Pitbull Research Paper

Dangerous Dogs by Erinn Coleman

The Pitbull terrier, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, and Doberman Pinscher are well known for being dangerous dog breeds. But what makes these dogs more dangerous than other dogs? Dog attacks are a common problem throughout the world, more specifically in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to Safia Gray Hussain, “Dog bites now rank among the top causes of nonfatal injuries, and are responsible second only to baseball and softball injuries for emergency room visits.” (Hussain 2850).

Breeds such as the Pitbull were not always considered dangerous, in fact, as stated by Erin C. Tarver “‘Breed’-specific danger is a comparatively recent development, as Staffordshire Terriers were, in the early twentieth

century, depicted as prototypical American pets, appearing everywhere from RCA and Buster Brown ads to The Little Rascals.” (Tarver 273-285).

In the late 1980’s breeds such as the German Shepherd and the Rottweiler were dubbed as fighting types and were considered problematic due to their association with criminal activity.

These dogs were used as weapons, as well as deterrents for the police and for fighting. Later, in 1991 the Pitbull terrier was popularized by the media when many of the attacks being reported were associated with the breed (Oxley 424). Due to the high number of attacks, the United Kingdom quickly passed the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act. Lydia Bleasdale-Hill describes The Dangerous Dogs Act as “[A] response to a number of attacks by dogs on children in particular, and has been described as ‘a synonym for any unthinking reflex legislative response to media hype.’” The act placed a

restriction on four dog breeds that were considered “dangerous” (Bailey et al 490). However, a point that is often not spoken of is that any dog, regardless of breed, can be dangerous. Most of the people attacked are quick to say that a Pitbull attacked them when it may have been a Labrador. The Veterinary Record claims that “Breed-specific legislation has been criticized for failing to address that a dog's breed is just one of many factors that influence the likelihood of it displaying aggression... Dog bites are not notifiable and not all injured parties seek medical treatment.” Because of this, “Accurate data on the occurrence of dog bite injuries in people is therefore lacking. Identification of breed or type is subjective and often inaccurate.” (Bailey et al 490). Despite the 1991 Dangerous Dogs act efforts, The Veterinary Record also states that “a comparative study of dog bite presentations in people at an urban emergency department in the UK found no significant decrease in dog-inflicted injury after introduction of the Dangerous Dogs Act.” (Bailey et al 490).
Despite dangerous dogs being such a large problem in the United States, there are very few reports released on dog attacks beyond 2003 in the United States.

Hussain states that “There are approximately sixty-eight million dogs kept as pets in the United States. Every year, these dogs bite an estimated four to five million Americans, representing about two percent of the population...” According to J.T. Quirk, “dog bites are a significant cause of injury, particularly among children.” Based on Quirk’s research “National estimates presented [in the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) were based on weighted data for 25,709 patients treated for dog bite-related injuries at NEISS-AIP hospital emergency departments from 2005 to 2009.” That estimates roughly to 6,427 people per year being treated for dog bite-related injuries. Quirk also states that “It has been estimated that 1,615,426 persons… were treated in US emergency departments for non-fatal dog bite-related injuries between 2005 and 2009, for a corresponding average annual injury rate of 107.2 … per 100,000 population.” Males accounted for 53.9 percent of the injuries sustained making the rate of males 1.2 times higher than females. Rates were highest in children under the age of 15 at 95 percent (Quirk 300-302). Data on dog attacks seems more accessible in the United Kingdom, where the dangerous dog stigma began. Based on the research of Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, in Ireland “there was a total of

3,164 human hospitalizations due to dog bites from 1998 to 2013, with a 45% increase in numbers [of] hospitalized...” (Ó Súilleabháin 357-359). Hussain states there are three recurring factors involved in dog attacks. “First, most dog bites occur in the home or another familiar… Second, most attacks are perpetrated by unaltered males.” And lastly, “dogs contained or otherwise restrained on the owner's property are responsible for more serious and fatal attacks than those roaming at large. (Hussain 2850)
Although dog attacks are a common occurrence, deaths caused by these attacks are very rare. According to data provided by Mark Warren’s article on the “Top Ten Deadliest Dog Breeds” between September 1882 and December of 2012, there were 233 deaths caused by the Pit bull terrier, 81 from the Rottweiler, and 24 by the Husky. Rates were lowest in the German shepherd at 14 and the Chow at 7 (Warren). Hussain claims “The number of canine homicides has remained fairly constant over time, at approximately ten to twenty per year.” (Hussain 2850 -2851). Most attacks are caused by a pack of dogs or more than one dog, and according to plastic surgeons, B. Kneafsey and K.C. Condon, “Most reported fatal attacks have been carried out by a single dog. Pack attacks occurred in only 10 percent of the 157 deaths and 10 of the 74 fatalities.” Kneafsey and Condon also observed that “dogs originally bred and trained to hunt, such as greyhounds, [the] hunting instinct is reinforced by group behavior. A pack frenzy is thus of major significance in many serious cases of dog attacks.” (Kneafsey et al 40).