Talk Show Hosts Who Know Nothing About Pit Bulls: Please Shut Up

First, we had the oh-so-funny remarks from Chris Rock and Jay Leno dismissing the torture and killing of pit bulls as not so bad because they're not, according to Rock, "real dogs." And now we have "killer pit bull" obnoxiousness from David Letterman.

Actress Kyra Sedgwick was on Letterman's program Friday night and brought up the pit bull puppy she and husband Kevin Bacon have adopted -- "She was left outside Yankee Stadium - really, she was left for dead," Sedgwick said. And Letterman used the opportunity to perpetuate the hurtful and totally incorrect notion of pit bulls as bloodthirsty timebombs. While Sedgwick kept good-naturedly interjecting that this is a myth, and they're actually very sweet dogs who've gotten an undeserved bad rap, Letterman continued, in seemingly only half-joking fashion, with his insistence that they're inherently dangerous creatures who daily chew people's faces off.

And as he spoke, I cringed. The conversation they were having was no different from conversations that animal advocates have to engage in -- and myths they have to work to dispel -- about pit bulls every single day (indeed, this short discussion reminded me of the same conversation I constantly have with some family members about Mabel, except Kyra Sedgwick managed to keep cool, whereas I have a hard time doing that anymore). But people like Dave Letterman have a platform, a giant platform with an audience of millions, and it's painful to see those mischaracterizations perpetuated there -- mischaracterizations that have real consequences for the dogs.

Consistently mind-boggling to me, including in my direct experiences with friends and loved ones, is how people with no personal knowledge of pit bulls and who haven't bothered to do any objective research can so firmly insist that they know all these untruths about the dogs because of something they heard from Joe Schmo or from sensationalized news stories, while they tune out or condescendingly dismiss the arguments made and information provided by the people -- including even the experts -- who actually do have that personal experience and have done that reading and research. The pit bull issue is one where too many people, even those who are otherwise intelligent, thinking individuals, just decide they know something and stick to it, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.

But if Dave Letterman and those who share his misconceptions would take the time to really learn about these unfairly maligned dogs (follow some of the links here and here, for example), they would realize how wrong they are -- and stop being a part of the problem for these discriminated-against dogs.

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Photo courtesy Best Friends Animal Society