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 == A few thoughts == 

 Before even attempting to approach this subject, folks should consider a few things. 

 * Where do bite statistics come from? As in, expert analysis and DNA testing or ""by gum officer, it wuz one a them pit bullys!""? 

 The CDC can collect ""statistics"" all day but if the underlying data is provided by uninformed, untrained ""eye witnesses"", it won't amount to a hill of beans. 

 * Hysteria really does happen.  

 Look up ""satanic ritual abuse"" even here on Wikipedia. I remember when that flap came to my town. People totally up in arms about something for which there hasn't been a single shred of evidence. Lives were ruined, millions spent in cases such as the McMartin pre-school circus trial, and there simply was no ""there"" there.  

 Far as dogs go, I'm old enough to remember when The Big Scary Bad Dog That'll Eat Your Children was the German Shepard. Same stories, different breed. Everybody had ""statistics"" and ""he turned on me for no reason!"" stories. Then, for a while, it was the Rottweiler. And for a while, the Doberman had his turn. Notice, however, it's never the big, fluffy, pretty dogs with the big brown eyes (despite the fact that Chows tend to be exceedingly temperamental and I'd never own one again myself... I'll take a pit over a Chow any day). 

 * Hysteria sells papers. 

 ""There may be a killer in your home right now!"" 

 ""Details at 11."" 

 Come on people, the boogeyman gets ratings and sells papers. Do you really expect to see (many) articles or TV news stories of... 

 ""You probably shouldn't own a dog because you don't care enough to educate yourself on how to properly socialize and train a dog nor do you have the sense to realize dogs aren't stuffed animals."" 

 Yeah our media could bother to do some real education but it's more profitable to scare people into hiking their skirts and running around shrieking in terror (for details, see the current US administration). 

 * Dogs don't get to testify in court. 

 As in do you really believe a dog owner is going to tell the police, ""well, I was giving the dog his daily beating when, for no reason at all, he turned on me.""? We have no way to verify the stories. I take all ""the dog turned on me for no reason"" stories with a grain of salt. At least until we have some way of getting the dog's side of the story.  

 * Temperament testing 

 As in here. The ATTS gives the American Pit Bull Terrier a rating of 84.1%. The Golden Retriever obtains 83.8%. So where are all the stories of Golden Retrievers unexpectedly ""turning on"" their owners? Or assaulting people left and right? Why aren't they being banned?  

 Because they're pretty? 

 The Cocker Spaniel obtains 81.7% but they're pretty too so they must not attack people. The Collie, 79.2%. In short, Lassie is more likely to attack you than a Pit.  

 * Sometimes the bias really is on the other side 

 I see a lot of hand waving here about the bias of the article but nobody stops to consider that ""fair and balanced"" can be taken to such an extreme that it entails destroying the truth. Sometimes, people really are full of horse droppings and to try to ""balance"" reality is to do harm. And ""balance"" with what? Urban legend? Yellow journalism? Self-reported ""statistics"" that nobody bothers to verify?  

 * Your neighbor is a bigger risk to you than his dog 

 Yes, I own pits. Both rescue dogs. One was abused by his first owner. And, frankly, I like my dogs better than I like most of you. My dogs don't get addicted to crack and try to break into someone's house unlike some neighbors I've had. 

 Dogs aren't that complicated nor that hard to socialize and train if you bother to realize that they are actual living beings and not something to compliment the drapes. My Pits are loyal, affectionate, well behaved dogs. Even the one that had to be rescued from an abusive owner. That one took actual effort (heaven forbid... work!) to socialize after being traumatized by his first owner. Today, he's the most affectionate, playful, well behaved dogs I've ever owned. 

 We don't have a ""breed specific"" problem, we have a human problem. As in stupid, small minded, ignorant people who want a dog as a toy or decoration. Such as my alcoholic, irresponsible, mooching off his mother, former neighbor that wanted a ""tough dog"" when he shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near a dog. Worse still, he has a kid. That'll turn out well. 

 He was a classic example of the kind of person that was going to show up in the news one day saying, ""The dog turned on me for no reason."" When the truth was, the dog would