The Role of Media in Creating a Negative Reputation for "Aggressive" Dog Breeds

Throughout history, it has been proven that no one’s DNA has wired them to resent a certain race, religion, or sexual orientation. Humans are not born with hate and anger towards other people. Those are traits they have acquired from their friends and family at a young age, or have developed through negative personal experiences. And just like humans, dogs are not born aggressive or dangerous either. The reputation of innocent, loving dogs has been ruined by the media, irresponsible breeders, and the generalities that people have placed on these breeds for so many years.

The media has played a significant role in creating a negative reputation for “aggressive” dog breeds by illustrating them to have genetically, undesirable traits. For example, the 2009 movie, Blood and Bone, has a scene where a man is too scared to enter a cage holding two pit bulls. He even tells his friend, “They’re looking at me like I’m Chinese take-out!”. The pit bulls are growling, barking and wearing spiked collars, which further enhances their fear factor.

Another example is Snoop Dog’s 1998 album cover for “Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told” which features him smoking marijuana behind two Rottweilers, one wearing a muzzle. The breed he chose to feature on that cover is no coincidence. The intimidating stature and masculinity the Rottweilers display, further enhance the tough, “gangster” image that so many artists in the industry want to portray. Now think about the classic movie, Legally Blonde, starring Reece Witherspoon. The movie cover features Witherspoon walking a small Chihuahua that wears a bright pink jacket. This image helps viewers foreshadow the plot of the movie and her character as being a stereotypical, rich, white girl. But if the artists changed the Chihuahua to a Pit Bull and the pink jacket to a spiked collar, the image that would give off would be contradicting to Witherspoon’s character even though the dogs, in reality, only differ in appearance. This is because the media has manipulated our minds to believe Pit Bulls are not luxurious, upper class breeds. Society has been trained to view these precious animals as the bottom of the food chain, the least desirable dogs to own, that can be disposed of without second thought to any shelter. Irresponsible and abusive dog breeders are the main culprits for the validity of the stereotype that some breeds are more dangerous than others. When dogs are abused from a young age, it teaches them to be scared of humans and protect themselves by biting and attacking. That is only natural when they have never been showed love or care by a human.

One of the most publicized cases of animal abuse was in 2007, when quarterback Michael Vick was charged for illegal dogfighting. The Animal Legal Defense Fund reported that “Vick and his associates operated the aptly named ‘Bad Newz Kennels,’ which housed and trained over 50 pit bull dogs, staged dog fights, and killed dogs…” But if any dog can be trained to fight, why are pit bulls always first pick? The website topdogtips.com found that Pit Bulls are the most popular dogs to fight because of their immaculate strength and unwavering loyalty to their owners. This is especially important to those who fight dogs, because there are usually large cash prizes to be earned for the winner. It is a sad reality that the sweet, loyal nature Pit Bulls have for their owners is taken advantage of by greedy criminals.

Ever since I can remember, I have always loved dogs. I had multiple growing up, and thought it was the norm for every family to have a dog impatiently waiting for them at the end of a long school day. Big or small, I was never scared to approach one. Because of my naive nature, I didn't understand when my friends would sometimes avoid crossing paths with one. But as I grew up, I learned that many of my peers fell victim to the public misconceptions about breeds like Pit Bulls and Rottweilers. They believed these dogs were ill natured and ready to attack, no matter how gentle and innocent their intentions truly were. The generalizations people have made about these breeds are so widely known and believed by the public, they are mistaken to be facts, rather than stereotypes. These stereotypes have gone so far, that most apartment complexes won’t let you own a dog that falls under the “aggressive” category. People can even be completely denied insurance coverage, from companies like Esurance, according to an article on valuepenguin.com.

Not only do dogs suffer the consequences from these extremely false and biased stereotypes, but dog owners now do as well. The stereotypes these “aggressive breeds” have to face is disheartening, when there are so many dogs that fall into that category who are full of love and affection. It is the fault of humans for creating this stereotype, that only began from years of abuse and neglect on behalf of dog owners. The media’s powerful influence on the public is only strengthening the claims against these innocent animals. In Roxane Gay’s article, Bad Feminist, she says that “all too often, these seemingly smaller issues go unchecked because there are so many more serious issues…”. However, the nation as a whole is becoming more progressive, in terms of rights for humans and animals, so I predict there will be progress made in destroying these unfair stereotypes within the coming years.