An 11-year-old boy was attacked in North Surrey by a vicious dog May 5, suffering severe injuries to his arms, legs and head.

The dog was struck repeatedly with a bat by a passerby who was finally able to free the boy from the jaws of the dog.

This morning, as I was driving to work, a teaser off the top of a radio talk show was whether or not pit bulls should be banned in the province.

As a dog owner for 20 years, I laughed at such a sweeping generalization.

What exactly is a pit bull?

Typically, in the media, it could be any breed of dog belonging to the 'bully' family, including, but not limited to: the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Other dogs that fall under this umbrella can include: the American Bulldog, Bull Terrier and Bullmastiff, or any mix (known in the breeding community as a 'Heinz 57') of these breeds.

A quick eyeballing of the dogs in question reveals (to me) that they look like American Pit Bull Terriers, possibly a cross.

What frustrates me is that people in this profession pluck and strum a nerve just by mentioning the words 'pit bull' - whipping the public into a frenzy.

For animals, behaviour is learned. In domesticated dogs (like a pit bull), if they are treated poorly (left outside all day, not fed in proper intervals, not properly socialized), they will treat others poorly.

In this way, dogs are like people. No one dog is inherently more violent than the next, and this includes dogs defined as pit bulls.

When I was eight, I was bitten by a 'pit bull,' and it hurt. The dog got excited as I was running around in the backyard of a friend's house and began to chase me. He nicked me on the leg.

The dogs have been banned in Ontario and Winnipeg.

While I feel awful for the boy who was mauled by the dog, the lion's share of blame belongs to irresponsible owners who let their dogs run free on a school playground in the middle of the day.