Pitbull Attacks

I have an American bulldog, which looks something like a Pitt in that she is extremely strong for her size. I have two jobs as a dog owner:

1. Establish myself as the alpha and elevate the status of our cats so Bulldog understands the pecking order as I see it.

2. Always keep her leashed or fenced. Period. I've never seen her get aggressive, but I live on the assumption that she has the potential do do a lot of damage. I never allow her the chance.

I like Pit Bulls, but I never trust any large dog that I don't own. Yesterday my neighbor's Pit Bull got out of their fenced yard and stopped by to say "hi" to me as I was gardening. This dog and I are on friendly terms, but I trust him not at all.

The most batshit crazy, aggressive dog I've ever owned was a diminutive Chocolate Labrador. She was absolutely sweet toward people but would attack other animals on sight. I got rid of her.

There is a lack of serious scientific study of the supposed aggression of American pit bull terriers. Dog fanciers and those who cater to the dog industry will tell you they are the sweetest creatures on earth. Of course, a place called dogsbite.org will tell you they are the devil incarnate. And the media has a heyday with any pit bull attack, no matter how unrepresentative an isolated incident may be.

Like antivaxxers, a lot of you are spreading a bunch of bullshit. Pitbulls aren't inherently meaner or more violent dogs. People abuse them and make them that way.

More than 400,000 people die from homicide each year [world wide] link

In the United States, more than seven people per hour die a violent death. In 2019, more than 19,100 people were victims of homicide and over 47,500 people died by suicide. link

The absolute number of war deaths has been declining since 1946. In some years in the early post-war era, around half a million people died through direct violence in wars. In recent years, the annual death toll tends to be less than 100,000. link

Yes animals can be dangerous and I believe prevention is a good measure. Some places have banned certain breeds. I believe other places require insurance for specific breeds. I've owned both a pit and a Rott. They were both amazing and wonderful friends. I went to dog training classes so mine were both well disciplined. But yes they are animals. The pet raccoon I had was the meanest pet I ever had.

But what are we going to do about humans?

Until it does show aggression. Sometimes they just seem perfectly fine until they're not. And when that happen, it can get traumatic real fast.

Mr. Monster and I have friends who found a dog that they determined was part pit bull. She busted through the baby gate when they weren't home and murdered a kitten that they had also found. I thought she should be put down, but she wasn't. Not long after that, they heard a yelp coming from the back yard. They determined that that dog had gotten her collar caught in something, freaked out, thrashed around, broke her own neck and died. I was so relieved! I never felt safe around her. They have another dog who appears to be full pit bull that they also found. The vet determined he was likely used as a bait dog. But he is the sweetest thing, never showed any sign of aggression at all.

My mom was almost killed by a Rottweiler that had been a pet for many years. One day it snapped and tried to kill her. It always frightened me. Seeing that thing put down was a happy day because I knew she’d be safe from getting mauled by it.

Banned those bast*rds in 2005 before more little boys and girls got chewed up!

Pit bulls might not be any meaner than a chihuahua (actually I've known some really nasty chihuahuas) but obviously the chances of a pit bull doing serious, even fatal, damage is significantly higher than an equally vicious chihuahua. What I have noticed (strictly anecdotal) is that some really, really large breeds (Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd, Spanish Mastiff) are so mellow they are practically Zen personified (or I guess I should say caninified?). But common sense would just tell you that the larger the breed the more damage they can do if they are pissed off. And yes pit bulls account for more deaths than the other 34 breeds combined. The statistics are from a 13 year period (2005-2017 and the chart only shows the top 7 "killer" breeds)

These dogs kill people all the time and nothing is ever done about it.

Often the owners make some kind of statement like, Oh it was a cute doggy and so good with kids, I dunno what happened.

It's generally either Pit Bull or Rottweiller type dogs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States

2 Pitbulls almost kill UPS driver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6cV_Rw3rjs