Opinion: A dog's breed doesn't predict its propensity to bite
The first dog I adopted was a three-year-old pit bull mix named Millie. She and her five puppies were rescued from a kill shelter in North Carolina where she was on the euthanasia list. Despite being the sweetest, I came to find out she had buckshot in her cheek from being shot. Having owned Millie and my current pit bull rescue, Greta, I’ve witnessed firsthand the ignorance and hate surrounding the breed. It affects me deeply.
I came across an op-ed in this very newspaper by a local plastic surgeon who wrote, "I believe that the risk posed by pit bulls is equivalent to placing a loaded gun with the safety off on the coffee table." What would cause someone to compare an entire breed of dog to a loaded gun with the safety off? Quite simply, fear and hate, both of which stem from ignorance.
Enough is enough. Stop blaming the breed because it’s irrelevant. Just like leaving a loaded gun with the safety off sitting on a coffee table, dog bites typically happen because of human negligence.
Before we discuss what those are, what even is a "pit bull?"
Well, there is no agreed-upon definition of "pit bull" (or pitbull or pit-bull, all used synonymously). The term has become a catch-all for all types of breeds with similar physical characteristics, like stocky, athletic build, and wide, square heads. Common breeds that are labeled as pit bulls are the American Pit Bull Terrier (where the term pit bull comes from), American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and American Bullies. And then other breeds similar in stature, like Cane Corsos, American Bulldogs, and the like.
To make matters worse, studies show that human beings, including dog professionals, cannot accurately identify breed(s) visually. If we can’t agree on what a pit bull is, and we can’t accurately identify dog breeds visually, where does that leave us? It leaves us with inaccurate dog bite reporting and statistics that are used to justify breed-discriminatory legislation.
This type of legislation has proven ineffective at reducing dog bites. See Toronto, Vancouver, or Prince George’s County, Maryland. Why doesn’t it work? Because the breed doesn’t predict a dog’s propensity to bite. Any dog can be dangerous under the right circumstances, especially human neglect.
Science has shown that breed doesn’t strongly correlate to an individual dog’s behavior. This is important, so I’m going to repeat it. A dog’s breed is not a good predictor of how he/she will actually behave.
In fact, by focusing solely on breed to explain dog bites and dog bite-related fatalities, we’re ignoring the real culprits: coincidence and owners’ neglect. A 2013 study found that coincidence and preventable factors more accurately explained dog bite-related fatalities than breed. These factors included the victim’s lack of relationship with the dog, the owner’s failure to neuter, the victim’s inability to interact appropriately with the dog, dogs kept isolated from human interactions, the owner’s mismanagement, and the owner’s history of abuse or neglect.
If breed-discriminatory legislation doesn’t work, what does? Strong dog licensing and enforcement coupled with dog safety public education campaigns. Calgary enacted these specific initiatives and saw a five-fold reduction in bites over 20 years. Our own city, Cincinnati, repealed its discriminatory legislation in 2012 by a vote of 8-1. We’re making progress, but it’s still not enough.
We need your help to end the stigmas. Consider adopting a pit bull-type dog. Help to educate others. Support your local shelters and rescues. Let’s do this together.
Andy Gibson is the head of education at InfoTrust, a digital analytics consultancy, and an adjunct professor at UC’s Lindner College of Business. As a pit bull owner and breed advocate, he’s focused on ending stigmas and breed-discriminatory legislation associated with pit bull-type dogs. He lives in Hyde Park.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: A dog's breed doesn't predict its propensity to bite
