Reply #84: Are pit bulls then the assault rifles or semi-automatics of the dog world?

[KitSileya]

If the statistics are realiable, apparently pit bulls accounted for 65% of all fatal dog attacks in the US in 2008. Even if breed is misidentified in a number of those attacks that is a high number. I cannot believe that pit bulls account for a very large number of the large dogs in the US (alongside German sheperds, rottweilers, labs, and other large animals that are perhaps more popular as pets?) So, if the statistics are correct, either they attack more, or their attacks are more likely to lead to fatalities.

Either way, it's been stated that it's not the dog breed but the owners who do not raise the dogs properly - can it not be compared to gun ownership then? We do not want guns in the wrong hands, and so we should not want these dogs in the wrong hands. What can be done about it? Should ownership of pit bulls be licenced? Or the breed banned? A proper study of the statistics of dog attack should be conducted, and based on that, should it show that pit bulls are in fact more deadly, I feel a debate based on facts is necessary.