Posted on 10/22/2010 8:10:34 PM PDT by Chet 99
I had never heard of the Merrit Clifton study. It looks more comprehensive than the data I posted and includes more recent data (2006) and captures more of the devastating injury that pit bulls are known to cause in their attacks (the data I posted above is just deaths). I assume you know more than I do about these things but if you haven’t seen the study in awhile, here’s the link:
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/Dog%20Attacks%201982%20to%202006%20Clifton.pdf
Settle down young one!!! Good grief, I apologized for that/those very improper remarks earlier if you might remember. Now, if you desire to bring it up again, well I’m not sure what they have to now do with the percentages of pit attacks versus other breeds but if you feel it is needed okay.
But they would if they could. Ever dachshund owner I meet tells me a) their dog hates all other dogs and b) their dog isn’t very fond of people either! (except the owners) If those ankle nippers ever start wearing pumps or platform shoes -they WILL come after us all! :)
I don’t like being called ‘young lady’ by some one who, for all I know, might be a twelve year old on his mummy’s computer.
I am not, and have never been, interested in proving that one breed of dog attacks more than another. That’s your fascination, not mine. I seek to prevent people from forming opinions based on what one single, solitary, obviously biased individual posts, based on only what holds up his assertions.
There are solid facts to back up the information about pitt bulls. If you don’t understand instinct in K-9’s that is your problem.
Your words or what you believe will not remove 500 years of breeding.
any attacks by long legged dogs?
LOL,,,Harley is more like Patton,,,
Big Stinker!,,,
He knows no fear,,,
Twice now he has put himself between me and a charging
pit-bull...
Listen sis, for crying out loud...you ARE a young lady! Damn, what the heck is wrong with that? There are a lot of us ‘timers here that would love to be your age! Good God, why do you have so much anger within yourself? Darn, settle down, Life is to short, as those of us who are facing the Big Man know very well as age advances, as you get older that will become evident for you I hope.
Here’s a page that outlines some of the limitations of the figures from that study through 1998:
http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/CDCReport/CDCReport.htm
For example, they admit there is no nationwide tracking of dog bites, so the numbers are gathered from media reports and other sources, when they happen to be reported. If the media chooses to focus on one or a few breeds and reports on those attacks more often, then it skews the figures in these type of studies. Also, they take no account of the population counts of each breed. If there are 100 pit bull attacks to 10 dalmation attacks, but 100 times more pit bulls in America, then the dalmations would actually be attacking at ten times the rate of pit bulls. The study doesn’t account for that factor at all.
There’s no doubt pit bulls can be particularly dangerous dogs, since their strength, and their attack behavior are more likely to cause serious injury or fatality than a lot of breeds. However, in most cases, I think blaming a dog for an attack is like blaming a gun for shooting someone. If the dog is provoked to attack, say by a trespasser, it’s hardly the dog’s fault if they attack. Conversely, if the dog attacks without provocation, it’s usually a clear sign that the owner has failed to properly train or care for the dog. Either way, a human usually bears a much larger share of the blame than the animal.
“People have pitts because of their reputation and the status they think these dogs give them.”
Unfortunately, some lowlifes do, but other people have them because they think they are cute, or they enjoy the dog’s demeanor, or because their eyes met at a kennel and they just couldn’t leave the poor thing there... in other words, the same kinds of reasons that people have all sorts of dogs. One of my neighbors has several rescued pits specifically because she can’t stand to leave them in the hands of lowlifes who take no interest in caring for or training them properly.
“When they bite they need to be killed and the owners forced to pay a huge fine or do time in jail.”
Now that I totally agree with. It’s sad to have to destroy the dog, but if they are demonstrably vicious, it must be done. The owners of vicious dogs should be prosecuted as if they were negligent with a deadly weapon.
“reputation and status”......You nailed it fellow old guy! These TCBE ones who need these animals to make ‘em feel tough and it supports their lack of self esteem, makes ‘em feel tough, their need and feeling for violence, either animal on animal or man on man, (see the human cockfight ‘cage’ type thing...good God...SICK), well, I think that attraction to that sort of violence tells you all you need to know about these kids who follow that sort of thing these days. My God...’Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio’.....
Whoozee-whatsit now?
I think pitbulls and probably rottweilers should require a permit like exotic animals. I haven’t heard of rottweilers defeating their enclosures like pitbulls but as both types of dogs are implicated in a disproportionate amount of attacks and killings (regardless of statistical method employed) and for some reason are often running free in the neighborhood when they attack (although there are stories like a pitbull killing a child when the family’s youngest member opened the dog’s enclosure) - I think something must be done. For example - having a pitbull with the unique propensity for combat and the amazing athletic prowess at its disposal should mean that a person who lets the dog run free in the neighborhood should lose their permit to have it. So perhaps training and a permit to be a pitbull or rottweiller owner and then permits on the enclosure. Then removal of permits for those who let these dogs run free in the neighborhood (perhaps first time a fine) and hefty liability for any harm done to humans. Trained owners who enclose and control their animals responsibly would have the hassle of the permit process but would benefit in reputation of the breed when deaths and maulings decline. Rotties are so much larger, it’s amazing that pits outkill them. But Rotties attack deaths are high enough to be of concern.
I also wonder about the ‘wolf hybrid’ situation. I’ve read often enough that these are usually purebred wolves kept as ‘dogs’. When CA ruled that the percentage of ‘dog’ in the hybrid had to be about 5% higher (originally something like 92.5% dog or something), overnight, all those owning ‘hybrids’ changed their permits to read the new number. In other words, people keeping wolves as pets claim they are hybrid to whatever standard is current and there is no test to prevent that from happening. I’ve read ownership stories that make me think it’s not fair to the wolf (their instincts are not suited for domestication and it’s a hardship on them) and not fair to those who end up being attacked and sometimes killed. The incidence of wolf attacks is not as high as that of pitbulls and rotts, and they don’t appear to defeat their enclosures as often (but are known to destroy home interiors) but I believe that is because wolf ownership is not as high. Common scenario there is that the wolf is an adorable family member until one day, instinct kicks in. He either tries to eliminate the offspring of competitors (in this case that would be the family’s children) or he tries to take over the pack (in this case that means killing the adult male in the house).
You assume that I'm angry because...why, exactly? Because I pointed out the fact that Chet99 skipped over six or seven stories about dog attacks, some very vicious, so he could post ONE story about pitbulls? Puh-lease.
I have a lovely pit bull-mix lying here at my feet, warming my toes after a hard day of being squished, poked, and otherwise imposed upon by my kids. He's going with us tomorrow to the soccer fields where he'll be prodded and pet by many more kids, most of whom he's never seen before. He will prove the saint-like forebearance of the breed for yet another weekend, acting as a missionary to all those who have never heard of a pitbull being tolerant, or calm, or loveable, while yorkies and daschunds and retrievers ands spaniels bark and nip at the kids as they pass by. I can't win with nonexistent scientific proof, but I can win with evidence...One kid, one parent, one loving doggie-kiss at a time. :-)
I never implied you were my ‘sis’. I used that term as an old guy term as how we said that in the old days. Good God what is wrong with you? The ‘right’ to call you a young lady’?? What the heck is wrong with your thoughts? You are a young lady..You are a young person...there is not one thing wrong with that! Why are you so angry towards us old timers?
Right, right, right...I’m an ageist bigot.
If you’re an old timer, respect me as a person. If you’re not, then keep making snide ‘kids these days’ remarks.
They don’t hurt me none. :-P
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