Originally posted by skpaw
Over the last few years more and more fatal dog attacks have been in the news.
And, keep in mind how the media works, too. They are going to put on the news what the majority of viewers want to see. Regardless of what actually might be going on out there in the world, the reporters have a quota to meet, and, they forsake a lot of other situations that are happening, in order to get a story they know will be shocking. News is trendy, really. If the big thing is hearing about razor blades in apples, you're going to see every possible story they can find about kids being injured while eating halloween candy. (remember that whole thing years ago?!) I'd be willing to bet that if you were able to really get ahold of some actual statistics, or even just local humane society reports, emergency room reports, etc...that you would probably be surprised at how many dog bites or attacks come from breeds that aren't labeled vicious. I had a friend that worked with animal control, and, she said she was bitten by more cocker spaniels than any other breed, and, she'd never been bitten by any of the large, "vicious" breeds (like rotties, pits, dobies, etc). And, I am not saying (and she wasn't, either) that cockers are vicious or that they bite more than any other breed. But, in her experience, the medium and smaller breeds were more likely to bite her than bigger breeds. But, the majority of the public don't want to hear about a cocker spaniel or a golden retriever or lab or poodle attacking someone. They want to hear about the pit bull, because that's what's trendy to be afraid of right now. (It used to be German Shepherds, Dobies, etc.) Anyway, my point is that you can't really gather accurate information on how many dog attacks are taking place solely based on your nightly news program.

EDITED: And, even if certain crimes are on a decrease from years past, if you see it over and over on the news, it's going to look like that particular crime has increased. Does that make sense?