General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "I wish those vicious creatures could be banned." ***WARNING: GRAPHIC*** [View all]Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)1) Definition. "Irish Setter" is applied only to a specific breed, and within that generally only recognized (i.e., registered / papered) members of that breed. A dog that conforms exactly to the breed standard for "Irish Setter" but has no recognized lineage is a mongrel that looks exactly like an Irish setter. "Pit bull" on the other hand is very murky. I knew a guy who thought an afghan hound down the block was a pit bull because it attacked the fence every time someone walked by; it was a mean dog and thus it was a "pit bull." That's an extreme example, but the truth is there is no "standard" for pit bull.
2) Population. There's just more "bull-ish" dogs than Irish setters... Not the least because in addition to unrecognized breeds, "typed" mongrels, and mistaken identities, there are also about seven distinct, recognized breeds that have the common physical characteristics of a pit bull, but there's still just one Irish setter.
You seem to recognize both of these features, I'll grant. Unfortunately they contradict; Since "pit bull" is such a vaporous term, figuring their true population is next to impossible, while the paper trails make it pretty easy to calculate the number of Irish setters.
However, there's a third factor that you missed, which also needs to be considered; Owner and environment.
A reputable breeder evaluates you and your environment before selling you a dog. If they feel you would not provide a suitable home and appropriate care for the puppy, they'll just refuse to sell the animal to you. of course this isn't 100%; as one of the "pretty puppy" breeds, Irish setters have a pretty large puppy mill market going, I'm sure. Even then though, the people purchasing one of those animals is probably looking for a cute fluffy puppy for their child to play with or something. The animal might not get the best possible home, but they're probably well-intentioned towards the animal and will love it. It's unlikely some tough guy looking for a status symbol "butch" animal to show what a hardass he is, is going to come looking for some skinny puppy that fell out of a direct-to-video Disney film, though
Now come over to pit bulls. While there are recognized breeds fitting the "type," and thus reputable breeders (Staffordshire terriers come to mind) a lot of these animals come from backyard breeders who either just pass out puppies to all comers, or sell them to a particular, shall we say, market. Maybe these breeders are nice people whose bitch just got pregnant, maybe they're total assholes running a mill in their basement, whatever, what matters is where the puppy ends up. Since of course "everyone knows" pit bulls are monsters, evil land-sharks out to eat grandma, the odds of some nice family stopping by to pick up a bunch-o-cuddles bully puppy are... rather slim. On the other hand, remember that fellow wanting a muscular, "manly" dog to show what a hardass he is? Yeah, he's going to be knocking on the door.
So between the two, which animal do you think might end up being mistreated, and thus become a mean dog? "Billie," the irish setter puppy who runs around the backyard with a seven year old who chucks tennis balls for him, or "Dawg," the bully puppy who ends up chained to the bed of a pickup and is punched in the face now and again to keep him from "trusting"? Now, trade places, who's the mean dog, who's the well-adjusted dog?
It actually becomes self-fulfilling. The more peopel insist this dog is a mean, savage "fighting animal" who can't ever be trusted... the more interest people who want a mean, savage 'fighting animal' are goign to have in acquiring such an animal... and molding it to conform to that image.