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> Actually, pit bulls are less or equally likely to attack than most other common dogs You're really not entitled to your own facts, and this fact is false. A

> Actually, pit bulls are less or equally likely to attack than most other common dogs You're really not entitled to your own facts, and this fact is false. All the data everywhere shows that pit bulls are always at the top of the "most likely to be involved in biting incidents" charts. Ontario, for example, has reduced dog bite incidents by about 25% by banning pit bulls from being kept as pets.

cullenking 14y ago
What you are failing to take into consideration is that the demographic that keep a pit or rot mix as a non-socialized and aggressive guard dog over represents the breed as a whole. Yes, a pit bull has a greater chance of inflicting serious harm if they attack, most of the ones that attack are the millions locked in a yard by your neighborhood drug dealer. I just read through a couple reports, they include wonderful stories like the pit bull who knocked over an old lady and broke her hip as an attack. Edit: To make an anecdotal, worthless point...I live in a really poor area of Portland. I walk through the neighborhood and on just about every block there is one house with a locked up pit bull behind a 4 foot chain link fence. These dogs are aggressive, abused and very well represent a danger to people.
douglasisshiny 14y ago
Hah. Great argument. Especially when you consider that 'pit bulls' are not a breed, but an umbrella term for six breeds. So, yes, if you combine the bite statistics for six different breeds of dog (a few of which are very popular; all combined which make up about 7% of the dog population in the U.S.), the _six_ breeds will account for more biting incidents than any other _one_ dog. What a damning verdict. This doesn't take into account any qualitative analysis either. For example, how many people buy a retriever or lab and train (aka, abuse) it to be aggressive towards everyone (i.e., a guard dog)? Also, while voluntary, the American Temperament Test Society tests dogs in a number of scenarios for the overall temperament. Pit bull breeds do very well in these tests and have some of the highest sample sizes. For example, page 1 (http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/#totals http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/#totals) lists the American Pit bull terrier and American Staffordshire terrier as ranking very highly and having 800+ subjects.

cullenking 14y ago

What you are failing to take into consideration is that the demographic that keep a pit or rot mix as a non-socialized and aggressive guard dog over represents the breed as a whole. Yes, a pit bull has a greater chance of inflicting serious harm if they attack, most of the ones that attack are the millions locked in a yard by your neighborhood drug dealer. I just read through a couple reports, they include wonderful stories like the pit bull who knocked over an old lady and broke her hip as an attack. Edit: To make an anecdotal, worthless point...I live in a really poor area of Portland. I walk through the neighborhood and on just about every block there is one house with a locked up pit bull behind a 4 foot chain link fence. These dogs are aggressive, abused and very well represent a danger to people.

douglasisshiny 14y ago

Hah. Great argument. Especially when you consider that 'pit bulls' are not a breed, but an umbrella term for six breeds. So, yes, if you combine the bite statistics for six different breeds of dog (a few of which are very popular; all combined which make up about 7% of the dog population in the U.S.), the _six_ breeds will account for more biting incidents than any other _one_ dog. What a damning verdict. This doesn't take into account any qualitative analysis either. For example, how many people buy a retriever or lab and train (aka, abuse) it to be aggressive towards everyone (i.e., a guard dog)? Also, while voluntary, the American Temperament Test Society tests dogs in a number of scenarios for the overall temperament. Pit bull breeds do very well in these tests and have some of the highest sample sizes. For example, page 1 (http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/#totals http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/#totals) lists the American Pit bull terrier and American Staffordshire terrier as ranking very highly and having 800+ subjects.