Double Amputee Killed by Dogs in Vicious Attack in South Carolina - Page 4

http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Dog-Attacks-Stories-Statistics/dp/0972191402
Anyone ever read this book? Fatal Dog Attacks?  Several years ago i got to chat with the author and i asked, what if any small breed dogs have been involved in fatal dog attacks?
Her reply was that "2 Daschunds were implicated in the killing of infants, a cocker spaniel was with a pack of dogs that killed a young child, and several other "Small" dogs had killed children. Including a pom. It's been too long to remember every detail. But this book goes into the details of the how, where, when, and maybe the why. Might be worth the read.
Fry

Pit Bulls are not normally human aggressive dogs .. but they are dog aggressive.  Something is causing them to become human aggressive as the evidence indicates Pit Bulls are doing the damage, causing the deaths and maulings much more than any other breed.  Bad breeding, bad nutrition and bad environment are at the heart of the Pit Bull deaths but the statistics are correct in that the Pit Bull and allied breeds are doing the majority of the human deaths.  Most breeders will say that a Chow GSD mix is to be avoided. As a child my family had one and he was a great dog and a great family/farm dog but he was different.  Had our Chow GSD mix been raised poorly, starved, and had to wander homeless he could have become a killer I am sure. 

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatalities-2012.php

many of the dog attack deaths were from dogs that WERE kept up.

Bubba, the thing you said about Pitts not normally being human aggressive is dependent on the dogs and environment. In the seventies and eighties, I shoed horses for a living in Florida. Some ranches I went to had Pitts that, until someone came out to put the dogs up, a person would have been made into mince meat by those dogs.

The real problem is the type of "getto mentality" people these dogs have begun to attract. Before that it was the rotties, the dobies and the chow chows. And right after WWII it was the shepherds.
People get "Bas ass dogs" to make themselves look cooler, bigger, toughter, more bad ass, which is quite sad.
I love a well bred pit, i think they are awesome. I like a well bred and good tempered any dog.
As a retired groomer i never had a pit bull or bully breed try an bite me, or start trouble. I've had to punch cockers and shepherds in the head to make them stop biting my bather. I've had to lasso little killer poodles from kennels, wrestle lashas almost to the death, fend off angry cats. String up nasty chows, and sedate the crap out of a lot of odd dogs.
Never did i feel i was in danger from a pit, mastiff, dogo, bulldog. Hell I'm had some labs and goldens try and get shitty with me. And i left thinking WOW they live with little kids.
Florida's #1 biter is the golden retriever. Pit bulls were fairly low on the list of dog bites.
Any large dogs can do tons of damage, smaller breeds are more likely to bite faces or hands. And all small children are well with in range of an attack.
I do hope they go after the owners, as we already know what will happen to the dogs.
Fry

1982-2010 Fatal Dog Attacks and Maimings

Breed	Bodily harm	Child Victims	Adult Victims	Deaths	Maimings	% of dog population
Pit bull terrier	1,552	691	529	166	859	.041
Rottweiler	457	262	118	73	246	.009
Husky	56	36	4	21	14	.081
Wolf hybrid	82	68	4	19	46	.003
Bullmastiff (Presa canario)	58	22	21	9	31	.013
German shepherd	79	52	20	9	50	.018
German shepherd-mix	37	26	8	7	24	–
Chow	53	35	15	7	35	.016
Pit bull-mix	102	44	21	7	51	–
Doberman	14	8	6	6	7	.008

*Chart ordered by number of deaths; includes only a portion of breeds listed in report.⁽³⁾

3.5 million GSD in the USA both registered AKC and not registered estimated
3.5 to 5 million or more Pit Bulls estimated  .. numbers are not known

At training last weekend, several pits, mals, a rottie, a couple of dobies, some shepherds and an old english bulldog were in attendance. I have to say, all of these dogs exhibited excellent behavior. None were dog or human agressive, all had trainers that knew what they were doing.

That being siad, I sat and spoke to well respected owner/trainer/helper and the subject came up. He said that most people that own pits have no busines keeping them. It takes a special person, one that is always on top of the situation. One that is alpha, but not harsh. One that takes the time to socialize and naturally can take the leadership position in the home. One that keeps the dog controlled and doen't ever let it loose.

During the session, someone came up wanting to give away pit puppies, no one was interested, they were polite, but said no. I asked, and my new friend said the reason was that eventhough they were cute and looked healthy, its too risky becasue they didn't know the pedigree of the puppies, not all lines are reliable.

http://dogbitelaw.com/

Link to a site that looks at dog bites and deaths from both sides of the issue

I'm not a hater of the breed and have met a lot of nice pits .... but  I do feel that dogs who are (or were) bred for specific purposes tend to keep the tendency they were bred for. Some lines more than others.... hunting dogs have the tendency to want to  hunt, herding breeds have the herding tendency, dogs bred for great swimming skills have the ability to be strong swimmers and love the water, etc. etc, and pits, well, guess they got the name 'pit bull' for the blood sport of bull baiting which required a strong constitution and  a high level of aggression to go in and grab on to a bull.  That was in their background...that trait may run stronger in some lines and given a situation where that aggression is triggered, some of them go into 'overdrive' on the aggression level and won't turn off when other breeds given the same circumstances may be much more easily deterred....  Many people are very naive to the point of being stupid and try to prove as a breed  ALL pits are loving, gentle baby sitters.... and this can lead to disasterous consequences which continues to add to the breed's bad name..Many of the documented deaths caused by pits occured to family members or in the neighborhood and seem to be associated from people's ignorance and .... Had these dogs been owned by a responsible person who spent time to confine them and teach them some manners and respect for peopleand used some good common sence , these deaths may not have happened.  But, as a breed, if left to their own devices and instincts, I do think they are a breed who can show higher levels of aggressiveness when 'turned on'..  As far as the 'dogs from Hell', the groomers nighmare, they are definately a product of poor ownership and upbringing.  . .

@ "getto [sic] mentality" , I know that is real, but of the ranches I was hired by to shoe their horses, one of them was the "BIG B", which at the time was an extension of the "KING RANCH" in Texas...not exactly what I'd consider ghetto mentality. Those dogs' job was to keep trash from wandering in and stealing horses or equipment., and they were very efficient at their job.
Also, I know that many people in Fl have Pitts for home protection because the crime rate is off the charts in most areas in the state. (That is protection against humans, not other dogs.)