Today, on that post she got this comment:
She was defended by a friend, and then she responded with:
We thought it would have been over with that, but sadly... no. This was the next installment:
Mommy even showed her how sweet I was with a picture of my and Marilyn! She commented "And??" on the picture. Sadly, a lot of people seem to feel this way about my breed. Since "Miss Genius" (as I am now referring to her) wanted to bring up statistics, that's what I'm going to address.
Since most dogs that bite can not be correctly identified, making up statistics for "dogs that bite" is pretty much impossible. Most people can not correctly identify more than a handful of breeds. Even some mixed breeds (like some of y'all on the Pet Pages) look like some breeds and are actually other breeds entirely!
Here are some statistics I feel comfortable slinging around.
According to the American Temperament Test Society:
As of March 2012, the following well-known breeds scored as follows:
American Pit Bull Terrier: 86.8%
Golden Retriever: 85.2%
Shih Tzu: 76.2%
Yorkshire Terrier: 82.5%
As far as bite statistics, there is no perfect measurement of which breed bites more. The CDC has this plainly stated on their website:
" A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998
). It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill. "
It can be read here: CDC Dog Bite Fact Sheet
Since most dogs that bite can not be correctly identified, making up statistics for "dogs that bite" is pretty much impossible. Most people can not correctly identify more than a handful of breeds. Even some mixed breeds (like some of y'all on the Pet Pages) look like some breeds and are actually other breeds entirely!
Here are some statistics I feel comfortable slinging around.
According to the American Temperament Test Society:
As of March 2012, the following well-known breeds scored as follows:
American Pit Bull Terrier: 86.8%
Golden Retriever: 85.2%
Shih Tzu: 76.2%
Yorkshire Terrier: 82.5%
As far as bite statistics, there is no perfect measurement of which breed bites more. The CDC has this plainly stated on their website:
" A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998
). It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill. "It can be read here: CDC Dog Bite Fact Sheet
It is sad in this day and age, with so much information available, that someone would still believe these outdated and obviously false ideas. How often do you see a "Killer" dog running around?
Just really needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading!
Just really needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading!
Sadly i just had this same type of "discussion" at work this week. You know, how pit bulls just suddenly SNAP and are inherently mean. Ignorance runs rampid in all walks of life unfortunately :(
ReplyDeleteSome people are so ignorant! Pit Bulls are sweet loving animals and I am proud to have one for my very best friend. Don't let these fools get to you. Breed discrimination of animals is the same as racial discrimination in humans. There are so many idiots out there who will never get it! I'm much more scared of stupid people than I would ever be scared of any dog. Dogs know love, unfortunately most humans don't.
ReplyDeleteSigh... I've had the pleasure of meeting a number of Pit Bulls! I would rather have one of them in my life than a lot of other small breeds. Any dog can be dangerous. I choose to love all dogs, but of late, I have fallen head over heels for the breed and one day hope to be a part of a Pit Bulls life! BSL is as wrong for dogs as racism is for humankind.
ReplyDeleteBTW The rude human who commented look like someone I run into all the time on Facebook.People like her live under bridges and scare billy goats;-)
ReplyDeleteA couple of the sweetest dogs I've ever known were pits, or pit mix. Sweet, loving and never aggressive to me (or any person) - they reflected how they were raised and the people in their lives.
ReplyDeleteIm so sorry mom and Kiera!! Duke has no aggressiveness in him unless he is protecting me while I am alone, but even then he rather put himself between me and whoever and makes himself look bigger. Strangers come up to him all the time and he just gives kisses and hugs. He was extremely abused before I took him away from his abusers!! Every trainer and bahavorist I took him to said that if he wasnt a pittie mix there is NO way he would beable to over come what he had gone through so fast and so well. I defend him every day to the stupid people. Every dog is different. I had a Sheltland Sheep dog attack my face, I've been bitten by a cocker spaniel, bitten by a husky, bitten by a JRT, and yet I wrestle with Duke while outside or at home and he never goes about it trying to hurt me. Most people are just mean because they are uneducated and refuse to be educated they just want the problem to go away!!
ReplyDeletei am sadly unable to have a pittie as they are banned in the UK. However i have 3 bull terriers. they are the most beautiful natured dogs and every one i meet is amazed at how loving and calm they are. unfortunately you will always get the mean spirited humans (and i use that term loosely) who decide on something through reading the trashier tabloide newspapers. I have only ever been bitten once and that was by a poodle. negative reporting doesnt help our bull breeds either.
ReplyDelete