Pit Bulls - Dangerous or Unfairly Biased?

People have various opinions of dog breeds, especially of the pit bull. The media can certainly influence these opinions. Whenever there's a brutal dog attack, it seems like we can almost guess that the reporter will reveal that there was a pit bull involved.  However, when I was a kid, the German Shepherd was the dog that intimidated us the most. A decade later, the Doberman and Rottweiler were competing for the title.

But in recent years, the pit bull has surpassed the notoriety of all the other breeds. We have all heard the  stories where a pit bull attacked without provocation. In the worst cases, the attack resulted in a fatality. Just last week, a 56-year-old Baltimore woman was mauled to death by her own pit bull. This particular dog had also attacked the woman twice in the past. Also last week, a woman in Kernersville, NC was killed by her two pit bulls. Last month, a 5-year-old was mauled to death by a neighbor's pit bull in Baker City, OR. And in September, two toddlers were killed by pit bulls in separate incidents, one in Colten, CA and the other in Gilbert, AZ.

And just this morning, I was reading an article about a woman in Wilton, CN who had one of her arms ripped off by her sons' pit bull.*

I have personally witnessed the aftermath of a pit bull attack. The daughter of my sister's friend was savagely attacked by a neighbor's pit bull when she was about five old years old. The dog literally ripped the child's face off. She has had many reconstructive surgeries through the years to repair the massive facial damage.

Quite frankly, when I saw the little girl and learned of her story, I instinctively developed a hatred for pit bulls. The terror that the young child experienced was unfathomable. My thought was that the volatility of a pit bull was no different than leaving a loaded gun laying around. I also questioned why anyone would want to own such an unpredictable animal, especially where children were present.

However, as years went by, I personally encountered several of these dogs, some of which were owned by close friends. My experience in these cases were much different. Although I was initially intimidated, I eventually found these pit bulls to be playful, almost like overgrown puppies. I started to question whether I unfairly stereotyped the breed.

The fact of the matter is that any dog, assuming it has teeth, can bite. Case in point, I ran into a mailman last week who had recently been bitten by a dog. Curious about the large bandage on his hand, I asked what kind of dog bit him. It was a Chihuahua.

During my lifetime, I have been bitten by three dogs. The first time was by a German Shepherd when I was about twelve years old. When I had reached over to pet the Shepherd while he was eating, he instinctively deposited his fang teeth into my right hand. Although I was quite surprised that the usually mild-mannered dog snapped at me, I quickly learned that you don't mess with a dog while he's eating. A short time later, I was bitten on the leg by another friend's dog as we were running through his house. This one happened to be a small German Schnauzer. And the third time came courtesy of my aunt's Chihuahua, who I was convinced had a serious anger management issue.

Fortunately, for me, all of my dog bite experiences were minor and required no medical attention. Of course, there's quite a difference between a dog bite and a dog attack. I looked up some random statistics on all of this and here's what I found:

• Children, especially boys between 5-9, are the most likely targets of dog bites
• Dog bites rank second in annual childhood emergency room visits. (Baseball/softball injuries rank #1)
• There are approximately 885,000 reported bites a year. Roughly 20% of these bites require medical attention
• Over 16,000 dog bites are work related. Mail carriers account for roughly 6000 of these bites
• The number of fatalities due to dog attacks is relatively low. However, the number is on on the rise. During the 1980's and 1990's, the average death rate due to dog attacks was 17. In the past six years, the annual rate has nearly doubled to 31 
• According to the American Humane Society, 92% of fatal dog bites involve male dogs, 94% of which are not neutered
• Somewhat surprising, 25% of dog attacks involve chained dogs
• Since 2006, pit bulls have accounted for the most fatal attacks by breed

And while the pit bull seems to be synonymous with today's dog attacks, according to studies conducted by the CDC**, there is no scientific proof that they are human aggressive or inherently vicious. Additionally, they are not the breed that bites the most. For instance, recent records have shown that the Chow is more likely to bite than a pit bull. And the German Shepherd is five times more likely to cause bite trauma than the notorious pit bull.*** I owned a German Shepherd and never felt the least bit intimidated by him, but you never know. And let's face it, the reason that police use German Shepherds isn't only because they're good-looking and smart. They use them because they're bad-ass! While the pit bull might be viewed as a relentless street-fighter, one could make the argument that the German Shepherd is the highly skilled MMA fighter. Both can be dangerous in their own way.....

The pit bull will likely remain the "poster child" of dangerous breeds. And we can't deny that it's, at least a somewhat, deserved reputation. However, we also can't ignore that fact that many other breeds are capable of attacking or, in the worst cases, killing. One of the keys, in my opinion, is responsible ownership. As a gun owner, you need to take precautions. The same should hold true in the case of dogs.......

kw

* http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Pit-bull-bites-off-owner-s-arms-4976857.php
**http://mabbr.org/pit-bull-ownership/the-truth-about-pit-bulls/
*** http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Dog-BiteStatisics-09_Jade.asp