Today, I tried an experiment, and it largely failed.
It made me sad and fearful for the future of our dogs.
I asked one simple thing. I found an article reporting on an attack on a man by a pack of Pit Bulls. Sadly, the gentleman lost his life.
In reading the comments, I saw the typical ones made by folks that have been coined “Pit nutters” by the Colleen Lynn minions (if you don’t know who she is, google is your friend). To be honest – I GET IT. I totally understand how horrifically ineffective some Pit Bull advocates are in getting their message across.
So I tried an experiment. I asked for people to comment on the article and to show sympathy for the man without turning it in to a “every Pit Bull is an awesome fluffy wuffy gentle giant” kind of blabber fest.
This is what I posted (with a link to the article at the bottom):
***ATTENTION PLEASE***
I normally don’t post these stories so PLEASE READ
This is what I’d like you all to do….
COMMENT BUT DO NOT MENTION PIT BULLS
pretend the breed of dog is not mentioned
JUST THIS ONCE….PLEASE…FOR THE DOGS…
I’m asking you for a favor here, please comment and DO NOT MENTION BREED, simply state, in your own words, how sad you are that this man lost his life. Say that you hope the owners are charged with manslaughter. Say that these things happen when irresponsible people own dogs. Say that you hope the area increases funding to Animal Control so that things like roaming dogs can be addressed quickly and effectively BEFORE people get hurt. Say some of it, all of it, add your own flair – just leave breed out of it.
Breed doesn’t matter here. This man’s life matters. His family’s pain matters. The irresponsible owners who will likely get off with a slap on the wrist – THIS is what needs to anger us, not that the news is reporting a Pit Bull attack.
Try it, please. Let’s see how many comments we can get that focus on the REAL issue.
The first time I posted my request on our fanpage, people commented on the page, rather than the article. That was my first *headdesk* moment. One would think (at least I did, anyway, silly me) that providing the link to the article with the explanation would prompt others to comment on the article but apparently, that was just too much to ask.
Discouraged but not defeated, I reposted later that day and specified that comments should be left on the article. I even did some cool little attention grabbing special character things, you know, to excite the eyes and what not.
This is what I posted (again, with the link to the article):
***ATTENTION PLEASE***
I normally don’t post these stories so PLEASE READ
This is what I’d like you all to do….
COMMENT ::::ON THE ARTICLE:::: BUT DO NOT MENTION PIT BULLS
pretend the breed of dog is not mentioned
JUST THIS ONCE….PLEASE…FOR THE DOGS…
I’m asking you for a favor here, please comment and DO NOT MENTION BREED, simply state, in your own words, how sad you are that this man lost his life. Say that you hope the owners are charged with manslaughter. Say that these things happen when irresponsible people own dogs. Say that you hope the area increases funding to Animal Control so that things like roaming dogs can be addressed quickly and effectively BEFORE people get hurt. Say some of it, all of it, add your own flair – just leave breed out of it.
Breed doesn’t matter here. This man’s life matters. His family’s pain matters. The irresponsible owners who will likely get off with a slap on the wrist – THIS is what needs to anger us, not that the news is reporting a Pit Bull attack.
Try it, please. Let’s see how many comments ::::ON THE ARTICLE:::: we can get that focus on the REAL issue.
Of course, that brought on multiple *headdesk* moments. Most people STILL had to be asked directly to leave their comment on the article. One had this interesting argument:
And then of course came the folks who just truly do not understand how their unwavering and inflexible mindset works against them:
[insert audible sigh] Honestly, some days it’s hard to keep going. And when I post this, all heck will break loose. I’m sure I’ll be called all sorts of names, people who made these comments will have a hissy fit and completely ignore the fact that they have anonymity here. Please will stomp their feet and leave dramatic exit posts on the page, telling me I’m so mean and condescending and rude and they are unliking my page.
The fact is, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to learn to focus on the issue at hand.
YES PIT BULLS KILL PEOPLE. Quit acting like this doesn’t happen. German Shepherds kill people. Rottweilers kill people. Labrador Retrievers kill people. Even Pomeranians have killed people.
Dogs kill people because humans are irresponsible. You cannot argue that.
Dogs will continue to kill people because humans are irresponsible and we can stop that by educating people. But first, we need to put hurt feelings aside and ask some tough questions. Are you truly advocating effectively or are you just coming off as a clueless Pit Bull caped crusader?
We need to get on the ball, folks.
STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR YOUR DOGS. Stop muddying the waters with silly comments that are irrelevant and unhelpful.
If you want the media to stop focusing on breed and focus on the irresponsible owners that create situations in which their dogs are able to hurt people, then you need to stop focusing on breed in your comments on these types of articles and start focusing on irresponsible owners.
It’s really quite simple.
Alas, some good comments were left, along with some that will hopefully make you stop and think before you turn a tragic dog attack story into your own personal Pit-Bulls-are-perfect-parade:
And our own comments on two of the stories, putting the focus on prevention and of course, sympathy (because we are humans first, Pit Bull advocates second):
Do you agree that folks very often miss the point in their comments on these stories?
