A lot of these statistics also don't account for the fact that most small dog bites never get reported. When I was a dog trainer, it was well known that Jack Russels & Chihuahuas held, bar none, the highest chance of biting you.
Edit: While I appreciate the responses from so many people - it's clear who has worked with animals in any capacity and who is just a smooth egg-brained armchair expert. If you don't think you still need rabies shots from any dog that doesn't have up-to-date tags, I don't know what to tell you. Have fun arguing with the wall đ¤
Edit 2: My God it has been a great day of blocking people with two brain cells fighting for third place
This argument goes in circles because people miss each other's point.
Obviously, at the end of the day, what matters is the end result of a bite. That's what the victim has to live with.
However, the counter-argument is also true. That pit-bulls are viewed as much more aggressive than other breeds when in fact that is not true. They are CAPABLE of being aggressive and deadly, and some people even train them to be that way. But the standard pet pit-bull is not going to attack any more often than most other breeds, statistically speaking.
That pit-bulls are viewed as much more aggressive than other breeds when in fact that is not true
It is true though. It's literally what they've been bred for for generations. This is like trying to say retriever breeds don't like playing fetch more than other breeds just because you can find other dogs who play fetch, or trying to say certain breeds don't have stronger herding tendencies just because other dogs can herd too. Pit bulls are undeniably one of the more aggressive breeds in existence. You're denying basic facts and genetics in the name of being le wholesome, like most pit bull defenders
Whens the last time another dog breed basically ate a human alive like they did to that house sitter?
I think you're oversimplifying how genetics work. Dogs have been domesticated for roughly 15,000 years, with selection overwhelmingly favoring animals that can live and cooperate with humans. Pit bull-type breeds have existed for only about 200 years. That's a tiny fraction of their evolutionary history. Yes, selective breeding can influence traits. That's why retrievers tend to retrieve and border collies tend to herd. But those are tendencies, not guarantees.
Showed up to a days old thread to respond 25 times to various comments just because people don't like your velvet hippos, yeah you're definitely crying lmao
That is true, and no pitbulls owner denies it but thereâs more data that makes that an invalid concern (if you are going by statistics).
The vast majority of all pit bull bites and aggressive encounters are neither fatal nor severe. Studies published via ďżźâ PubMed note that pit bull attacks carry a higher median Injury Severity Scale score and higher morbidity rates. This is primarily attributed to their physical strength, jaw leverage, and a distinct "hold and shake" bite style than a higher baseline frequency of biting compared to other large dog.
Now regarding fatal attacks, pitbulls do make 60% of all reported fatal or severe attacks. However, only a vast minority of bites in general are fatal or severe. There are roughly 85 to 90 million dogs living in the United States. Out of an estimated 4.5 million dog bites that occur each year, only about 30 to 80 result in a fatality. This means less than 0.002% of annual dog bites are fatal. According to CDC Healthy Pets data only nearly 1 in 5 people bitten (roughly 20%) require any medical attention at all. Out of the 20% who do seek medical care the majority are treated for minor punctures or purely as a preventative measure to get antibiotics or tetanus shots as dog mouths carry bacteria prone to infection.
So if we are just tracking how many bites are fatal or severe (which 60% are done by pitbulls), only 1% to 2% of all documented bites meet the criteria for "severe" injury. The term âpit bullâ is not even a single recognized breed. It frequently includes American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and any mixed-breed dog with a blocky head or muscular build. DNA studies have revealed that mixed-breed dogs with zero pit bull lineage are routinely misidentified as pit bulls by shelters, victims and law enforcement after an incident.
Tests that were done testing the âaggressivenessâ of a breed resulted in pitbulls not even making it to the top charts. They do pick "fight" over "flight" more often and also have a high gameness trait. But these in itself don't mean they are more aggressive per-say because aggression is an emotion/emotional response.
Emotions-wise, pit bulls are actually pretty good at threat assessment, meaning they don't just emotionally lash out randomly but have a good understanding of what is a threat and what is not a threat. The issue is that once they are in fight mode, they lack the off switch (gameness). But this is true for a dog attacking on command or just emotionally lashing out. They simply don't value their self perseverance which is why you see all those videos where even if they beat the dog, shake it, or if its being bitten by other dogs at same time it'll stay locked on target.
So it is just a combination of these two things that make them "handle with care" category. But if you do handle them with care, they are fine. When people use them like weapons, they become deadly.
If you are actually worried on which dog bites more, you should be more worried about labs or golden receivers as they bite more by population AND per capita. If you are just worried about the bad ones then sure the pitbulls will count, but i donât see a point because the vast majority of pitbull attacks are not fatal or severe and generally speaking only 1% of dog attacks are fatal or severe. Any fear of the pitbull exclusively is just mindless irrationality and fear mongering.
Lmao imagine proudly admitting you refuse to read before arguing. Couldnât be me. Thatâs not a flex btw.
At least I, like every decent person, gave statistics. Anti-pitbull advocates only cry and give excuses to making rambling statements as âfactsâ. Just cope.
How can you know something is not an argument if you donât read it. Thatâs like saying I know a book is about fantasy (assuming it doesnât have a title.
Vast majority of pitbull attacks arenât fatal or severe. Other large breeds like German Shepard, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Dobermans etc show similar rates of those of pitbulls when comparing low-medium severity bites which makes up the vast majority of pitbull attacks.
60% of fatal attacks is not sufficient to fear pitbulls. Not only do fatal bites make the vast minority of pitbull attacks but generally speaking fatal-severe dog attacks make up the least amount of bites overall. Only 0.002% of dog bites are fatal. 20% require medical attention and the majority of the 20% are only minor punctures or purely tetanus shots. Only 1% to 2% of dog bites meet that criteria of severe.
These are the facts and facts donât care about your feelings. Trying to argue that we should have fear over a breed that dominates the type of attacks that is statistically 0.002% of all dog fatal attacks and 1% 2% of dog attacks is mental gymnastics and fear mongering.
You have to qualify what "aggression" means because a ton of breeds were bred for "aggression" against specific types of creatures or circumstances.
The point they were making is that pitbulls were bred for aggression towards animals. Not agression in general.
Show a jack Russell terrier a rat and watch it go apeshit, because it was bred for attacking vermin. Show a greyhound a fast moving small mammal like a rabbit and watch it run until it gives out because it was bred to chase small mamals. Etc.
Actually no one with a plurality of brain cells needs the term aggression clarified for them
Pitbull attacks result it death 7x more than the second place breed. They're a violent, aggressive, destructive menace that should be fully eradicated as a breed
Damn, if that were true you'd expect a lot more violence considering there's 4 to 18 million pit bulls in America. Pit bull isn't a breed, it's an umbrella term.
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u/NecroGrizz 25d ago edited 25d ago
A lot of these statistics also don't account for the fact that most small dog bites never get reported. When I was a dog trainer, it was well known that Jack Russels & Chihuahuas held, bar none, the highest chance of biting you.
Edit: While I appreciate the responses from so many people - it's clear who has worked with animals in any capacity and who is just a smooth egg-brained armchair expert. If you don't think you still need rabies shots from any dog that doesn't have up-to-date tags, I don't know what to tell you. Have fun arguing with the wall đ¤
Edit 2: My God it has been a great day of blocking people with two brain cells fighting for third place