Why do so many people think pit bulls are violent?
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Pit bulls are one of the most controversial and misunderstood dog breeds in America. Many critics view pit bulls as “inherently dangerous” and say that they are more violent than other dogs. If you rely solely on news stories and cultural anecdotes, you might think that’s the case.
However, many misconceptions and myths surround pit bulls, including confusion about their breed. And though there's a lot of data about dog bites and the frequency of pit bull attacks, these statistics are less reliable than you may think.
In this video, we explore the reputation of pit bulls through the decades and examine whether the data actually supports the claim that they’re dangerous and aggressive.
Sources
History of Spitz dogs in America – “Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon” by Bronwen Dickey
“Pit bull” is four distinct breeds – “Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon” by Bronwen Dickey
2012 Maryland Court of Appeals Tracey v. Solesky, designation of pit bulls as “inherently dangerous” – https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18413098015080333731
“Most dogs are mixed breed” – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5319786/#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20mixed%2Dbreed,Pet%20Products%20Association%20%5B3%5D.
“90% of dogs in shelters that were labeled as a particular breed were misidentified” – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20183478/
“dogs were labeled as pit bull-type dogs almost half the time” – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331500310X
Dogs identified as pit bull mixes without any pit bull DNA – https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/research/current-studies/dog-breed-identification/dog-breed-dna-and-survey-results/
"dog bite statistics are not really statistics, and they do not give an accurate picture of dogs that bite." – https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/dogbite.pdf
Denver pit bull ban having “with little measurable impact on public safety” – https://lawcommons.lclark.edu/alr/vol26/iss2/2/
Denmark pit bull ban having no “significant changes in dog bite hospitalizations” – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208393
Study about housing for pet owners – https://www.petsandhousing.org/2021-pet-inclusive-housing-report/
0:00 Why do pit bulls have a reputation as dangerous?
0:25 The demonization of dogs in America
1:19 The 1970s
1:57 The 1980s
2:33 What is a pit bull?
3:10 Breed-specific legislation
4:10 The unreliability of dog bite statistics
5:40 Examples of unsuccessful BSL
6:10 Issues with housing
7:18 There are no easy answers
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