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11 thoughts on “Peer-Reviewed Study Examines Dog-on-Dog Attacks in the UK by Analyzing News Media Articles

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  1. Thank you, Colleen, for you exhaustive effort to make concrete the sad, tragic facts about dangerous dogs. Anyone who is both cogent and honest knows about and acknowledges the tragic state of affairs. We are indebted to you, Colleen, for providing the detailed situational analysis, and also, for getting the detailed truth out to the world.

  2. I think some other reason small dogs get attacked more, from my personal experiences, is that many small dogs think they’re a lot more dog than they actually are, and their owners failure to leash (after all, it’s not like their dog’s going to kill someone). I’ve had many a small, territorial, unleashed small dog run right up, and even try to attack my much bigger dog. But then again I don’t have a pit bull.

    • I’m sorry but your speculations aren’t valid! Small dogs in my experience don’t usually run right up and try to attack my big dog (a Rhodesian ridgeback) who actually loves to play with little dogs, who when unleashed at the dog park do run right up and initiate play! I’ve frequently seen them become fearful of a larger dog and disply that! Perhaps you’re seeing aggression in the normal behavior of dogs because of your dislike of small dogs! I actually had a dog that killed a small dog, it wasn’t a pit bull but it was a mix of GSD, husky and undoubtedly wolf (the vet was mistaken no DNA of any kind back then) but he jumped out of the window and killed the little dog with one bite, no growing or warning, the little dog was on our property and hanging out of his mouth like a dead rabbit. so that was that, Except I certainly trusted him less and made sure he didn’t interact with dogs! The Rhodesian ridgeback on the other hand has never been in a dog fight with any dog, is polite and plays nicely now that he’s an adult and when a dog is overly aggressive he usually just leaves and returns to me! Sometimes our preconceived notions tell us things that aren’t really happening! Unless you’ve got some training in animal behavior it’s actually easy to mistake play or fear with aggression.

  3. I’m not sure about the UK, but, here in the US, dog on dog attacks rarely make the news. Even when authorities are involved it’s not newsworthy. And many, many attacks still go unreported to any authority.

  4. Thank you, Colleen, for putting together this article about these studies. For those of us who already know what pit bulls are doing in our communities and to our small pets, this is no surprise and not new news. However, these studies ARE new (2019 & 2020) and for those legislators who are considering passing pre-emption bills or removing pit bulls bans on the basis that “pit bulls are no different than any other dog” (pressured by the pit bull lobby), here we have two academic studies showing they are VERY different… and dangerous. This report could be quite useful in many ways.

  5. My cat was killed by a neighbor’s pit bull, and my toy poodle was severely injured by a different neighbor’s pit bull. I spoke to the county dog warden about my toy poodle, but no reports were ever made about either attack. I believe that’s generally the case, at least in my partially rural area. Because who would even take a report? The owner of the dog that mauled my poodle was already in trouble because the warden picked the dog up as a stray several times. It wasn’t neutered and roamed for years until it just never returned home. They moved away after the attack, but did finally pay most of my vet bill. Even though they moved 15 miles away, their pit showed up at my house years later, still not neutered. I don’t know anyone who has filed a report after an incident like this, so I agree, attacks are underreported.

  6. Thank you so much for this article. I live in the US. A few years ago, I saved my pug (who has since passed away from old age, sadly but thankfully) from an akita attack. I was walking him, and the akita had broken out of its backyard and tried to attack him. Trying to get between them, the akita grabbed my arm and my relative picked up my pug and held him up very high. I have a scar forever, but the akita let go of my arm (after shaking it) and actually listened when my relative yelled at it to go away. If it were a pit bull, I may have gotten mauled, and it definitely would have attacked or jumped on my relative to kill my dog.

  7. The rise of absolute Evil.
    Note how everything is been turned upside down, anything good is now bad and anything bad is been promoted, worship and elevated.
    Soon , speaking out about PITBULLS will be considered hate speech and will get you labeled as racist.
    It’s your new normal.

  8. No surprise here. The stats of the breed(s) responsible mirror those of the known states. These awful pit bull advocates do not see other dog breeds and especially small breeds as equivalent to pits. They are basically worthless to them and “not real dogs.” The veterinary organizations and vet med schools that ignore this do so because there is too much $$$ to be made off of pit bull damage. They can pretend all they want that pits are no different behaviorally, that their bites are no worse. Bold-faced lie!

  9. I know of a situation where a person works at a shelter and takes” Unabke to place pits” she was away and her dog bite one of her other dogs. She then had it put down. This dog is dangerous to everyone for years. She did not want to report it, she did not want the dog taken to the vet. This mindset of save every dog is unrealistic. Dangerous dogs are not good. What about people and small dogs. I have a 5 lb matipoo. I have to be concerned for him and me wherever I go, even in my yard. Every time I open my door I have to be afraid of “pets” of others killing my dog. There has to be something done.

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