- from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008 -- and analyzes data gathered from 88 dog bite incidences that caused death to a U.S. citizen.

The report documents dog breed information, property information (where the attack occurred) as well as dog bite victim age information.

Of the 88 fatal dog attacks recorded by DogsBite.org, pit bull type dogs were responsible for 59% (52). This is equivalent to a pit bull killing a U.S. citizen every 21 days during this 3-year period. The data also shows that pit bulls commit the vast majority of off-property attacks that result in death. Only 18% (16) of the attacks occurred off owner property, yet pit bulls were responsible for 81% (13).

Pit bulls are also more likely to kill an adult than a child. In the 3-year period, pit bulls killed more adults (ages 21 and over), 54%, than they did children (ages 11 and younger), 46%. In the 21-54 age group, pit bulls were responsible for 82% (14) of the deaths. The data indicates that pit bulls do not only kill children and senior citizens; they kill men and women in their prime years as well

The entire pitbull breed shouldn't be condemned because of irresponsible owners.

how many Whites are killed by blacks ???

Now the law finds pit bull owners throughout Maryland absolutely accountable for the behavior of their dogs.

How about the owner of ANY dog is accountable for their dogs' behavior? If your five pound yap-machine bites me, are you not responsible for that?

This is going to force people to get rid of dogs that are perfectly well-behaved, affectionate, loving pets for fear of being sued by someone that's afraid of their 'vicious' dog. And will force landlords to not allow renters to keep them.

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of pit-bulls or the bully-breeds -- frankly, they scare me. That's my problem, not the responsible dog-owners. But this is just going to lead to more abandoned and euthanized dogs when they can't be rehomed.

How irresponsible and idiotic of this court to rule such a thing about one breed. I assume the all have degrees in animal behavior and have all worked with animals for many years. They have not right or no education or background to rule something so rediculous.

People can be viewed and ruled in the same manner, so can any other living creature! Our justice system is and has been becoming a real joke.

These people need to go into the real world.

Well, that clears up one thing--that's why they call it a "High Court" WTF are those clowns smoking or snorting while in chambers. Dogs or any animal and or person for that matter is a product of what's put into them. How can an intelligent individual make such a blanket assumption that all Pit Bulls or variant thereof are dangerous and should be banned. Do they not see the stupidity in this decision? This should serve as a perfect example of the sort of narrow minded idiot individuals now seated on the benches of our judicial system. Better yet--they should do something productive and meaningful in the interest of the animals and or the safety of humans--folks caught in the training, breeding, raising and or in any capacity related to the sport of dog fighting should be given a mandatory 10 year sentence which would encompass violations concerning cruelty to animals, aiding in the commission of creating a deadly weapon--much the same as some guy building weapons in his basement..I'm sure the High Court could come up with a package that would change the minds of these criminals who exploit and turn these gentle beasts into savage killing machines. Take Michael Vic for instance--do you think the punishment in his case fit the crime? Of course not---that low life should have spent a decade in the slam to think about what he'd done..Bottom line folks--Dont let other folks take away your right to choose to have a Pit Bull or any other type of dog...Any animal is dangerous if raised and trained to be so--it is the people who are the problem as they are the true animals !

Any dog can be dangerous; it depends completely on how they are raised. Meanest dog I ever knew was a black lab, for Pete's sake. This breed specific legislation has got to stop because it only fosters ignorance and the death of innocent dogs.

I wonder what Tia Torres would say about this....

Pit Bulls can be great dogs. The problem is you never know when they are going to turn. Once a pit bull's jaw locks around your throat, they are phisically unable to to let go.

My aunt works at a vets office. One of their clients (a pit bull owner) was recently killed by his pit bull. He was 26 years old. Did everything with his dog and took good care of it. Was found dead on the floor of his house.

My aunt says they unfortunatley have to put pit bulls down all the time.

Many dog apologists will argue that this law isn't "fair." They claim that one breed shouldn't be singled out. And, in that respect I somewhat agree, only I think it should be expanded to include more breeds not eliminated.

In most areas of the country, I'm not allowed to own a pet lion or tiger, for example, because of the inherent danger these animals pose. They have extremely strong claws, jaws and overall hunting capabilities that call for the oversight only a zoo can provide. In the case of dogs I would expand this ruling to include German Shepherds, Chows, Pit Bulls, Bull Mastiffs, some Boxers and perhaps other dogs as well. The reason for this classification would be the dogs potential capability to do harm. Require the owners to carry insurance. Require the owners to sign off on paperwork making them and their landlords financially responsible for the injuries their animals cause. In other words make the Owners Responsible. It is easy to say that Fido the Pit Bull is just as sweet as pie, and he/she very well might be. BUT, if Fido one day decides to attack someone and causes injury or death then hold the owner responsible.

It is simple really. How many deadly Schnauzer attacks do you read about? Or deadly Poodle attacks. I'm sure it has happened, but not anywhere nearly as frequently as major Pit Bull attacks.

Hold people responsible. If their dogs are so gentle and nice they have nothing to fear. As for the guy living next door, I'm not so sure....

Since when are judges experts on animal behavior?!?! This is legislation from the bench, and a slap to the face of any responsible dog owner. Even with responsible owners, you can't stop stupid people from doing stupid things that may result in the dog trying to defend itself - and now the owners are going to be subjected to defending themselves and their pets in the already incompetent legal system. I have no problem with negligent owners being held accountable, but animals, domesticated or not, are still animals and can be unpredictable no matter how responsible the owner is, and no matter how many precautions are taken.

Pitbulls are not dangerous, it's the owners as how they raise them. We just had to have our 15 year old pitbull out to sleep due to a fast spreading cancer. We had her fixed at 8 months old. She never had pups but we we got a beagle puppy she took care of him as he was her own. A year later we got 2 heinz 57 variety puppies and she took care of them. I watched her as she laid on the floor chewing on a big soup bone. The 2 puppies were pulling her ears, biting her, crawling on top of her and she did not even let a smallest growl out of her mouth. She was a true mama with them. They were not even her puppies. She would wash them and watch over them and stop squabbles between them. she loved them with her whole heart till the day she died. I have a 3 year old grandson who would sit on her, hugged her, did what ever he wanted to her and she just loved him up. She even had severe arthritis and she didn't even wimpper when he would sit on her. She loved people with her whole heart. I wish more people who were unsure of pitbulls would have met her. She should have been the poster dog for pitbulls. She was raised with love and hugs and kisses. Anyone could take food out of her mouth and she would let you. Of course she loved to sit and watch you eat and she would stare and if she didn't get any then she would start smacking her lips to see if you would give her any and then she would start mumbling lowly to you. She would not get mad if she didn't get any, but how she smacked and licked her lips was hesterical and then would be like a kid mumbling under their breath back at us when they didn't get their way. She is sadly missed by her family. GOOOOOOOOOO PITBULLS!! YOU HAVE MY SUPPORT!!