YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - It happened AGAIN! Child loses arm!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScootieBootie (Post 2144306)

Dog bite "statistics" are not an accurate measure of the dog danger. If you have 10,000 pitbulls, and 10 of the caused fatal bites, and have only 5,000 labs, and 5 of them caused fatal bites, how is that accurate?

The fact is that with so many people breeding certain breeds, it stands to reason that there will (statistically) be more bites likely due to more individuals in the pool.

My dog Abby did not make the national news. Heck, she didn't even make local news, even though my dad almost died. Why? People aren't "interested" in the mixes, and "softer" dogs that bite. I have worked with more aggressive (human) labs than I have pit bulls.

Most people form opinions on breeds based on other people's "experiences." Most people do not even closely know a person who has had a bad experience with a pit bull. They just "hear" stories and lump them all together.

Also, in several cases, the news reported the offending "dog" as a pit bull, but upon seeing photos of the dogs who were aggressive, they didn't resemble a pit bull at all. However, the news does not "retract" false info on pit bull bites. They would rather feed the fear by not putting in their mistake, because they want to sell papers.

Pit bull bites sell papers.

Did you hear about the case where a 7 week old pit bull puppy was left alone with a 1-2 week old baby? The baby and puppy were left unattended on the floor, while mommy and daddy were "sleeping." The puppy chewed off the babies ear...and the dad dismembered the puppy alive... C'mon! Can you really state that the 7 week old puppy was "evil, dangerous, and a man eater?" No! Puppies chew. Who in their right mind would leave a defenseless baby alongside a chewing puppy? Unsupervised no less?

THAT guy was a monster. One, for leaving the two together, and two for dismembering that pup ALIVE!!! That is heartless. The ones who should have been killed were the parents. It was 150% their fault!!!

Are my kids alone with my dogs? Absolutely not! But not because of the "breeds." That's just responsible parenting!

I wish that more people would "base" their opinions on actual experience, and not on newscasts that are biased.

Also, dog on dog aggression is NOT the same as dog/human aggression. If a dog is dog aggressive, this is not an indication that the dog will attack a person.

I have seen instances where "small dog owners" will talk crap about the big dog who snapped or growled at their "little darlings," but will not admit to their dogs' bad behavior, lunging, growling, barking and even biting larger dogs.

ANY dog that shows unprovoked human aggression should be euthanized, regardless of breed. A dog that attacks someone who has abused, teased or taunted it should not, if he is not aggressive toward other people, in my opinion.

I can tell you this: When the incident I described happened, I called animal control and learned of the 'one bite rule.' I aksed what would be done, and told it was my choice because the dog was allowed one incident. I had her put to sleep, my choice, because she was dangerous!

This family, I'm so sad for that little boy who will live his life forever changed and with a disability because of POOR parenting! In my opinion, parents who keep known biter dogs should be charged for child endangerment if their child gets into this situation.

It is so disturbing to me. Really. I don't care what breed.

I also think many times pit bulls are in the papers more for exactly the reason you had stated above, that they sell papers.

There are probably a ton of dog attacks every day, but many times the pitt bull bites are the only ones reported on or getting major press.

It's also easier to not overlook aggression in a large breed as opposed to a small breed. If a larger or reportedly more dangerous dog shows the smallest sign of aggression or even dominance it is immediately labeled as a dangerous dog. Many times though small breeds get away with much more and people shrug it off because they are small and it's "cute" for them to act like a "big" dog.

I am not saying that a pit bulls bite isn't more dangerous than say, a yorkie's is because I'm sure it is. But, in reality any dog can snap and it's up to the owners to make sure their dog is properly supervised, restrained, trained, and cared for to keep themselves and others safe so that a bite doesn't have an opportunity to occur, IMO.