Leon
05-30-2009, 07:43 PM
I am sick of people saying..statistics this statistics that when it comes to dog bites, especially pit bulls. So i complied a list of resources that you can use to debunk any of their claims based on statistics.
I am going to keep it as short and informative as possible. I will provide all the links in the sources section for further reading.
Introduction
First lets look at what exactly is recorded in the statistics as a dog bite.
Animal control and public health departments, consider any incident in which a dog’s tooth or nail comes into contact with a person’s skin and in which the skin is broken, regardless of the circumstances, to be a “bite.” These include:
Dogs deliberately biting people
Nips from playful puppies
Scratches from a dog’s nail
Scrapes from a dog’s tooth
Accidental bites by dogs
Bites to canine professionals that may have occurred under extreme duress, such as when the dog was in pain or otherwise unable to control its behavior (e.g. a vet tech bitten while removing intubation tube from a dog’s throat)
Good Samaritans bitten trying to assist injured dogs (e.g. dogs hit by cars)
Bites by working K-9 dogs in the performance of police duties. [1] (http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dog-bites/)
Now lets look at the statistics.
There are two statistics that have been predominantly(in most cases exclusively) used by BSL supporters and law makers, and anyone trying to justify that certain breed of dog especially pitbulls are much more dangerous than other breeds. These two studies are the Center for Disease Controls (CDC), Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998 (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf), and the Merritt Cliftons study,Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada September 1982 to November 7, 2007 (http://www.********.org/pdf/dog-attacks-merritt-clifton-2007.pdf).
Lets look at the serious flaws on both these studies.
CDC study.
Classification of breeds.
"The biggest flaw in CDC statistics, and certainly the one that causes the most grief, is that the “breed” categorized by the CDC as “pit bull-type dog” does not exist. Nor is “pit bull” a breed recognized by any breed registry. Housed beneath the catch-all designation “pit bull” are at least twenty (and as many as 35) different breeds of dog. Lump twenty breeds of dog together as one breed and you will certainly have what looks like a breed problem as relates to dog bites and dog-bite-related fatalities!" [2] (http://www.nopitbullbans.com/?page_id=32)
Misidentification of breeds.
Since the CDC collects data from news reports and eye witness accounts, misidentification of breeds is a huge problem that skews the accuracy of the statistical data.
"The average person can accurately identify less than 30 dog breeds on sight, let alone in a stressful and intense situation like a dog bite. The bite will get reported as whatever breed the people involved think it most closely resembles. Even law enforcement officers, animal shelter workers, and some veterinarians cannot accurately identify many breeds. For the average person anything with prick ears and blue eyes automatically becomes a "husky," yet many breeds can have blue eyes, and many more have prick ears. Any smooth coated brown dog, medium sized, and muscular becomes a "pit bull" yet upon examination may be a purebred Boxer. Any tall dog becomes a Great Dane, fuzzy or hairy and it’s a Chow Chow. If it’s black and tan and heavy it’s a Rottweiler, etc. See the problem with this? The average person cannot tell the difference between an Alaskan Malamute, a Siberian Husky, and an Akita."[3] (http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/Family-Dog/Dog-Bite-Stats-Dokken.htm)
Missing population data.
"In addition to breed misidentification, the CDC statistics are inaccurate because they are not based on “reliable breed-specific population data” (JAVMA, Vol 217, No. 6, September 15, 2000, p. 838). Certainly Rottweilers and “pit bulls” appear more prone to bite since they top the CDC list of most bites, but the probability of them to bite may be the same as any other breed since these dogs could just simply be more popular. The more dogs of a breed you have in existence, the more bites you would have just as a matter of course. However, their propensity to bite would remain unchanged. And as already stated, it is impossible to get accurate population data for “pit bulls” in particular since they are not a breed."[2] (http://www.nopitbullbans.com/?page_id=32)
Media as a source of data.
A large portion of the CDC's data come from media sources. Other than the misidentification of breeds, the media is notorious for its bias against certain breeds.
"Since neither first responders nor news reporters are breed experts, canine misidentification is commonplace. Almost every mongrel is reported as a “pit bull” mix, unless proven otherwise. Even then, if editors are forced to recant, it’s buried somewhere among the obituaries. No wonder Thomas Jefferson wrote "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers". A television report has long since moved on. I still encounter people who believe that “pit bulls” killed Dianne Whipple in San Francisco in 2001 when it was actually two pure bred Presa Canario’s. Not surprising when you consider that “pit bull” is just a slang term encompassing several breeds and mixes thereof."[4] (http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Jade/06_Media.Bias_07.htm)
CDC themselves explains that their data is inaccurate
Although fatal attacks on humans appear to be a breed-specific problem (pit bull-type dogs and Rottweilers), other breeds may bite and cause fatalities at higher rates. Because of difficulties inherent in determining a dog’s breed with certainty, enforcement of breed-specific ordinances raises constitutional and practical issues. Fatal attacks represent a small proportion of dog bite injuries to humans and, therefore, should not be the primary factor driving public policy concerning dangerous dogs. Many practical alternatives to breed-specific ordinances exist and hold promise for prevention of dog bites.[5] (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf)
I am going to keep it as short and informative as possible. I will provide all the links in the sources section for further reading.
Introduction
First lets look at what exactly is recorded in the statistics as a dog bite.
Animal control and public health departments, consider any incident in which a dog’s tooth or nail comes into contact with a person’s skin and in which the skin is broken, regardless of the circumstances, to be a “bite.” These include:
Dogs deliberately biting people
Nips from playful puppies
Scratches from a dog’s nail
Scrapes from a dog’s tooth
Accidental bites by dogs
Bites to canine professionals that may have occurred under extreme duress, such as when the dog was in pain or otherwise unable to control its behavior (e.g. a vet tech bitten while removing intubation tube from a dog’s throat)
Good Samaritans bitten trying to assist injured dogs (e.g. dogs hit by cars)
Bites by working K-9 dogs in the performance of police duties. [1] (http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dog-bites/)
Now lets look at the statistics.
There are two statistics that have been predominantly(in most cases exclusively) used by BSL supporters and law makers, and anyone trying to justify that certain breed of dog especially pitbulls are much more dangerous than other breeds. These two studies are the Center for Disease Controls (CDC), Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998 (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf), and the Merritt Cliftons study,Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada September 1982 to November 7, 2007 (http://www.********.org/pdf/dog-attacks-merritt-clifton-2007.pdf).
Lets look at the serious flaws on both these studies.
CDC study.
Classification of breeds.
"The biggest flaw in CDC statistics, and certainly the one that causes the most grief, is that the “breed” categorized by the CDC as “pit bull-type dog” does not exist. Nor is “pit bull” a breed recognized by any breed registry. Housed beneath the catch-all designation “pit bull” are at least twenty (and as many as 35) different breeds of dog. Lump twenty breeds of dog together as one breed and you will certainly have what looks like a breed problem as relates to dog bites and dog-bite-related fatalities!" [2] (http://www.nopitbullbans.com/?page_id=32)
Misidentification of breeds.
Since the CDC collects data from news reports and eye witness accounts, misidentification of breeds is a huge problem that skews the accuracy of the statistical data.
"The average person can accurately identify less than 30 dog breeds on sight, let alone in a stressful and intense situation like a dog bite. The bite will get reported as whatever breed the people involved think it most closely resembles. Even law enforcement officers, animal shelter workers, and some veterinarians cannot accurately identify many breeds. For the average person anything with prick ears and blue eyes automatically becomes a "husky," yet many breeds can have blue eyes, and many more have prick ears. Any smooth coated brown dog, medium sized, and muscular becomes a "pit bull" yet upon examination may be a purebred Boxer. Any tall dog becomes a Great Dane, fuzzy or hairy and it’s a Chow Chow. If it’s black and tan and heavy it’s a Rottweiler, etc. See the problem with this? The average person cannot tell the difference between an Alaskan Malamute, a Siberian Husky, and an Akita."[3] (http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/Family-Dog/Dog-Bite-Stats-Dokken.htm)
Missing population data.
"In addition to breed misidentification, the CDC statistics are inaccurate because they are not based on “reliable breed-specific population data” (JAVMA, Vol 217, No. 6, September 15, 2000, p. 838). Certainly Rottweilers and “pit bulls” appear more prone to bite since they top the CDC list of most bites, but the probability of them to bite may be the same as any other breed since these dogs could just simply be more popular. The more dogs of a breed you have in existence, the more bites you would have just as a matter of course. However, their propensity to bite would remain unchanged. And as already stated, it is impossible to get accurate population data for “pit bulls” in particular since they are not a breed."[2] (http://www.nopitbullbans.com/?page_id=32)
Media as a source of data.
A large portion of the CDC's data come from media sources. Other than the misidentification of breeds, the media is notorious for its bias against certain breeds.
"Since neither first responders nor news reporters are breed experts, canine misidentification is commonplace. Almost every mongrel is reported as a “pit bull” mix, unless proven otherwise. Even then, if editors are forced to recant, it’s buried somewhere among the obituaries. No wonder Thomas Jefferson wrote "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers". A television report has long since moved on. I still encounter people who believe that “pit bulls” killed Dianne Whipple in San Francisco in 2001 when it was actually two pure bred Presa Canario’s. Not surprising when you consider that “pit bull” is just a slang term encompassing several breeds and mixes thereof."[4] (http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Jade/06_Media.Bias_07.htm)
CDC themselves explains that their data is inaccurate
Although fatal attacks on humans appear to be a breed-specific problem (pit bull-type dogs and Rottweilers), other breeds may bite and cause fatalities at higher rates. Because of difficulties inherent in determining a dog’s breed with certainty, enforcement of breed-specific ordinances raises constitutional and practical issues. Fatal attacks represent a small proportion of dog bite injuries to humans and, therefore, should not be the primary factor driving public policy concerning dangerous dogs. Many practical alternatives to breed-specific ordinances exist and hold promise for prevention of dog bites.[5] (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf)