From 1979 through 1998, at least 25 breeds of dogs have been involved in 238 human dog bite related deaths. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers were involved in more than 50 percent of these deaths.


Which children are most commonly affected? Which dogs?

Children under 12 years account for 50% of dog bites. Children under 5 years of age account for the majority of severe dog bites. Large breed dogs account for most of the bites and German Shepherds or German Shepherd mixes are the most common breed. Most victims are familiar with the dog and the most common location is in a house, in the child’s neighbours yard or in the neighbourhood itself. Over 80% of bites tend to affect the head and neck while the trunk and extremities are involved in 40% of cases.

http://www.utoronto.ca/kids/dogbite.htm


Trust in dogs may be misplaced: study

Most people trust the family dog, but a federal study suggests that trust is misplaced. The study finds dogs we know and trust are the worst offenders for bites and attacks on people.

According to the study, the most common biters are

german shepherds
cocker spaniels
rottweilers
golden retrievers
Other than rottweilers, the breeds named are among the most common in Canadian homes.

Hmmm..... I'd trust this information a lot more if:

A) the References weren't ten years old.

B) The information didn't come from another country, and uses a pediatric journal ( ? ) as the factual basis. But it says nothing on where the initial figures came from.

In the U.S., the government publishes a Mortality & Morbidity study that's distributed Nationally each month - it breaks down causes of death into easy to view columns ( dog bites are listed by victim's age, breed, etc ) It makes following dog bite data very easy.


Using foreign bite statistics isn't too helpful, usually, as the make up of dog ownership by breeds ( and just the manner of dog ownership has a lot to do with bite statistics ) doesn't relate well to U.S. dog ownership.

And in the above article , the most commonly owned dog accounts for the highest number of bites? No surprise there. But nothing is listed about the severity of the bites - are they counting nips, etc?
The most important statement in the article is regarding the deaths that are breed related, with 50% plus of the deaths resulting from two breeds - Rott's and Pitbulls. Checking to see how common those two dogs are in the population is really the telling figure. The Rott is mentioned in the top five for ownership, hence we'd expect more bites and deaths due to it being a common breed. But the pitbull wasn't even mentioned for numbers relating to ownership, because they tend to be more rare, yet the pitbull is *VASTLY* over-represented in deaths.

Brock, I thought you were an advocate of the pitbull, yet you post this damning article about them. I'm confused.

No Boerboels, Presas, Cane Corsos, Filas??? Strange. But hey, they're wrong - they are from ANOTHER COUNTRY!

Michael, of all those breeds, I only know of one death that was attributed to a Fila. And the San Francisco tragedy from the two Cane Corsos

Rare breeds are so low in total numbers that unless they result in a death, you won't hear about the bites.

Will, I believe that the SF tragedy is well documented to have been by two Presas.

On the other hand, in a well documented case, Vin Diesel's (spelling?) male Corso did bite a screenwriter.

To compare GSDs to APBTs I would want to see %s of bites taken from total number of bites vs. population of dog.


I guarantee you that the GSD will not top that list.

John,
You're right - I mixed up the breeds, thanks for setting that straight!

I really don't know why this was even posted, people have gone over this time and time again.

I'm glad, Brock, that you are dedicated to the plight of the American Pit Bull Terrier because not many people are. But you've got to get your facts straight or you cannot make a good case and it doesn't make the breed look good when you try to use bad information.

There's no study that I know of that has unbiased information on dog bites. They studies are either pro-pit or anit-pit. Many of them say pit bulls and other "dangerous" breeds (Dobies, GSDs, Rotties, etc) are the cause of most dog bites, pit bulls being the most. Than again, they may get THEIR information from faulty sources...many people can't tell a pit bull from Dogo. Many news sources LIKE to call mixes or different breeds pit bulls because it makes for a better story. Many people do not know the background of these dogs that attack people...many of them are socially negelected animals that are also poorly bred with horrible genetics and temperament. They were bred by your backyard average scumbag who wants a cool "game" dog that'll protect his yard and look fierce. They have no reguard for temperament. Just looks, aggression or money. This is no excuse for the dog but a probable cause for their actions. Pit bulls and other "tough" looking dogs are very popular among the wrong kind of people, they are a trend. Trends ruin breeds. The more dogs of a certain breed, the more tempermental and physical issues will arise. Like your Taco Bell Chihuahuas.

You cannot actually calculate the total numbers of the APBT because registries like the AKC do not register the breed. Most APBTs aren't even registered at all, with anything. I do a great deal of pit bull rescue in my area and I've seen what these dogs go through. I have three APBTs of my own. The majority of the people in the town I live in own pit bulls...pit bulls tied to chains outside or pit bulls that are skin and bones or pit bulls in shelters. You can't tell me that there aren't a HECK of a lot of APBTs in this country. I CAN tell you that the majority of the dogs in shelters are pit bulls or pit mixes. Anyone can see that.

I assume you're trying to argue breed bans so let me say this, like I've said it a million times and so many people have heard it a million times...there are no bad dogs, just bad owners.

I would bet my left arm that half of the dog bites in this country, no matter what breed, could have been prevented if their owners had been more responsible.

Michael
"No Boerboels, Presas, Cane Corsos, Filas??? Strange. But hey, they're wrong - they are from ANOTHER COUNTRY!"

I see your quote and I'm guessing that you're trying to be sarcastic, as you didn't like the advice that you got about your dog. :rolleyes:

But I posted about how the U.S. government publishes a monthly report that includes data gathered from Emergency Rooms across the country, and makes it into a data base that you can pick out the exact number of severe dog bites by breed on a monthly basis. Since you feel like being sarcastic, how about you going ahead and posting the countries that do as good a job as I described above ( please make sure that you include the name of the monthly report by country, ok? ) Since I'm the chairman of an animal control board, I already know the answer here - do you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Here's your chance to back up your feeble attempt at a witty comment.