[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by Kerry_129

I completely agree that the dangers posed by potentially dangerous breeds (all of them, really) are greatly aggravated by the actions/neglect/failure to discipline by their human owners. BUT, I can't help to conclude that that for whatever combination of factors, there's simply no denying that a few breed 'types' are responsible for the vast majority of fatalities. I think it's reasonable to assume a similar correlation with cases of serious injury. Based on the raw fatality stat's, Pits and Rotts are by far the leading breeds in dog-attack deaths, alond with a few others (and yes, I know a lot of bully dogs that aren't APBTs get lumped together as 'pit-bulls', but so what? - we're not debating pedigree, and by that same token lots of Rott-mixes are classified just the same as pure-breds). Of course, the figures aren't correlated to the total # of dogs of a particular type - but it's hard to argue with the raw #'s showing a very strong trend in the types of dogs that attack/kill humans.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf

http://www.dogexpert.com/FatalDogAtt...ttackhome.html


I asked my brother to refresh my memory about his good friend, Dominique, who was the guy I knew that was bitten badly - 3rd hand account, but a reliable source (to me) with no reason to lie about it. It was actually his girlfriend's family dog, which was kept as an indoor 'pet' (I know, they're not pets, blah, blah - but that's the reality of how many if not the majority of dogs are kept in this country). He was visiting for X-mas dinner & eating a plate of food while sitting on the hearth, and the dog was pestering him by nosing at his plate while he ate (unacceptable behavior, but the dog was simply being a pest & not 'visciously' aggressive). After pushing him away a couple of times, it snapped onto his face twice & laid him open from the top of his cheekbone to his chin. Was it precipitated by ignorance/negligence on the part of the owners and perhaps an improper/careless reaction from the 'victim'? Sure - but it sure as hell wasn't some chained-up grossly-mistreated curr being unduly provoked by someone blatantly taunting or abusing it.

I'm not at all saying that pit-bulls or Rotts or any other 'dangerous' breed are automatically 'bad' or 'evil'. I think that the vast majority that have good owners & proper treatment/training can be loyal, loving, trusted family-members, and I totally accept that the biggest factor in their propensity to attack is how they are raised, socialized & disciplined. BUT, I also think that without a proper upbringing they (dogs in general, larger/stronger dogs particularly, and a handful of breeds specifically) can be very much like having a loaded gun laying around.

You haven't been keeping up have you?