Another terrifying dog attack video has just gone viral on social media. It shows three large bull breed dogs jumping up and grabbing onto a screaming woman in a park. It is understandable that when such videos and media reports circulate there are renewed calls to ban certain breeds. The latest is the American Bully XL, an evolution bred from the pit bull terrier, which can weigh up to 60kg. But are breeds such as this really to blame for a rising dog bite problem?
Research shows that one in four people have been bitten by a dog in their lifetime but less than 1% of bites result in hospital admission. Our research showed that English hospital admissions for being “bitten or struck by a dog” rose over a 20 year period from 1998 to 2018. This data concerns bites serious enough for hospital admission, not just emergency department attendance. Over a similar period, fatal dog bites in England and Wales averaged at about three per year.
In 2022 there were ten fatalities. It’s not clear whether this is a new trend, or whether 2022 was a tragically anomalous year.
The rise in incidence of dog bites appears to be restricted to adults, where the numbers have tripled over 20 years.
In general, men are more likely to be bitten and delivery workers are a common victim. Dog attacks on middle-aged women are increasing the fastest. We don’t know why this is, but it could be that the profile of people who own and spend time with dogs is changing.
We find higher rates in more deprived communities. The reasons for this are unknown, but similar trends are seen in other types of injuries too.
Are some breeds more aggressive than others?
There is little consistent scientific evidence that some breeds are inherently more aggressive than others. Our evaluations suggest that the breeds reported to bite are simply the most popular breeds in that region.
However, when we examine breeds involved in fatalities, it is clear that most are large and powerful. That’s not to say smaller breeds cannot kill – they have been known to. As American XL Bullies are a new sub-breed of the American bulldog, there has been no scientific study of their bite risk and bite rates were rising long before they existed.
They and the other American bulldogs and related pit bulls do feature highly in fatalities lists. Yet so do Rottweilers, German shepherds and Malamutes. Kenneth Baker, the home secretary responsible for the Dangerous Dogs Act that banned pit bull terriers admitted in his autobiography that a ban on Rottweilers, Dobermans and Alsatians would have “infuriated” the middle classes. A confounding factor here is breed distribution, as powerful breeds have long been linked to deprived communities where violence and injuries already centralize. Some evidence links these breeds to status or criminal use, but most are family pets.
The majority of dog bites are from a dog known to the victim. Often this is the family pet and bites happen during stroking, restraining or just play. The dog is often responding to discomfort, whether pain or fear.
What can we do to prevent dog bites?
Genetic tendencies in breeding lines are an important factor so when choosing a dog, it’s important to view and assess the parents of the puppy. Dogs of the same breed vary widely in their behavior. Behavior tendencies are inherited from parents.
Look for signs of nervousness or shyness around people, as well as outright aggression (barking, growling, snapping). Dogs from puppy farms in particular are prone to health and behavioral problems. Unfortunately, many puppies who come from these mass-producing unscrupulous breeders are fraudulently marketed as from a loving family home.
Banning more breeds won’t work. New varieties will fill the gap, like what happened with the pit bull.
Dog bites are a complex societal problem and we cannot expect a quick legislative fix (such as banning a breed or reintroduction of dog licenses) to solve it. Dog licensing would be prohibitively expensive to manage and without strict enforcement, would be easy to circumvent.
Clever environmental design could go a long way towards preventing people and dogs from being exposed to risky situations, for example installing external letterboxes as standard.
People often tout education as the answer. But it’s a small part of the solution. Public education needs enforcement measures and supportive policy to work. Improving people’s expectations of what good dog welfare looks like is key to minimize fearful and frustrating situations for dogs. This includes not abusing dogs in the name of training and providing sufficient exercise and space. Training methods must be kind and reward-based, as punishment-based methods are associated with reduced success and greater stress, fear and aggression.
Educational efforts should be focused on addressing the perception that “it wouldn’t happen to me” and introducing new social norms such as never leaving children alone with dogs. There are lots of resources about safe interactions with dogs on the Mersey Dog Safe website.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “my dog wouldn’t bite anyone”. Every day, dogs who have never bitten someone before, do.
Article written by Carri Westgarth, Chair in Human-Animal Interaction, University of Liverpool and John Tulloch, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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“I never had any idea that my pit bull was aggressive or would attack a child*…..I’m shocked!”
* The dog had a history of attacking other dogs and people
100%
What moronic “Science.” We’re not talking about simply getting bit here – a Chihuahua can bite its owner numerous times and no one really cares. What we’re talking about is the number of severe maulings and deaths that are almost ALWAYS associated with one of the aggressive breeds. People who claim that “We can’t really say it’s one breed” are simply pretending that the facts don’t exist.
This article is a lie. It hides the reality of the Pitbull problem by referencing dog bites which is tracked statistically as any bite from a Chihuahua to a Mastiff that breaks the skin. That is not what we should be looking at. Pitbulls and Rottweilers make up an overwhelming majority of fatal or severe injury inducing maulings. From 2005-2019 521 americans were killed by canines. 76% of those were from Pitbulls and Rottweilers! Of those fatalities, Pitbulls were 7 times more likely to be the offending breed over the Rottweiler, despite only being 6% of the canine population.
Pretending the issue is complicated and nuanced is asinine. Authoring an article using subterfuge and pseudo-science to throw shade on the danger of the Pitbull breed should be accompanied by financial liability when the next person loses their life in one of their jaws.
This article is a bunch of BS. The fact of the matter some dogs such as Pit Bull are dangerous do to hereditary traits. They were trained to fight and it is in there system.
It is like the fable. of the Frog and the scorpion.
A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: “I am sorry, but I couldn’t resist the urge. It’s in my nature.”[1]
100%
Someone throws a ball at you, someone hits you with the ball, you’ve been hit.
But with a pitbull it’s like being hit with a bullet. The difference is a gun versus stick.
“We find higher rates in more deprived communities. The reasons for this are unknown” Lol the website title “study finds” Political science indeed
“Are some breeds more aggressive than others?”
YES. THE ANSWER IS YES. THE ANSWER HAS ALWAYS BEEN YES.
Some breeds were MADE FOR VIOLENCE. Some people need to get their heads out of the sand and accept reality.
Science says there are 2 genders.
Trust the Gospel
When science doesn’t have an absolute study, we have to rely on good data and common sense. I know it’s painful to admit, but if you leave a person alone with a Pitbull as opposed to a Dachshund, if an attack were to occur, it would be a statistically anomaly for there to be an equal chance of an incident. There are aggressive breeds of dogs, just as there are any animal and yet it seems painful to say it outloud.
This might be the most garbage “science” article I’ve ever seen. There is literally zero science here.
Shes obviously a pitophile – she loves pitbulls and wants to not want the breed to look bad.
No one needs an assault dog. They’re weapons of war.
Go to a shelter and see the breed nobody wants, and then get back to me on that.
If the majority of pitbulls were owned by white, conservative people and families, the author would be demanding that all pitbulls be euthanized.
This is the most absurdly obtuse article I have ever read. No one has ever been killed by a Cavalier King Charles Spaniard bite to the throat. Out of ALL dog attacks that result in death or hospitalization, 60% of them were full or mixed pit bulls. …but…there’s no scientific evidence… This article is trash, and the genius who wrote it needs to quit their job.
The research was UK based and the findings are in conflict with the author’s conclusion.
Conclusion This study suggests that the real burden of dog bites is considerably larger than those estimated from hospital records. Further, many bites do not require medical treatment and hospital-based bite data are not representative of bites within the wider population. Victim personality requires further investigation and potential consideration in the design of bite prevention schemes.
Let’s blame global warming
Why the rubbish nonsense about “blame the owner, not the breed”? Pit Bulls and Rotweillers were bred to rip, shred, and tear, PERIOD. You don’t blame a tiger for doing tiger things, IT’S JUST WHAT THEY DO. Science, my foot…
30,000 People are killed every year by dogs! Look it up. I hate them!!!
Pitbull’s are responsible for the most deaths…but are not the problem. Got it.