First off, I was just looking at that very site, but a different page specifically about populations.
Second, 24/7 claims it is THEIR survey of classified ads. I still don’t quite get how they come up with millions as if they had time to count up all the class ads in the country.
While it is true that registrations are not the end all beall either, because most do not have registered dogs (AND that is just for the year...does not represent how many registered dogs are living, mostly just puppies) it is likewise logical that about the same % of owners register their dogs across all the breeds. Therefore, there simply is likely so many more times of each of those registrations, and Labs are still likely the most popular across even unregistered dogs.
Last, they classify pit bulls as they should, a type of dog, but they also include dogs who are innocuous these days. French Bulldogs, Boston Terriers and Bulldogs are not the same nasty type they came from.
Either way, you can inflate the numbers all you want, but it will never come close to the 67% of fatalities that PBT types seem to be committing. The best they came up with was about 9% of the dog pop.
I don't dispute that, however, it is still my observation that a MUCH higher % of owners of Labs, German Shepherds, etc., would register or enroll* their dogs than do owners of pit bull types. It's just the sort of people who tend to own them...
*I leave out here "licensing" -- I don't know if that data gets well accounted on a national basis. "Probably not" would be my guess.
Also, a fairer analysis might be to only include dogs capable of effectively defending their owner. (That's why many people buy "guard" type dogs, and are we to say they cannot?) If a PB or GS comes at me, I'm in trouble. If a Beagle comes at me, I'll punt it over the fence.
NONE of this is to claim PBs (at least the typically nastier types / lines -- I agree with you about generally innocuous bulldogs and such) are not atypically dangerous dogs. I've had a couple bad experiences with PB's myself, and usually try to avoid them. The goal is to get an accurate handle on the problem and not remove a legitimate form of defense or security from people who need it. How many deaths, injuries, home invasions, etc., have PBs prevented?