We’ve seen a lot of people say a lot of stupid things when it comes to so-called “pit bulls,” much of it coming from the media, but in the last few days, I have never seen so many articles, and so much disinformation, about one incident that involved a “pit bull.”   This time, the dog is a hero but is being painted instead as a villain simply because of his “breed.”

Wednesday, June 12, 2013, Roger Brown awoke in his Brazil, Indiana, home to discover that two of his toes were missing.   Due to his diabetes, Brown had an infection in his toes and or his foot (not uncommon in people with diabetes) and it is believed that gangrene had set in.   As such, doctors theorized that Brown’s dog Bo was gnawing off his owner’s toes to keep the infection and/or gangrene from spreading, and Brown did not feel his dog gnawing his toes because he had no feeling in them, a condition called diabetic neuropathy.  

So, in other words, Brown’s dog is a hero for trying to save his owner’s life.   But instead, articles about the incident either keep referring to the dog as a “pit bull” over and over in an attempt to vilify the dog, or they simply poke fun at the incident.   Yes, because diabetes-related complications are hilarious, aren’t they MSN, who started off their hit piece with,

“This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home and the other little piggies were devoured by a pit bull puppy.”

Likewise our favorite hit-piece writing “media” outlet, the Huffington Post, chimed in with,

“Let’s hope this dog isn’t lack-toes intolerant.”

Oh how droll.   Do you kiss your mother with those sociopathic lips?   Because really, laughing at someone’s medical condition and the hero dog that saved that person from a very serious medical condition….Do you have no soul?   Seriously, what is wrong with people in the media?   Are you really this sick and twisted?   Only at the end of their article does the Huff Post, or as we call it, the Gag Post, add,

“Police do not consider the incident an attack…According to the New York Daily News, doctors believe that Bo may have been trying to help his owner.”

Brown’s dog Bo brought attention, both Brown’s and the world’s, to Brown’s diabetes complications.   Again, the dog is a hero for saving his owner’s life, but instead he is portrayed as the villain of this piece, with some articles even implying that the dog had mauled his owner.   For instance, look at an Opposing Views “article” about the incident:

“An Indiana man woke up on Wednesday morning and noticed that two of his toes were missing. Roger Brown suspects that his pit bull gnawed them off while he was asleep. It is not clear why Brown would not have noticed his big and pinky toes being bitten off, but apparently he is quite a heavy sleeper.”

Because I know I always laugh at the disabled when they get gangrene!   And just in case we don’t already know the author’s views on diabetics or “pit bulls,” he added,

“Since the pit bull was Browns pet, police have decided that the incident is not an animal attack. Brown apparently blames himself for what happened and has said that he does not plan on euthanizing his pet.”

Why would you euthanize a dog for saving his owner’s life?   If this had been another breed, the dog would have been properly lauded as a hero.     For instance, look at how differently the UK’s Daily Mail reported on the incident:

“…this isn’t the first incident where a dog has tried to save their owner from an infection.

In 2010, Jerry Douthett of Rockford, Michigan, had one of his toes bitten off by his Jack Russel terrier, Kiko.

Douthett was a diabetic too, but was keeping the disease a secret from his family. But by keeping the disease a secret, and not regulating his blood-sugar, an infection started in his foot.

One night after drinking a lot of margaritas he passed out, only to be woken later surrounded in a pool of blood, noticing that Kiko had chewed off his toe.

Douthett was rushed to the hospital where the rest of his toe was amputated and doctors put him on a controlled medical program. This was a wake-up call for Douthett, and he gives all the credit to Kiko.

‘If it hadn’t been for that dog,’ Douthett told The Grand Rapids Press. ‘I could have ended up dead’.”

And while the Daily Mail also incorrectly referred to the dog as a “pit bull,” at least they got the story right; that Bo the dog didn’t maul his owner, he chewed his owner’s toes off to save his life.   In addition, the Daily Mail properly recognized Bo as a hero comparing him to the Jack Russell Kiko, who likewise chewed off his owner’s toe to save him from a diabetic-related infection.

So do you see how the media can either properly tell the story without bias, or be complicit in the vilification of the dogs they incorrectly refer to as “pit bulls”?   As we so often say, there is no breed “pit bull” but that doesn’t stop the media from referring to almost any medium- or even large-breed dog involved in an attack as a “pit bull,” with the results being that innocent dogs are vilified.   And as you can see from the Roger Brown incident, even a “pit bull” hero is a villain to some in the media.