Irrationality

I've been really surprised by the amount of feedback I've gotten from my post on pit bulls and breed specific legislation, all of it positive. I really appreciate the feedback and am glad that there are a lot of people out there against BSL. If you didn't see it, Malcolm Gladwell had a great article on the irrationality of BSL in the New Yorker last week. According to him:

The best data we have on breed dangerousness are fatal dog bites, which serve as a useful indicator of just how much havoc certain kinds of dogs are causing. Between the late nineteen-seventies and the late nineteen-nineties, more than twenty-five breeds were involved in fatal attacks in the United States. Pit-bull breeds led the pack, but the variability from year to year is considerable. For instance, in the period from 1981 to 1982 fatalities were caused by five pit bulls, three mixed breeds, two St. Bernards, two German-shepherd mixes, a pure-bred German shepherd, a husky type, a Doberman, a Chow Chow, a Great Dane, a wolf-dog hybrid, a husky mix, and a pit-bull mix—but no Rottweilers. In 1995 and 1996, the list included ten Rottweilers, four pit bulls, two German shepherds, two huskies, two Chow Chows, two wolf-dog hybrids, two shepherd mixes, a Rottweiler mix, a mixed breed, a Chow Chow mix, and a Great Dane. The kinds of dogs that kill people change over time, because the popularity of certain breeds changes over time. The one thing that doesn’t change is the total number of the people killed by dogs. When we have more problems with pit bulls, it’s not necessarily a sign that pit bulls are more dangerous than other dogs. It could just be a sign that pit bulls have become more numerous.

The article talks specifically about the incident that led to the banning of pit bulls in Ontario and all the other factors involved beyond the fact that the dogs were pits.

I'd moved on in recent months, but the article brought back an incident that happened last summer. Brian and I were walking the dogs when a husky-mix who was off-leash came headed straight for us. As usual, I tried to block the dog but she headed straight for Boo and latched onto his ear. The owner was on a bike and took a whole to get over. Brian grabbed Boo's head to keep the other dog from ripping off Boo's ear. He got two nasty bites in the process, including a several inch long gash on his leg. The owner couldn't get the other dog off until a neighbor offered a metal spike that we used to pry apart it's teeth.

A small crowd had gathered but they weren't able to see exactly what had happened because we'd been in so close trying to keep the other dog under some sort of control. Once we got the dogs apart, it became apparent that everyone thought Boo had attacked the other dog. Several people went to pet the other dog and expressed fear at my dog. Here they were down at eye-level with a dog who had just bitten a person twice and nearly bit off my dog's ear. Luckily Animal Control was on our side, and both Brian and Boo recovered.

The scariest thing is that I've seen that other dog at the dog park. If I tried to take Boo there, I know we wouldn't be welcome, but somehow people are fine with a husky-mix who has at least one nasty attack under her belt.