Monday, December 19, 2011

Charles Werner: the godfather of pit nutters


CHARLES WERNER

There is an excellent blog post at dogsbite.org about this early 20th century pit bull breeder and his attempts to bring America's pit fighter into mainstream society. Contemporary pit bull advocates should take notes and learn from the master.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Views on America's dog.

From Milwaukee Sentinel Feb. 16th 1949 Beware Of Pit Dog A "pit" bulldog belongs to a strain of dogs which have been trained t fight each other in bloody battle to death in a dog pit. Around this pit, or arena, inhuman humans, more brutal than the brutes that they are brutalized, assembled to gratify an evil lust for blood and rejoice in the suffering and death of the wretched animals they had trained to cruelly and ferocity … Small wonder that pit bulldogs have inherited the ferocity of their masters, who trained them to brutality … no pit bulldog should be ever made the companion of a child. Parents should heed this warning. There are plenty of dogs trained by gentleness and kindness to protect children and which sacrifice their loyalty to their humane masters. [such a good nanny dog!]

From Reading Eagle Jan. 13th 1940 "… Hodgson Wright poet, of Terre Haute Ind. writes to me … her 11-year-old Caesar, an inoffensive little pet dog, who was … by a ferocious pit bulldog.

From Deseret News Jam 6th 1941 When speaking about the fairness of the fight between two bombers of war. "They consider it about the same as matching a poodle with a pit bulldog." So the acknowledge that the pit bull is different from other breeds of dogs. But here I was thinking that all dogs bit the same way…

Ottawa Citizen Mar. 14th 1931 Pit bull apologist of the 1930's tries to excuse the breed's nasty reputation for being predictable only in their high probability to attack other animals and people. "Old time fanciers who favored the pit bull terrier contend that no game dog will bite a human being, and the bull terrier is the only "dead game" dog of any breed. Improperly trained from puppyhood, they may tackle dogs, cats, and even other animals at any time, and when they do, it's not an easy matter to break their hold." …. "I have never seen a pit bull terrier that was not fond of children, and have known some when out walking with their masters, to join a group of children in play, leaving the youngsters only when they were forced to by their owners." The person speaking of the APBT is a sports columnist named Lou Marsh.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to point out the other nuttier claim of culled man biters as evident from Lou Marsh's statement. "no game dog will bite a human being."

Anonymous said...

Views On America's dog.

From The New York Times 1921, Drug Raidesr seize $60,000 worth in narcotics on the lower East Side. And what breed was chosen to protect this horde? Why the pit bulldog of course. As no other breed of dog has been able to withstand the torment and brutality of gun shots and stabbings. It is noted that the raiders were menaced by this forgiving nanny dog.

Another bulldog used as an attack dog on people participating in illegal operations as chronicled in the NY Times of the early 1900's.

From Herald Journal Nov. 27th 1926, a recluse Frenchman's bulldog, Nigger, was considered ferocious and seems to have been tied up most of his life.

Los Angeles Times Sep. 12th 1898 "Attacked by a ferocious bulldog which she had severely beaten early in the day and which she was feeding in the kitchen of her home tonight, Mrs. Lena Smith …" The paper's title of this report is, "BULLDOG CHEWS WOMAN TO PULP"

The French of the mid 1800's also viewed the bulldog as a negative creature and had breed specific legislation in place similar to the American's throughout the inception of the pit bulldog till today. As Chronicled by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Nov. 8th 1972, "Bulldogs may have been 'characterized by their great ferocity' in 1843 when King Louis-Phillippe ad the city fathers ordered them kept off the streets and leashed and muzzled even in private, a city councilman said. But nowadays they are gentle and affectionate, he added, and the ordinance should be stricken, particularly since no one pays attention to is anyway."

Anonymous said...

The French ended up rebanning them in 1999

World Briefing | Europe: France: Death By Dog

Published: February 13, 2002

A woman and her son were convicted of involuntary homicide after their five American Staffordshire bull terriers mauled and killed an 86-year-old woman. Eliane Marceau, 38, and Anthony Dutin, 22, of Rochefort, were given three-month sentences and ordered to pay $57,200 in damages. Prosecutors said the owners let the dogs run wild and had failed to obey a 1999 law requiring registration and sterilization of dangerous dogs.

Anonymous said...

Watching pit boss a about an injured pit bull named Bettie and Rossi said that pit bulls hide their pain to please their owners while admitting that they have a high threshold for pain. So it couldnt possibly be because they were. Red from stocks of dogs that endured high levels of pain so that the blood game wasnt hendered by dogs that had normal reactions to pain.

Anonymous said...

Winners were bred and losers/curs brutally culled...After about two centuries they achieved their goal.