# Pitbulls **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 10, 2013, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969 "2013-05-10T08:22:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/481 "2013-06-29T02:47:28Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > After reading this thread carefully, I have decided I really want an American Pit Bull Terrier. They seem like warm-hearted animals, and with proper training are likely to be very disciplined and well-suited to a loving home. I don’t quite have the space for one now, but should I get the opportunity I will certainly take it. > > I dedicate this choice to **couger58**. And I dedicate this list of 368 people killed by pit bulls in the USA to you: > **[U.S. Fatal Pit Bull Attacks - The Archival Record - DogsBite.org](https://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/)** > > An archive of U.S. fatal pit bull attacks from 1833 to December 2024 by DogsBite.org - Fatal Pit Bull Attacks - The Archival Record Complete with photos of the deceased and links to those pesky media, police, and/or animal control reports. Don’t be fooled by the interviews of the pit bull owners. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/482 "2013-06-29T03:26:52Z")
[More on U.K. rates](http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/aug/09/dog-bite-hospital-admissions-rise) (where there has been a long standing BSL): U.S. rate is pretty stable at 3.1/100K. In the U.K. quite a few more bites … > [@](#): > > Of those, almost half required plastic surgery, and more than a quarter led to facial surgery. > > The most recent figures, for the year ending April 2012, showed a total of 6,450 admissions for dog bites or strikes, an increase of 5.2% on the previous year. Of those 1,040 were of under-10s, with nearly half (494 admissions) requiring plastic surgery, and 27% (278 admissions) resulting in oral or facial surgery. … > > … There were 21 admissions per 100,000 of the population, or 551 in total, in the North East Strategic Health Authority’s area. Admission rates were lowest in London, where there were seven for every 100,000 of the population. … > > … “Preventing dog attacks is vital and new measures are needed to place more responsibility on the owners of dangerous dogs. Dogs Trust is calling on the government to repeal and replace the existing Dangerous Dogs Act with new legislation that better protects the public and is strongly in favour of compulsory microchipping as it can help improve the traceability of irresponsible dog owners.” > > The RSPCA animal welfare charity stressed the vast majority of bites treated by the NHS would not necessarily be down to dogs being more aggressive, but rather due to human behaviour around dogs. … Yes, after years of BSL rate of serious hospitalizations range from more than twice as high in the U.S. to 7 times as high. Yes, they’ve realized that focusing on the breeds detracts resources and attention from doing that which actually would make more of a difference. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/483 "2013-06-29T03:47:06Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > After reading this thread carefully, I have decided I really want an American Pit Bull Terrier. They seem like warm-hearted animals, and with proper training are likely to be very disciplined and well-suited to a loving home. I don’t quite have the space for one now, but should I get the opportunity I will certainly take it. > > I dedicate this choice to **couger58**. Be sure to stop on the way, to get some leaded paint, and a 1972 Ford Pinto. Text us while driving to give us updates, while smoking Camel filterless cigarettes, Check CraigsList before you go – you might also be able to get a deal on a macaque monkey. Never mind the fact that the media and the CDC have reported that 80 to 90 percent of all macaque monkeys are infected with Herpes B-virus or Simian B, a virus that is harmless to monkeys but often fatal in humans. You may not have heard word of Herpes B-virus or Simian B virus - but its on everyone’s lips. The media and the CDC just have a hard on for macaque monkeys. Just tell them to “suck macaque”. Oddly enough, for die hard (no pun) drop-side cribs fans, you can still find them on CraigsList – even thou no manufacturer or retailer can make or sell these as of 2011(banned) --yet they only killed 32 children from 2000 thru 2011. By comparison, 20 children were murdered by dogs last year alone in the US and ALL by Pit Bulls. Add a drop-side crib to your shopping list. It will allow for easier entry for your new pet. To prevent your future children or grandchildren from being the victims of limb amputations from your new pet, you can still buy Thalidomide in 3rd world countries. We banned it here, after a number of baby’s were born without all of their arms and/or legs. Yep, you guessed it. You can google archive to find thousands of media reports from the 1960’s hinting that there just might be a correlation between Thalidomide and newborns with stumps. But don’t be fooled – the media had it in for the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal. It too, was suspected to be a conspiracy back in 1960 – the people who used it, swore by it. They even slept with it. In fact, they couldn’t sleep without it. They insisted it was something else causing these problems. Sound familiar? Those brilliant folks in Spain, kept using it long after it was banned. [http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/09/thalidomide-allegedly-sold-in-spain-after-ban/](http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/09/thalidomide-allegedly-sold-in-spain-after-ban/) but then, those same folks in Spain recently dropped their pit bull ban. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/484 "2013-06-29T03:55:54Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > And I dedicate this list of 368 people killed by pit bulls in the USA to you: > > [http://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/](http://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/) > > Complete with photos of the deceased and links to those pesky media, police, and/or animal control reports. Don’t be fooled by the interviews of the pit bull owners. Y’know, you say “Ford Pinto”, but ANY car is literally hundreds of times more deadly than a pit bull. There’s one auto-related fatality per 8000 cars in the us (250,000,000ish passenger vehicles, 32,000 fatalities yearly) and around 38 TOTAL dog-related fatalities (just assuming they’re ALL caused by pit bulls) for the 3,500,000 million estimated pits. So there, I should sell my two family cars and buy 24 pit bulls, and I’ll be marginally statistically safer. This is why we’re ignoring your stats–the number of dog bite deaths per year is so insignificant as to not justify ANY action under any reasonable standard of risk analysis. You are literally at more risk from lightning strikes. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/485 "2013-06-29T04:03:19Z")
Also, does that link seriously go back to 1858? A few hundred deaths since **1858** is supposed to convince me to pass laws against something? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/486 "2013-06-29T05:09:19Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > After reading this thread carefully, I have decided I really want an American Pit Bull Terrier. They seem like warm-hearted animals, and with proper training are likely to be very disciplined and well-suited to a loving home. I don’t quite have the space for one now, but should I get the opportunity I will certainly take it. > > I dedicate this choice to **couger58**. I have now had 6 dogs in my life… two blonde [Cocker Spaniels](https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/24833_107792922595206_6160187_n.jpg) (prone to fighting, drew blood a few times, even though opposite sex. Had both for 16.5 years each, he was just 6 months younger…) followed by [two Golden Retrievers.](https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/558275_424787034229125_1114697985_n.jpg)(Maggie looks exactly like Dogbert in that picture…) I adored my Goldens, they were just the best dogs in the world, and I was sure I’d only have Goldens for the rest of my life. But when one of them died and I learned how irrationally rejected black dogs are, I decided I had to be open to a black dog, and I ended up with [Preston](https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/195971_190103424364155_6543243_n.jpg), who has turned out to be the most amazing dog I could ever have hoped for, while also being extremely different in personality than any other dog I’ve ever had. As the years have passed with just us two, and I met more and more pit bulls, learned more about them, saw so goddamn many being abused and neglected… well, [here I am.](https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q72/s720x720/8907_546282285412932_1561212564_n.jpg) (best eyebrows ever!) And if anyone had told me this five years ago, I would have laughed in their face. Because I like “cuddly” dogs. (That’s one of my issues with Preston, he’s not really very cuddly, he mostly likes to have his rump pounded more than anything, and merely tolerates my need for more tactile intimacy.) But that’s just the thing I would never have expected, that pits are incredibly cuddly! Even more so than furry dogs, their close hair is so silky, they have so much skin exposed…and they are so squishy in certain spots! Plus they are kissy kissy kissy (i’ve read they are among the most kissy of all dogs), super physical, love to be closeand are just so much more rewarding in that respect than I would have dreamed in a million years. Delicious! And I even love the way she smells, which is no longer like a puppy (best smell ever) but is also completely different from the way any other dog I’ve ever known smells. She’s just yummy! Of course, all this physical intimacy between me and Zusje is messing with Preston’s head, so suddenly at the age of 6 he’s getting up on the bed, putting his head on my body, getting fully beside me to sleep… all stuff he would never do before. Jealousy! > [@Zeriel](#): > > So there, I should sell my two family cars and buy 24 pit bulls, and I’ll be marginally statistically safer. > > This is why we’re ignoring your stats–the number of dog bite deaths per year is so insignificant as to not justify ANY action under any reasonable standard of risk analysis. You are literally at more risk from lightning strikes. Did you ever read “[Innumeracy](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0809058405)”? I think that was the first book to introduce the masses to the irrational way we make decisions, talking about what we fear vs. what we _should_ fear based on statistics. Terrific read. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/487 "2013-06-29T08:19:10Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > There are no such statistics. See, without a reliable way to identify breed, allllll those stories being posted have no meaning. Don’t you feel better now? If I had a kid and bought a pit bull, I would consider myself an irresponsible parent for pretending that stat after stat are all wrong . ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/488 "2013-06-29T08:21:42Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Y’know, you say “Ford Pinto”, but ANY car is literally hundreds of times more deadly than a pit bull. There’s one auto-related fatality per 8000 cars in the us (250,000,000ish passenger vehicles, 32,000 fatalities yearly) and around 38 TOTAL dog-related fatalities (just assuming they’re ALL caused by pit bulls) for the 3,500,000 million estimated pits. > > So there, I should sell my two family cars and buy 24 pit bulls, and I’ll be marginally statistically safer. > > This is why we’re ignoring your stats–the number of dog bite deaths per year is so insignificant as to not justify ANY action under any reasonable standard of risk analysis. You are literally at more risk from lightning strikes. Great anaolgy. Would you give your kid a car that has defects? Would you put your kid under a tree in a lightning storm ..or would you take precautions,.? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/489 "2013-06-29T08:28:10Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > If I had a kid and bought a pit bull, I would consider myself an irresponsible parent for pretending that stat after stat are all wrong . Then I hope to heaven you never get your child a pit bull. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/490 "2013-06-29T11:02:52Z")
[quote=“DSeid, post:470, topic:657969”] Why would any one marry a Black man when statistics show that Black men commit more murder and manslaughter in this country than any other group? Heck I could go for pages listing gruesome details of murders in which the murderer was a Black man. You do, _I hope_, recognize immediately why that is a goofy asinine statement. Why some here fail to recognize that the conclusions drawn from the reported as Pit stats are equally stupid is beyond me. Lets use your analogy which is illogic…black men are men. Black criminals are within the class of. Black men. Dogs are dogs. Pit bulls are within the class of dogs. The question would be, would you ,marry ablack men who abuses children if he had that reputation would you buy. Pit ill if it has the reputation for hurting children? ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/491 "2013-06-29T12:26:15Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Also, does that link seriously go back to 1858? A few hundred deaths since **1858** is supposed to convince me to pass laws against something? Of course not. But this might: In the last 8-year period of the CDC study (1991 to 1998), pit bulls averaged 2.8 deaths per year. From 2005 to 2012, the most recent 8-year period, pit bulls averaged 18.8 per year, an increase of 670%. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/492 "2013-06-29T12:36:25Z")
Ever going to answer the questions I’ve asked you? (See post #463 if you need your memory jogged.) Including but not limited to how that apparent lower number in the 8 year CDC study of 91 to 98 than in the last 7 years of media reports is explained in your way of thinking? Has the breed suddenly mutated to become more vicious? Prejteach2, huh? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/493 "2013-06-29T12:41:36Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Prejteach2, huh? Using voice recognition software with a mouthful of caramel corn. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/494 "2013-06-29T17:29:52Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > Great anaolgy. Would you give your kid a car that has defects? Would you put your kid under a tree in a lightning storm ..or would you take precautions,.? You’re missing the analogy. ANY random car, even the safest, is approximately 12 times more likely to cause a fatality than any random pit bull. If you drive your child anywhere, you are being either hypocritical or staggeringly bad at risk analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/495 "2013-06-29T17:35:32Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > Of course not. > > But this might: > > In the last 8-year period of the CDC study (1991 to 1998), pit bulls averaged 2.8 deaths per year. From 2005 to 2012, the most recent 8-year period, pit bulls averaged 18.8 per year, an increase of 670%. And if you can explain that to me in a way that blames the breed for randomly becoming more vicious AS A BREED in the space of maybe 10-20 generations at most, as opposed to an explanation that is more centered on the nurture, bad interbreeding, and poor training of the breed as it became more popular among tough idiots, then sure–that might be a relevant concern. The numbers AS YOU PRESENT THEM, with a relatively few attacks for a long time and a sudden surge in the last decade, track nicely with the rising popularity of pit bull types as both a tough-guy dog and a dog that is “backyard” bred to supply to tough guys. This is why I keep coming back to the idea of “are they registered, papered ASTs or APBTs?”–no one is arguing that breeds have tendencies, but what I AM arguing is that pit bulls have become “more deadly” far too fast for it to BE a breed tendency, therefore it must be a factor of either ownership/training or unselective breeding with dogs with pre-existing bad tendencies, and more likely than not the former. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/496 "2013-06-29T17:58:49Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > And if you can explain that to me in a way that blames the breed for randomly becoming more vicious AS A BREED in the space of maybe 10-20 generations at most, as opposed to an explanation that is more centered on the nurture, bad interbreeding, and poor training of the breed as it became more popular among tough idiots, then sure–that might be a relevant concern. > > The numbers AS YOU PRESENT THEM, with a relatively few attacks for a long time and a sudden surge in the last decade, track nicely with the rising popularity of pit bull types as both a tough-guy dog and a dog that is “backyard” bred to supply to tough guys. This is why I keep coming back to the idea of “are they registered, papered ASTs or APBTs?”–no one is arguing that breeds have tendencies, but what I AM arguing is that pit bulls have become “more deadly” far too fast for it to BE a breed tendency, therefore it must be a factor of either ownership/training or unselective breeding with dogs with pre-existing bad tendencies, and more likely than not the former. Ding! Ding! Ding! ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/497 "2013-06-29T18:07:22Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > And if you can explain that to me in a way that blames the breed for randomly becoming more vicious AS A BREED in the space of maybe 10-20 generations at most, as opposed to an explanation that is more centered on the nurture, bad interbreeding, and poor training of the breed as it became more popular among tough idiots, then sure–that might be a relevant concern. > > The numbers AS YOU PRESENT THEM, with a relatively few attacks for a long time and a sudden surge in the last decade, track nicely with the rising popularity of pit bull types as both a tough-guy dog and a dog that is “backyard” bred to supply to tough guys. This is why I keep coming back to the idea of “are they registered, papered ASTs or APBTs?”–no one is arguing that breeds have tendencies, but what I AM arguing is that pit bulls have become “more deadly” far too fast for it to BE a breed tendency, therefore it must be a factor of either ownership/training or unselective breeding with dogs with pre-existing bad tendencies, and more likely than not the former. Yeah, gee, it’s almost as if you know a little something about genetics and breeding and have used that knowledge to inform your opinions. > [@Prejteach2](#): > > Lets use your analogy which is illogic…black men are men. Black criminals are within the class of. Black men. Dogs are dogs. Pit bulls are within the class of dogs. The question would be, would you ,marry ablack men who abuses children if he had that reputation would you buy. Pit ill if it has the reputation for hurting children? That… _is_ a question, alright. I guess. But let me ask you, _is our children learning_? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/498 "2013-06-29T20:40:17Z")
Interesting analysis from the [American Veterinary Medicine Association](https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Backgrounders/Pages/The-Role-of-Breed-in-Dog-Bite-Risk-and-Prevention.aspx) - > [@](#): > > any estimate of breed-based risk must take into account the prevalence of the breed in the population at the time and place of serious biting events.25 > > For example, researchers may compare well-documented bite cases with matched control households. … > > … PIT BULL TYPES > Owners of pit bull-type dogs deal with a strong breed stigma,35 however controlled studies have not identified this breed group as disproportionately dangerous. The pit bull type is particularly ambiguous as a “breed” encompassing a range of pedigree breeds, informal types and appearances that cannot be reliably identified. Visual determination of dog breed is known to not always be reliable.36 And witnesses may be predisposed to assume that a vicious dog is of this type. > It should also be considered that the incidence of pit bull-type dogs’ involvement in severe and fatal attacks may represent high prevalence in neighborhoods that present high risk to the young children who are the most common victim of severe or fatal attacks. And as owners of stigmatized breeds are more likely to have involvement in criminal and/or violent acts37—breed correlations may have the owner’s behavior as the underlying causal factor. … > > … Given that pit bull-type dogs are not implicated in controlled studies, and the potential role of prevalence and management factors, it is difficult to support the targeting of this breed as a basis for dog bite prevention. If breeds are to be targeted a cluster of large breeds would be implicated including the German shepherd and shepherd crosses and other breeds that vary by location. [Statement](http://www.nacanet.org/guidelines.html#dangerous) from the [National Animal Control Association](http://www.nacanet.org/about.html) > [@](#): > > Dangerous and/or vicious animals should be labeled as such as a result of their actions or behavior and not because of their breed. … The [American Academy of Pediatrics](http://www2.aap.org/advocacy/releases/dogbiteprevention.pdf) Dog Bite Prevention hand out (pdf): > [@](#): > > Even the cuddliest, fuzziest, sweetest pup can bite if provoked. > Most people are bitten by their own dog or one they know. Some > owners actually promote aggression in their dogs or allow aggression > to go unchecked. > Although media reports and rumors often give the impression > that certain breeds of dog are more likely to bite, there is little > scientific evidence to support those claims. _Again_, why are all these professional organizations in such denial that an easy quick fix to serious dog bites exists, just ban all dogs that look even vaguely like Pit Bulls? (C’mon, post 463, just a few questions, I am honestly curious to what your take is.) Dog ownership is a serious responsibility. It has benefits and it has risks, like almost everything. Smaller dogs bite more often (and are more threatened by small children, whereas bigger dogs are less easily spooked) but their bites are less likely to cause serious harm. Deaths from dog bites are extremely rare but non-zero. Having a dog in the same household as young child, 4 and under, is especially risky; under no circumstance should a young child be left with _any_ dog without supervision. Some dogs do seem less bite prone than others, these include the ever popular Lab and Goldens, but even they are not without risk: the tiny risk can be made even smaller by owning such a dog but it is still non-zero and constant vigilance is still required. Despite the stigma attached to the Pit breed groups there is in controlled studies, as per above, no evidence that such is justified as a characteristic of the breed. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/499 "2013-06-29T20:59:12Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > Of course not. > > But this might: > > In the last 8-year period of the CDC study (1991 to 1998), pit bulls averaged 2.8 deaths per year. From 2005 to 2012, the most recent 8-year period, pit bulls averaged 18.8 per year, an increase of 670%. UPDATE: Pit bulls are at 16 fatals, and 2013 isn’t half over. That means they will kill 32 in 2013. In the last 8-year period of the CDC study (1991 to 1998), pit bulls averaged 2.8 deaths per year. **Project murder count for 2013 is 32, an increase of 1,142%** In one single year that percentage went from 670% to 1,142%. Pit bulls are in fact, an epidemic. per definition: “occurs when new cases , in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience” Further, given that the number of entire nations banning pit bulls is growing, this would make pit bulls pandemic (international). ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969/500 "2013-06-29T21:08:50Z")
Cougar, you don’t have to keep trying to prove to us that you do not understand statistics, science, genetics, or the power of controlled studies versus anecdotal evidence. We totally believe you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitbulls/657969.md?page=26)