r/PitbullAwareness

Tomorrow, May 21st, at 10:00am, the SF Board of Supervisors Government Audit & Oversight Committee will hold a hearing at San Francisco City Hall, Legislative Chamber, Room 250, regarding San Francisco’s Dangerous & Vicious Dog Unit, which currently has dozens of pending dangerous dog cases without hearings due to the lack of a dedicated hearing officer.

Meanwhile, the City has already logged 438 reported dog bite incidents in 2026, with 66 dangerous dog cases currently backed up without hearings.

I’m attending in person because my own service dog was seriously injured in an unprovoked attack by an unneutered pit bull inside an enclosed San Francisco dog park. Navigating the process afterward was already extremely difficult even when hearings were operational.

One thing I learned after the attack is that many victims never report incidents at all because they:
• do not know the system exists,
• cannot identify the owner,
• or assume nothing meaningful will happen.

If you are in the Bay Area or San Francisco and have firsthand experience with severe dog attacks, especially involving pit bulls, service animals, or repeated aggression cases, please consider:
• attending public comment tomorrow,
• speaking to reporters,
• or DMing me if you are willing to share your story publicly.

The goal here is not online outrage. It is making sure San Francisco maintains a functioning system for dangerous dog accountability and public safety.

Background article:

https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/14/dog-attacks-sf-canine-court/

I recently posted in another subreddit about how I took in a female Pitbull stray who had a rough start and was directed to ask for a more realistic explanation here. She showed up to my doorstep emaciated, lactating (no pups found), and suffered severe mycotoxin poisoning that led to seizures and a coma. She is physically recovered now, but I’m navigating a tricky pack dynamic and want to know if I’m sitting on a powder keg.

As I said in my post there, I am not a fan of pitbulls and have my prejudices when dealing with them. I understand every dog is an individual and am willing to give this one a fair shot.

The Pack:

• A senior Border Collie who acts as the "referee" and "splitter."
• A 15lb Jack Russell Terrier with zero fear.
• The Pitbull. Very "soft" personality, extremely food-motivated, no resource guarding, and no redirected aggression when pulled away from a stimulus.

The Concern:

Now that she’s healthy, her prey drive has "flipped on" intensely. She’s obsessed with squirrels/birds and has zero recall once she locks in. When playing with my JRT, she uses a "stalk and pounce" maneuver. She stays "soft" during the pounce, but my JRT "fires back" and gets scrappy.
My Border Collie often steps in to split them up when the energy gets too high. While the Pittie has a very mild and extremely obedient temperament with us (lots of plopping on top of us and licking), I’m REALLY worried about Predatory Drift.

My questions for the group:

1. Have you lived with a Pittie that had a "soft" personality but high predatory motor patterns?
2. Does the fact that she can be redirected with treats during a squirrel-fixation suggest her impulse control is good enough to trust around a small dog?

My goal is to understand pitbulls better and make a decision as to whether its worth the risk to take in a stray whom I have zero background history on or rehome her immediately.