A 2012 Academic Study on Pit Bull Terriers

[kristopher]

From a blog post by the study's author:

A New Pit Bull Study
March 15, 2012

The author’s study shows pit bulls’ natural habitat is the bed and breed-specific behavior is cuddling

By Anna MacNeill

<snip>

At my university, I visited campus libraries expecting to delve into a pool of pit bull literature. Instead, I found myself ankle deep in a mud puddle. There was nothing substantial!

<snip>

What the Study Revealed

A new profile of pit bulls emerged from the study: They were not more aggressive than the other breeds. Pit bulls were more likely to sleep on the bed [62% vs. 16%, p<0.05], more likely to cuddle with their owners (p<0.05), and less likely to show aggression to their owners (p<0.10) – three things associated with strong human-animal bonds. Pit bulls were more likely to pull on the leash (p<0.05).

There was no difference in the number of dogs euthanized at the shelter due to aggression. Likewise, there was no significant difference between groups for aggression to strangers, other dogs, cats, children under 12, skateboarders/cyclists, joggers, over food, when stepped over, or when moved while sleeping.

There was, however, a trend for the other breeds group to be returned for aggression (p<0.02). For those still in the home, there was a slight trend for the other breeds group to show aggression to their guardians (p<0.10).

Seven bites were inflicted on people: one by a pit bull, which did not break the skin, and six by the other breed group, four breaking the skin.

....

http://stubbydog.org/2012/03/a-new-pit-bull-study/

[Lucky Luciano]

1. I have had two pits. My anecdotal evidence supports this all the way.

The bed obsession - check.
The cuddling - cuddling obsessed actually - check.
The leash pulling (pain in the ass) - check!

[kristopher]

2. We just inherited a 19 month old pit-lab mix

A friend and his wife both passed away suddenly within 2 months of each other, and we (rather reluctantly) decided to adopt their "problem dog" that none of their children wanted. Talk about in incredible surprise. She is perhaps the most gentle and kind dog I've ever known. And like you say, she fits the bed and cuddle profile to a tee.

My friends lived in the city and were not healthy enough to give her regular exercise, so her natural vibrant playfulness was a constant source of frustration and aggravation for them. We already have two dogs. For them we'd fenced-in both our yard and an empty lot we own next door. That was just what she needed - playmates and lots of room to run.

If you'd told me 6 months ago that a pit bull terrier was like this, I frankly wouldn't have believed you. It is a wonderful pleasure to have my preconceptions shown to be so very, very wrong.

[PADemD]

3. Other statistics

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-studies.php

As a child, I was nipped by a neighbor's black cocker spaniel; and a German Shepherd attacked me while I was on a swing. Luckily, the dog only tore off my pants leg. My grandmother had two dogs, a Pekingese and Chihuahua, both of which did not like small children.

Any dog can bite, but I would not trust a pit bull.

[kristopher]

4. Here is the method used in data collection from the 1st "study" on the list.

The reason I posted the OP study was that it was done by an academic and followed a protocol that ensures unbiased data. It stands out as exceptional because of shoddy work exemplified by the one below. The most obvious problem being the fact that the editorial process involves printing what sell newspapers, and as such it is subject to a wide range of failings as a reliable data source.

Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada September 1982 to December 31, 2013
Reports are logged as received, and the current log is printed out as requested.

Compiled by the editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE from press accounts since 1982, this table covers only attacks by dogs of clearly identified breed type or ancestry, as designated by animal control officers or others with evident expertise, who have been kept as pets. All accounts are cross-checked by date, location, and identity of the victim.

Attacks by police dogs, guard dogs, and dogs trained specifically to fight are also excluded. “Attacks doing bodily harm” includes all fatalities, maimings, and other injuries requiring extensive hospital treatment. “Maimings” includes permanent disfigurement or loss of a limb. Where there is an asterisk (#), please see footnotes. If there are more "attacks" than "victims," it means that there were multiple dogs involved in some attacks. If the numbers of "victims" does not equal the numbers of "deaths" and "maimings," it means that some of the victims -- in attacks in which some people were killed or maimed -- were not killed or maimed.

Because attacks involve varying numbers of dogs and victims, because victims' ages are not always disclosed, and because not all victims of an attack in which someone is killed or disfigured are themselves killed or disfigured, these numbers cannot be added up from left to right to get a balance.

Over the duration of the data collection, the severity of the logged attacks appears to be at approximately the 1-bite-in-10,000 level.

...

There is a persistent allegation by pit bull advocates that pit bulls are over-represented among reported dog attack deaths and maimings because of misidentifications or because “pit bull” is, according to them, a generic term covering several similar types of dog. However, the frequency of pit bull attacks among these worst-in-10,000 cases is so disproportionate that even if half of the attacks in the pit bull category were misattributed, or even if the pit bull category was split four ways, attacks by pit bulls and their closest relatives would still outnumber attacks by any other breed.

There is also a persistent allegation by pit bull advocates that the use of media accounts as a data source is somehow suspect. Reality is that media coverage incorporates information from police reports, animal control reports, witness accounts, victim accounts in many instances, and hospital reports. Media coverage is, in short, multi-sourced, unlike reports from any single source....

[pintobean]

6. Dogbite.org is not a reliable source

Their reputation has been destroyed repeatedly. I don't know why people still link to it.

[baldguy]

10. Basically, ignorant & intellectually lazy people link to it

Because they're ignorant & intellectually lazy.

That webiste **PAYS GOOGLE** to get put at the top of any web search about Pit Bulls. It's a for-profit site dedicated to canine genocide.

[pintobean]

11. I'll assume the poster didn't know.

I think you're running a high risk of a hidden post there. That's just an honest opinion from one dog lover to another.

[baldguy]

7. New Study Confirms Preventable Factors in Dog Bites, Breed Not Relevant

we are all too familiar with the dog bite fatality report that was published in 2000 titled “Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998.” This data set has been used incessantly to support breed discriminatory laws, even though the authors of this report themselves have made several statements explaining why the report does NOT support these ineffective and costly laws. This data set was based mostly on unreliable media reports and its authors concluded that their research did not support the idea that one kind of dog was more likely to bite someone than another kind of dog. Nevertheless, proponents of discriminatory laws have pointed to this data set to support their positions.

This was the only study of its kind, until earlier this month when the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) published the “Co-occurrence of potentially preventable factors in 256 dog bite–related fatalities in the United States (2000–2009).” The objective of the study was to “examine potentially preventable factors in human dog bite-related fatalities (DBRFs) on the basis of data from sources that were more complete, verifiable, and accurate than media reports used in previous studies.” Instead of relying on news accounts like in the previous study, the researchers used reports by homicide detectives and animal control agencies, and interviews with investigators.

The study found that the major factors in the fatalities studied include:
the absence of an able-bodied person to intervene (87.1%),
incidental or no familiar relationship of victims with dogs (85.2%),
owner failure to neuter dogs (84.4%),
compromised ability of victims to interact appropriately with dogs (77.4%),
dogs kept isolated from regular positive human interactions versus family dogs (76.2%),
owners’ prior mismanagement of dogs (37.5%),
and owners’ history of abuse or neglect of dogs (21.1%).
Four or more of these factors were present in over 80% of the dog bite related deaths. Considering that over 75% of dog bite related deaths were caused by resident dogs (a dog not kept as a family pet, but isolated from positive human interactions and usually kept for protection and/or chained outside), reducing this practice is a huge factor in preventing dog bites, as is neutering male dogs.

Most dog bite related fatalities had the above preventable factors in common, but no where was breed found to be a factor. The authors of this new report found that breed could not be reliably identified in over 80% of the cases, as news reports often differed from each other or from animal control reports.

more:
http://stubbydog.org/2013/12/new-study-confirms-preventable-factors-in-dog-bites-breed-not-relevant/

Link to the original study:
http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/blog/potentially-preventable-husbandry-factors-co-occur-in-most-dog-bite-related-fatalities/?doing_wp_cron=1396828080.0560019016265869140625

Whenever someone quotes news reports saying Pit Bulls bite more just because they are Pit Bulls - as you are doing - THEY ARE SPREADING LIES! Considering that this particular lie has been debunked repeatedly, on these very pages indicates that IT IS YOU THAT CANNOT BE TRUSTED!

The simple fact is that people who would put these dogs to death simply because of the way they look are just as evil as the people that torture & abuse them for sport.

[kristopher]

12. Thank you very much for bringing that study out.

From the blog post about the study:

...The case histories were compiled over a sufficiently long period of time – months or years, depending on the individual case — for the entire range of available facts surrounding an incident to come to light. The researchers found that their more extensive sources usually provided first-hand information not reported in the media, and often identified errors of fact that had been reported in the media....

and

...90% of the dogs described in the new DBRF study’s case files were characterized in at least one media report with a single breed descriptor, potentially implying that the dog was a purebred dog. A distribution heavily weighted toward pure breed is in stark contrast to the findings of population-based studies indicating that ~46% of the dogs in the U.S. are mixed breed.[15] Thus, either the designation of breed in the media reports for the cases under examination was done very loosely, and without regard to possible mixed breed status, or purebred dogs were heavily over-represented. The latter conclusion did not seem likely to these authors, particularly in light of the photographic evidence they were able to obtain. Finally, the news accounts erroneously reported the number of dogs involved in at least 6% of deaths...

read more http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/blog/potentially-preventable-husbandry-factors-co-occur-in-most-dog-bite-related-fatalities/?doing_wp_cron=1396828080.0560019016265869140625

From the followup:

National Canine Research Council Preliminary 2013 Update on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities

In our journalism and our conversations, we tend to talk about things in isolation, focusing on what’s happening right now and failing to connect the dots. The present outrage becomes our complete obsession; the countless frustrations that telegraphed it fade from view.

– Frank Bruni, New York Times, 10/5/13

DOG BITE-RELATED FATALITIES ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE.

Dog bite-related fatalities (DBRFs) have always been exceedingly rare, but often seem more frequent than they are because of the publicity that they provoke. The annual total of DBRFs has risen and fallen with no discernible pattern or trend, even as the human and canine populations have increased....

read more http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/blog/national-canine-research-council-preliminary-2013-update-on-dog-bite-related-fatalities/?doing_wp_cron=1396889897.8165760040283203125000

Two points:
1) When everyone was trying to figure out the number of civilian fatalities during the Iraq War, the newspaper tally was acknowledged to be the worst method.

2) I was once attacked by our pet Chow. Unknown to me he had hurt the lower part of his rear leg.
We were going out and he wouldn't jump in the side door of the van, he would only put his front paws in the van so I bent over to lift his back legs.
That placed my head next to his head and when I picked up his feet, he snapped at me putting a 2 inch gash in the side of my head.
It bled a lot but wasn't serious. However, if he had struck 4 inches lower there is a good chance he would have inflicted a substantial, possibly fatal, injury to my neck.

He was a great dog that never showed a hint of aggressive behavior and I still say that after the incident. I judge it that way because after it happened - and I knew to look - it was blindingly obvious his leg was hurt and that it was something I should have noticed right away. My only excuse is that after growing up with constant canine companionship, I'd been away from dogs for almost 15 years during my young adult stage and had, since adopting Kuma, been too busy working 60+ hour weeks to bond with him properly. Prevention would have been as simple as being closer to him emotionally since that would have almost certainly led me to pay more attention to him and his needs as an individual. I would have certainly never overlooked such evidence of injury in one of my children.

[flvegan]

9. Anyone who links to Merritt Clifton gets my scorn.

Do some real fucking research outside of Google. Lazy.

I'll leave it there lest the "jury" hide this one too. Bwah.

[pscot]

5. My pitbull was the best dog I'v ever owned

But he could be intimidating. Many people are afraid of pitbulls and the dogs know it. It gives them an edge a dog shouldn't have. Also, they are capable of immense damage. Tanker could slice a garden hose. Not chew, but cut through effortlessly with one motion, as clean as a razor cut. But they are smart, and take well to training. They're like a loaded gun, safe in the hands of a responsible owner, but dangerous in the hands of an idiot.

[baldguy]

8. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

The moral, intelligent, civilized & over all LIBERAL people among us want to love & cuddle with them, and accept their love & cuddles in return.

The immoral, proudly ignorant, barbaric, uncivilized & CONSERVATIVE savages in our midst seek to spread lies & fear about them, want to eliminate the joy and happiness they bring to the world & advocate murdering them to accomplish their goal.

[XemaSab]

13. I support euthanizing dogs who maim children

Why don't you?

[baldguy]

14. You also support euthanizing dogs who don't maim children, or anyone else, and who never will

Simply because of the way they look.

And you not only ignore the HUMANS who create dogs who maim children, you share their views about these dogs.

[XemaSab]

15. I do?

News to me.