“I specifically said to beware of because experts have dismissed it as being biased
Again, not in the post I was replying to. By the way, who are these unnamed experts? “<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Here are a few links discussing the study:
http://stopbsl.com/fortherecord/scientific-studies/ -Scroll down to “A closer look at the popular studies” to see the facts on the Merritt Clifton study.
http://lassiegethelp.blogspot.com/2007/08/dangerous-breeds-dog-bite-statistics.html -Same here, just scroll down a little bit and you can see the details
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/merrit-cliffton/ -Basically all of these say the same thing, but you can get an idea just reading the ones I had on hand.
Here are some other links, in case you are interested:
www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com - There’s a lot of info here about the history of dog attacks, including the original “bad” dog, the bloodhound, and what made the breed infamous (pretty much identical to what people think of the pit bull today)
www.atts.org - Tests on unprovoked aggression. Listed by breed, you can compare the breeds to see where your favorite ranks. Notice that pit bulls rank higher than many other breeds. This is an ongoing thing, so every year you can see if certain breeds are doing better or worse, or if the average is moving at all.
www.kcdogblog.com - You can see the last few years of dog bite fatalities. He lists the breed, the care the dog received, the age of the victim, the circumstances leading up to the attack, the poverty level of the area, and even how many news stations picked up the story. This site also goes over legislation in different areas, and whether or not laws are helping. There’s just a ton of info here.
“About 7% of the total require hospitalization, of which we see only the pit bull stories. Why is it that we are not seeing the rest of these on the news?
The maimings and fatalities are worse. BTW, are you trying to insinuate that those attacks don’t involve any pits?”<<<<<<<
What I am saying is that the ONLY stories we see are the ones involving pit bulls, and I know for a fact that many reporters reject stories based on low profits. I also know that the majority of dog bites depend on the most popular breed of the time, which is why public health records have labs, pit bulls, cockers, dalmatians, etc. listed as the most common biters. Lastly, I know that there is a huge discrepancy between what is reported on the news and what public health records are saying. I’m NOT saying that none of those are pit bull bites. What I’m trying to show you is that regardless of how many other attacks are happening, the one or two pit bull stories are all we get to read about, making it appear that they are the only dogs attacking. According to the records, that is definitely not the case, and many serious attacks don’t ever make it on the news.
Again, who are these unnamed experts?