Last Wednesday morning a security guard on his way to work was killed by a pack of dogs which had escaped from their yard. Afterwards the animals turned their attention to the wife of a pastor who was bitten on her arms and leg before former minister, Dr Dale Bisnauth, came to the rescue with a stick, causing the dogs to retreat. Initial reports had suggested that some of the dogs, at least, were pit bulls, although this was denied by a relative of the owner, who said they were mixed breed. Whether any of them were pit bull mixtures, however, was not made clear. The matter is of some interest, since pit bulls – and by extension, pit bull cross-breeds – have acquired an unsavoury reputation in many countries for being ‘dangerous dogs.’

Even in this country they have gained considerable notoriety following attacks on people, including one earlier this year when full-blooded members of the breed bit two Tucville residents as well as two employees of the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This was after a woman in the area – unbelievably – was alleged to have loosed them on a group of children who had been making a nuisance of themselves. Then there was the case last year of two pit bulls attacking a jogger in North Ruimveldt, and seriously injuring him.

Several countries, or in some cases, provinces within countries, have restricted pit bulls, including our neighbour Trinidad and Tobago. Similarly in the UK – reputedly a nation of dog lovers – they are one of four dog types which cannot be bred, sold or exchanged, the intention being that they will eventually die out. The other three breeds are little known in Guyana, although from their names two of them would seem to originate from this continent. The current British law covering the four specified breeds, cross-breeds from these and any other dogs “appearing… to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose,” is the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991. …..