When dogs attack, owners can go to prison (Pit bulls kill child - Owners get 7 years)

WFAA-TV ^ | 1/19/2009 | JIM DOUGLAS

[meandog]

It is almost impossible to keep a dog secured too. If you have a fenced in yard - they can figure out how to get out. I feel sorry for these people but a little boy was killed. Pit bull owners and others are delusional about the “breed.” They are HIGHLY unpredictable and aggressive due to genetic damage.

B.S.!

[Spokane]

but if you feel like betting 7 years of your life in prison because you want a pit bull. Be my guest.

So how do you feel about horses? Horses injure 23,000 kids annually and kill more kids than pit bulls. Should horse owners also be in a position "betting 7 years of their life in prison" if their horse kills a child?

How about cattle? Almost 80 people a year die from injuries caused by cattle. Should a farmer also worry about jail time? Where is the uproar and righteous indignation? Where's the anti-cattle mob?

I'm not trying to minimize the tragedy of the horrible accident. I'm just trying to understand the mentality of everyone here who think citizens (some are idiots) should serve jail time because they aren't model dog owners.

[goat granny]

I see your point. I will address something not related to dog breeds. Here in Michigan the gov’t did something they said they would never do...(Oh the shock) They started ticketing you for not using your seat belt. Well, I buckle up all the time but not because of the law...they can go screw themselves. But I am terrified of the insurance co. as one of the first questions they ask in any accident is ‘Where you wearing your seat belt?”. Insurance company's could put the fear of God in dog owners of certain high risk dogs if they so choose..No gov’t needed....:O)

[meandog]

Unfortunately that is the way people react when kids are dying. The pit bull posts always bring out a lot of responses, unfortunately there are a lot of pit bull incidents. Pit bulls account for less than3- 4% of the dogs in our country. Yet a study from 1979 through 1988 released by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that pit bulls accounted for 42% of all dog-related deaths. Another study conducted in 1982 through 2006 similarly concluded that 44% of all fatalities from dog attacks involved pit bulls. And the numbers are getting worse. The JAMA article reported that in the most recent years of the study (1987-1988), pit bulls accounted for 62% of the deaths. Another study in 2007 found that 58% of all dog bite fatalities involved pit bulls. Those are pretty condemning statistics. Now we wouldnt want to take away your right to own a time bomb such as this, but if you feel like betting 7 years of your life in prison because you want a pit bull. Be my guest.

The so-called PBT (I call it "so-called" because the AKC does not recognize it) breed became popular in this country about 35 years ago...about the same time crack became a scourge in the inner city. Coincidence? No! Thugs and "gangstaz" would particulary backyard breed agressive dogs (a la Michael Vick)

But pitbulls today include every thing from a mixed-breed Bullterrier to an American Bulldog, so there is no way of justifying these numbers.

Dogs, if you'll believe history, enjoy the status of being the very first animal ever domesticated by humans. They have been around us since the Stone Age, perhaps even longer. Therefore, it is not fair to lump them in with exotic animals such as chimps, etc.

I will agree that these dogs have a fighting background and have a predisposition to defend themselves. I do not agree that they cannot be socialize and become good pets if they are owned by responsible people who know how to train bully breeds. Incidentally, some of Michael the dogkiller Vick's former PBTs are now, believe it or not, "therapy dogs" and others are happy pets with responsible owners.

[oldenuff2no]

I've posted on this topic many times for a reason. I'm a long time trainer, over 30 years, and do evaluations for law enforcement in dog attack cases.
First you have to take into account what is bred into the dog, it's called instinct. Border collies are bred to work things that move. Most professional stock dog trainers will start sorting a litter of pups at 6 weeks old. They put them on a heard of ducks to see if they will work. The really good pups will work the ducks at 6 weeks of age. There is no training involved. The pups have been kept in a kennel with the bitch so there is no handler interaction or socialization involved either. It is pure instinct. No person has the ability to reach in and take this instinct away. It is there on the day they are born and will be there until the day they die.
For the last several hundred years the Pitt Bull has been bred to bite and fight. It is a bred in hard wired instinct. It's there and always going to be there. This internal drive can be modified with training if you recognize that it exists and have the skills as a trainer. This instinct will not just go away if you treat the dog with love and affection. Keeping the dog away from situations that are likely to trigger this instinctual response is also necessary.
Just as movement triggers a border collie to work certain things will trigger a Pitt to attack.
A dog usually comes in head up, head first when they are attacking. Now picture a toddler on their hands and knees crawling up to a Pitt and surprising him. There is no thought process here the dog will detect an attack and react with a ferocious counter attack. The dog will not see that he is attacking a child and stop. When the attack mode kicks in he will continue until the victim is dead. This is still a part of his hard wired instinct.
I have evaluated many dog attacks for the courts. There is a huge difference in the outcome of a Pitt attack and when a German shepherd bites a person. I won't go into detail of the evidence I have reviewed in these evaluations. Pitt attacks are every bit as vicious as a lion attack.
Other breeds of dogs do occasionally attack people but not at the same rate as Pitts and they do not do nearly as much damage.
There are a huge amount of labs and German sheperds in this country. They outnumber Pitts 10 to 1 and yet the ratio of attacks by pits is about 5 to 1 over the other two breeds combined (in reported serious dog attacks) and the total number of deaths caused are about 10 to 1 above the other dogs. Let me put that in simple language. Pitts are 5 times more likely to attack and 10 times more likely to cause death when they do attack. I will ask one more time. Why would anyone choose to own an animal that falls into this category? Why should they believe that they are somehow immune to prosecution if they make this choice and things go bad? How can anyone deceive themselves about these factual statistics?
By the way, I have never interviewed a Pitt dog owner who told me that “they just knew that their dog was going to attack a little kid one of these days.” They always say that their dog was gentle and loving and would never hurt anyone. Most of the time they were right, and then they were wrong and another child is dead or maimed.

[Entrepreneur]

I understand that some insurance companies are changing greater liability insurance for owners of pit bulls. Whether this is supported by actuary tables or not, it will suppress breed ownership. Generally, the market works if we let it, though it doesn’t always work in ways people like.

For example, the market wasn’t generating enough low income mortgages to satisfy Congress and activists. So government meddled with the market and we all know the outcome.

You’re right, no government is needed most of the time.

[Entrepreneur]

How can anyone deceive themselves about these factual statistics?

Sources?

[oldenuff2no]

OK, I'm done with this again. There are national statistics out there for everyone to find.. I've been challenged on them many times and they have always stood up to the test.
This is a passionate subject but no one has more passion about this issue than the parents of a child that a Pitt Bull has killed.
Talk to them. I have.

[oldenuff2no]

http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/danger.htm

It is important to draw attention to the studies because of lobbying efforts by a segment of the population that stubbornly continues to insist that no breed of dog is inherently dangerous, even in the face of apparently overwhelming contrary evidence. A report by Animal People found that, of 264 canine homicides from 1982 to 2006 in the USA and Canada, a total of 65% of the deaths were caused by pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes.

Pitts make up 2-9% on the dogs in the USA

http://www.dogsbite.org/
2008 fatality chart

2007 fatality chart

2006 fatality chart

The numbers are all over the web and if you really want to know the truth it is very easy to find. The fact is that most Pitt Bull owners do not want to know the truth.
These numbers have been challenged in many court cases across our country and have survived each and every challenge.
I’m done.

[Dosa26]

The fact is that most Pitt Bull owners do not want to know the truth.

My 1 1/2 yo "lab-mix" looks and carries herself similarly. She's the most loving and human tolerant dog I've ever met. What age should I put her down at? I'm thinkin' 6. /s