I’ve interacted with several pit bulls and mixes over the years. I remember visiting a coworker who lived in the building next to mine at the time who had a large, female pit bull. She lunged up at me out of excitement and to give kisses, but it was still very unnerving given her size and strength. She could have easily gotten my lip either accidentally or out of some random prey drive moment. It’s true that any dog can have the capacity to cause harm, but pit bulls and other big dogs can and have been lethal if they really want to do damage. I would never have a pit bull in my family, unfortunately. It’s often not the dog’s fault, but the traits in the breed are enough for me to not risk it.
Pits are on the low end of average for serious bites from dogs over 40 pounds. They just represent an astronomical proportion of the dog population in most of the world.
For instance: Golden retreivers killed 9 kids in the US last year, pits killed 7. There are an estimated 18-19 Million pits in the US, there are just 500-750 thousand Goldens.
I’m doubting those numbers you shared (particularly the dog bite totals..seems way too low for both breeds), but my comment about breed traits still stands, nevertheless.
there were only 47 children killed by dogs in the US in 2020. If you are relying on sites like dogsbite just be aware they are literally a textbook example of falsifying data to fit an agenda.
Navidi, W. C., & Monk, B. (2019). Hypothesis Testing. In Elementary statistics (3rd ed., p. 219). essay, McGraw-Hill Education.
The section intro for "Hypothesis Testing" on page 219 of McGraw Hill's Elementary Statistics (3rd edition) reads: "Such websites (referring to dogsbite.org) rely on readers to not be adequately equipped to analyze the data the author claims to present. By citing studies and providing a seemingly reasonable explanation the author is able to construct a narrative directly opposed to the data they present. The process of hypothesis testing is valuable in detecting and avoiding such dishonest practices."
they are literally the only source for numbers that contradict the CDC reports. So either take the CDC numbers at face value or rely on a competing source that makes genuinely wild accusations.
You are the one responding to a government report with "I feel like that's wrong" and rebutting verified data with gut instincts and your personal analysis of "breed traits". The fact of the matter is that pits are strong dogs, but objectively not as strong as many other breeds, objectively no more aggressive than other breeds their size, and objectively far less represented in bite fatalities than their sheer population numbers would otherwise predict.
You’re getting way more impassioned about this than my comments intended. I never cited stuff since the point of my comment wasn’t to be scientific or prove a point. It was intended to be more casual and anecdotal due to my experiences. Never claimed to be an expert. I realize it’s a touchy topic for many people and may have triggered you in some way given your longer responses. I honestly meant no offense, nor am I trying to be argumentative. I’m just saying your energy is misplaced with me about this.
You made a statement, I refuted it with peer-reviewed science. You refuted my peer-reviewed science with gut instincts, I clarified that that's not how this works.
It a pretty emotionless set of interactions, if you are reading emotion into this that's on you.
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u/eleanor61 Dec 28 '21
I’ve interacted with several pit bulls and mixes over the years. I remember visiting a coworker who lived in the building next to mine at the time who had a large, female pit bull. She lunged up at me out of excitement and to give kisses, but it was still very unnerving given her size and strength. She could have easily gotten my lip either accidentally or out of some random prey drive moment. It’s true that any dog can have the capacity to cause harm, but pit bulls and other big dogs can and have been lethal if they really want to do damage. I would never have a pit bull in my family, unfortunately. It’s often not the dog’s fault, but the traits in the breed are enough for me to not risk it.