April 15th, 2010
After 11 years of being involved with the American Pit Bull Terrier and related breeds I am growing tired of the continued hype about Pit Bull attacks.
Everyday I receive at least one email telling me that I am crazy for supporting such a “dangerous breed of dog” and everyday I reply with, “prove it.”
In the end there is not a single shred of proof that clearly identifies the American Pit Bull Terrier as a dangerous dog breed. Myths and hysteria still abound on the Internet and off. People, uneducated in dog behavior and dogs in general mind you, still insist on spewing green vile from their mouths about the American Pit Bull Terrier.
Animal rights whack jobs like PETA are not helping matters and there are several other anti-pit bull and anti-dog groups out there that continue to spread nothing but lies about the breed and related breeds in an effort to make you cringe in fear.
That’s what is all about. Fear. If you fear it you will kill it. That’s the human way.
I don’t want to take up your entire day showing you facts that dispute the mythical figures these organizations use to create fear. It is simple to dispute.
The last time I checked, which was sometime ago, there were over 2,000,000 registered purebred American Pit Bull Terriers in the United States alone. Add to that other countries. Add to that mixed breed dogs. Add to that dogs commonly referred to as “pit bulls.” You do the math. The numbers are incredible. Which might disturb the shelter and rescue community.
In 2009 there were 33 deaths from dog bites in the United States.
I think we have an epidemic that is getting out of control here folks. Read that again. THIRTY THREE.
Do the math. Dog bite deaths are almost not worth mentioning as a statistic. Yes, people’s lives are upset and yes, people do die from dog bites each year. My gripe is with these people that act as if we are dealing with some epidemic of enormous proportions.
Am I so cold as not to care about those who died from dog bites? No. I am not. I do care. But is it a super problem we face? No. It is not.
So before you send me an email about how dangerous my dogs are or how I am crazy for having vicious dogs that will “snap” one day do the math.
Millions of dogs times millions of people, times 365 days a year, equals THIRTY THREE.
Best Regards,
Jason Mann ABCDT, CPDT-KA
http://www.PitBullLovers.com
http://www.TopDogTrainingSolutions.com
Categories: Pit Bull Blog |
Tags: american pit bull terriers, bite statistics, pit bull attacks, Pit Bulls | No Comments
July 16th, 2008
All these years with the breed and being outspoken for the breed, and you know what, maybe I’m wrong about the “pit bull problem.” Maybe, we are facing a rash epidemic of Pit Bull attacks and maybe, it is because these dogs are born killers ready to unleash their fury on any unsuspecting person/animal that has the unfortunate day of crossing their path.
Or Maybe…
I am not in anyway serious about that. I do not believe Pit Bulls are a problem, and it will take a lot more than some Fox news report to convince me otherwise.
Why do you see so many Pit Bull attacks reported? Simple, media bias and sensational fear based media sells. Look at the news, how many “feel good” stories are on there? How many “scare the hell out of you” stories are on there? You don’t need anymore proof. The proof is right there.
The media will run 10-15 “killer strikes again”, “child abducted”, “bus crash kills 9″, “flood kills 30″ stories and then they’ll throw in one or two feel good stories. Just to keep you watching.
Reports on dog bites are not any different. A few examples…
A girl is bitten in the face by her Labrador Retriever and her injuries are extensive. She goes to the hospital. Only four reports on this story were ever published and they were all in local media.
A woman is attacked by a German Shepherd, her dog is severely injured and she receives to bites to the face. It took bystanders involvement to get the Shepherd under control. The Sheltie mix died as a result of the Shepherds attack and the woman required hospitalization. This incident was reported in one local paper.
Two Pit bulls bite a girl on the leg in California. She has to have stitches but the wounds are not life threatening. She does require hospitalization. This incident was reported in 99 national and international news sources. Forbes, Fox, L.A. times, Chicago Tribune, and dozens of other newspapers with the headline, “Pit Bull Attack.”
If you are so naive as to think these stories receive so much attention because Pit Bulls are roaming the streets lurking in wait to harm innocent people and dogs then you need to have your head checked.
The media drives the “pit bull problem” preception because they are biased.
So yes, you will see so many more Pit Bull “attacks” in the newspapers and on T.V. because they sell! It’s that simple.
To this day, I still maintain we do not have a “pit bull problem” and this is a made up story to frighten you. I really believe that and the proof is right there.
How many “pit bulls” do you think there are in the US? In the world? How many people do you think are in the US? IN the world?
How many attacks, that are PROVEN to involve American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, or Staffordshire Terrer (the only breeds referred to as pit bulls), are there?
Do the math. Even if you only include “pit bulls” the total number of attacks, fatal or otherwise, is less than 000000.2%. Of course this number is not completely accurate since I am going on the “estimated” number of Pit bulls that are “estimated” to have attacked that are based on the “estimated” number of reported bites.
Pit Bull Problem? Not by a long shot. We have a stupid people problem. We have a “create hysteria to make money” problem. We have “well it’s true, I saw it on T.V.!” ignorant person problem
This Pit Bull owner is tired. Tired and weary. But it is when we are at a weakest, just when we think we can’t take another step, that we find ourselves. I applaud the strength of pit bull advocates. I applaud your courage and I applaud your efforts.
We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we do see eye to eye on the one thing that matters, no matter what we do not give up fighting those who would have our dogs exterminated.
Until Next Time,
Jason, Angel, Honey and Patch
PitBullLovers.com
Categories: Pit Bull Blog |
Tags: bite statistics, media reports, pit bull attacks | 7 Comments
