So why does it seem like it is only pit bulls that attack?
Consider four separate incidents that happened in the span of a few days…
* August 17, 2007 A Labrador mix attacks a 70-year old man sending him to the hospital in critical condition. Police officers arrived at the scene and the dog is shot after charging the officers. This incident was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 18, 2007 - A 16-month old child receives fatal head and neck injuries by a mixed breed dog. This attack was reported two times by the local paper only.
* August 20, 2007 - A 6-year-old boy is hospitalized after having his ear torn off and receiving severe bites to the head by a medium-sized mixed breed dog. This attack was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 21, 2007 - A 59-year-old woman is attacked in her home by two Pit bulls and is hospitalized with severe injuries.
This attack was reported in over two hundred and thirty articles in national and international newspapers, as well as major television news networks, including CNN, MSNBC and FOX.
People routinely cite media coverage as “proof” that pit bulls are more dangerous than other dogs. Costly and ineffective public policy decisions are being made on the basis of such "proof". While this biased reporting is not only lethal to an entire population of dogs; sensationalized media coverage endangers the public by misleading them about the real factors in canine aggression.
All information was researched and is fully documented by Karen Delise, LVT
www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com
* August 17, 2007 A Labrador mix attacks a 70-year old man sending him to the hospital in critical condition. Police officers arrived at the scene and the dog is shot after charging the officers. This incident was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 18, 2007 - A 16-month old child receives fatal head and neck injuries by a mixed breed dog. This attack was reported two times by the local paper only.
* August 20, 2007 - A 6-year-old boy is hospitalized after having his ear torn off and receiving severe bites to the head by a medium-sized mixed breed dog. This attack was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 21, 2007 - A 59-year-old woman is attacked in her home by two Pit bulls and is hospitalized with severe injuries.
This attack was reported in over two hundred and thirty articles in national and international newspapers, as well as major television news networks, including CNN, MSNBC and FOX.
People routinely cite media coverage as “proof” that pit bulls are more dangerous than other dogs. Costly and ineffective public policy decisions are being made on the basis of such "proof". While this biased reporting is not only lethal to an entire population of dogs; sensationalized media coverage endangers the public by misleading them about the real factors in canine aggression.
All information was researched and is fully documented by Karen Delise, LVT
www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com
Comments
Christine will tell you from her experience working in the hospitals that she has seen multiple elderly people who have had heart attacks, slip and falls, strokes, etc., end up unconscious or immobile on the ground, and their shitzu or chihuahua or bichon eats their face off because of going hungry for days, and Christine ends up having to reconstruct their eye socket and trying to save their eyes. While I realize these dogs are probably starving and hence just attempting to survive, if you replaced one of the breeds above with pit bull, these incidents would go from garnering zero news headlines, to being 'worthy' of national coverage. It's insane.
-Tom