1 The Menace of Pit Bulls

Betty Lou Stidham lived in terror . She feared the dogs next door to her—two ferocious pit bulls. Earlier, these dogs had mauled Stidham's own dog. Stidham, who lived alone, asked the city to have the two pit bulls put to sleep. But officials in Memphis, Tennessee, said no. They said her dog had caused the attack. It had stuck its paw through the neighbor's fence.

And so, on a steamy day in 1990, Betty Lou Stidham walked out to her mailbox to get the mail. As she walked back toward her house, the two pit bulls struck. Somehow they had gotten outside their chain-link fence. 57-year-old Stidham never had a chance. The snarling dogs jumped all over her. Karen Gomez was driving by in her car at the time. “There was this large body [Stidham weighed 200 pounds] with hardly any clothes on,” said Gomez. “There was a dog on each side pulling on the body, which seemed lifeless.”

But Stidham wasn't dead—not yet. She did what she could to fend off the pit bulls. A neighbor who witnessed part of the struggle said, “At times [Stidham] would raise her right hand up. When she did, [the dogs] would attack the hand. You could tell she was still alive, maybe barely .”

The neighbor desperately wanted to help Stidham. Grabbing two brooms, she began to run toward the dogs. But a friend stopped her. “She beat on me with her fists to let her go help,” said the friend. “But I couldn't let her do it. They would have killed her too.”Meanwhile, someone had called 911. An ambulance arrived and rushed Stidham to the hospital. But it was too late. Stidham had lost too much blood. She died four hours later.

Betty Lou Stidham isn't the only person to be attacked by angry pit bulls. In Michigan, a pit bull broke out of its owner's backyard. It went into a neighbor's yard where young Kyle Corullo was playing.The pit bull killed the little boy by breaking his neck. In Alabama, two pit bulls attacked Johnny Ford as he jogged . Ford, who was the city's mayor, saved himself by climbing up a tree. Still, the dogs did plenty of damage. They nearly ripped off one of Ford's legs.

Dozens of people have been mauled or killed by pit bulls in recent years. What makes these dogs so vicious ? Pit bulls—which are really bull terriers—are strongly built. And they have been bred to be fierce. It has been said that a pit bull would rather fight than eat. In the 1800s, some owners set up fights between these dogs. Two dogs would be put into a pit. They would fight while people, who bet on one dog or the other, cheered.

Although pit bull fighting is now against the law, some people still use the dogs as fighters. Some use the dogs for protection. They keep pit bulls as guard dogs. Others just like the breed. They say that a well-trained pit bull can make a marvelous pet. They are loyal and they love to be around people. “There's no dog that has a bigger heart,” said one pit bull owner. “You can just feel the love coming from this dog.”

In fact, many dog experts claim that the problem lies not with the dogs but with the owners. Some people treat their pit bulls badly. Others don't bother to train the dogs properly. So perhaps the owners are to blame for pit bull attacks. Today, owners in some places face fines or even jail if their pit bulls attack someone.

So, is the pit bull a good dog or a bad dog? It depends. If the dog is curled up on your lap by the fire, it's a good dog. But if it's tearing at your arm, it's a real menace .