A few weeks back, we took some hits in "likes" and readership after we published a story about a young boy being attacked and disfigured by a pit bull in northwest Arkansas.
We posted the story with a disclaimer mandating that no comments would be allowed concerning "what the boy did to the dog" or defending the breed as being "misunderstood" or singled out.
The bottom line? People that just couldn't help themselves went right ahead and waded into their fantasy realm of how "I have owned Rover for three years and he is just a big baby that would never hurt a fly" (which got them banned as promised) and three more left of their own accord because we were "promoting censorship".
However, we garnered seventeen new readers who were ecstatic that SOMEONE finally had the nerve to step and say what should have been said a long time ago...as a genetic breed pit bulls (and pit bull mixes) are a time bomb waiting to explode. So that's a net-eight gain on readers and likes. But that everything we post would net us eight new readers in a 24-hour period.
All the sweet videos aside of Rover licking the babies face and running in fear from fear from a pride of ferocious house cats, pit bulls and pit bull mixes ate statistically more inclined to attack humans in cases that cause disfigurement or death.
It's not even close.
So I'm not interested in or willing to tolerate excuses for the breed or deflection for their behavior.
The dogs have evolved from a working breed to being an interbred species of instinct-driven potential killers with a hair trigger. The only caveat I will give you is that the current genetic nature of these dogs is no fault of their own, but that doesn't make them any less of a threat.
Here are the facts taken from the website animals24-7.org.
Preliminary “final” 2017 dog attack data from the U.S. and Canada says that “only” 989 dogs participated in killing or disfiguring humans, down from the 2016 record 1,075.
But the bad news is that those 989 dogs killed 57 people, 11 more than the previous record of 46 who were killed in 2015.Pit bulls killed 40 people in 2017, 39 in the U.S. and one in Canada, a total of 12 more people than were killed by pit bulls in 2016 and five more than the previous record of 34 killed in 2015.
The 989 dogs who killed or disfigured people in 2017 accounted for 645 total disfigurements, 14 more than the previous record of 631 who were disfigured in 2016.
Of the disfigurements, 570––four fewer than in 2016––were disfigured by PIT BULLS, meaning that PIT BULLS accounted for “only” 88% of the dog attack disfigurements reported in 2017, down from 91% in 2016. But the 2017 disfigurement toll may well rise in the coming weeks.
That the 2017 dog attack data reported here and now is “final” must be qualified, in quotes, because law enforcement did not identify by breed type 77 dogs who killed or disfigured people in 2017, four more than the then-record 69 who were not identified by breed type in 2016.
However, some of these dogs of unknown breed type may be identified by breed type in legal proceedings in 2018. Dogs of unknown breed type accounted for five fatalities and 50 disfigurements in 2017, injuring 23 children and 39 adults. Twelve victims of dogs of unknown breed type escaped more serious harm in incidents in which someone else was killed or disfigured.
Even if new records for dog attack mayhem were not established in every category of data tracked by breed type since 1982 by ANIMALS 24-7 the most dangerous dogs of 2017 did more total damage, and more damage per capita, than the most dangerous dogs of any previous year.
For example, 385 children were injured in 2017 in attacks in which at least one person was killed or disfigured, 31 more than in any previous year. Of those 385 children, 298 were injured by PIT BULLS (77%).
Also in 2017, 457 adults were injured in 2017 in attacks in which at least one person was killed or disfigured. While this was 30 fewer adults injured than the record 487 adults who were injured in 2016 in attacks in which at least one person was killed or disfigured, 356 of those adults were injured by PIT BULLS (78%), two more than the 2015 record.
So there you have it. Statistical facts and the truth. Much has been written and said about the socio-economic status, criminal background and the mindset of those that "typically" own and breed pit bulls.
I'm not going to jam everyone that owns a pit bull or a pit bull mix into the same stereotypical box, nor do I expect everyone to agree 100% with my take on what should be done with the entire species.
Ol' Rover is always described in the aftermath of one of these tragedies as being a "big old pile of cuddly love and affection".... right up to the point that it eats the baby. Why anyone would choose to run the risk is beyond me. Especially around children.
And I will tell you this. in advance. If your animal comes on my property (or anyplace else for that matter) and attacks one of my loved ones, the only reason we will need to call the police is for them to come arrest me for discharging a firearm in the city limits.
And it won't be because of a warning shot.
As in the original, two-week-old story that prompted all this fervor, this subject is not open to discussion on our Facebook page. You will be banned, or if you're offended by this stance to the point of outrage, you are more than welcome to remove yourself.
If you must comment, share this column on your own timeline and blast us there with whatever justification you can muster for owning a potential killer.
But that dog don't hunt here. Literally and figuratively.