I NEVER have my dogs off leash in public, and my dogs are highly people friendly. However, dogs and bikes are a bad match unless they are desensitized to them. I too have little sympathy for the owner of this dog.

When you look at any numbers, consider canine population. Here is what is currently available on Petfinder:
Boston Terrier – 1100
Pug – 1900
Yellow Lab – 2100
Golden Retriever – 2700
Rottweiler – 3300
Black Lab – 4800
German Shepherd – 7300
Beagle – 8200
Pit Bulls (American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier) – over 17000

Pit Bulls are by far the most over bred dog right now – so when you say there are more of them involved in incidents, it doesn’t mean that the breed is bad.

Again, I TOTALLY SUPPORT dangerous dog laws like this that are not breed specific.

While this is a single incident, it is rather disconcerting to look at the Virginia Dangerous Dog Registry; a majority of the dogs listed are either pit bulls or german shepherds. That certainly sends a message to me.

I’m a dog lover as much as anyone but I’ve been chased and bitten more than once while hearing, “Oh, but my dog is friendly!” Most dogs are friendly to their owners but when they see a cyclist wearing a helmet or hiker with a backpack and walking sticks, the dogs frequently aren’t. (Once, while hiking, I had a clueless woman literally tell me how friendly her dogs were while her pack of five mutts were trying to eat me alive. Friendly ? Right!)

I have very little patience or tolerance for people who don’t control their dogs, especially on hiking trails, no matter the breed.

Clearly, some breeds are more aggressive than others and in the Rockbridge case, walking a pit bull unleashed in the forest is simply irresponsible and reckless. I have little sympathy for this dog’s owner and the difficulties she faces because of her irresponsible and casual behavior.

Irresponsible owners who allow their dogs to cause trouble are as much of a threat to people like me as they are to our communities, in that they jeopardize my right to own the breed of dog I love.

Thank you Virginia, for dealing with dogs based on actions, not breed. There are dangerous dogs of all breeds, and many Pit Bulls who are no more dangerous than a cupcake.