It’s really an awful dilemma. The S.F. Mayor is considering a Pit Bull Ban following the mauling death of a 12-year-old boy. I know there are a lot of people out there who love their pit bulls, consider them loyal and lovable members of the family. The were the most decorated, heroic military dogs in WWII. People who know them say it’s not the breed, it’s the handling. Nothing about the death of Nicholas Faibish seems to bear that out. And lots of people fear the breed’s incredible strength and tenacity. Pit Bulls have certainly killed people they should have been loyal to, like Nicholas.

So I don’t know. I don’t like reactionary, paternalistic laws. But whether there’s a ban or not, I have to ask myself: Would I want a pit bull around my four-year-old nephew? Or my mother? For that matter, would I want to be alone with a PB that I didn’t know, even if the owner said s/he was totally docile? No. I don’t trust them.

I don’t even totally trust my sheltie if my nephew were to run up to her. She might nip; sometimes nature wins out over nurture.