When I lived in Phoenix there were sections of town where dogs were dumped and then went feral.
Some ended up in the adoption shelters, which pretty much only had pitbulls and chihuahuas.

I'm mostly in Scottsdale (although Covid really slowed that down) as I have interest in a business located in Tempe.

That was my trip to Tucson and area, and it was nice as it was a good bit cooler than Scottsdale area due to altitude. Seems like a much more liveable area.

Tucson is a dump.

I find it fascinating as I do not think we have anything similar here in Canada and all dogs are in homes or a shelter.

I am guessing it is both a culture and lack of service thing. More dogs not fixed being released and less dog catchers out catching them and transitioning them to homes.


Like i said it was common in the Caribbean and I know it is in India too.

is it, lol.

I was only in out visiting a supplier company and did not see the town itself. I came in only to the Northern end, more industrial area, and then left.

I love Scottdale, in Canada's winter months but outside that have no interest in that heat. It makes Texas (Fort Worth) where i also travel for business, seem mild temperatured in comparison.

I've heard it called a cultural thing, that many Latinos don't want to get their dogs neutered. I don't know if that is really true or not though.

When I lived there Phoenix did have the most stray dogs per person of any cities in the US. Second only to Los Angeles in total number of strays.

My friend there adopted a great little dog that an older woman had brought to a rescue organization, saying her daughter in law had planned to dump him in the desert.
Now they live with me and he's my buddy.

If you really want to know if they are dangerous and why go read Ray Coppinger's work on motor patterns in canines in the peer reviewed journals. He was not undisputed but he was way smarter than anyone who actually owns a pitbull. Here the cliff note: They are dangerous because the motor patterns like eye-stalk have been bred out of them but not the later motor patterns like the take down bite or kill bite. On the flip side, the reason your retriever will chase your stupid frisbee all day and never hurt anyone is because their other patterns have been bred out of them, but not the eye-stalk or chasing motor patterns. They love to chase but forgot how to kill. Pitbulls forgot they are supposed to stalk and chase first, but certainly remember how to kill. That makes them more dangerous than something like a wolf which actually has the full motor patterns ingrained in them. Wolves don't just attack for no reason and now you know why.

I read this book with a book club a few years ago, soon after it was released, so I don't remember it all that well, but I thought it was a fairly evenhanded account of the history of the breed and how its reputation went from "nanny dog" to "vicious killer", and I enjoyed reading it. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_Bu..._American_Icon
Author Bronwen Dickey

Apparently both pit bull advocates and and those against the breeds complained about the book, which IMO is a good sign that it was mostly fair.

The thing that stuck with me the most was the interview with a woman who rescued pit bulls and made the usual claims that they were only bad if trained that way, etc., but gave all her dogs scary names. I can't remember the exact names right now, but imagine her having a pit bull sanctuary where all the "harmless" dogs have names like "Killer", "Demon", "Lucifer" or "Ripper". These sorts of people want their dogs not to be viewed as monsters, but they deliberately give them names like this. It cemented my belief that most people who have pit bulls do so at least partially because they like the idea of owning something that will scare others.

Encountered a bunch of dogs roaming free

Opps I meant to make a longer post but accidentally posted that-- but yeah came across a bunch of dogs today while hiking.

One of them was a pitbull that was trying to be tough. I didn't consider it any sort of threat but my friend threw some sticks to scare it away. I prefer the "don't make angry dogs angrier' approach but the sticks worked.

It seemed pretty clear that my friend was racist against pitbulls though.

ya I would not recommend throwing the stick or even escalating the aggression in that spot. The stick will be far more useful in your hand, if it did attach, as the dog would likely try to seize that first as opposed to biting you, first.

Instead the approach if you think you are receiving aggression is to take an assertive stance, and issue some assertive type commands, while backing away. If the dog has any history with humans prior whom it submitted to, commands wise, you assume that posture and giving commands with confidence, as if you in charge, can be just enough to break the dogs attention or lock on you.

If you have ever walked dogs who you know will lunge or be aggressive to other dogs, you probably know there is a body language that builds (outside Pitbulls) that can be uses as a signal they may be about to pounce and attack and that if you catch them early in that body language and poke them and command them, you can break that focus and prevent it, most times.

The key is to try and break the fixation which then leads to escalation.

Latin dog packs are usually really chill. They know not to enter stores or mess with random humans, bc they know their life is easier without humans actively ending them (we are the apex a-holes). That said, pitbulls are crazy af. I've seen a total of one roaming pitbull ever. I've heard most stray pit bulls are either killed or taken in by gangs.

Anybody who owns a pit bull that mauls their kids is a total moran

Yeah I made that mistake once with a little ankle biter and I thought if I stomped my foot that would scare him off but all it did was enrage him and get his friend (who had hitherto been uninterested) involved as well. It all ended fine but I had to use my bag as a shield and the owner had to come out.

Yeah-- the street dogs don't seem to be nearly as much of a threat as the dogs who have owners and are just out guarding their property.

thats awsome!

what are you doing in colombia?

vacation?

did you try that white powder?

street dogs run around in pretty much every 3rd world country and in between 1st and 3rd world countries.

Yeah vacation, birdwatching. I'm in small town Colombia and wouldn't even know how to find it here-- I'm sure I could but it's generally frowned upon-- I've come across it in Bogota in the past though. People do this stuff called mambe though which is the Coca leaves crushed into a powder (it's green not white)-- and that's also silly.

generally frowned upon? are you sure? maybe.
I thought they all do it in colombia. that is probably wrong.

It probably like weed here, and only the savages do it.
I dont want you to get in trouble, so better to stay away from it I guess.


Stay safe enjoy your vacation, have fun. my friend, is a girl from cartanega she is in madrid now and moved there.

Pretty loaded word from this guy in this context...

I'm sure washoe has me on ignore, but blow is frowned upon in Colombia for the same reason mafia is frowned upon in Italy- everyone knows someone who has been screwed by the industry. Cocaine simply isn't a fair trade drug and Colombia is ground zero

I traveled Bogota and Cartagena a few years back and just loved it there. I've heard the drug crime is again surging and re-establishing itself, which makes me sad. It was at very low levels when i was there.

I've heard that as well but I'm in a super safe area in the mountains a few hours south of Medellin. I don't think much bad ever happens here. Coca is grown at lower elevations so here it's just coffee, bananas, passion fruit, and avocados.

I've still never been to Cartagena but I like Bogota.

Sounds nice, how long have you been there? Have you posted anywhere about your excursion?

Really it's just frowned upon here for the same reason it's frowned upon everywhere. People still do it just like people do any place it's available, but I can't imagine that the percentage of those who do is significantly greater than those in the US.