Why pit bulls are dangerous

Pit bulls have the highest propensity and frequency of any dog breed to be involved in a severe mauling. Media members understand this and are quick to report such attacks. The reason why "Child Suffers Dog Bite" does not dominate dog attack news headlines is due to the lower degree of injury inflicted. In , the death of Anthony Riggs , who was killed by a rottweiler he adopted a few hours earlier from a shelter, captured over 16, news headlines and web page results.

In , a writer from the British Columbia publication, Surrey Leader , commented on the "media conspiracy" claim voiced by pit bull advocacy groups. In a charming, yet biting piece titled, " Belligerent Bassets? Children savaged by Scottish terriers? Hushed puppies, if you will. Oh yes, the conspiracy runs deep indeed.

What is true is that there is an absence of media regarding the collective damage inflicted by the pit bull breed since the early s. In a recent year period from to , pit bulls killed Americans, about one citizen every 15 days. Despite pro-pit bull claims that pit bulls are not unpredictable, the breed frequently attacks without provocation or warning.

It is well documented by humane groups that to excel in dogfighting, pit bulls were selectively bred to conceal warning signals prior to an attack. For instance, a pit bull may not growl, bare its teeth or offer a direct stare before it strikes. Unlike all other dog breeds, pit bulls fighting dogs are also disrespectful of traditional signs of submission and appeasement.

According to expert Randall Lockwood, pit bulls are also liars. In a law enforcement training video , taped when Lockwood was vice president for research and educational outreach for the Humane Society of the United States HSUS , he shares the following story:.

I experienced it first hand when I was investigating three pit bulls that killed a little boy in Georgia. When I went up to do an initial evaluation of the dog's behavior, the dog came up to the front of the fence, gave me a nice little tail wag and a "play bow" -- a little solicitation, a little greeting. As I got closer, he lunged for my face. If a pit bull can fool an expert such as Lockwood, how can the average citizen anticipate a pit bull's future action?

In a separate example, animal behavioral expert Peter Borchelt was sued after the pit bull he was training for a client "suddenly" attacked an ex-fireman.

After encountering Gabriel Febbraio on the street and assuring him that the pit bull was friendly, the dog broke free from Borchelt and attacked Febbraio in the groin. Pro-pit bull groups continuously attempt to debunk the pit bull "locking jaw" expression that is often used by the media and the public. A pit bull's jaw may not physically lock, but due to selective breeding for a specific bite style -- to hold on and to shake indefinitely -- we consistently hear in news reports that the dog "would not let go.

Pit bull advocates often claim that by World War I, the pit bull had become the "most popular dog in America. In March , the publication Animal People tested this claim. By searching the classified dogs-for-sale ads from to on NewspaperArchive.

Bernards were the most popular dog breeds of that period. Of the 34 dog breeds searched, pit bulls ranked 25th. Due to the different names that pit bulls are known by, Animal People ran searches on three breed names: pit bull terrier, Staffordshire, and American bulldog. As the group states, "The exercise was skewed toward finding more pit bulls rather than fewer, since multiple searches were run to try to find pit bulls under a variety of different names.

In , Alfons Ertel designed the American Temperament Test in hopes of creating a uniform temperament test for dogs. Of the 77 million plus dogs that populate the U.

It seems it would be virtually impossible to develop such a reliable study, as the base population source group is unidentifiable.

Mickey the pit bull nearly killed a child but ended up in a cushy, air-conditioned cell while the boy could not find funds for medical surgery. That was one of the things that troubled me. It was a major media spectacle. Kevin Vicente was severely bitten. He was temporarily blinded in one eye and his jaw was broken. Everyone thought the dog would be euthanized. Thank goodness, after the attention the case received, the Vicente family has had more donations.

This is a child who really suffered, his family suffered, and that deserves an incredible amount of compassion. But once a dog becomes a symbol like that, people can act in ways that are not rational. It seems to be shoot first, ask questions later. There have been police who shot and killed dogs at the wrong house or killed dogs who were just going about their business. It mostly comes from fear. Obviously, the police have a very difficult job.

But the trigger-happy mentality is pretty bad. There was a case in Idaho recently where a policeman shot a dog in a car because it barked at him. The officer claimed that he was shooting a vicious pit bull. In fact, the dog was a registered black Labrador. Dog fighting is a serious problem, but all the cruelty investigators I consulted said that it is decreasing. It happens both in the country and city. There is professional dog fighting, which has traditionally been white and rural.

It takes place mostly in Louisiana and Texas, though there was a major bust in Missouri a while back. Animal Farm Foundation was founded by a now retired literary agent named Jane Barkley, who lives on a horse farm in upstate New York and wanted to restore the reputation of the American pit bull terrier as a mascot.

She wanted to give shelter dogs a chance that they were not receiving in most shelters in America. When she started, most shelters in the U. One of the things they do when you stay at the farm is to have a shelter dog be your roommate, so the dogs can get used to a family environment and they can get more information about how the dog behaves in that environment.

Pinto had been in an animal control facility, fairly isolated for the first six months of his life. Yet he was a perfectly normal, fun, happy little dog. This stressed to me how resilient animals are, in general. Not just pit bulls but dogs as a species. What I love about pit bulls are the same things I love about dogs. I know that sounds odd because I spent all this time writing a book specifically about pit bulls, but I really did come to appreciate that all dogs are the same species.

They all share more than The story of the pit bull is fascinating because it is such an American story. This again was banned by the government. This was all back in the s. Their looks and characteristics have changed quite a bit as well.

They are not the dogs who are used or want to fight anymore. But still, they are considered by a layman as Pitbulls. No dog hates another dog or a human. All dogs, regardless of breed, have almost the same DNA.

When two dogs meet they greet each other and try to socialize as soon as possible. Dog fights happen due to insecurity, guarding, and behavioral problems. That brings us to another fact that behavioral problems are not breed-specific. So when the government implies any breed-specific legislation, they punish responsible dog parents rather than punishing irresponsible dog owners.

If you look a little back to the s, Doberman Pinschers were considered to be violent dogs. A human attack happens, it gets the media coverage, and more such cases of the same breed surface. Then in the s German Shepherds got on the list. Next in the 90s were, Rottweilers, and now Pitbulls are being targeted.

What if one vicious attack on a human by a dog of an irresponsible owner happens and the breed is the same as your dog? In short, we should start putting the responsibility of dangerous dogs on their irresponsible dog owners.