‘Pit bulls attack!’ is a summarized headline of multiple articles that get advanced by news companies and others whenever a story emerges of one being attacked by a Pit Bull. The headline is often accompanied with the image of a victim. Graphic images are included if not too graphic. Otherwise, the image with the headline is a good profile picture of the victim, or an image of a snarling Pit Bull. These stories get created and shared to garner support of labeling Pit Bulls as dangerous. That news agencies and many other creators may be trying to get sales and attention is a distant second concern to the fear-stoking. What is sold and advanced is often a knee-jerk reaction, and an irrational outcry (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2001; ASPCA, 2023). But, those get attention and sell.
How accurate is that portrayal of Pit Bulls? – not very, but a thing doesn’t have to be true to be believed. As most of the things in life, there may be glimmers of truth in a claim; however, the truth of a thing needs more than a cursory glance, single claim, or other forms of selection bias.
In the US, Pit Bulls have been responsible for the most killings by dogs of humans over the past decade (DogsBite.org, 2022; McCarthy, 2018). Descriptive statistics are informational. They do not provide context and they do not give a predictive value. Using descriptive statistics to stir up fear and direct behavior is manipulative. Fear is sold and with the connectivity of the modern world that fear can spread far and wide, and quickly. More than half surveyed see Pit Bulls as dangerous and would not recommend adopting them (YouGov, 2014).
If Pit Bulls are so bad and deserving that dangerous reputation, data should reveal it. Data is more than a descriptive statistic. Consistency, context, and contributing factors should also be considered.
Fatal attacks, of course are the worst, but they are not the only types of attacks. There are severe attacks where medical attention is needed; there are minor attacks where medical attention is not needed. As a point of concern for being ‘dangerous,’ where medical attention is not needed will not be considered.
How do Pit Bulls contrast to other breeds, including those whose reputation is known as being ‘gentle?’ Breeds considered to be gentle include Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, English Mastiffs, and Bulldogs (Moen, 2021). Gentle ‘giants’ include Saint Bernards and English Mastiffs (H, 2021). In a study of more than 5,700 dog attacks, severe attacks not only included Pit Bulls, but also Saint Bernards, Cocker Spaniels, Bulldogs, among others (Wright, 1985). Golden Retrievers can be aggressive, and Labrador Retrievers not only can be aggressive but are responsible for more bites than Pit Bulls (Van den Berg, 2003; Zimlich, 2020). In a study of 30 breeds (including Pit Bulls), those most likely to bite humans included Dachshunds, Chihuahuas, Jack Russell Terriers, Australian Cattle Dogs, American Cocker Spaniels, and Beagles (Duffy et al, 2008).
If it is the breed that is the issue, then wherever there is a population of Pit Bulls, would not they also be killing there? Pit Bull carryover does not happen when changing countries to see which breed is responsible for killing the most humans. For example, in Canada huskies are responsible for more deaths (Raghavan, 2008). But this issue is not limited to Canada. Different countries have different breeds as the most likely to bite or are the most deadly (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2014; Mora et al, 2018; Rosado et al, 2009).
We now return to where descriptive statistics are erroneously used as inferential to label a breed as dangerous. Many stop at reputation in considering if Pit Bulls as dangerous (Barnes et al, 2006). There are around 90 million dogs in US households (Megna, 2013). Around 6% of US dogs are Pit Bulls, and that 5 million can increase to 20 million when including mixes (Clifton, 2020; Laybourne, 2023; Pitbullinfo.org, 2022). However, accurately determining a breed can be difficult (Mora et al, 2018); this is even moreso if the dog is unknown but seen at a distance yet is still reported.
The dogs are bought or adopted by someone, so who is included in Pit Bull owners? Pit Bulls are solid, athletic, tenacious, friendly, active, and are medium to large-sized dogs (DogTime, 2023; Robinson, 2022). Pit Bulls used to be ‘America’s dog’ as was seen being a service dog back in WWI to the celebrity dog Petey from The Little Rascals (Flanagin, 2017; Smith, 2017). Most people want a good family dog. However, because of some of those characteristics, there are those who would like to cruelly exploit Pit Bulls. Pit Bulls have been used to be aggressive enforcers and protectors for drug dealers and criminals, as well for dog fighting (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2014; Flanagin, 2017; Martyn, 2023; Patronek et al, 2000). In the study of 5,700 attacks, there was evidence that the Pit Bulls had been used for fighting (Wright, 1985).
The image cultivated through fear porn of Pit Bulls can be something desired along with a dog that is vicious. Those who engage in antisocial behaviors may extend their actions into dog ownership. Some Pit Bull owners have been found to be two to nine times more likely to have prior physical or substance abuse issues (Barnes et al, 2006). People can get dogs for different reasons which may align with the owner’s personality, and those who score higher on psychoticism tend to want ‘vicious breeds’ more than others (Wells et al, 2012). Combining personality factors along with the intended use of a dog for vicious reasons or intimidation, some explicitly want the dog others fear (Patronek et al, 2000; Ragatz, et al, 2009; Schenk et al, 2011). To ensure a dog is more vicious as a fighter or guard, abuse and neglect can foster that viciousness (Flanagin, 2017). Especially if this abuse and neglect are done when the dog is a pup, it can have long-lasting consequences (ASPCA, 2023; Salonen et al, 2023). One in five pups are placed up for adoption (Clifton, 2020).
“…behavior develops through a complex interaction between environment and genetics. This is an especially important consideration when we look at an individual dog versus a breed.” (ASPCA, 2023). As was shown earlier, any dog can be a biter and the larger the dog the more damaging its bite can be. Pit Bulls are not even in the top 10 as a breed with a powerful bite (Malaker, 2023 & Spartacus Law Firm, 2023). Personality traits in dogs, like humans, have genetic influence; however, some variance is explained by environment, especially in early/formative years (Salonen et al, 2023). Behavior is both affected by various genes as well as environment, and breed offers a poor predictor for the behavior of an individual dog (Morrill et al, 2022).
Pets are often not just ‘pets,’ as 85% of pet owners
consider their pet as family (Megna, 2013). Contrary to the fear porn perception, Pit
Bulls are good pets being affectionate, friendly, and score above most breeds
in temperament (American Temperament Test Society, Inc., 2023; H, 2021; Robinson,
2022). It is unfortunate for anyone to
be killed by a dog. It is also unfortunate
and erroneous to label an entire breed as dangerous based upon a couple hundred
incidents over a decade from a population of up to 20 million; it is also
erroneous to label the breed responsible for the most yearly bites. Add to this, as aforementioned, how Pit Bulls
are treated differently, and we can see that the fear porn pushed should be
rightly discounted. The breed should not
be blamed for how humans have misused and abused it.
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