A neighbor had a pit bull. His daughter was a youngster at the time. I asked the neighbor if he was concerned the dog would attack. He said with proper care and supervision, he felt the dog would fit in well with the family.
The put bull was a sweetheart. I rubbed her belly one day and I was her friend for life. Every time she would see me, she would drop to the ground and roll on her back for her belly rub.
She’s gone now and I miss that dog. Maybe my neighbor was just lucky or maybe he did something right with that dog, but there was never any trouble with her.
The neighbor was lucky.
“Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 700 U.S. cities, pit bulls contributed to 78% of these deaths. Pit bulls make up about 6% of the total U.S. dog population.”
http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatalities-2013.php
So when should they not be considered as ‘pets’—when, say, only 10% of them attack? 5%? 1%? 0.5%?
Canine roulette.
Pet lions can also be tamed. . . Seriously? Would you have an animal in YOUR house that has the ability to kill an grown adult, as well as a defenseless child. Grow a brain. People who mix killer breeds of dog with children should be in jail... period.
“A neighbor had a pit bull. His daughter was a youngster at the time. I asked the neighbor if he was concerned the dog would attack. He said with proper care and supervision, he felt the dog would fit in well with the family.
The put bull was a sweetheart. I rubbed her belly one day and I was her friend for life. Every time she would see me, she would drop to the ground and roll on her back for her belly rub.”
I have the exact same story, but with a somewhat different ending. My friend’s American Staff was a complete sweetheart. One day Doug came home from softball practice and was standing in the living room talking on the phone to a friend. Daisy attacked him and latched onto his thigh. Friend on the phone heard Doug screaming and called 911. By the time the medics got there, Doug had killed his pet with his softball bad, and he was lying on the floor, bleeding out. Medics told him two more minutes and he would have been dead. But she was such a sweet, well-cared-for, and loved dog.
It's where those three standard deviations lie that is the key.