Are Pit Bulls Dangerous? You Decide!
Have you ever found yourself engaged in a conversation about pit bulls? I have.
The conversation raged on and on. I’ve read a bit (in the media) about people being attacked by pit bulls. To me, the evidence seems fairly strong that pit bulls can be unpredictable and dangerous. But as I admitted to my friend, I’m no expert on the subject. I just know what I’ve read in the news. So, we discussed it for a while, and I decided to look for some research that exposed the real facts.
The following study does just that.
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/Dog%20Attacks%201982%20to%202006%20Clifton.pdf
The following article responds to a variety of myths about pit bulls. Following each myth are links to articles articles debunking it.
http://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dogs-pitbull-myths.htm
For kicks, take some time to browse through the this site. You’ll find lots of other interesting information – not just interesting, but sobering and downright frightening.
7 Responses to “Are Pit Bulls Dangerous? You Decide!”
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Ken on April 19th, 2009
I must congratulate you on some well done research. I have followed breed specific bans closely for the past several years. When the facts are presented, and people are able to look at them, most of the time these bans are not able to be put into place. Part of one of the articles you read talks about how many of these cities already have very strict laws about vicious dogs. They say this doesn’t help because law enforcement can’t check to see if owners are following it. Then the article tries to go the next step and say that somehow a ban is the right answer. This is problematic for three reasons: One, it causes the owners of these dogs to go underground to avoid detection. Two, it proves my point that many of these owners are irresponsible idiots. If the law already in place about muzzles and fencing requirements is not working, it’s the owners who should be punished! Three, just because something is considered to be a threat to others doesn’t mean that my freedoms should be limited. It would be interesting to know how many of these attacks and deaths were the result of owners trying to step in to stop dogfights and didn’t originally start as people aggression like this one that is used as evidence against pitbulls in the article you posted: http://www.dogsbite.org/blog/2008/04/pit-bull-attack-puts-owner-in-hospital.html
NEVER TRY TO BREAK UP A DOG FIGHT UNLESS YOU HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT (A BREAKING STICK) OR A GUN AND ARE PREPARED TO KILL THE DOG!
Another article admitted that one non-fatal attack happened because the owners had another pitbull in the same househould that was in heat at the time. DUH! Be prepared for agression then.
Another article talked about drugs being found at the house and that it wasn’t the first time officers had been called to this house.
http://www.dogsbite.org/blog/2008/01/fatality-victim-kelli-chapman-killed-by.html
I think we can all agree that keeping a dog from attacking is the best thing.
When articles like this one talk about dogs attacking strangers in their house or on their property, this should be viewed as the dogs just doing their job. Police should always be prepared when they enter a home with dogs that they could possibly be attacked.
To prevent any more fighting between my male and female dogs, and as a responsible pet owner, I started to separate or keep a muzzle on my dog about one or two years ago who doesn’t do well with kids or other dogs in the house, same thing with my mom’s dog who is a possible german sheperd mix if she comes to visit. I also have shocking dog collars which may not stop a fight, but definitely help to keep stubborn dogs in line. Never leave your child alone with any type of dog! Especially dogs with more ability to harm like German Sheperds, Rottweilers, Pit Bulls. This is the one point I would agree with you on: that they can do more damage once they attack. There’s so much I could say, so one final point. I noticed that the stats you had about dog attacks included US and Canada for last 24 years. Taking just pit bulls attacks alone, there were 104 deaths and 608 “maimings” in that period. That’s 4.3 deaths per year! 25.3 “maimings” per year! Now, they say that only breeds who could be clearly identified were included, so I’ll admit that more attacks might be possible, but it doesn’t sound like they would miss it if it was a pit bull. For a population in Canada of 25 million in 1982 up to 33 million in 2008, and a US population of roughly 230 million in 1982, it seems like we should be more worried about other things. After you read this, don’t accuse me of saying it’s not an important topic, I think it is. Sooner or later, though, you have to focus on the ones that cause the most damage. Let’s look at another unpredictable situation: guns. In the United States in a ten year period, 175 people were killed by accidental gunshot in the course of their work. Only some of these were military related. Two-thirds were working in the private sector. That comes out to almost 18 deaths per year, just dealing with on-the-job, accidental deaths! This doesn’t include accidental deaths not related to work or other intentional gun related deaths. Does this mean we should ban guns in the workplace? No! It is a freedom that we should have as written in our constitution. My point in all this? People need to start being responsible. In the Bible, if your bull gored someone, you were required to take certain measures to make sure it didn’t happen again. If it did happen again, that was the end of the bull and the owner. I looked up at the National Center for Injury Prevention and control to see the numbers for just unintentional firearm deaths only. They said it was 5,332 from 1999-2005. I think this is a more important fatality to look at. Why don’t we hear about guns being banned? Because it’s our right to own a gun! So, you can never be too safe when handling a dog or a gun!
Thanks for the interesting conversation. You’ve brought some things to my attention that will definitely make me be even more aware of safety with my two pit bulls(One is mixed with lab, the other full bred)
Ken on April 19th, 2009
Here are some more good reasons why people should try to educate themselves about what’s really going on before they believe the sensationalized media stories.
http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/in-your-state/washington/dog-bite-fatalities/
http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/
This is a website that is clearly trying to explore all of the factors involved in dog attacks without trying to dismiss the dangerous nature of dogs when they do attack. Prevention is the key! I find it hilarious that the dog being honored in Washington was recognized in Yakima, a city that bans pitbulls. I would be willing to buy one of these books for you to read. Just look at the short description of the first book and you’ll start to understand why we can’t depend on the media to report a lot of things accurately, because they are in the business of making money most of the time.
Ken on April 19th, 2009
Sorry, the website for those books is:
http://www.fataldogattacks.com/
Becky on April 23rd, 2009
I have never found myself engaged in a conversation about pit bulls. But I don’t think I would ever want one.
Ken on April 25th, 2009
Here is a big reason why pit bulls are mis-identified in new stories so much. Have fun with this website and if you guess it right on the first try you’re lucky! The news articles shouldn’t be naming a dog’s breed unless they know for a fact that the dog has parents of known, papered ancenstry. Enough said. Don’t try to guess what kind of dog it is unless you have papers.
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html
mommayatz on July 3rd, 2009
Before I ever looked, I knew your conversation was with Ken! When he was in our office area, we had several conversations.
Ken on July 6th, 2009
We’ll miss you mommayatz. You always know how to make us laugh. Maybe you’ll meet some new pit bull lovers where you’re going:) It would be a shame for you to be without a pit bull lover in your life.