Quote:
Originally Posted by MediaGuy
If you do a little research, you'll find that site/link you posted actually isn't legit. It was started by someone who got bit by what *might* or might not have been a Pit. Their stats are only culled from media reports of such attacks, which, if we consider media bias for pit bull stories (reporters listening to their police scanner apparently ignoring labrador, chow-chow and poodle incidents), means they're completely irrelevant.
According to the American Temperament Test Society, Pit Bulls are among the coolest characters in the dog world, and rate better than Collies and Retrievers and Cocckers and so on. It's part of the reason they're so popular for zootherapy, helping veterans, elderly people and children who are traumatized or with terminal conditions, as well as search & rescue and first response animals.
Pitbulls aren't nasty, aggressive dogs unless you make them that way.
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I actually read that pits often score better on the temperament chart than many other dogs. The number 1 biting dog is actually the dachshund. The difference is the amount of damage the bite can do.
Here is a study done by the CDC that culls data from 1979-1996. They admit that in some cases (roughly 25%) the type of dog that kills a person is not identified by breed for a number of reasons (typically because the dog was not captured or the attack was not witnessed). However, the study shows that of those that are identified, Pits are still #1 far and away with Rotts coming in second with about half as many fatalities.
Can some pits be great dogs? Absolutely. I grew up next door to a family that had one and she was one of the warmest, sweetest dogs I have ever known. Meanwhile, a friend of mine's aunt as a dachshund that has bitten me every time I have gone over to her house and she just laughs it off and thinks it funny. Does the owner and the training have a lot to do with it? Sure. None of that changes the fact that more people are killed by pit bulls than any other dog breed.
Personally I would never own a pit especially if I had kids or had friends with kids that are around. They are powerhouse animals that are capable of doing serious damage if they decide to.