Irresponsible. Stupid. And I'm sick of it.

I was working in my office when I heard it.

Mecca's distinct snarl indicating someone unfamiliar has entered our private space.

I jumped out of my chair, and ran to my patio glass in search of her. My yard is gated, so hence the snarl. Someone had to be in the yard. And there was. The utilty man.

I keep the yard unlocked with a "Beware of Dog" sign on the door. Not because she's anything to be wary of, but because that gate is unlocked and I want anyone feeling brazen enough to just come on in, to know there is a dog onsite. This however, does not seem to deter the utility man from just walking in each month to "read the meter."

I look and see Mecca offering a warning bark. She's crouched low, and she's barking very loudly as if to say, "Not supposed to be in here." I look and see Mr. Utility man yielding a long, metal baton, which he is using to jab Mecca under her arm, in the soft fold seperating her joint from tissue. She is angry and she snarls, he pokes again...with a grin on his face.

Mecca is a pitbull.

I open the patio glass, jump into the yard and call Mecca's name while he continues to jab at her and she gets increasingly upset. She does not respond to me, and her growl takes an ugly turn I am not used to. I call out to the Utility man to stop it, and to stand still. He looks up at me, amusement dying slowly from his eyes, and he lets down the metal baton. Mecca continues to bark, but she does not move toward him as I've told her to "wait." Which for Mecca means, "freeze." This man sees the anxiety in my face and offers his feeble hello and explanation for being in my yard.

"Is there something wrong with you?" I exclaim wildly, having collared Mecca and ushered her into my house.

"I was just keeping her away from me." He offers with a shrug.

"Wrong. You were antagonizing her. Big fucking difference. Why would you stand there grinning and jabbing her that way? You see my truck in the yard, you KNOW I work virtually and you KNOW I am home. So why would you walk in the yard, and initate something that foolish when I've asked your company repeatedly to KNOCK to let me know you need access to the YARD?"

He apologies and casts his eyes away, immediately uncomfortable with my anger. He knows better. We both are painfully aware of this.

"This is a pitbull. Okay? And yes, she's been raised with love and she's mostly harmless, but that does not mean it is in anyway logical for you to walk into this yard, jab her with an object, toy with her anger and expect that to be acceptable knowing full well if she were to bite you, I'd have a thousand reporters in my backyard reporting on another savage attack by a wild and unmanageable breed. I would have to destroy her, because you have no common sense. From now on, there will be a lock on that gate to remind you to do what I asked your company to do - each month for an ENTIRE year."

In between his apologies, I took his name, and reported the incident to the Utility company. And then, I put a lock on that gate. Not because my dog is vicious. Not because she's bitten any one ever in her eight years of living. Not because she has an aggressive bone in her body. I did it because pitbulls have a reputation. I did it because it's the smart thing to do (even if my lease says I cannot prohibit access to the yard). I did it because I understand the NATURE of the breed, and I respect the job I signed on for when my Dad purchased her for me when she was six weeks aold.  I did it because I love my dog and I will do anything to protect her. I did it, because I don't want my lack of vigilance to incite a pitbull ban in yet another city. I did it because I am a RESPONSIBLE PITBULL OWNER.

I am tired of the stories. Children, innocent people injured because of the lack of responsibilty demonstrated by ignorant pet owners. Media: stop fanning the fires with stories designed to encourage fear and loathing.  Everyone that owns a pit, is not a drug dealing, rebel rousing troublemaker. For every story you burn the wires with about a child, an elderly senior citizen or random person on the street that is the victim of a terrifying attack, there is another pitbull that is afraid of cats, napping somewhere in a ray of sunshine on the carpet who's bark is far more meaty than their bite - because they've NEVER BITTEN ANYTHING BUT KIBBLE. There is another pit that gets jabbed, poked, tortured and overbred to help foster a sterotype, there is another irresponsible idiot watching the news, getting excited about the notion of a "killer beast" who is neglecting a puppy, feeding it meat tinged with battery acid and letting it dangle from a chew toy thrown over a laundry line with a 20 pound chain around it's neck.

DIG. DEEPER.

Another story here. Another story there. Everytime there is an attack, someone calls me to inform me of it. The answer is not banning. The answer is not lazy reporting. The answer is education and different initiatives, different laws that punish the OWNER and not the dog. Put some laws in place. Stop running innocent pitbull owners out of town like they're fucking Frankenstein. Make me pay for a yearly license to carry her, since you want to make her a loaded gun. Threaten me with jailtime if she's caught in an attack that appears unprovoked. You'll get no complaint from me, because I KNOW the love, time, energy and commitment that was put into my pitbull. I know I am responsible. And I know to take the ownership of my animal EXTREMELY seriously. Many of us with pitbulls, do.

Ignorant, sonsofbitch lazy OWNERS are.

Let's do something else besides chase monsters with angry sticks and ugly chants.