Are Pit Bulls Scary or Misunderstood?
SodaHead Living
2011/05/03 11:00:00
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When it comes to pets, pit bulls often fall into the "so ugly they're cute category." And some people find them downright scary.
But pit bull defenders say the dogs are actually sweet-natured family pets, even though some cities ban them. And with pit bulls, pit mixes and lookalikes making up 40 to 80 percent of shelter dogs in some areas, they're trying to give the maligned pooches a makeover, USA Today reports.
Best Friends Animal Society recently launched a campaign called "Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dogs" to overcome the breeds' "media-driven bad reputation."
StubbyDog.org will soon begin "working with people in the entertainment industry" to cast pit bulls in a positive light in movies, sitcoms and games.
And Pretties with Pitties is organizing a walk around San Diego with adoptable rescued pits.
Do you think pit bulls are scary? Or just misunderstood?
But pit bull defenders say the dogs are actually sweet-natured family pets, even though some cities ban them. And with pit bulls, pit mixes and lookalikes making up 40 to 80 percent of shelter dogs in some areas, they're trying to give the maligned pooches a makeover, USA Today reports.
Best Friends Animal Society recently launched a campaign called "Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dogs" to overcome the breeds' "media-driven bad reputation."
StubbyDog.org will soon begin "working with people in the entertainment industry" to cast pit bulls in a positive light in movies, sitcoms and games.
And Pretties with Pitties is organizing a walk around San Diego with adoptable rescued pits.
Do you think pit bulls are scary? Or just misunderstood?
Read More: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/pets...
Top Opinion
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kevildawg 2011/05/03 12:26:13Misunderstood
+16My son and I had a pit bull named Frannie. She was a wonderful dog. She really loved people, and she lived peacefullly with a cat. I even researched the breed and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Frannie was very typical of pit bulls. As a matter of fact, pit bulls do not make good watch dogs because they like people so much. As for the bad reputation associated with pit bulls, that is the fault of those terrible people who breed them for fighting AND the media which harps about that. Thanks for that great question.
All dogs bred to kill and hunt large animals. Get over yourself.
Here are the stats and the truth.
http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bit...
"Studies indicate that pit bull-type dogs were involved in approximately a third of human DBRF (i.e., dog bite related fatalities) reported during the 12-year period from 1981 through1992, and Rottweilers were responsible for about half of human DBRF reported during the 4 years from 1993 through 1996....[T]he data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities." (Sacks JJ, Sinclair L, Gilchrist J, Golab GC, Lockwood R. Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998. JAVMA 2000;217:836-840.)
Let's take this for instance. " pit bull-type dogs". No where did that author say PIT BULL did he? Nope, he said pit bull TYPE. Which can range anywhere from American Pit Bull Terriers to a dog that LOOKS like one. From 1979-1998 there were 66 human fatalities from "pit bull TYPE" dogs.
On average 150 people die from coconut accidents. Shall we get rid of those pesky coconut trees now?
"55 (24%) deaths involved unrestrained dogs off the owners’ property, 133 (58%) involved unrestrained dogs on the owners’ property, 38 (17%) involved restrained dogs on the owners’ property, and 1 (< 1%) involved a restrained dog off the owner’s
property" Hmm. Interesting, right? Seems as though this ALL plays into part of the OWNERS FAULT.
http://articles.nydailynews.c...
http://www.newson6.com/Global...
(This one is graphic) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...
http://articles.chicagotribun...
http://www.goupstate.com/arti...
http://www.sunjournal.com/nod...
Hmm what's that? It's not just PIT BULLS that attack people? Oh my, what a shock that is.
Even those wittle wabradors kill people. THIS is why we need to be more responsible with our dogs. There is no "dangerous dog breed" and there is no "best dog breed". I don't give A CRAP what th...
Let's take this for instance. " pit bull-type dogs". No where did that author say PIT BULL did he? Nope, he said pit bull TYPE. Which can range anywhere from American Pit Bull Terriers to a dog that LOOKS like one. From 1979-1998 there were 66 human fatalities from "pit bull TYPE" dogs.
On average 150 people die from coconut accidents. Shall we get rid of those pesky coconut trees now?
"55 (24%) deaths involved unrestrained dogs off the owners’ property, 133 (58%) involved unrestrained dogs on the owners’ property, 38 (17%) involved restrained dogs on the owners’ property, and 1 (< 1%) involved a restrained dog off the owner’s
property" Hmm. Interesting, right? Seems as though this ALL plays into part of the OWNERS FAULT.
http://articles.nydailynews.c...
http://www.newson6.com/Global...
(This one is graphic) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...
http://articles.chicagotribun...
http://www.goupstate.com/arti...
http://www.sunjournal.com/nod...
Hmm what's that? It's not just PIT BULLS that attack people? Oh my, what a shock that is.
Even those wittle wabradors kill people. THIS is why we need to be more responsible with our dogs. There is no "dangerous dog breed" and there is no "best dog breed". I don't give A CRAP what they are "known for" stop generalizing you jerk and get to know the DOG ITSELF.
This is a legitimate fact sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrec...
And another thing: "Each year, 800,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites; half of these are children. Of those injured, 386,000 require treatment in an emergency department and about 16 die. The rate of dog bite-related injuries is highest for children ages 5 to 9 years, and the rate decreases as children age. Almost two thirds of injuries among children ages four years and younger are to the head or neck region. Injury rates in children are significantly higher for boys than for girls." Children are most likely to be injured. Why? Because they usually don't know how to act around a dog. And guess who isn't usually supervising them? Yep. You got it, the PARENTS/GUARDIANS.
Here's your proof: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrec...
Once more proving that it's THE OWNERS FAULT.
http://www.americanhumane.org...
Also-- "From 2005-2009, there were an average of 3,533 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) annually in the United States — about ten deaths per day. An additional 347 people died each year from drowning in boating-related incidents" Should we start banning water, now? ;-)
to be listed, pit bull terriers are noteworthy for attacking adults almost as frequently as children.
This is a very rare pattern: children are normally at greatest risk from dogbite because they play with dogs more often, have less experience in reading dog behavior, are more likely to engage in activity that alarms or stimulates a dog, and are less able to
defend themselves when a dog becomes aggressive. Pit bulls seem to differ behaviorally from other dogs in having far less inhibition about attacking people who are larger than they are. They are also notorious for attacking seemingly without warning, a tendency exacerbated by the custom of docking pit bulls' tails so that warning signals are not easily recognized. Thus
the adult victim of a pit bull attack may have had little or no opportunity to read the warning signals that would avert an attack from any other dog.
Poor supervision? I do not think so. so read the facts and get off my case.
http://dogbitelaw.com/images/...
Pit Bull attacks count for .041 of the entire dog population. Now tell me how all Pit Bulls attack, when they are considered one of America's most popular breed? Tell me why none of my birth mothers 4 Pit Bulls, who are all over 9 years old, have never mauled anyone or have never shown any aggression. Aren't they "ticking time bombs"? Why aren't there thousands of pit bull bites/attacks every year? There's a lot them, and they all attack, remember? I'm afraid, that your statistics only count for the minority of the dog population as a whole. Please, educate yourself, you need it. Idiots, idiots everywhere. :-)
There are no absolutes in the world, and I do not say all Pit Bulls will attack, but if you were attacked by a dog, would you rather it a Chihuahua than a pit bull? If you say no, you are truly less intelligent than I consider you now.
your statement.
"Now tell me how all Pit Bulls attack, when they are considered one of America's most popular breed?"
my statement
" I would rather be bitten by Chihuahua than a pit bull, and that is my point. If you look at the Deaths, more than half of them were delivered by 2 to 4% of the total breeds, by dogs that had never displayed aggression before, so there was no warning. "
my statement
"Of the breeds most often involved in incidents of sufficient severity
to be listed, pit bull terriers are noteworthy for attacking adults almost as frequently as children.
This is a very rare pattern: children are normally at greatest risk from dogbite because they play with dogs more often, have less experience in reading dog behavior, are more likely to engage in activity that alarms or stimulates a dog, and are less able to
defend themselves when a dog becomes aggressive. Pit bulls seem to differ behaviorally from other dogs in...
There are no absolutes in the world, and I do not say all Pit Bulls will attack, but if you were attacked by a dog, would you rather it a Chihuahua than a pit bull? If you say no, you are truly less intelligent than I consider you now.
your statement.
"Now tell me how all Pit Bulls attack, when they are considered one of America's most popular breed?"
my statement
" I would rather be bitten by Chihuahua than a pit bull, and that is my point. If you look at the Deaths, more than half of them were delivered by 2 to 4% of the total breeds, by dogs that had never displayed aggression before, so there was no warning. "
my statement
"Of the breeds most often involved in incidents of sufficient severity
to be listed, pit bull terriers are noteworthy for attacking adults almost as frequently as children.
This is a very rare pattern: children are normally at greatest risk from dogbite because they play with dogs more often, have less experience in reading dog behavior, are more likely to engage in activity that alarms or stimulates a dog, and are less able to
defend themselves when a dog becomes aggressive. Pit bulls seem to differ behaviorally from other dogs in having far less inhibition about attacking people who are larger than they are. They are also notorious for attacking seemingly without warning, a tendency exacerbated by the custom of docking pit bulls' tails so that warning signals are not easily recognized. Thus
the adult victim of a pit bull attack may have had little or no opportunity to read the warning signals that would avert an attack from any other dog."
Here is another site that says the same thing.
http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-b...
31 U.S. fatal dog attacks occurred in 2011. Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 650 U.S. cities, pit bulls led these attacks accounting for 71% (22). Pit bulls make up less than 5% of the total U.S. dog population.3
Notably in 2011, adult victims of fatal pit bull attacks more than doubled the number of child victims. Of the 22 total pit bull victims, 68% (15) fell between the ages of 32 to 76, and 32% (7) were ages 5 years and younger.
The year 2011 also marks an increase in pet pit bulls killing their owners. Of the 8 total instances this year in which a family dog inflicted fatal injury to its primary caretaker, the dog's owner, 88% (7) involved pet pit bulls.
Together, pit bulls (22) and rottweilers (4), the number two lethal dog breed, accounted for 84% of all fatal attacks in 2011. In the 7-year period from 2005 to 2011, this same combination accounted for 74% (157) of the total recorded deaths (213).
Those are facts. I understand stats a bit, I understand that people get smoked by lightening as often as dogs kill people, but that does not release pit bulls from being responsible for a large number of severe dog bites and the majority of fatalities. So you are in essence saying regardless of the facts, Pit Bulls are not scary, merely misunderstood, as the question is asked. Is lightening scary? Yes. Ever been in Orlando for the afternoon lightening strike display? Do you run around outside and huddle under trees and metal lightening rods during the storm? I think not.
Let me repeat what I had posted just above.
"Together, pit bulls (22) and rottweilers (4), the number two lethal dog breed, accounted for 84% of all fatal attacks in 2011. In the 7-year period from 2005 to 2011, this same combination accounted for 74% (157) of the total recorded deaths (213)".
Try reading the information and quit attacking someone with more information than you and who is certainly not emotionally attached to the breed to the point of being blinded by facts. I like dogs, but I would never own a Rot or Pit Bull, merely because of liability. Other dogs bite, but would you like to live with the responsibility of having your pet kill an individual? I do not, but if that obviously is not a concern for you, as it does not seem to be for many people who purchase pit bulls, then do the right thing and control the dog at all times. This discussion is over.
I have been introduced to several who are just big teddy bears. They were fabulous dogs, with a heart for their families. Amazing, loving, and gentle dogs.
However, I have several customers who FIGHT their pits-THOSE, specifically, are very scary.
I am asserting that OWNERS make the difference. Nurture in these cases makes ALL the difference.
The video makes me cry. The photo taken at an adoption event for Chicagoland Bully Breed. I don't have a dog but bull dogs are beautiful!
if you SNEAK into thier back yard yes you will get part of your face torn off.
Pits are really sweet, I've met some that are total lap dogs. I remember one day I was sitting out in the middle of a field and I happened to glance over to see a pit bull charging at me. Scary right? Yeah, I knew I was pretty much screwed so I didn't even bother trying to run... but when she finally reached me she jumped on me and started licking my face and then followed me around until I could find her owner. I nicknamed her Honey, she was a sweetie.
My cousin also rescues fighting dogs... there was one young girl named Patches. She was the sweetest, you wouldn't have been able to tell she was a fighter if she wasn't covered in wounds. She got along perfect with two far smaller dogs (she was scared of my pug, in fact) and adored the three year old child running around. I wanted to adopt her sooo bad but my mom said no because we own a lot of other animals, and we were unsure how she'd be around cats, ferrets, and rats. Probably wouldn't have turned out pretty given how she was raised... but I loved her to bits.
The breed isn't the problem - it's how they are raised and bred. Too many bad breeders focus on this breed, and too many bad owners buy them, and too many bad people fight them. The chances of finding a bad apple are much greater with this breed than probably others because it's been over-bred, over-sold, and over-fought (which any amount of fighting = too much). The odds are stacked against them, and it's not the dog's, or breed's, fault. Blame the humans - we are the scary ones.
I work at a vet clinic and most of the pit bulls I see and meet are awesome dogs. I much more dread working with the labs or the little dogs, like Shih Tzus (they tend to be more fractious), than with the pits, who tend to be more scared of me (though docile) than I ever am of them.