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... Even the experienced personnel may misidentify certain breeds, particularly cross breeds, leading to behavioral and expectational implications [90]. The breeds bull terrier, American Staffordshire bull terrier (also known as American pit bull terrier), and Staffordshire bull terrier are collectively referred to as "Pitbull" [91][92][93]. Misleading information perpetuated by media regarding dog breed also creates confusion [63]. Very few hospitalized cases reported or identified breed of the dog inflicting the injury [31,[94][95][96][97][98]. ...
Objectives: To assess the scientific literature pertaining the risk factors for injuries among victims of animal bite injuries. Data and sources: A systematic review of scientific literature published until May 2020 was carried out in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Journals@ovid. Study selection: A total of 924 records were found, of which 29 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. There was a male preponderance in most of the studies with male/female ratio ranging from 0.75:1 to 2.1:1. The age range varies from 0 to 19 years with the mean age varying from 3.6 to 8 years. Pitbulls, Rottweiler's, German shepherds, Bull terriers, Labradors and Dobermans were breeds with higher risk of attack. The animals were familiar to the victim (own, friends, neighbors) in 27–98% instances. Most cases of animal bite injuries were recorded during Summer and Spring months. Head and neck followed by extremities was found to be most inflicted area. Conclusions: The sociodemographic characteristics of victim as well as the biting animal affect the circumstances leading to biting episode. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the high heterogeneity among studies and moderate quality evidence.
... The term "pit bull" is inherently complicated, as it does not actually refer to a specific breed of dog but is more so an "umbrella term" used to describe multiple breeds of dogs (Lockwood & Rindy, 1987). Because of the vague nature of the pit bull label, many dogs are often incorrectly identified as pit bulls by shelter employees (Olson et al., 2015), a problem which makes the statistics about numbers of pit bulls less reliable. ...
... Because of the vague nature of the pit bull label, many dogs are often incorrectly identified as pit bulls by shelter employees (Olson et al., 2015), a problem which makes the statistics about numbers of pit bulls less reliable. Similarly, Lockwood and Rindy (1987) point out that while stories of pit bull attacks are common, such reports may create unnecessary fear of the breed, as "any stocky short-haired animal involved in an attack is likely to be recorded as a pit bull" (p. 2). ...
... Negative representation and perceptions of pit bulls are widespread, especially in the media (Cohen & Richardson, 2002;Lockwood & Rindy, 1987;Patronek et al., 2000). Cohen and Richardson (2002) suggest that these stereotypes include the belief that pit bulls are dangerous because they were originally bred for fighting. ...
Pit bulls are the most common type of dog found in shelters, and negative perceptions of their temperament are believed to reduce their likelihood of adoption. Two experiments investigated the effects of breed label on perceptions of shelter dog attractiveness. The first experiment recruited 176 participants to rate the attractiveness of a dog labeled either a Pit Bull or Mixed Breed. The second study added an unlabeled condition and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier condition, and recruited 257 participants. While the Pit Bull was rated significantly less attractive than the Mixed Breed in Experiment 1, in Experiment 2, the Mixed Breed was rated the least attractive and significantly less so than the dog in the unlabeled condition. In addition, both experiments demonstrated that younger people viewed the dog as more attractive than older people. Given the conflicting results regarding breed labels, further research is necessary.
... In contrast, there is growing evidence to suggest that such laws are ineffective, negatively impact animal welfare, and, in fact, do little to make communities safer [23][24][25][26][27]. There are many reasons why breed specific legislation is ineffective, including the misidentification of dog breeds, an issue that has been reported among members of the general public, animal shelter workers, law enforcement officers, and human health care professionals [28][29][30][31][32][33]. The fact that most people are unable to accurately identify dog breeds significantly impacts the ability to collect accurate breed-specific bite statistics. ...
... One central issue is that the Pit Bull is not actually a breed, but instead a group of breeds. The term 'pit bull' typically includes American and English Bulldogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and American Pit Bull Terriers, in addition to mixes of these and other breeds [31]. The determination of 'pit bull' is typically based on a dog's physical resemblance to one of several breeds that have been associated with the term 'pit bull' [32,52]. ...
Dog aggression directed towards people is a leading reason for relinquishment and a major public health hazard. In response to the threat of dog aggression and dog bites, breed-specific legislation has been introduced in numerous cities within the United States and countries throughout the world. There is limited evidence, however, to suggest that such laws are effective. This study explored, through an online, anonymous, cross-sectional survey, US residents’ views about the bite risk of common dog breeds, breed-specific legislation, and alternative options for improved public safety. A total of 586 surveys were completed by adult US residents, 48.8% female and 48.6% male. Approximately half of the respondents reported feeling that dog bites are a serious public health issue. Although 70% of respondents were opposed to a breed ban, only 56% felt that banning specific breeds creates an animal welfare issue. Females were less likely to support a ban or agree that specific breed bans improve public safety. When participants were asked to indicate their support of several alternatives to breed-specific legislation, the most frequently endorsed options included public education about animal welfare and animal behavior, and stricter leash laws. Further research pertaining to the most effective public education dissemination methods is warranted.
... Although the "pit bull-type" breed was included in the Sacks et al. (2000) study, a problematic issue for the current study was the validity in identifying the status, and hence the inclusion of the "pit bull" dog as a breed. Previous research and reports have either not specified or have used the term "pit bull" as a blanket term to refer to several breeds of dogs including the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, Bulldog, or the mixes of any of these breeds (Duffy et al., 2008;Gunter et al., 2016;Lockwood & Rindy, 1987;Overall & Love, 2001;Sacks et al., 2000;Shabelansky & Dowling-Guyer, 2016;Sinski et al., 2016). Differences in national and international dog breed registries have also made it difficult to conclude that the pit bull is to be considered a unique breed. ...
The aim of this study was to examine the current state of perceptions towards select breeds of dogs with a focus on perceived aggressiveness. While some studies investigating breed perceptions of aggressiveness have presented dogs in various poses, possibly adding to unintentional perception bias towards aggressiveness, this study showed standardized representations of 27 dog breeds. A hierarchical cluster analysis of data collected from a large sample suggests two distinct categories of dogs that were perceived as either higher or lower in aggressiveness. Additionally, this study asked participants about their intended behavior toward those breeds, thus providing data on people’s functional attitudes towards breeds perceived as more or less aggressive. The data show that people are less willing to interact with those breeds of dogs that are perceived to be higher in aggressiveness and intend to engage in more favorable interactions towards those breeds perceived as less aggressive.
... They include "pit bull" dog types, bull terriers, mastiffs and bull dogs [43] (later referred to as "fighting dog breeds"), which show similar phenotypical and behavioral characteristics. In particular, the bite behaviors belonging to the predatory motor patterns (i.e., sustained grabbing, holding, shaking, tearing) were selected and emphasized in order to produce the maximum damage to the dog opponent during fighting [44]. Since genetic selection has also acted on the functionality of the nervous system by affecting the distribution of dopamine receptors [23], it is likely that the expression of the selected hypertrophied behaviors would significantly increase the dopamine levels in the reward centers and consequently intensely gratify dogs. ...
... Indeed, pit bulls (even though they do not belong to an officially recognized breed) are frequently involved in biting episodes worldwide and particularly in the US and UK [45,46]. "Fighting dog breed" (including pit bulls) selection also fixed behavioral and personality characteristics that were useful their work [4,44]: − Gameness: high perseverance until the goal is reached, causing the lack of sensibility toward the other subject's surrender signals; − Low inhibition for fighting: high reactivity to minimum threats (moving or nonmoving stimuli) activates behavioral responses until the complete exhaustion or death; − Low sensitivity to pain; − Scarce communication, which enhances the unpredictability of the attack. ...
... This could lead to a significant overestimation of the involvement of pit bulls in biting events. It could also be affected by the general lack of demographic data regarding the breed representation within the general registered dog population [4,44]. Therefore, despite the removal of "fighting" dogs from the breeding of officially recognized breeds, which aims at mitigating the personality characteristics of these dogs, the lack of reliable data about the involvement of these dogs in biting episodes makes the evaluation of the influence of genetic factors particularly difficult [44]. ...
Dog biting events pose severe public health and animal welfare concerns. They result in several consequences for both humans (including physical and psychological trauma) and the dog involved in the biting episode (abandonment, relocation to shelter and euthanasia). Although numerous epidemiological studies have analyzed the different factors influencing the occurrence of such events, to date the role of emotions in the expression of predatory attacks toward humans has been scarcely investigated. This paper focuses on the influence of emotional states on triggering predatory attacks in dogs, particularly in some breeds whose aggression causes severe consequences to human victims. We suggest that a comprehensive analysis of the dog bite phenomenon should consider the emotional state of biting dogs in order to collect reliable and realistic data about bite episodes.
... Plusieurs biais peuvent conduire à une mauvaise estimation du risque de morsure pour une race donnée (Lockwood et Rindy, 1987) : ...
... -A l'époque des premiers accidents de morsure médiatisés, Lockwood et Rindy signalaient déjà que la population totale des pitt-bulls était sûrement sous-estimée (Lockwood et Rindy, 1987). Ce problème semble persister aujourd'hui, que ce soit par ignorance ou par mauvaise volonté des propriétaires (Trouillet, 2016). ...
... Les morsures par les pitt-bulls et autres chiens de combat, statistiquement plus importantes et plus graves, ont conduit plusieurs pays à prendre des mesures à l'encontre de ces races et leurs morphotypes, malgré les facteurs de sur-représentation statistique énoncés plus haut. Il a été supposé que les pitt-bulls possèdent des traits génétiques fixés quant à leur manière d'attaquer singulière, ainsi qu'une « diminution de l'inhibition au combat » (Lockwood et Rindy, 1987). Pour avancer cette hypothèse, il semble que cette publication se base sur le fait qu'une sélection entraîne logiquement des modifications génétiques. ...
DANGEREOUS DOGS ; AGGRESSIVENESS ; LEGISLATION ; PUBLIC HEALTH ; BEHAVIOR ;
DOGBITE ; RISK MANANAGMENT
Risk assesment. Identification of danger. Emission X exposition = Probability of Risk. Risk consequences. Behavioural Evaluation. Behavioural Medicine. Dogs. French Law. Law Proposal. Law of 06/01/1999 and Law of 2007 and Law of 2008.
... Int. J. Adv. Res. 8 (12), 256-260 257 The "Pit Bulls" known to have originated in Europe and England in particular, represents an array of dog breed with similar but striking physical characteristics. The American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier are common references, although Boxers and American Bulldogs are often categorized under Pit Bulls (Lockwood and Rindy, 1986;Collier, 2006). ...
... Res. 8 (12), 256-260 257 The "Pit Bulls" known to have originated in Europe and England in particular, represents an array of dog breed with similar but striking physical characteristics. The American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier are common references, although Boxers and American Bulldogs are often categorized under Pit Bulls (Lockwood and Rindy, 1986;Collier, 2006). Known for its ability, athleticism and strength, Pit Bulls are used by the butcher for controlling livestock waiting for slaughter, serve as nanny dogs because of their companionship and protection ability of children, and are previously used for baiting. ...
The diversity of proteins, their metabolism and protein functions are attributed to a wide range of responses in cells, organs and tissues of animals. The study evaluated specific serum proteins from male and female gender of 3 dog breeds (Pit bull, Bullmastiff and Cane corso). Cellulose acetate electrophoresis technique was used to ascertain the concentrations (g/dL) of the individual serum proteins and compared to the respective normal reference values for domestic dog. Results obtained indicate that the Pit bull (male and female) and the Bullmastiff (female) had serum albumin concentrations that were higher than the normal reference range. An increase above normal in serum globulin (α1-globulin, α2-globulin and β2-globulin) concentrations was observed in the female Cane corso breed, as other dog gender and breed fell within reference range. A comparison based on serum albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio of the dog breeds revealed a normal A/G concentration except for the female Cane corso (0.36 g/dL) which was lower than normal, and the female Pit bull (1.19 g/dL) which was found to be higher. Such abnormal decrease and or increase in these respective serum protein concentrations could be attributed to prolong dehydration due to the dogs regular activity and low fluid (water) replacement and or incidences of mild to acute inflammatory response/disease due to consumption of a certain diet type over time.
... This means that it is currently extremely difficult to understand the real distribution of one of the more debated breeds/types. Furthermore, it is most likely not possible to make a distinction between Pit Bulls and American Staffordshire Terrier due to the absence of a pedigree document [21,22]. In this survey, breed recognition was based on the national canine registry which is, in turn, based on the owners' statements and dogs' appearance. ...
In this survey, a caseload of aggressive dogs (n = 170) was analysed to increase the available information about biting dog characteristics, contribute to risk evaluation and improve bite prevention tools. All dog data were collected from questionnaires completed by veterinary behaviourists in Northern Italy. All dogs were referred to them by public authorities to be evaluated and treated due to the incidence of one or more episodes of aggression. Between the two groups of human-directed and dog-directed aggressive dogs, significant associations were found: the dog-directed aggressive group inflicted significantly more severe bites (p < 0.01) and offensive aggression (p < 0.01), whereas defensive aggression was significantly more numerous in the human-directed aggression group (p < 0.01) and more significantly located in private homes (p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between the severity of bites and one or more specific breeds in either group. The prevalence of defensive bites in private homes in human-directed aggression indicate that owners' understanding of their dogs' behaviour and communication is fundamental to preventing aggression, and that owner education programmes are fundamental tools to reduce aggression risk factors and prevent aggression.
... Several studies investigating bite reports have reported similar inaccuracies, regardless of the level of prior knowledge of the person performing the identification. Members of the general public, animal shelter workers, law enforcement officers, and human health care professionals have all been shown to make incorrect breed determinations [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. The media also plays a role in shaping the public opinion in relation to specific breeds, yet media reports are often inaccurate and subjective [34][35][36]. ...
... Some of the reasoning behind these views could be attributed to inherent problems with breed ban legislation, especially as it relates to pit bulls. As noted earlier, a central issue is that pit bull is not actually a breed, but instead a group of breeds [32]. The classification of 'pit bull' is typically based on a dogs' physical resemblance to one of several breeds that have been associated with the term pit bull [28,69], when, in fact, most people are unable to identify a pit bull accurately [27,28,30,31]. ...
Dog aggression directed towards humans is a common and serious behavioral and public health issue. This cross-sectional study was designed to gain insights into U.S. small animal veterinarians' views and experiences with the most common dog breeds in the U.S., dog aggression, and breed-specific legislation. An electronic survey was distributed via email to an online veterinary community, and responses were summarized and compared by means of χ 2 and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests. Most respondents were concerned about the risks of dog bite injuries, but the majority were not in favor of banning specific breeds of dogs in order to enhance public safety. When participants rated the perceived bite risk associated with popular dog breeds, Chow Chows were perceived as the highest risk, with pit bull types categorized as a moderate risk. Golden Retrievers were seen as the most appropriate for families with children. Public education about animal behavior was the most frequently endorsed policy intervention to increase public safety. These findings suggest that most veterinarians feel that banning an entire dog breed is not an effective way to ensure human safety. Instead, most respondents endorsed alternative initiatives, such as public education and stricter leash laws, to reduce the risk of dog bites.
... These issues are particularly acute in the assessment of dogs belonging to the group commonly known as "pit bulls." Beginning in the 1980s, pit bulls have been characterized as a dangerous breed [15], particularly from their history of association with dog-fighting and implication in dog-bite injuries and deaths [16][17][18]. Consequently, breed-specific legislation was enacted across the United States to address this risk with local ordinances ranging from prohibiting ownership [19], to confinement restrictions and muzzling [20], to mandatory sterilization [21]. ...
Previous research in animal shelters has determined the breeds of dogs living in shelters by their visual appearance; however the genetic breed testing of such dogs is seldom conducted, and few studies have compared the breed labels assigned by shelter staff to the results of this testing. In the largest sampling of shelter dogs’ breed identities to-date, 459 dogs at Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA (AAWL) in Phoenix, Arizona, and 460 dogs at San Diego Humane Society & SPCA (SDHS) in San Diego, California, were genetically tested using a commercially available product to determine their breed heritage. In our sample, genetic analyses identified 125 distinct breeds with 91 breeds present at both shelters, and 4.9% of the dogs identified as purebreds. The three most common breed signatures, in order of prevalence, American Staffordshire Terrier, Chihuahua, and Poodle, accounted for 42.5% or all breed identifications at the great grandparent level. During their stay at the shelter, dogs with pit bull-type ancestries waited longer to be adopted than other dogs. When we compared shelter breed assignment as determined by visual appearance to that of genetic testing, staff at SDHS was able to successfully match at least one breed in the genetic heritage of 67.7% of dogs tested; however their agreement fell to 10.4% when asked to identify more than one breed. Lastly, we found that as the number of pit bull-type relatives in a dog’s heritage increased, so did the shelter’s ability to match the results of DNA analysis. In total when we consider the complexity of shelter dog breed heritage and the failure to identify multiple breeds based on visual identification coupled with our inability to predict how these breeds then interact within an individual dog, we believe that focusing resources on communicating the physical and behavioral characteristics of shelter dogs would best support adoption efforts.
