[West Ender]

Police have, apparently, "rounded up" 6 pitbull-type dogs in Merseyside today. Footage on TV showed friendly, sociable dogs being bundled into a police van.

These are inbred, savage killers aren't they? Why weren't they ripping each other to pieces in the van? Why weren't they snarling at and biting the police who put them in there? You cannot condemn a dog out of hand because of its ancestry. It may have been bred to have a potentially more aggressive nature but Nurture has to play a part too.

My elder daughter has a dog which is a Stafford Cross. He looks vaguely similar to a pitbull. He was neutered at a year old and is quiet, amiable and obedient. Travis is used to children, nephews and neices are always around my daughter's home as are neighbours' children, and he's used to lots of adults around. He's also used to cats as my daughter has 3 of them. He knows his place - he's at the bottom of the pack. He's a dog, he's got a dog's nature, he's trained and, most importantly, he's controlled.

Merseyside Police would no doubt class him as looking like a dangerous dog with his broad head and chest and his strong jaws. In the wrong hands, perhaps, he could have become a dangerous dog. In reality he's a loveable family member. Knee-jerk reactions to breeds of dog will not solve this problem. We need to sort out the human owners first.