You’d need to compare it to the number of each type of dog in those statistics. Even then, it wouldn’t tell the whole story because people who buy dogs with bad reputations often buy them for roles where they are more likely to bite like guard dogs. And EVEN then, you also need to consider that dogs who cause worse injuries are more likely to show up in the data because when they do bite it gets reported. I know I didn’t go to the hospital when a Chihuahua didn’t even break skin.
Pit bulls undeniably are dangerous by virtue of their size and strength, but so are other dogs. How inherently dangerous they are based on temperament is harder to determine. I’m always skeptical of breed essentialism because it’s so close to human eugenics and scientific racism. We do not have as much control or understanding over nature as we think we do, and our misplaced confidence in our abilities causes harm and keeps us from actual solutions.
And EVEN then, you also need to consider that dogs who cause worse injuries are more likely to show up in the data because when they do bite it gets reported. I know I didn’t go to the hospital when a Chihuahua didn’t even break skin.
That’s literally the point. Every time someone supporting pit bulls brings up “but chihuahuas are aggressive!!”: yeah, no shit, probably even moreso than aggressive pit bull breeds like the American Bully. They’re little monsters. I used to have a hamster who would make me wear a gardening glove because he would bite my finger every time I tried to hold him. I’d rather have my finger nipped 500 times by a tiny little hamster than have my child mauled to death one time – something the hamster could obviously never do.
You are describing the point. The fact that these bites are severe enough to show up so frequently at the hospital is the problem.
And if that’s what we’re talking about, mastiffs, great danes, and any other big dog should get more attention than they do. The conversation should be refocused from scapegoating specific breeds to handling large and strong dogs. Focusing on breeds derails the conversation every time by inviting in old school eugenics and all the problems that come with it.
And if that’s what we’re talking about, mastiffs, great danes, and any other big dog should get more attention than they do.
Why? We’re talking about a combination of aggression and the means to do damage with that aggression, and every time it shakes out that pit bulls are the perfect storm of those two things. You’ll say “but some dogs are stronger” or “but some dogs are more aggressive”, and both of those things are true. It’s patently obvious that none are nearly as much so both as pit bulls, and physiological features like their ridiculously wide, strong jaws are icing on the cake.
You’d need to compare it to the number of each type of dog in those statistics. Even then, it wouldn’t tell the whole story because people who buy dogs with bad reputations often buy them for roles where they are more likely to bite like guard dogs. And EVEN then, you also need to consider that dogs who cause worse injuries are more likely to show up in the data because when they do bite it gets reported. I know I didn’t go to the hospital when a Chihuahua didn’t even break skin.
Pit bulls undeniably are dangerous by virtue of their size and strength, but so are other dogs. How inherently dangerous they are based on temperament is harder to determine. I’m always skeptical of breed essentialism because it’s so close to human eugenics and scientific racism. We do not have as much control or understanding over nature as we think we do, and our misplaced confidence in our abilities causes harm and keeps us from actual solutions.
That’s literally the point. Every time someone supporting pit bulls brings up “but chihuahuas are aggressive!!”: yeah, no shit, probably even moreso than aggressive pit bull breeds like the American Bully. They’re little monsters. I used to have a hamster who would make me wear a gardening glove because he would bite my finger every time I tried to hold him. I’d rather have my finger nipped 500 times by a tiny little hamster than have my child mauled to death one time – something the hamster could obviously never do.
You are describing the point. The fact that these bites are severe enough to show up so frequently at the hospital is the problem.
And if that’s what we’re talking about, mastiffs, great danes, and any other big dog should get more attention than they do. The conversation should be refocused from scapegoating specific breeds to handling large and strong dogs. Focusing on breeds derails the conversation every time by inviting in old school eugenics and all the problems that come with it.
Why? We’re talking about a combination of aggression and the means to do damage with that aggression, and every time it shakes out that pit bulls are the perfect storm of those two things. You’ll say “but some dogs are stronger” or “but some dogs are more aggressive”, and both of those things are true. It’s patently obvious that none are nearly as much so both as pit bulls, and physiological features like their ridiculously wide, strong jaws are icing on the cake.