# Will a stun gun stop a Pit Bull

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-stun-gun-stop-a-pit-bull/687378>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 30, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-stun-gun-stop-a-pit-bull/687378 "2014-04-30T17:31:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-stun-gun-stop-a-pit-bull/687378/41 "2016-11-12T16:53:38Z")

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> [@Magiver](#):
>
> Nonsense. All the people killed in my town by dogs died from pit bull attacks. It’s not a function of more dog bites than other breeds, it’s the vicious nature of the attack once it starts. The breed has a history of being bred for dog fights. There’s no comparison to breeds like Labradors. and it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to recognize a problem dog when they see one. The op sees a problem in the making and asked about non-fatal solutions if attacked.

This is mythology with no scientific basis, no matter many how many times it’s repeated, or how insistently anyone says it’s ‘nonsense’ to call out this myth. The fact that a lot of people believe something does not make it so.

There is no scientific evidence that dogs called ‘pit bulls’, which isn’t even a breed but just a vague category of appearance, are any more likely to be aggressive to humans than dogs of other appearances, or attack more ‘viciously’ than other dogs the same size, or any other systematic difference _independently of how they are managed by humans_.

If you have to deal with strange dogs and they seem aggressive, you should go with your instinct and be careful. And assuming the situation justifies it, the good news from OP perspective is that there’s also zero basis to think a 60lb ‘pit bull’ would be any more resistant to a stun gun, bear spray, a club or whatever else than a 60lb dog of the same temperament, size and physique but different appearance (of course 60 lb dogs have more potential to harm than 20lb dogs in general, and 60lb fit dogs more than 60lb obese dogs, but there’s no systematic difference in ‘pit bull’ appearance type dogs otherwise physically compared to various other types of dog, the idea that their jaws or teeth are unique is another wive’s tale).

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-stun-gun-stop-a-pit-bull/687378/42 "2016-11-12T17:37:04Z")

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> [@Corry\_El](#):
>
> This is mythology with no scientific basis.

It’s not mythology. In my town all the people killed by dog attacks were killed by pit bulls. that’s the statement I made.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-stun-gun-stop-a-pit-bull/687378/43 "2016-11-12T17:48:53Z")

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> [@hagpound](#):
>
> Can we stay on topic… Will a stun gun stop a big dog?

[Moderating]

Since this is an old thread, and neither this nor any of the subsequent posts actually address the question in the OP, I’m going to close it. It would probably be best to continue the discussion of what to do in case of a dog attack in IMHO in any case.

Colibri  
General Questions Moderator

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