I was saddened to read Marian's account of her experience with Scarlet. I understand how angry and helpless she must feel.
I am not siding with the SPCA with regards to their assessment of Scarlet's temperament, but I must say that years of fostering dogs has taught me to reserve judgement on a dog's temperament until at least a week after the dog has arrived in my home. Poor Scarlet had less than 24 hours with Marian, and those hours were spent without the the companionship and security of her mother for the first time as well. Surely she was out of her element, so her behaviour would not have been what was normal for her. For this reason I don't think it's fair to say Scarlet would have been safe with children and dogs- she may have been, but then again maybe not. As dogs become more comfortable and secure in their environment, their behaviour changes, often becoming more protective, possesive, or aggresive.
I am glad to see there are still wonderful, kind, and unbiased people like Marian in this world who are willing to open their homes to a pitbull. If we had more people like her, there would be fewer pit bulls, rottweilers, and other large "aggressive" breeds rotting away their existence in pounds and shelters. But the sad fact is that pounds and shelters are full of them. Why?
Very few conscientious, serious, responsible dog owners choose to own these breeds. Responsible dog owners often have socilal lives and families that they care about - a breed that is capable of, and often predisposed to aggression, a breed that is capable of killing a child or seriously harming an adult, is simply not a breed of choice for these people. They'll pick a shih tsu or a lab.
Who seeks out this breed? The majority of them are men or women who think owning a pit bull makes them look cool, or grow ops who want a guard dog. In general, not responsible or kind people. That is why our pounds and shelters are so full of these poor dogs, these by-products of human selfishness.
There are a lot of people who feel that pit bulls and rottweillers, chows, akitas, cane corsos, etc. are no more dangerous or likely to attack than a shih tsu. Personally, I disagree, but to be fair, ask yourself to answer honestly this question a dear friend of mine once posed: "If you were walking in the park, and 3 shih tsus were running towards you from one direction, and 3 pit bulls were running towards you from another, both with frothing mouths, intent on you as their target, which would you be more afraid of?"
I don't feel there is a reason for humans to "own" dogs that are capable of killing other humans, children or animals.
But that is just a human's point of view. An unbiased look at the dangerous breed situation reveals that it's no fun for the dogs involved either. Some of these dogs live happy and uneventful lives as cherished family pets. The vast majority are abused, neglected, chained, isolated, and ultimately dumped in pounds and shelters, waiting to be executed. The vast majority lead lives of misery and die a lonely death. So this is not really a question of what is the best way to deal with pit bulls in shelters, or how could Scarlet's situation have better been handled. In our world, it would be better for all if Scarlet had not existed in the first place. Better for Marian and her children, better for the poor old dog who was allegedly attacked, and certainly better for Scarlet. She lived a life of being bred, was abandoned at a shelter, and was ultimately killed.
I am not saying that all dangerous breed dogs should be killed. They should be given every chance to live happy lives. But I know that is a very difficult gift to give to all the abused, negelcted, desocialized pit bull, rottie, shepherd, akita, chow, etc., etc., and mixes of all these breeds and more who suffer in our world today. Banning humans from breeding more of these dogs, banning humans from delivering more victims into lives of misery seems to me the only pragmatic and humane solution.
In the meantime, we need more Marians in this world to offer their love and patience to the poor pit bulls who wait in shelters today, created, used, and dumped by humans.