Washington Injury Attorney Blog

Consider the extreme differences in the media reporting of four separate fatal dog attacks:

In 2008 December 2008, An Arizona woman was killed by one or two dogs identified by authorities to be Labrador Retrievers. One local newspaper published an article following the discovery of her body.

A California man was attacked and killed by one or two dogs that the media identified as his grandson's pit bulls. This incident was reported by at least 285 media outlets, both nationally (in 47 U.S. states) and internationally (in 8 other countries). MSNBC, Forbes, USA Today, Fox News, CBS News, and ABC News all picked up the story. (One dog was later reported to be a mastiff-pit bull mix)

September 2008 A New Jersey infant was killed by a dog reported to be a Siberian Husky. The incident was reported only in the local media, in approximately a dozen articles. All reports described the incident as an unfortunate accident. The infant was reported to have been simply 'bitten' by the dog. The dog was described as 'non aggressive.' One headline read 'Dog that killed infant only intended to be playful.'

A Nevada infant was killed by two dogs reported to be pit bulls. More than 200 outlets around the world reported this incident, most with the words 'pit bull' in the headline. Television news reports and a recording of the 911 call are still available online. Stock photos of pit bulls baring their teeth illustrated many of the newspaper accounts. All articles reported the dogs to be 'vicious,' and/or 'aggressive.' The dogs were reported to have either 'burst,' 'barged,' 'forced,' or 'broke' into the home from the backyard, in order to 'maul' the infant. (One month later officials revealed that the dogs had gained entry into the home after one dog, 'used a paw to open the living room sliding door.')

Sensationalized reporting that focuses our attention on breed leads us away from an understanding of the complex circumstances surrounding these tragic and extraordinarily rare events. It will not produce safer and more humane communities.

You state that DogsBite.org's statistics are 'very well researched'. I beg to differ. The organization takes news headlines - which may or may not be correct - and creates its stats from those. It also does nothing to dig to the underlying causes of dog bites - which would ultimately lead us to actually be able to lessen the number. Hysteria over a breed of dog does nothing to help protect society. For more information on dog bites and public safety, please see:

National Canine Research Council

True Pit Bulls have become the victims of horrible owners....just as guns are instruments of death to these same type of people. The pit bull WAS a symbol of WWII for their loyalty, friendhip to man and obedient behavior. Sure, their physical abilities surpass most other canines and their willingness to please is legendary....all of which made them the best fighting dogs in existence.....so many were turned into dangerous "ghetto" dogs because of "ghetto" people. The pit bull is just another victim of a rapidly degenerating society and a great breed may become extinct because of the poor quality of people who own them....for all the wrong reasons.

Just because the media says it was pit bulls, does not mean it was a true full bred American Pit Bull Terrier, pit bulls are mixed breeds. There has been numerous attacks by other dog breeds. If properly trained right, the American Pit Bull Terrier is no different than the other breeds. I have owned tons of breeds, and the American Pit Bull Terreriers have them hands down! Bad owners make bad dogs! The dogs learns from the owner all the way, it has nothing to do with breed! I agree with pit bull advocate all the way! They are trully amazing breeds!

I am a responsible owner of an APBT,. I bought him knowing negative that comes with it. And I make sure he is an ambasador for his fellow breed.
I read the dogbite.com and excuse my language...WHAT THE FUCK, Are the are is a hate group targeting dogs.I see the eliance and strenght coming about many othre bully lovers
that bite.org site is to post statistic on dogs and they probablt hae

Dogbite.org is a witch hunt. The site even says if you come there to defend "pit bulls" your comments will be deleted. No bias there, right?

As a foster mom for unwanted dogs I can tell you statisically I've been bitten by three labs. Of the fifty or so "pit" mixes or purebreds we've had--and around small children--not one bite. I adopted my lab foster earlier this year and when I take her out to festivals she is ALWAYS mistaken for a pit bull even though she's 100% lab. There goes your statistics.

For all the people posting to defend the breed I will just say this -- twice within a week I took my infant daughter for a walk in my neighborhood and the same loose pit bull came up to us -- once running from behind barking aggressively and once less aggressively barking but again approaching us. This is simply unacceptable for any breed but particular a breed that not only can but DOES cause more serious damage on a regular basis compared to other breeds. I am not against pit bulls but it is a much more serious situation than if a dachsund were running around loose -- and yes, I was bit by a dachsund when I was five without serious repercussions. Bottom line is the laws need to be very strict for fining dog owners that violate restraint laws and I have no problem singling out dangerous breeds for harsher fines if that's what it takes to make our neighborhoods safer.

wow, after lookin at the dogbite site it made me laugh but sick at the same time... honestly people need to do their research...in my opinion pit bull is thrown around too much and its usually by uneducated people, the only dog that should be called a pit bullis the american PIT BULL terrier... its funny how people want to classify them all the same, which im not sayin im an expert bc im not but i have owned them and i didnt see anythin aggressive about them.. maybe instead of just readin anythin bad people see how about just try reading the good to so you arent just gettin one side of the story.. but its not the dog, its the stupid people who make them that way jus bc of the rep they have from the other stupid people who have wronged the breed

Perhaps APB owners could create off-leash parks restricted to pit-bulls.

All living things are born with a set of genetic blueprints. These genes control physical appearance and general temperament. Temperament is not a guarantee of behavior. You could say that a person is "quick-tempered," but if they existed in a vacuum, would they still be short-fused? If nothing exists, what could possibly cause such a person to be angry? Similarly, you could call a dog "friendly," but that dog is friendly because it has people and dogs to act friendly towards; if it had a friendly temperament but was the only living creature on the planet, what "friendly" behaviors could it exhibit?
The "pit bull problem" seems to center around whether aggression is inherent or learned. Let's cut to the chase. Aggression is a behavior. A complex behavior, to be sure, but a behavior nevertheless. And what do we know about behavior? It is influenced by environment and experience.
John Paul Scott is a scientific researcher who was interested in the interplay between genetics and behavior. He did experiments with mice to determine whether highly aggressive mice could be created through breeding.
"The experiments with mice show us that aggression has to be learned. Defensive fighting can be stimulated by the pain of an attack, but aggression, in the strict sense of an unprovoked attack, can only be produced by training... Heredity can enter into the picture only in such ways as lowering or raising the threshold of stimulation, or modifying the physical equipment for fighting... In considering hereditary effects, we must always remember that the environmental situation is also important..." - John Paul Scott, Aggression
Mr. Scott has done all the hard work for us. Aggression is a learned behavior.

"But," shouts a voice in the crowd, "I knew someone who had a dog that was never trained to be aggressive, but it still attacked someone without provocation. Scott is full of it!" This line of reasoning is fallacious because this person assumes that learning only occurs when a dog is formally trained by its owner. This idea is both naive and arrogant. Dogs learn life lessons from a variety of sources, including but not limited to the owner. For example, a dog's play, in which two dogs pounce, growl, and tussle in a playful manner, is actually ritualized aggression. When dogs play, they are practicing aggression.

Regardless of whether or not a dog is temperamentally inclined toward aggression, it is the owner that ultimately determines whether the dog actually has the opportunity to react aggressively and rehearse aggressive behavior. Owners who are responsible and involved do not put their dog in such situations; they do not give their dog the opportunity to practice or escalate aggression.

This argument is getting old here. for those of you to proclaim your professional dog handlers the reality of what animals do in your world and what they do in the real one are 2 different things NO one is able to predict animal behavior. i get kick out of people who say well ya might as well ban cats cause they bite too. Yeah... well cats don't have the jaw strength much less have the ability to open their mouths wide enough to do serious damage come on. thats the whole argument that needs to rap up into a nutshell the AMOUNT of damage between a large breed and small breed bites VASTLY differ. That is the point. So if your rich and you have money to throw and don't mind if you get yourself a pit or rot or lab and for what ever reason it decides to go rogue then have at it. if your not rich well you definetly need to say good bye to your bank account house and belongings cuz thats what goes bye bye when dogs attack ppl.Lawyers get theirs too dont forget and they love these cases my son was bit by a rot and they told me too bad he wasn't a girl cuz he could have gotten more money. sick isn't it? thats reality.

I have two small children who absolutely adore our pitbull. And the feeling is mutual. I have also known many other pitbull owners. Not once has any of these dogs bitten anyone without provocation, just like any other dog. Any dog will bite. The only thing different about bully breeds is that they are strong enough that even a playful nip my cause injury. The problem is not the dog its people. And not just the owners. Everyone should be cautious around any dog and they should teach their children to be cautious as well.

Lol 23 people died from dog attacks in 2008.16,000+ were killed by other humans where is the real problem we should be worried about?

I was a police officer for over a decade in an urban are in Pennsylvania. I dealt with thousands of dogs during this time, the vast majority of them pit bulls. My extensive professional and personal experience was that pit bulls were less likely to attack or be aggressive than other dogs. I have watched as twelve officers served a search warrant in a house with a female pit bull and her new litter of puppies with not a peep or a growl out of her. I have had to climb into windows to gain access to houses with pit bulls with never a problem. I ran into one aggressive pit-bull in almost twelve years of being an officer out of thousands I came into contact with. Web sites such as DogBite are there to fuel litigation frenzy. They are not worried about the facts at all. By the way, I ended up with three wonderful pit-bulls that I ran into on the job.

The fact of the matter is simple. ANY dog, no matter the size, shape, breed, or color IS going to be aggressive if raised and treated poorly. It is not confined to specific breeds. People who think so are looking for something to blame and put too much trust in the "good of people". People are shady. They will do anything for money and fame and acknowledgment. Do dogs? No. They only know what they are taught. Maybe instead of hating a breed, hate your stupid neighbors for raising them that way. Dogs dont know any better then what they are taught. Whine and cry about your issues you have had. Find a breed to blame it on. boo hoo. Maybe if kids didnt mess with dogs, they wouldnt bite them. if they do, shame on you for raising a stupid kid. they deserve to get bit. teach them not to mess with things.
what you people are doing would be the equivilent to this... "oh my gosh! a toy poodle and a chihuahua brutally attacked my leg! they bit my tendon in my heel and i had to get my leg amputated! BAN THE LITTLE DOGS! THEY ARE EVIL! AND DANGEROUS!"

i think that would be much more reasonable then your whines about a dog barking at you. maybe take a shower, and stop whining while in public, and they wont think you are some cowering little feeble animal that all dogs natural instincts are to hunt. yes, this includes your precious little dogs.

people get attacked or bit by dogs every day, and what ones make the news? pits. why? becuase it is easy to lash out against them because there are too many of you uneducated people out there to understand that ALL TYPES OF BREEDS WILL BITE YOU!

DUR people. stop whining. you are annoying me.

I think its wrong to point at one breed of dog as to blame for this. Aggressive Dogs are Made Not Born. I have two pit bulls who I love ones 1 year and she's the best thing in my familys life and the other one is 1 month and he's amazing. My older pitt does not attack anyone she is very hyper and will play rough with myself and other male humans but she has never rough housed with my wife or two children. For those of you who have had that bad experience I am sorry but these dogs are just like any other dog. If you treat a human wrong for there whole life they grow up with hate towards other humans same goes for dogs and cats

Pit bulls cant be blamed for the way they were raised. Instead of punishing them punish the people who make them that way. Its like taking a human for instance, if they were trained nothing but ti fight an kill it's what there goging to do. But after serving a lengthy sentence they get out of prison and do the same thing. People get second chances why cant pit bulls. On the web site http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legilaton.php it says "banning pit bulls is like banning cars.Who is responsible the driver or the car. Any car can be deadly in the wrong hands or built with defect parts. Pit bulls are no more responsible for the way they they are bred, raised, and trained, than cars are responsible for the way they are designed, built and driven."

Just like guns, APBTs don't kill, people kill...NO wait, APBTs DO kill!