Sixty percent of pet owners feel that all dog breeds should be allowed in residential communities, while 38% believe some breeds should be banned, according to the poll, conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications.
Denver and Miami-Dade County in Florida have pit bull bans, as do other communities around America. The U.S. military has banned some breeds from on-base housing.
Of pet owners participating in the poll who support breed bans, 85% would bar pit bulls. Other breeds considered too dangerous were Rottweilers, Dobermans, German shepherds and chow chows. Seven percent said any violent, vicious, or fighting dog should be banned, and two percent said all large dogs should be outlawed.
Asked specifically about pit bulls, 53% of those polled said they were safe for residential neighborhoods, but 43% said they were too dangerous.
Interestingly, age played a major role in the pit bull questions: 76% of those younger than 30 said pit bulls were safe, compared with just 37% of seniors.
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Not so special delivery
A Minneapolis postal worker might have thought she was on a TV sitcom when a package moved by itself and fell to the floor. Then came the sounds of heavy panting. Within minutes, the woman and co-workers unwrapped a tightly sealed box and rescued a 4-month-old schnauzer-poodle puppy that a Minneapolis woman actually tried to mail to Georgia.
The air holes the sender punched in the box were covered with mailing tape, and the priority mail trip would have taken at least two days. If the puppy didn't suffocate, it would have died as a result of traveling in the cargo hold of an airplane, where temperatures fall to around 40 below zero at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
Stacey Champion paid $22 to send the puppy, named Guess, to Georgia via priority mail. Champion reportedly cautioned postal workers to "be careful" as they handled the box because "it was so delicate."
