VERIFY: Are pit bulls the most dangerous breed of dog?

Are pit bulls more dangerous than other dogs? Houston stats show they are responsible for one-third of all bites in Houston, followed by German Shepherds and labradors.

[jdnlaw]

Why don’t you get info from pediatric surgeons. They’ll tell you how numerous and extreme, if not fatal, pit bull attacks are when compared to other breeds.

[RRConghaile]

Don’t ask those people. Ask doctors or, more importantly, insurance companies. Insurance companies will always have the right answer because they hate having to payout for accidents or damages.

[elchippe]

A chihuahua will not send you to hospital or the grave if attack you.

[angelam]

Lol people report more bites from pit bulls meaning if you get bitten it requires hospital care huh 🤔 that in and of it’s self is the problem. Any dog can bite you but not all can wound you to the point of death or require a hospital visit. One can defends oneself and control and assert dominance on a smaller dog easier making it easier. I have seem videos where 7 grown men can’t get a pit bull off a person and even after using a taser it wouldn’t stop… Sadly they had to shot it. Just get a dog you can control. Most people shouldn’t have pit bulls for this reason…

[samwell]

Yes 100%. Notice ppl give away those demons more often than any other dog.

[hellishhybrid]

They're responsible for 80% of fatal dog attacks in the US yearly, despite making up only 6% of the US dog population.

Yes, they're incredibly dangerous.

[jesserandall]

The title asks if they are the most dangerous, not which ones bite the most. How about asking the surgeons who have to do PLASTIC SURGERY on people rather than just clean a bite and see which dogs maul, maim, disfigure and kill the most. That would tell you how dangerous the breed is.

[thebalder]

So the stats show they are more dangerous but they are giving it their own spin I see.

[francisj]

A pit bit my near 70 year old mother in the stomach camping once luckily she got away and she suffered only severe bruising but the owner still denies her dog is dangerous.

[BatMan-cqgq]

I used to defend pitbulls until one mauled my infant daughter completely unprovoked. Thank God she wasn't seriously injured and I was close by. Some parents aren't so lucky.

[mineareworkingline]

you went to shelters and vets whose very existence today depend on Pit Bulls. You did not talk to dog breeders, competitive level dog trainers, geneticists, or other third party, non biased sources?

[Ian-kyhf]

Yes Pit Bulls very aggressive and that makes them dangerous. A small dog bite is not the same a a Pit Bull bite!

[sesoboygod]

People just go to hospital if pitbull bites them but when small breeds do it they never go there

[christine]

I know this sounds really harsh and I hate saying this but I hate them with a passion. I’m a dog lover but I can’t love on dangerous dogs especially that many of them turn on their owners.

[KamauKenyatte]

I tell you one thing I’d rather get bit by a chihuahua than a pit

[GrandTerr]

Why do we still allow selfish attached people putting everybody in health danger and feel frightened for our lives every time we see them on a street?

[AirWolf]

Using number of bites logic... the common house cat is the most dangerous animal of them all. Anyone who has a cat has been bitten thousands of times.

How about we use the number of injuries requiring a visit to the hospital(a scratch is a injury and almost no one goes to a hospital for that) as a metric for how dangerous a animal is.

[TwoPlusTwoEqualsFive]

Even when accounting for population size they are still more likely to bite on a level that is so far beyond statistically significant it is statistically guaranteed.
The argument of population is so shallow and pointless.

Instincts in dogs are far more potent when determining traits then training could ever be. Yes you can train a dog to not be aggressive but dogs are not in that trained mode 24/7 and all it takes is a few minutes of instinctual behaviour and you have a dead child.

Imagine valuing a dog breed over the safety of humans, I love dogs, I own dogs, I train dogs, but humans are more important then one specific breed.

I don't believe they should be slaughtered, but it should be illegal to breed a dog that has pitbull DNA above a certain percent, they were bred for pitfighting their purpose is no longer necessary or desirable.

[fearlessdrago]

From what I know is pitbull are more dangerous than other family dogs. Not for specifically being agressive, more so that the way they atttack. Pitbulls actually tend to be more friendly and cooperative than other dogs in behavioral tests. The danger comes in for that small portion that does attack. They are designed for hunting/pinning large animals like bears, and bulls. So compared to other similar sized dogs they have more physical power behind their bites. A golden retriever biting your arm would hurt, but pitbulls are a group that could probably tear your arm off if they attacked. I think that having proper training for a Pitbull is a necessity, because without it the small percent that bite/attack will do more damage than other family dogs. I say family dogs, because there are some larger breeds, that if were more common could pose the same if not more danger than Pitbulls. I've met more scary/dangerous people in my life than pitbulls though.

[ryanpoloski]

But you can factor in what a dog was selectively bred to do and therefore pit bulls have a fighting background and more bred to be highly aggressive but you explains the high mauling and fatality rate