Pit bull problem: The owner or the breed?

seattlepi ^ | June 23, 2009 | CASEY MCNERTHNEY

[JoeProBono]

Sheriff's deputies said it's the first case of its kind they can remember in King County -- one in which a pit bull was used as a weapon in brutal attacks on women.

About 6:30 p.m., a 63-year-old woman stopped her car in SeaTac when she saw four kids kicking a pit bull. A 15-year-old girl told her to mind her own business, then punched her in the head, police say. The dog bit the woman, causing bruises and puncture wounds on her hand and thigh.

Another woman watched the attack and followed the kids to North SeaTac Park. Once the kids realized they were being followed, police said, the 15-year-old head-butted, punched and kicked the second woman so hard that the teen's foot was injured.

Police say the pit bull was turned loose on the woman and grew more and more violent as the children encouraged him. She remained at Harborview Medical Center on Monday in satisfactory condition.

Some advocates for and against pit bulls agree that the children's alleged criminal action was the problem, but the case again raises the question: Are pit bulls or their owners the problem?

The answer varies depending on who is asked.

"People will say there are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners," King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said. "We don't agree with that."

Deputies see more animal-related calls in the summer -- a season when overall call volume increases. Police are not dog experts, Urquhart noted, but he said they do find bad dogs along with bad owners.

"We're not sure if this was a bad dog," he said of the pit bull, "Snaps," who is now at a King County animal shelter. "But clearly he had a bad owner."

The deed, not the breed

Don Jordan, director of the Seattle Animal Shelter, has heard outrage in the past few years about pit bulls. In the early 1990s, Dobermans were the problem, he said. In the mid '90s, Rottweilers got most of the complaints.

"Our approach has always been that we focus on the deed, not the breed," he said. " If you're going to properly protect public safety, you look at enacting ordinances or requirements that affect all dog owners."

There were 40,136 licensed dogs in Seattle and 1,298 of those were pit bulls, according to Seattle Animal Shelter statistics through Feb. 11, the most recent available.

Of all breeds, pit bulls were most likely to bite, according to shelter officials -- 547 of 2,914 reported incidents between 1997 and last year. They also were identified in fully a quarter of menacing incidents during that time period -- 1,066 of 4,189.

Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and Rottweilers also had relatively high numbers. But shelter statistics also show the number of overall dog bites decreased by more than half in 2008 from the previous year.

There were 134 bite calls and 189 menacing complaints last year, down from 304 and 315 the previous year, respectively. Pit bulls were responsible for 89 of the bites and menacing calls, down from 150 the previous year.

Jordan isn't quite sure why there's been a decrease.

"I think there's been a lot of media attention last year about (a previous) SeaTac incident," he said. "Maybe dog owners are being more responsible."

Pit bull rap sheet

Last September, two pit bulls attacked a 71-year-old woman as she walked her grandchildren through their SeaTac neighborhood. The woman later said she thought she was going to die as the dogs ripped her face, legs and arms.

A sheriff's deputy shot the dogs, killing one. Another deputy killed the second pit bull nearby when it remained aggressive. The woman's neighbor who owned the dogs, Travis Dean Cunningham, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for the attack, plus a firearms violation filed in a separate case.

Family said the elderly attack victim, who underwent hours of surgery, didn't attend the sentencing because it was too emotional. Prosecutor Dan Satterberg described the attack as a "case of dangerous dogs and a dangerous owner."

Rather than banning pit bulls, it would be better to prevent some people from owning the dogs -- including felons and those convicted of dog fighting or gang-related crimes, said Julie Russell of Seattle, spokeswoman for Families Against Breed Bans.

"It sounds like these dogs were being taunted and abused and these are just the kinds of kids we want to get the dogs away from," she said of the most recent attack suspects, who deputies say may face felony charges. "It's not the dogs that are unsafe, it's that there are unsafe owners who mismanage their jobs."

Russell, who owns four dogs, grew up terrified of pit bulls. When her husband picked out their first one a few years ago, she said "it was a source of tension for a couple weeks." She initially wouldn't leave her Labrador alone in the car with the pit bull.

"After about two weeks, I realized she's a highly emotional dog," Russell said of Simon, one of her two pit bulls. "I could not imagine her harming anything or anyone."......

[txhurl]

Once again, what biological mechanism allows an American staffordshire terrier to lock its jaws?

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I say we use the scientific method. You go witness a bulldog fight. If perchance you see any jaws lock, come back and we’ll try to unravel how or why that could have happened.

Until then you may as well be asking if tetanus (lockjaw) is a real disease.

[Immerito]

In other words, you can’t name a single biological mechanism that *locks* the jaws of a single breed of dog?

It would seem that you are determined to perpetuate a myth.

[txhurl]

What if I moved the goal posts laterally and claimed there is no amount of physical injury a bulldog will undergo that will cause it to unlock its jaws? That is, a bulldog is willing to die before unlocking its jaw?

What we need here is a biological mechanism, OTHER than asphyxiation, that will cause a bulldog to un-clamp. So far
we don’t have one, unless you’ve heard of one?

[Immerito]

Asphyxiation is not a biological mechanism, and only highlights that the jaws are not, indeed, locked.

Let’s try again. Show me the skull of any of the dog breeds identified under the umbrella of “pitbull” and show me the part of canine anatomy that “locks” the dog’s jaws

[txhurl]

Fine. Now, you have to remember that I have with my hands, unlocked two separate bulldog clamps belonging to dogs not mine, so I still hold the empirical edge, while you dance in theory.

I agree the cranial and maxillofacial anatomy of all dogs are the same. It's the muscles that control the jaws that differ greatly. Aw, I lied already. Bulldogs have wider jawsets than any other breed.

In bulldogs - and notice I'm not painting pits in any of these posts - cute little puppies are BORN with this:

This is certainly not to suggest any intentional breeding such that massive jaws are selected for in any subset of bulldogs. Coincidental at best.

Perhaps this massive jaw muscle has weaknesses... much like a swimmer might develop a muscle cramp. If a physical attribute is overdeveloped via close inbreeding, and when overtaxed, it cramps involuntarily.. certainly the swimmer didn't intend to drown because his legs wouldn't unlock.

I know my calves have cramped on me, and not a damned thing I could do about it until whatever chemicals I worked out instructed them to 'relax'.

[txhurl]

I should probably add that conditions like hip dysplasia and such probably didn’t exist in the original breeding stock. Overdevelopment of desired characteristics via too close inbreeding produces physical problems. Why couldn’t ‘inability to control jaw muscles in the short term’ be one of them?

[txhurl]

and show me the part of canine anatomy that “locks” the dog’s jaws

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Gave you a decent hypothesis, is that all you you’ll be needing this thread, Sir?

[Immerito]

That is what I have asked for all along, and you have, hitherto, been unable to name one anatomical structure which locks the dog’s jaws, rendering them, by definition, immovable on whatever is clenched between them.

[Immerito]

Muscles are incapable of locking; cramping, while a common affliction of muscles, is not the same as locking.

A rottweiler or German shepherd has greater bite force than an American staffordshire terrier, and no one makes the ludicrous argument that their jaws lock. What these breeds have in common is that they have all shared the spotlight of “Devil Dog of the Decade”. Currently, it’s the AST’s turn. In time, there will be a new culprit.

But so long as people parrot myths about dogs, this decades old problem will not be solved.

****

The Locking Jaw

The most common myth about ‘pit bull’ dogs is that their jobs lock. This is untrue.

Breeds like the American Pit Bull Terrier do have very powerful jaws, and this is where this myth comes from. However, the jaw does not ‘lock’ - and you cannot get the jaw to ‘lock’ through abusive actions such as breaking the jaw. (yes, we have heard from people who believe this is how you get a ‘locking jaw’ and we have incredibly sympathy for any animals they own.)

On this topic Dr. 1. Lehr Brisbin of the University of Georgia wrote:
“The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of pit bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any breed of dog. There is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any kind of “locking mechanism” unique to the structure of the jaw and/or teeth of the American Pit Bull Terrier.”

The ‘pit bull’ has powerful jaws, but they are not alone in this. This is yet another myth - that ‘pit bulls’ are more dangerous because they have the most powerful bite. Most large breeds and cross breeds have a very strong bite, and even smaller dogs can inflict a bite powerful enough to kill. Any dogs can be dangerous in the hands or an irresponsible, negligent or abusive owner.

http://www.dogwatch.net/myths/lock_jaw.html

[Poser]

“The answer is... BOTH. “

Agreed.