A new national survey commissioned by Best Friends Animal Society reveals that 84 percent of those polled believe that local, state or federal governments should not infringe on a person’s right to own whatever breed of dog they choose.

A new national survey commissioned by Best Friends Animal Society reveals that 84 percent of those polled believe that local, state or federal governments should not infringe on a person’s right to own whatever breed of dog they choose.
This survey*, conducted by Luntz Global, is consistent with a growing trend by many state and local governments that have repealed breed discriminatory provisions and enacted behavior-based, breed-neutral dangerous dog laws. Of the 850 polled, 59 percent were dog owners. Only four percent of those polled believed the federal government should dictate what breed of dog a person could own, while six percent supported state government restrictions and 11 percent local government limits.
Supporting the survey is the fact that 17 states have passed laws that prohibit cities and counties from banning or restricting dogs because of breed. Even the American Bar Association passed a Resolution 100 in August, 2012 calling for all political subdivisions to repeal breed discriminatory provisions.

How long before we discard visual breed identification?

How long before we discard visual breed identification? A new survey confirms that even dog experts can’t tell just by looking.
Posted on November 7, 2012 by admin

In the 1960’s, John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller showed that mixed breed dogs may bear little or no resemblance to their purebred ancestors.[i] In 2009, Dr. Victoria Voith and colleagues from Western University published a short report indicating a low agreement between the identification of breeds of dogs by adoption agencies and DNA identification of the same dogs.[ii]

The Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine has also been looking systematically into the problem of visual breed identification of dogs of unknown origin. A survey conducted at four Florida animal shelters confirmed the unreliability of visual breed identification, thus calling into question yet again its use for dog adoption, lost and found, and regulation.[iii]

The Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program conducted a new and expanded survey during the summer of 2012.[iv] An array of dog experts – breeders, trainers, groomers, veterinarians, shelter staff, rescuers and others –offered their best guesses as to the breeds in the dogs in a series of photographs. More than 5,000 completed the survey. Their visual assessments were then compared to DNA breed profiles of the dogs.

Each dog in the survey had at least 25% of a single breed in its DNA profile. A response was considered accurate if it named any of the breeds DNA analysis had detected in the dog, no matter how many other breeds had been detected, and whether or not the breed guessed was a predominant breed in the dog, or only had been detected in a trace amount. Since, in almost every dog multiple breeds had been detected, there were lots of opportunities to be correct.

ARE FATAL DOGS ATTACKS ACCURATE WHEN WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE MEDIA ????

AMERICAN ANIMAL FOUNDATION

ARE FATAL DOGS ATTACKS ACCURATE WHEN WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE MEDIA ????

The Center for Disease released a study on fatal dog attacks from 1979 - 1998.
The CDC study assistance from the HSUS an organization supporting the end to domestic
pet ownership. The CDC study was bias and serves no scientific purpose. The study was
done intentionally to support breed specific legislation by making claim that Rottweilers and
Pit Bulls were responsible for the majority of fatal dog attacks during 1979 - 1998. The CDC
study failed to include the populations of breeds responsible for fatal attacks and without
populations of breeds to make a statement that specific breeds are responsible for the
majority of fatal attacks is intentional.

The CDC has been used by organizations lobbying to pass breed specific legislation in an attempt to target Rottweilers and Pit Bulls.Data shows us apx. 22 people die each year from using hiar dryers while standing in bath tubs filled with water. For the last 40 years
between 12 -25 people each year have died from dog attacks and the numbers have not changed even though the populations of canines has increased.

The main cause of fatal dog attacks is irresponsible dog owners who do not properly train
and socalize their dogs which leads to aggressive behavior and irresponsible parents who
leave young children unattended around dogs.
Breed is not a contributing factor to fatal dog attacks and spay and neutering does not reduce canine aggression.

DR POLLEY DVM

Addressing The Testosterone Issue

"Testosterone plays a role in modulating certain behaviors such as roaming, urine marking in-doors, sexual mounting and aggression toward other dogs (versus playful activity or dominance).   Neutersol reduces the male hormone, testosterone, by 41-52% while surgical castration reduces testosterone by 95%. These behaviors may persist after either neutering method.

While testosterone plays a role in affecting certain sexually dimorphic behaviors, it is not the only factor. In fact, the veterinary behavioral textbooks point out that there are multiple contributing factors with regard to these behaviors. Surgical castration does not completely eliminate these behaviors. The controlled scientific studies that have assessed the effects of surgical castration with regard to behavior have shown that most dogs continue exhibiting these behaviors. Aggression toward humans shows little
significant effect after surgical castration. Surgery can have an effect in some of these, but is far from absolute. The FDA has reviewed the data for both surgery and Neutersol and included wording in the prescribing information of Neutersol addressing this fact, "As with surgical castration, secondary male characteristics (roaming, marking, aggression and mounting) may persist."



There is no scientific process available to identify the American Pit Bull Terrier and over 30 breeds that look like the Pit Bull. We find the media only reports what they call Pit Bull attacks labeling dogs that are not even related to the American Pit Bull Terrier. Of the fatal dog attacks in the last 40 years very few dogs labeled as Pit Bulls were actually purebred American Pit Bull Terriers registered
with dog registries with pedigrees.

Potential for skewed population due to breed misidentification

Potential for skewed population due to breed misidentification

The study author does not explain how breeds are identified, but the reader supposes that the breed is taken off either license or citation paperwork. This means that, in the case of a license, the owner decides what a dog’s breed is. In the case of a citation, an animal control officer probably decides what a dog’s breed is.

This naturally leads to a serious question about identification accuracy, especially since most dogs are not purebred. For instance, animal control officers may have been inclined to over-identify troublesome dogs as “pit bulls” because the category is broad and vaguely defined, and because Ohio’s state law at the time gave animal control more tools to deal with problematic “pit bulls” than with other types of problematic dogs, thus encouraging them to declare dogs “pit bulls.”

Barnes also observes that “some owners license a HR [high risk] dog such as a Pit Bull as another breed, such as Boxer” to avoid the automatic designation of “vicious” that Ohio placed on pit bulls. Obviously, this suggests that Barnes’s population may be skewed due to the effects of BSL; some dog owners were intentionally misidentifying their dog’s breed, and Barnes has no ability to correct for this problem. This means that data for the other breeds tallied by Barnes may actually have been data for pit bull mixes that were intentionally recorded by the owners as a different breed.

Barnes also includes two “breeds” that aren’t recognized by any reputable kennel club—the “Ahra” and the “Terripoo.” It is not clear what an Ahra is, but Terripoo might be a mix of poodle and terrier, so the latter, at least, should have been included as a “mixed breed.”

Ohio Voters for Companion Animals - OVCA OVCA "TWO PAWS UP" TO DEDICATED ADVOCATE, Mary Clark, FOR SERVING AS A STRONG VOICE AGAINST BREED DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION IN CINCINNATI (HAMILTON COUNTY)!

Ohio Voters for Companion Animals - OVCA

OVCA "TWO PAWS UP" TO DEDICATED ADVOCATE, Mary Clark, FOR SERVING AS A STRONG VOICE AGAINST BREED DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION IN CINCINNATI (HAMILTON COUNTY)! As shared by Mary:

Dear Council Member Wendell Young:

As a Cincinnati resident, I believe one of the goals of the city council should be to provide for public safety in the most effective and comprehensive way possible. Everyone benefits from a safe community - both people and pets. Yet, breed-discriminatory legislation (BDL) fails to make society safer because it targets dogs by appearance instead of focusing on the real cause of most dangerous dogs - the behavior of the dog and its owner.

Our communities should be protected against any dangerous dog, no matter what the breed or appearance. Rather than punishing dogs because of their appearance, our community should work to come up with better solutions that hold reckless owners of dangerous dogs accountable. The simple truth is that breed discrimination doesn't work because breed has nothing to do with dangerousness. That is why the national trend is against BDL. In fact, 19 states have outlawed breed discrimination because it infringes on property rights, fails to enhance public safety and is extremely expensive to enforce.

Now we have Councilman Smitherman trying to turn back the clock. His poorly written ordinance discriminates against dogs by breed and, if enacted and enforced, would be disastrous and expensive for Cincinnati. Our city already has experienced the gross failures of breed-discriminatory legislation, including both outright bans and registration requirements. It is unreasonable, irrational and, frankly, perplexing why we would tread down this same road again.

BDL failure is not unique to Cincinnati. It's been a global failure as well. Studies done in the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany revealed that BDL fails to reduce the number of dog bites. Communities that enacted breed discrimination actually saw their dog bite incidents increase.

Based on these studies and valid concerns about property rights and the constitutional due process deficiencies inherent in this kind of legislation, the American Bar Association, the National Animal Care and Control Association, the American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior, and the American Veterinary Medical Association all have policies against breed discrimination. Along with numerous other credible organizations, they have long ago shifted their support to laws that deal with the real problem - the behavior of the individual dog and the behavior of the reckless owner.

Breed discrimination also severely interferes with citizens' property rights. Every American citizen who follows the safety rules as a responsible dog owner should be allowed to own whatever breed of dog he or she chooses. In a recent national survey conducted by Luntz Global, 84 percent of respondents said local government shouldn't regulate what breed of dog citizens may own.

For these reasons, I urge you to abandon consideration of enacting any ordinance, policy or regulation that is specific to breed. It's time to move forward instead of repeating the legislative mistakes of the past.

As a licensed property manager in Cincinnati, I can assure anyone involved in this terribly misguided attack on responsible pet ownership that BSL costs cities investment and homeowners. Informed people refuse to invest in areas which have elected officials who attempt to pass destructive legislation which harms the law abiding citizens and taxpayers. Any attempt to start BSL again in the city will result in residents moving out, even more than usual. BSL is an offense against taxpaying, law abiding citizens and causes financial losses for taxpayers.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to harm the city in this manner. Cincinnati just removed BSL and joined the 20th century. The effort to push dog breeding and dog fighting back into their criminal activity is the inevitable result of BSL. BSL puts everyone at risk and for no reason.

This is ridiculous.

Thank you for your consideration of this important public safety and property rights issue.

Sincerely,

MP Clark

~~~

COUNCIL MEMBER WENDELL YOUNG'S RESPONSE:

Hi there,

Thank you for contacting our office with your concern about making sure dog owners are accountable for the behavior of their dogs, regardless of breed. Councilmember Young agrees that breed specific laws are problematic and do little to address the real problem of irresponsible owners. Our office will we working hard to make sure any legislation that is passed by city council reflects this belief.

Thank you again for your concern,

Liza

--
Liza Druck
Director of Policy and Communications
Office of Councilman Wendell Young
801 Plum St., Rm. 352
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 352-3466
liza.druck@cincinnati-oh.gov

~~~

Mailing Address For City Council Members:
801 Plum Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Vice Mayor David Mann
513-352-4610
david.mann@cincinnati-oh.gov

President Pro Tem Yvette Simpson
513-352-5260
yvette.simpson@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Kevin Flynn
513-352-4550
kevin.flynn@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Amy Murray
513-352-3640
amy.murray@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Chris Seelbach
513-352-5210
chris.seelbach@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld
513-352-5270
pg.sittenfeld@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Christopher Smitherman
513-352-3464
christopher.smitherman@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Charlie Winburn
513-352-5354
charlie.winburn@cincinnati-oh.gov

Council Member Wendell Young – AGAINST BREED DISCRIMINATION!
513-352-3466
wendell.young@cincinnati-oh.gov

Inaccuracy of Breed Labels

Inaccuracy of Breed Label
s Assigned to Dogs of Unknown Origin

Victoria Voith, PhD, DVM, DACVB, and colleagues from Western University of Health Sciences originally compared the breed identifications assigned by adoption agencies to dogs of unknown parentage with DNA breed analysis of the same dogs. They found low agreement between the two. Their findings, first published in 2009, are presented in the following two documents:

Two separate, additional studies conducted at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida, further confirm the unreliability of visual breed identification used by dog adoption agencies, animal control (lost and found), and in regulation. Click below to read NCRC's two whitepapers discussing the significance of the findings in each, and to view the poster associated with the first study.

Observers Don’t Agree on Breed Identifications

In a second paper published in 2013, Dr. Voith and her colleagues surveyed more than 900 people in dog-related professions and services and showed that respondents frequently disagreed with each other when making visual breed identifications of the same dog, and that their opinions may or may not have correlated with DNA breed analysis.More than 70% of the study participants reported that now or at one time, their breed descriptors were used in record keeping. The results of the survey call into question the validity of a variety of data that has been collected over the decades pertaining to breed identification of dogs.
Reliabiltiy of DNA Breed Identification
We take very seriously the reliability of the studies on which we report and understand that there are those who are skeptical of breed identification obtained through DNA analysis. And indeed, it is important to note that DNA identification is not 100% accurate when analyzing mixed-breed dogs, nor do the companies who conduct the analyses claim it to be so. At the time Dr. Victoria Voith conducted the first of these studies, the accuracy of the Mars Wisdom Panel® used in the studies was reported to be 84%, for identification of breed in F1 crosses (offspring of 2 different registered purebreds). Accuracy is currently reported to be 90%. The Mars Wisdom Panel®, is specifically intended for mixed-breed dogs. The test was developed by analyzing more than 19 million genetic markers taken from 13,000 dogs.

We can say with confidence, that this documented rate of accuracy for DNA analysis is much higher than that achieved by looking at the dog for at least 2 reasons:
•In Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, a seminal work on dogs and the significance of documented pedigree, John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller showed that that even F1 crosses very rarely have much physical resemblance to either of their parents’ breeds.
Understanding how a dog's appearance is determined by its DNA helps explain why the DNA test is better than a visual breed identification. Visual identification is based upon the observation of a handful of variable breed-associated physical traits, such as coat color, body size, skull shape and whether the ears or erect or floppy. These physical traits are found in many different breeds and are controlled by approximately 50 of the roughly 20,000 genes that create a dog. Sometimes, a breed may exhibit a certain physical trait because all the members in the breed have exactly the same version of the gene that encodes the trait.
If this trait is recessive (for example like the trait associated with long fur), only dogs with two of the same version of the gene will exhibit long fur. If one of these dogs is the ancestor of a mixed- breed dog, the mixed-breed dog may contain both the DNA for the recessive version of the trait (long fur) and the dominant version of the trait (short fur). However, the long-haired recessive appearance will not be observed because the dominant short-haired DNA would determine the visual appearance of coat length (making it short). Subsequently, the visual identification of breed would inaccurately specify short-haired breeds based upon the visual observation of short hair.
The DNA test would be able to detect the recessive version of the gene for the long hair along with the dominant version of DNA for the short-hair and the DNA test result would use that information to determine the breed. The DNA results might report both long-haired and short-haired breeds in the dog's ancestry even though the dog only has short-hair. Coat length is not the only trait that can be "hidden" from visual observation due to dominant and recessive patterns of genetic inheritance in dogs.

Although the genetic test may not assess every gene or even each physical attribute of a dog, the regions of the genome that it uses to assess breed take into account much more information than visual observation. The DNA test is better than visual breed identification because it takes into account the pattern of genetic variation at many different regions across the dog genome to generate a "genetic snapshot" of a mixed-breed dog's ancestry. The resulting genetic evidence for what breeds make up a mixed-breed dog may or may not agree with visual observations, but they do agree with what scientists have discovered from two decades of sequencing and studying genomes.

While breed identification by DNA analysis is more accurate than visual breed identification, it’s important to remember that neither identifies genetic markers influencing specific traits, or predicts behavior of any particular dog. Each dog is an individual, and its physical and behavioral traits will be the result of multiple factors.

Potential for skewed population due to breed misidentification

Potential for skewed population due to breed misidentification

The study author does not explain how breeds are identified, but the reader supposes that the breed is taken off either license or citation paperwork. This means that, in the case of a license, the owner decides what a dog’s breed is. In the case of a citation, an animal control officer probably decides what a dog’s breed is.

This naturally leads to a serious question about identification accuracy, especially since most dogs are not purebred. For instance, animal control officers may have been inclined to over-identify troublesome dogs as “pit bulls” because the category is broad and vaguely defined, and because Ohio’s state law at the time gave animal control more tools to deal with problematic “pit bulls” than with other types of problematic dogs, thus encouraging them to declare dogs “pit bulls.”

Barnes also observes that “some owners license a HR [high risk] dog such as a Pit Bull as another breed, such as Boxer” to avoid the automatic designation of “vicious” that Ohio placed on pit bulls. Obviously, this suggests that Barnes’s population may be skewed due to the effects of BSL; some dog owners were intentionally misidentifying their dog’s breed, and Barnes has no ability to correct for this problem. This means that data for the other breeds tallied by Barnes may actually have been data for pit bull mixes that were intentionally recorded by the owners as a different breed.

Barnes also includes two “breeds” that aren’t recognized by any reputable kennel club—the “Ahra” and the “Terripoo.” It is not clear what an Ahra is, but Terripoo might be a mix of poodle and terrier, so the latter, at least, should have been included as a “mixed breed.”

Did You Know That Pit Bulls Were Known As The Nanny Dog?

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Canine Genetics and Behavior

Canine Genetics and Behavior
By Glen Bui, American Canine Foundation
“To state that a breed of dog is aggressive is scientifically impossible.  Statistics do not support such a finding.  Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and within all breeds there can be dangerous dogs because of owner issues such as training the dog to attack, lack of training and socialization.
There is no such thing as the “Mean Gene” in dogs as well as in people. However, mutant genes have been discovered.  Alteration of a single DNA base in the gene encoding an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) has been found to render the enzyme nonfunctional.  This enzyme normally catalyzes reactions that metabolize the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and  oradrenaline.  What this does is cause slight mental impairment which interferes with the ability to cope with certain situations resulting in aggression.  There is no proof and there never has been that the American Pit Bull Terrier possesses mutant genes.   There is a one in ten thousand chance of a mutant gene appearing in a population.
Aggressiveness has many definitions and its stimulus of the environment that causes behavior.  Dogs defend territory, they exhibit dominance and if allowed can become protective of their family.  All this behavior can be controlled by the owner and aggression is mainly an act of behavior.  To make claim that the American Pit Bull Terrier can cause more severe injury than other breeds is ludicrous.  Over 30 breeds of dogs are responsible for over 500 fatal attacks in the last 30 years, every victim was severely injured.  The American Pit Bull Terrier is clearly a useful member of society.  The breed was World War One Hero and it’s rated as having one of the best overall temperaments in the United States (A.T.T.S.).  The breed is used for dog show competitions, therapy, service work, search and rescue, police work and companionship.  Man has domesticated dogs to the point they serve as companions, workers and even objects of beauty. Dogs will protect man, see for him, hunt for him and play.  One breed is not more inherently good or evil, vicious, harmful or helpful.  It is man who is responsible for the dog’s behavior, not the breed of dog.  Those passing breed bans fail to understand that a mis-trained Pit Bull can be replaced with another breed.  People determine whether dogs will be useful members of a community or a nuisance.  It is the people who allow their dogs to become dangerous and legislators must control and punish the people.”

Law enforcement officers have now been warned in a trade publication not to shoot family dogs.

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March 1, 2013
Law enforcement officers have now been warned in a trade publication not to shoot family dogs.

James P. Gaffney recently wrote an article which appeared in the online magazine for police personnel called Law Enforcement Today. In his article he told police officers to expect a lawsuit should they wrongfully kill a family dog while performing their job as an officer. Mr. Gaffney is highly qualified in these matters, as he served with a metro-New York police department for over 25 years as a patrol officer, sergeant, lieutenant and an executive officer. He also teaches university level criminal justice courses as an adjunct professor in the NYC area.

Gaffney wrote that police officer's need to realize that procedures within the law enforcement field change from time to time. What was acceptable behavior for an officer ten years ago may be considered entirely unethical in this period of time. This includes how the family dog is to be treated.

More and more family dogs are living as a member of the family. No longer confined to chains or tethers, most dogs these days enjoy the luxury of living, eating and sleeping inside with family members. For those with fenced in yards, this is merely a way to confine family dogs as they take potty breaks. In the old days, the fence meant safety for the dog. Unfortunately, that has changed with the new breed of officer, supposedly serving the public, who has the attitude to shoot the dog first and ask questions later. The new status quo these days is when an officer kills a family dog, they have in effect robbed that family of the years left with what many dog owners consider another "child."

Police departments nationwide advise their officers to take whatever measures are necessary to keep themselves safe when facing down a dog. In most of the dog shootings that take place today, the officer involved is sorely lacking in both common sense and compassion. Whenever a dog is seen inside a fence, the first thing an officer should do is to use the brain (some police officers still have one of these) and remember a stranger on the property could provoke the dog into barking, snarling, and yes, even attacking. This does not give the officer a free pass to shoot the dog before coming onto the property. Especially if the person living there hasn't committed a felony.

Police officers are also cautioned to use objective reasonableness based on the circumstances at the time they arrive on scene. This means an officer should think through a situation before it gets out of hand and act accordingly. If a dog is behind a fence and may pose a danger, it's common sense not to open the fence. Too many dogs are killed and 20/20 hindsight used to try and explain their actions. Was deadly force REALLY necessary? Most times the answer is no.

The Fourth Amendment has now been used in court to back up this logic. The family dog is now considered property, which cannot be seized without cause. It gives people rights against a search and seizure by police without probable cause. Since a large majority of these cases involve police being at the wrong address to start with, perhaps a good GPS system would also prevent many of these tragic shootings.

Safely stopping a dogfight

Keep your cool you have a job to do.
Do not waste time screaming at the dogs. It hardly ever works.
Your goal is still the same; you must break up the fight without getting hurt.
Go get a leash (allow the fight to continue while you do this).
Dogs are almost always locked onto one another. Walk up and loop the leash around the back loin of the dog by either threading the leash through the handle or use the clip. I prefer the thread method.
Now slowly back away and drag the dog to a fence or to an object that you can tie the leash to. By doing this, you effectively create an anchor for one of the dogs.
Then walk around and grab the back legs of the second dog and drag it away from the dog that is tied up. Remember to turn and circle as they release.
Drag the dog into a dog pen or another room before you release the back legs.
Go back and take the dog off the fence and put him or her into a dog kennel.
Sit down and have a stiff drink (or two).
People talk about using cattle prods or shock collars to break up 2 pets that fight. I can tell you that many times this is not going to work. The electric cattle prod or electric collar will only put the dogs into higher fight drive. When they are shocked they will turn and bite the prod, or when they are shocked they will think the other dog is causing the pain and they will fight harder. An electric collar is best used in conditioning training, but not during an actual dogfight.

Mis conceptions about American Pit Bull Terriers

10 Common Misconceptions About Pit Bulls

10 Common Misconceptions About Pit Bulls
No other dog has had so much media coverage in the last 15 years as the Pit Bull. It's tough not to be emotional one way or the other about these canines, especially if you've owned one or two or three, or if you or a loved one has been involved in a bad incident involving a Pit Bull. One side says Pits are dangerous and should be banned. The other side says they are loving, safe dogs and it's the owners who are to blame for any "bad" Pits. What is the truth? Somewhere in between.

"Pit Bull" can refer to either the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) breed or a type of dog who has Pit Bull traits. It's all muddled at this point with Breed Specific Legislation, which bans or restricts some breeds, lumping Boxers and Dalmatians in with pits and other bully breeds (such as the American Staffordshire Terrier. Most Pit Bulls on the street are mixes though there is still breeding of the APBT. Responsible breeding produces a stable, talented dog while breeding for dog fighting must, of course, be stopped.

It gets more confusing when trying to identify just how many Pit Bulls are responsible for dog or human attacks. When you see the term "Pit Bull" in the press, it can refer to any type of dog. More often than you'd think, a dog who attacked someone and is labeled Pit Bull, is actually a mutt or a different breed altogether. Even if a picture is attached and it looks like a Pitbull, it could be any number of mixes which produce similar characteristics.

Really, when you think about it, condemning a dog based on his physical traits is declaring his guilt based purely on his appearance - this is what BSL is about.

But there are the sensible people who honestly feel that Pitbulls, and any dog that resembles one, are a danger to society. Often, these folks don't know much about dogs and certainly not much about Pits. But they are being bombarded with almost all bad press about these dogs. It is evident that the media fuels misconceptions about Pits and stirs up the public. And the statistics behind the fury are less than accurate. Even the Center for Disease Control, which puts out many of the stats, states that dog bite and dog attack data cannot be gathered accurately.

But, still, the section of society that does not feel safe with Pit Bulls has a right to be heard. And, considering the bull they are fed about Pits, it's no wonder they don't believe the Pit Bull supporters.

Below are 10 common misconceptions about Pit Bulls which both support and contradict the general views of either "Pit Bulls are dangerous" or "Pit Bulls are just like Golden Retrievers." Just as it's tough to be unemotional about these dogs, it's also tough to be unbiased (especially when the author of this article owns three of them) but a valiant effort has been made.

10 Misconceptions About Pit Bulls
1. All Pit Bulls Are Bad - Dogs do not have a conscience; they cannot be "bad." Pit Bulls react to their world based on their breeding and training. You can't breed a dog to fight other dogs for almost 200 years and expect those instincts to vanish.
2. All Pit Bulls Are Good - No dog is not innately "good." They simply act as their instincts and owners tell them to. To try to sell the Pit Bull to the public as a fluffy bunny does a disservice to the public, to potential Pit Bull owners and to Pits themselves.
3. Pit Bulls Are Human Aggressive - Since Pits were bred to fight dogs in a ring, the owners had to make certain they would not turn on them when they went in to stop the fight. Imagine a dog, so riled up from fighting and very aggressive, who was able to then turn it off when his human appeared in the pit. When a Pit Bull attacks a person, there are always other factors involved, such as protection of food. Any dog may bite if provoked.
4. Pit Bulls Can Cause More Damage Than Other Dogs - Sorry, Pit Bull lovers but this is sometimes sadly true. Myths such as the locked jaw have been disproved but a Pit Bull's traits make him naturally more driven. Consider these: tenacity (they often fought til death in rings), gameness, prey drive, a compact, strong, muscular body (pits can pull up to 7,000 pounds) and centuries of fighting instinct. But, there are too many factors involved in dog bites, such as the size of the animal and where the bite occurred, to make a blanket statement. In their favor, a Pit Bull will likely listen and obey better than other dogs if properly trained.
5. An Aggressive Pit Bull Cannot Be Rehabilitated - This was disproved by the Michael Vick case where some 50 pit bulls were rescued from a fighting ring. Of those, 49 dogs were rehabilitated. Some went to shelters such as Best Friends and many are well-loved family members today. The testing used to determine these dogs' ability to fit into society was exhaustive and excellent and successful.
6. Anyone Can Own a Pit Bull - Pit Bulls are different from other dogs and their owners need to be told the facts before rescuing or purchasing one. A dog lover who has had Bichons all her life will be sorely surprised unless she does her homework and understands the bully breeds. Pits need a lot of structure, a very pronounced human alpha, training, exercise and lots of attention. The owner needs consistency, time, energy and maybe some muscle.
7. Pit Bulls Will Always Fight Other Dogs - Some Pits are so dog aggressive that they should be the only dog in the house. They also should not go to dog parks or areas where dogs run off-leash. Any Pit Bull could get into a fight with another dog. Any dog could. But breaking up a Pit Bull fight is much harder than a tiff between a Shiba Inu and a Sharpei Inu. If you have a Pit Bull, learn about his body language and the signs that he is getting ready to fight. This will prevent many incidents.
8. Pit Bulls Are Lovers Not Fighters - Since it's been established that they can be fighters, what about lovers? Absolutely! Pit Bulls give more kisses than any other type of dog (it's proven!). They love humans and human interactions. They feed off positive attention. These dogs are loving, friendly creatures. And they are the kings of clowning.
9. Pit Bulls Are Badly Behaved - Any dog who has this much energy and motivation coded into his DNA can cause problems if he doesn't get enough attention and exercise. Pit Bulls put their whole hearts into destruction - of couches, beds, pillows, or your $200 boots. But all they need is to have that energy redirected. Pit Bulls are highly trainable but they do need to be trained. Their intelligence, focus, gameness, loyalty and desire to please makes them one of the most teachable dogs.
10. Compromise is Unthinkable - Unfortunately, both sides of the Pit Bull debate are often stubborn about their views and solutions. For those who think BSL is wrong, they need to be realistic about how to end it. For those that think Pit Bulls are dangerous, they need to recognize that banning Pits tears loved pets away from their families and what they propose will not stop all dangerous dogs. Giving in a bit on both sides, such as allowing muzzling of Pit Bulls in public places in exchange for no BSL, may prove the only hope. Pitbulls are like other dogs yet they're also unique. Their gameness, focus, desire to please and boundless energy
can be seen as either productive or unproductive traits. The trick is to utilize these characteristics in focused play and work, such as agility, weight pulling, rescue work or nose work.