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Comment by anonym29 | Hacker News Reader

Wish we had a hell of a lot more of these in the USA. Especially pet-free apartments. Something needs to be done about the service animal loophole though, far too many people abusing that system to bring e.g. pair of pitbulls into communities that only allow small dogs or the few rare gems that allow no dogs at all.

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I live in apartments in Austin. The only reason people get dogs is because everyone else has one. And there are plenty of instances of untrained and abused animals. My downstairs neighbor keeps a dog so loud its bark can be heard through a concrete floor. It barks at all hours of the day, night, and early morning. It's because these neighbors are inconsiderate assholes. The apartment complex management shrugs their shoulders. Hipster ghetto and I'm breaking my lease.

> I live in apartments in Austin. The only reason people get dogs is because everyone else has one.

I don’t know if I’m parsing this correctly. Are you saying that the only reason people get dogs in your particular apartment building in Austin is because everyone else has one?

Or are you saying that, in general, the only reason that people get dogs is because everyone else has one? The latter just isn’t correct. And I can’t speak to your particular apartment building, but I’d expect it’s not true for everyone there either.

What’s wrong with pitbulls? Every one I’ve met is a sweet little thing.

And I know the stats on dog attacks. Something like 10 a year from pitbulls could easily be down to owners buying them specifically to use them as weapons and training them as such.

Since you're aware of the statistics, how can you reconcile that only pitbulls seem to have bad owners? Wouldn't we assume a more normal distribution of bad owners across breeds, making golden retrievers, great danes, or bloodhounds just as likely to maim and kill other pets or children?

> Wouldn't we assume a more normal distribution of bad owners across breeds

I don’t think so… given breeds have different reputations, there’s no reason to expect that anything about their owners distributions to be random.

Dog breeds are an object of human fascination with fashion. https://www.vox.com/2016/8/31/12715176/most-popular-dog-bree...

I don't really have a strong opinion on the subject, but in my life, Doberman Pinchers and German Shepherds have gone through phases of being seen as dangerous breeds as well. My suspicion is that owners who desire aggressive dogs also tune into this and train their dogs accordingly.

If you’re an owner who wants an attack dog pitbulls will be on your short list along side German Shepherds. Now, there are definitely some breeds that don’t have it in them to attack (and if they do it’s less likely to be reported). Even if you get bitten by a chihuahua you’re not super likely to file a police report. And I will admit that you would be hard pressed to get a French Bulldog or Pug to hurt someone. But I don’t think pitbulls deserve to be singled out.

I've known a lot of German Shepherds (>10), and while they tend to be incredibly protective of their owners and their home, they don't seem to have the externally-directed aggression that I've seen from pitbulls. YMMV of course.

Also, FWIW, the only dogs I have been bitten by were a Chihuahua and a Pomeranian.

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