On September 23 of 2011, the Mississippi Press ran a news story about an officer shooting a Pit Bull that "charged" an officer. This news story ran online at the following link: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2011/09/officer_kills_one_of_three_pit.html as well as in the physical newspaper.
Sheriff Mike Byrd made the statement "These dogs, I'm telling you they will hurt you," Byrd said. "All they want to do is bite."
This is a statement of ignorance of the Pit Bull breed and does nothing but spread hurtful misrepresentation of Pit Bulls. It is a prejudiced statement and I and the undersigned invite Sheriff Mike Byrd and his deputies to learn about the breed before making such misrepresentations and spread even more hate, fear and discrimination of the breed.
Sheriff Mike Byrd, his deputies and the media need an education on the Pit Bull and be educated on spotting the difference between "bad dog vs. bad owner", "bad deed vs. bad breed".
To kill a dog that has obviously not been trained properly, cause panic to the public by alerting such statements of "All they want to do is bite" andnot recognize a mistreated animal and criminally charge or fine the owner is not only a public disservice, but it is a disservice of Pit Bulls and other dogs wrongfully deemed "vicious" and or "dangerous".
We the undersigned ask for Sheriff Mike Byrd to learn about the Pit Bull breed, it's history in this country and around the world and retract his statement.