5 year old mauled to death by two pit bulls

[Stop Pretending]

And you still can't prove me wrong. Like Caninepawprints and I have already said your statistics are inaccurate because people cannot accurately identify a Pitbull.

What is there to prove wrong exactly? You made a shitty analogy that because I said pit bulls are bad, I must think all black people are bad. Secondly, who are you to say they AREN'T? You do know a lot of these dogs are captured then euthenized at pet clinics. You know, people who are able to determine the breed. So there goes your bullshit statement, again.

[Gheld]

^Another problem is that with dogs in general people tend to attribute human thinking and emotions to them, which is just completely bad baddy badness.

[Kanegasi]

Oh so your friend has a " good one ", so that must mean that all are like his right? My brother-in-law had a good pit bull as well, until it attacked his neighbor. Also statistics tend to disagree with your statement, these dogs account for most fatalities by gigantic margin.

It's always the owner or the dog's history. There is not a single breed of dog that is dangerous by itself. Negative human interaction, or lack of positive interaction, is always the cause of a "dog attack". It will be a sad day in human history when a breed of dog is banned everywhere, because that means ignorance or stupidity has won.

[Underverse]

Right and since "you" can't that makes the study itself inaccurate and pointless.

Uh, no, all that means is that the methods of the study warrant extra attention. I didn't bring this up, and I don't care, so I'm not going to give it that attention. But since you're trying to make a claim, you need to have some sort of basis for it. The burden is on you.

[Stop Pretending]

This comes up over and over, but "pit bull" is a broad statement. Tons and tons of different dogs get classified as "pitt bulls".
Basically any dog that has a big head, cropped ears, brindle coat, and is large/stocky gets classified as a "pitt bull".

Like I told Jtbrig, these animals are brought in to be put down, the animal clinics are able to tell what kind of breed it is.

[caninepawprints]

I had cats when I was growing up. One was particularly temperamental. I tried playing with it, like most kids do, and ended up getting scratched in the face, pretty badly. I still have the scars.

If it was a certain breed of dog, I would have been mauled to death. Fortunately cat scratches and bites are basically never fatal, unless there are microbes involved.

Just because someone is bitten by a certain breed doesn't automatically mean they're going to be mauled to death. Sometimes they're small nips because the dog is warning you to stop whatever you're doing that's upsetting them. Dogs give a lot of queues to back off before they bite. Too many people are ignorant of dogs' body language, so they don't know when to quit and back off, and that's why they're bitten. The dog has to resort to it because it's the only thing that gets the message across.

[Underverse]

Yes, I agree with you. It's something to be concerned about. However, it all comes back to how the dog is raised and what they're taught, which means the owner is at fault if something goes horribly wrong, not the dog. And as I said earlier, as long as the dog isn't taught to be vicious, it actually takes quite a lot to make them bite. Unfortunately, those bites tend to be more fatal than any other breed's.

Again, this is all irrelevant. If a dog can be turned into a killing machine by an owner who kicked it once or twice, then that animal should not be kept as a pet. Period. The owners may well be at fault, but that doesn't justify the dog's actions, or the deaths of these children.

[enragedgorilla]

Stricter dog licensing and moar oversight ftw.
People just need to stop treating dogs like fucking decorative ornaments without knowing jack shit about what dogs actually need in their lives.

Like kids...

[Underverse]

Just because someone is bitten by a certain breed doesn't automatically mean they're going to be mauled to death. Sometimes they're small nips because the dog is warning you to stop whatever you're doing that's upsetting them. Dogs give a lot of queues to back off before they bite. Too many people are ignorant of dogs' body language, so they don't know when to quit and back off, and that's why they're bitten. The dog has to resort to it because it's the only thing that gets the message across.

This is not true in all cases. There are many cases in which, say, pit bulls, attack for no discernible reason. Dogs are not humans. They do not have the same tendencies, and they are not completely predictable. If they were, these attacks would not happen.

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Cats and dogs aren't the same. Cats are much more likely to scratch somebody than a dog is to bite someone.

Yeah. Cats even scratch when they're in a good mood. But my point is that when they do mean harm, dogs can deal some real damage. Cat attacks, while likely more frequent, do not result in fatalities.

[caninepawprints]

This is not true in all cases. There are many cases in which, say, pit bulls, attack for no discernible reason. Dogs are not humans. They do not have the same tendencies, and they are not completely predictable. If they were, these attacks would not happen.

I'm assuming you're talking about the dogs giving queues and saying that doesn't happen in all cases. And you're wrong about that. Dogs ALWAYS give queues before they resort to biting. Unfortunately, some dogs' queues are VERY subtle and it could be as little as an ear twitch or tail movement. It's something people who aren't trained to work with dogs probably wouldn't notice or think to look for.

[Independent voter]

Wouldn't want this one to bite me

[Underverse]

I'm assuming you're talking about the dogs giving queues and saying that doesn't happen in all cases. And you're wrong about that. Dogs ALWAYS give queues before they resort to biting. Unfortunately, some dogs' queues are VERY subtle and it could be as little as an ear twitch or tail movement. It's something people who aren't trained to work with dogs probably wouldn't notice or think to look for.

You don't have the data to make that assumption. But even if you did, the subtle cues you mention aren't enough. If a normal dog owner - nevermind a 5 year old - can't recognize them, then they aren't useful, and it isn't useful to consider them when questioning the safety of the animal.

[grandpab]

Should be considered negligence.

[caninepawprints]

Even if the dog is bred to not bite and is a great family pet, bad breeding can cause a dog to just snap. And when this particular breed 'snaps', the results are often very bad and sometimes fatal.

Again, it's not just bad owners. It's also bad breeding.

You're both right and wrong. Bad breeding is the reason a dog could have a higher tendency to be aggressive (but not in all cases). But sometimes bad breeding can be overcome by good training by the right person. Saying that the breed will just "snap" one day is as silly as saying that Rottweilers eventually have to have their skull drilled because their brains grow too large to be contained, and if the pressure isn't relieved, they'll become aggressive and kill people Cujo-style. Yes, this is something a lot of people used to believe, and unfortunately, some people still believe it. I've even heard this ludicrous thing about Dobermans. Anyway, there's something that leads to them "snapping," and it's usually because of their environment and the people they're around, not necessarily just the breeding.

[TwoNineMarine]

Oh so your friend has a " good one ", so that must mean that all are like his right? My brother-in-law had a good pit bull as well, until it attacked his neighbor. Also statistics tend to disagree with your statement, these dogs account for most fatalities by gigantic margin.

Oh so this lady had a "bad one", so that must mean that all are like his right?

[Stop Pretending]

You're both right and wrong. Bad breeding is the reason a dog could have a higher tendency to be aggressive (but not in all cases). But sometimes bad breeding can be overcome by good training by the right person. Saying that the breed will just "snap" one day is as silly as saying that Rottweilers eventually have to have their skull drilled because their brains grow too large to be contained, and if the pressure isn't relieved, they'll become aggressive and kill people Cujo-style. Yes, this is something a lot of people used to believe, and unfortunately, some people still believe it. I've even heard this ludicrous thing about Dobermans. Anyway, there's something that leads to them "snapping," and it's usually because of their environment and the people they're around, not necessarily just the breeding.

Except that it's 100% proven that inbreeding cause behavioral problems.

https://www.vetinfo.com/problems-wit...ding-dogs.html

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Oh so this lady had a "bad one", so that must mean that all are like his right?

All you did was emphasize the point I made.

[caninepawprints]

You don't have the data to make that assumption. But even if you did, the subtle cues you mention aren't enough. If a normal dog owner - nevermind a 5 year old - can't recognize them, then they aren't useful, and it isn't useful to consider them when questioning the safety of the animal.

Are you serious? You just made a huge assumption that I don't have the data to say that when I'm a certified dog trainer and have spent YEARS working with dogs of all types. I've even had to evaluate dogs that have bitten people to determine if the dog is aggressive or if the person they bit just did something stupid to cause it. I don't need to provide you with proof because it's all over the place! These are FACTS that are being taught to all dog trainers before they get certified. Dogs ALWAYS give queues to back off before they bite someone. Just because you don't know what you're doing and don't know anything about it doesn't mean it isn't true.

Come on! I even watch YouTube videos where these people who have a baby and a dog think it's cute that the baby is "playing" with the dog and all I can do is cringe and watch as the dog is giving HUGE SIGNS that he's stressed and about to bite. Then people wonder why their dog suddenly "snapped." It's because they're idiots who don't understand a dog's body language.

[Underverse]

Oh so this lady had a "bad one", so that must mean that all are like his right?

They don't need to all be bad. These aren't people we're talking about. They're pets. They serve basically no function to society (in developed countries) but to give the socially underdeveloped a means of interaction and a daily purpose. If these means of interaction/daily purposes start killing people, when there are plenty of other means of interaction/daily purposes around, then it's time to make some not-so-hard decisions.

[Jtbrig7390]

Like I told Jtbrig, these animals are brought in to be put down, the animal clinics are able to tell what kind of breed it is.

You do realise those animal clinics when they put them down don't run in blodd tests or anything to see what breed it is right? Those animals get labled by whoever him them.

[grandpab]

You don't have the data to make that assumption. But even if you did, the subtle cues you mention aren't enough. If a normal dog owner - nevermind a 5 year old - can't recognize them, then they aren't useful, and it isn't useful to consider them when questioning the safety of the animal.

You're right. Relying on cues is too risky. It's your dog, you should know exactly how it's going to react in different situations. I have a dog that's violent to probably like 50% of the dogs he sees, 100% if they're near our yard. Our neighbors couldn't control their dog very well, so he attacked my dog a few times, and now he's a little protective. He loves people though, especially kids, so it's just other dogs I need to worry about.

When I'm walking my dog and some random stranger walking their dog past me asks, is he friendly? I just tell them no. He's different with every dog and I'll never be able to figure that out, and I can't rely on any cue, so I just don't risk it.