I am posting an article I wrote in our newsletter about the myth about pitbulls. I firmly believe that the problem is not with the dogs themselves, but with the people who treat them so poorly. Any dog can be provoked enough to bite. There is a new study out that is linking dog bites to chaining dogs outside. There seems to be a much bigger correlation between that than the breed.

Permission to post by author (which was me!!!):

You hear about it everywhere. Headlines abound in the media about fatal pit bull attacks on children. Cities and townships are either banning the breed altogether or placing a “dangerous dog” label on them. So, to take a line from Joe Friday on the old Dragnet series, “Just the facts ma’am.”

MYTH: American Pit Bull Terriers (APBT) bite more people than any other breed.

FACT: Accurate APBT dog bite statistics are difficult to obtain. A lack of good record keeping by animal control facilities and the tendency of people to mistake any breed with a square jaw as a “Pit Bull” hamper efforts to determine the true scope of the problem. Nonetheless, the records of one municipality suggest that numerous bites may be a myth. Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, has kept accurate records since 1980. For the years 1980 through 1987, this is what is recorded. Total bites: 1,593. Pit bulls, 30 bites, or 1.89% of the total.

MYTH: American Pit Bull Terriers are born mean.

FACT: In a letter to James Huffman of Columbus, Ohio, Alfons Estelt of the American Temperament Test Society, Inc., an international dog temperament test organization, wrote the following: "The American Pit Bull Terriers participating in our temperament evaluation have thus far shown a passing rate of 95%. The other 121 breeds of dogs in our tests showed the average passing rate of 77%. While the heredity factor is of measurable importance, these results show that a dog, even if used for dogfighting, is not pre-disposed as such, but is brought by his environment."

FACT: The APBT is, contrary to popular belief, very human-friendly and will not naturally be aggressive towards humans. The APBT is, however, very loyal and eager to please, so that if an owner wants a dog to be aggressive toward humans and reinforces this behavior from an early age, the dog will most likely be aggressive towards humans as an adult. Although American Pit Bull Terriers were initially bred to be animal aggressive, proper socialization and proper breeding will lessen that trait.

FACT: American Pit Bull Terriers are people friendly, loyal, and highly social dogs with great temperaments who have been the real victims in our society.