What’s In A Name II

Like ValueJet/AirTran, some people seem to think that a name change will change people’s perception.

NEW YORK — Start spreading the news—the notorious set of chompers otherwise known as a pit bull is being renamed the New Yorkie in an effort to improve its image.

While already banned in parts of Colorado, Florida and Connecticut, the dog is just misunderstood, animal lovers contend. But a bloody history of aggression and attacks has branded the dog dangerous and deadly to some.

In the city where a reputation can make or break you, the dogs are getting a fresh moniker.

Ed Boks, director of New York City Animal Care and Control (search), told the New York Post he came up with the idea to change the breed’s name after moving from Phoenix, Ariz., to New York City and realizing that the dogs’ reputation was as erroneous as that of Big Apple citizens, who he said are “some of the most generous an open-hearted people I’ve ever met.”

I know that the media can distort things out of recognition (if you own a gun you understand), but I would tend to be pretty wary of a Pit Bull, regardless of what you call it.  Unless they’re planning to do something to get people to treat the dogs right, the breed will continue to be a problem regardless of what you call it.

3 Comments

  1. Full Auto says:

    Hey Aubrey,
    My daughter has one and the dog is an absolute riot.  You’d love her.  She gets along great with our 2 greyhounds and any other dog I’ve seen her with.  I think they have to be trained to be mean, and if they’re raised with love they respond in kind.

  2. I think you’re right in that dogs that are raised right are not usually a threat to people.  I try to take the dogs on an individual basis, but I’m especially wary of a pit bull if I don’t know the owner.  A lot of people get them just to make them mean (along with Rottweilers).

  3. Full Auto says:

    Yup, I know what you mean about the way some people treat dogs.  But if you could see my daughter’s pit bull in action.  She’s hilarious.  Maybe some day she would turn, but I’ve been around dogs my whole life, and if this dog is bad then I don’t know shit.