Teddy (left), and Sampson (right)

  • WamGams@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    The world’s first ever police DNA program started in the UK in 2021, and it was created for dog thefts, not dog attacks.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-57578701

    And seeing that there is no national database of all precinct’s police reports, you will have to go to your police department and see for yourself that they are not even cataloguing the breeds per attack.

    As for your comment that there are 5 dogs that fall under the umbrella term of pit bull, that actually helps my original point that these lists are unscientific. Chihauhas aren’t lumped together with Mexican shorthairs when the numbers are tallied, neither is any dog lumped with their types. These lists also don’t break down which of the pit types are most responsible for the most attacks.

    1. because the numbers aren’t collected by anybody, meaning the lists are lying, and
    2. if the pit types were separated by their actual breed, the numbers would show an average or a slightly higher rate of aggression, not the majority of all attacks.

    I would also point out that almost none of these lists you read online include German Shephards, which is strange since they tend to be the only dog in the US that is commissioned as Police Officer and are frequently attacking people as part of their job. Further evidence that these lists are unscientific and politically motivated.

    • Noite_Etion@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      not a single police department in the nation DNA tests.

      So you made this statement without knowing if it was true or not as you go on to say that “there is no national database of all precinct’s police reports, you will have to go to your police department and see for yourself”.

      Bad faith arguments always end with “go and find out for yourself”.

      Can I ask what do you think the word breed means? It’s not a specific dog, it’s a term to describe a grouping of dogs (Shepards for example). And out of the 300 plus recognised groupings/breeds of dog, Pitbulls kill more than all of them combined. Even if you split it down to each sub-grouping, the dogs under the umbrella term “Pit Bull” still vastly outstrip all other dogs in attacks and fatalities.

      I would also point out that almost none of these lists you read online include German Shephards, which is strange since they tend to be the only dog in the US that is commissioned as Police Officer and are frequently attacking people as part of their job. Further evidence that these lists are unscientific and politically motivated.

      In this post I provided another commenter a breakdown of fatalities caused by dogs and the graph shows German shepherds specifically cause less than 3% of fatalities over 16 years. Meanwhile the 5 dogs that make up Pit Bulls are responsible for an average of 67%.

      • WamGams@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        Again, there is no database of dog genetics that police maintain in the US, unless it was created after 2021.

        Meaning all the stats you have are based solely on media reports of dog attacks and not actual dog attacks.

        You can also contact the people compiling the lists. If they respond, they will admit that they do not track the rate of attacks committed by German Shepherds in the line of duty.

        We also know that Cane Corso’s probably attack a few people per year, yet almost every list excludes them… Because they are counted towards pit bulls.

        If you can provide an actual scientifically validated list, I am happy to see it. Otherwise your numbers are fiction and you know it.

    • MostRegularPeople@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The American Temperament Test Society tests aggression in dog breeds in controlled environment. Participants self select, so there’s that, and ultimately I think the test says more about the owners than the dogs. Nonetheless, per the ATTS , the american pit bill terrier passed 87% of the time while the Australian shepherd only passed 83% of the time.