Yup, there's plenty of pit bulls where I live. And we have found that pepper spray is effective in warding off attacking dogs. That would be a dog that went for one of our Boston Terriers when out on a walk. Of course, a rabid or otherwise enraged dog would probably take the pepper and keep on coming.Humanphibian wrote: With the proliferation of "fighting dogs" as status symbols, and a means of imtimidation for todays "naer-do-wells", people are quickly getting fed up with it. The public outcry would be hard to ignore....especially in a case where everything, legally at least, is so "grey area".
(BTW: I would feel sorry for the dog, because it was probably not his fault that he was taught to be vicious)
What I see as a potential problem is the way dogs in general act. I find it difficult to tell the difference between a dog that is extremely happy to see me and want to give me a slobbery kiss, and a dog that has an extreme urge to end my life. Usually it's a lack of training that's the culprit, and the responsibility lies solely on the owner of the animal.
And speaking of pit bulls, I can't tell them apart from a full bred American Staffordshire Terrier, so that dog my wife sprayed with pepper might have been "Champion Fluff Puff of Forney" just wanting to say Hi, or one of the local drug dealers' attack dogs.
I guess in the end, self defense from a dog attack is very much like defending against a human attack: it's going to be all about what you perceive is happening and what you decide to do in those critical split seconds. The dog can't verbalize its intentions like a human might.
Sorry about the rant and for providing nothing that has to do with the law.