By Chris Peck

The photographer has a dog named Lamont.

The reporter has a pit bull mix named Tommy.

Neither Mark Weber nor Cindy Wolff is anti-dog. Or even anti-pit bull.

''I love all dogs, especially pit bulls,'' said dog-lover Wolff, who has spent six months working on the story published in today's Commercial Appeal detailing the horrid cultural environment in Memphis that has led to the breeding, fighting and killing of vicious pit bulls. ''That's what has made reporting on this story so hard, when I see how much abuse they suffer.''

Photographer Mark Weber has been on the story for months, too.

''I hope this project can make a difference in Memphis,'' Weber said. ''Pit bulls are a problem in this town.''

Much of what the reporter and photographer have seen in Memphis these last six months has scared them.

Dogs trained to attack on verbal command.

Dogs chained to junk cars without any socialization that would ever make them a good pet.

A man lying in a hospital room, attacked by two pit bulls who together ripped off his arm, not far from the bus stop where the man innocently got off.

Today's newspaper lays bare the teeth of the pit bull problem.

Too many dogs. Too many unscrupulous owners who train them to be mean.

Not enough regulation. Not enough education about the breed.

Photographs of the worst of these dogs and their owners cannot help but be disturbing. It's not a pretty picture.

The newspaper edited the 2,000 photographs we have of Memphis pit bulls and tried, in the photographs published today, to capture the seriousness and the reality of the pit bull plague. We chose not to publish the most graphic photos of bloody dogs, their victims or their euthanasia at the animal shelters.

The story about the Memphis pit bulls purposefully talks about the many good dogs, the many family pets, not just the killers who are programmed to bite until death.

Still, editors know this story will generate a powerful reaction. To capture that emotion, and the learning that the public may want to share about pit bulls, the paper has set up a variety of ways for readers to share their thoughts.

If you have something to share about this story, send it to hotbutton@commercialappeal.com.

Or call us on our pit bull hotline: (901) 529-6477.

Or go online to read more about the pit bulls, see more photos, and leave a comment with the story.

Next week, we'll follow up with publication of your comments. And if the story generates news about a new Memphis approach to the dogs and the culture that has made them most feared, we'll report that, too.

Reporter Cindy Wolff knows the difficulty of sorting out what to do about bad pit bulls. She has wrestled with the question throughout her reporting. ''This story has rattled in my head for years,'' she said once the project was done. ''I've met some wonderful dogs in great homes.'' At the same time, she says, ''I've also met some dogs that would tear me apart if they were let off their chains, and their owners liked it that way.''

Pit bulls can't choose their genes or their owners.

If puppies are inbred and then encouraged by owners to attack, well, the dogs can't help that.

They can't choose to wear a logging chain around their necks, can't choose to be beaten, abused and trained to fight.

They can't speak when they head to the shelter on a one-way trip for a needle.

All of those choices have to be made by us, their human masters.

That's why this story appears today.

The political leaders, the police, the people of Memphis have to decide what to do about pit bulls.

It's us, not them, who need to make a change.

Chris Peck is editor of The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at 529-2390 or at peck@commercialappeal.com.