“Millions more have been bitten and injured. What’s your point?”
Nope. First, 4.5 million supposedly bitten, but not bad enough to need medical treatment. If medical treatment wasn’t needed, then the dog wasn’t trying to harm anyone.
And how many of the 800,000 are for minor stuff? Ever been in an ER? People bring in kids for small scratches.
Now, how many dogs are there in America?
75 million.
Would I believe that 1 out of 75 dogs is not to be trusted around kids? Yep. And I’d believe that ratio (or worse) for adult male HUMANS...
But the overwhelming majority of dogs do NOT harm kids in any way. And the vast majority I’ve known over 50 years ADORE kids.
“The trick is telling ahead of time when a dog is going to be agressive and when not.”
Easy if you know dogs. Pretty hard if you wet yourself in fear every time you see something with four legs...
I wonder what FOG will do if I introduce the subject of owning large constrictor snakes into the mix?
;]
Medical treatment wasn't sought, but still bitten. My a-hole cousin let her dog run loose, and it bit more than one jogger (This in a leash law jurisdiction) Her response? They shouldn't have been jogging when my dog was out. I think she had to pay ER bill for one, and the other didn't make a fuss over it. She was lucky.
My point is that dogs are NOT friendly furry humans, but dogs. Maybe you trust yours with justification, and I hope you're right in your assessment, but there are number that are NOT to be trusted, and people should keep that in mind when they have dogs around children. PARTICULARY large dogs or breeds like pit bulls, chows, etc that have a well deserved reputation for NOT being trustworthy.
wet yourself
I'll have to take your word for that.