I have cited a recent study, done by PhD's, Academics and medical professionals, Highly qualified people who have their study published in a peer reviewed journal.
E-kul, this study was done by non-animal behaviorists. Hardly "highly qualified".
Let me pull an E-kul move here and post a wall of text and then sit back and await his meltdown.
Here is the rebuttal letter to the study you have such a hard on for. Sent to the editor of the peer reviewed journal you mention above:Imprudent use of Unreliable Dog Bite Tabulations and Unpublished Sources
To the Editor:
"That will be the argument that a lot of people have, that it’s not the dog. It’s the owner. But I think you really have to throw the emotion out. Yeah, it’s emotional. But throw it away and let’s look at our data."Dr John Bini, quoted in the Houston Chronicle, “Doctors Bare Grim Pit Bull Data,” May 8, 2011
When we write on a subject, emotional or otherwise, a decent respect for all concerned obligates us to make careful and judicious use of sources, and, as we would in any scientific endeavor, to be conservative in our pronouncements.
This has been my aim during the 20 years that I have researched and written about dog bite related fatalities. I have published 2 books on the subject: Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Behind the Statistics1 and The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression. (2)
On the basis of my experience with this issue, I am dismayed by the erroneous data, the use of questionable sources, and the lack of fact checking that characterizes Dr Bini’s article. (3)
Case Presentation. In the first line, Dr Bini writes, “
An 11-month-old boy arrived at our level 1 trauma center after being mauled by 2 pit bulls.”
There is no documented evidence from any authority that either dog involved in this incident were “pit bulls.” To determine whether the breed attributed to these dogs could be visually substantiated by a recognized expert, I submitted photographs of both dogs to Dr Amy Marder, VMD, CAAB.∗ Dr Marder reported the breed(s) of dog could not be reasonably determined by visual identification.
Introduction. “Pit bull” is not a recognized breed of dog. Dr Bini seems not to have appreciated that he and one of the sources for his statistical characterizations do not include the same breeds of dogs under the term “pit bull.” Dr Bini et al cite the 1982 Pediatrics study “
Traumatic deaths from dog attacks in the United States” by
L. E. Pinckney and L. A. Kennedy, when they write, “
Between 1966 and 1980 . . . although 16 deaths were attributable to German Shepherd Dogs and only 6 were attributable to pit bulls, there were 74,723 registered German Shepherd Dogs and only 929 registered pit bulls.”
Dr Pinckney based his “pit bull” population number and the resulting “rate” or “highest number of deaths” on the total of 1976 American Kennel Club (AKC) registrations of “Bullterriers” (n = 929). By contrast, Dr Bini defines “pit bull” as American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He does not include Bull Terriers.
Table 2: This table evidences an extremely problematic use of sources. I shall limit this discussion to the most grievous errors:
The authors fail to inform us where the data in column 1 (Breed) and column 2 (No. of dogs) originated. The authors describe Table 2 as “Adapted from Reference 14.” Reference 14 is an article in the periodical Municipal Lawyer. That article contains no tabular in-formation of any kind or nature.
On page 795, we find the following: “
Over a recent 3-year period from January 2006 to March 30, 2009, a total of 98 dog bite fatalities involving 179 dogs occurred . . . A total of 113 pit bulls were involved in these deaths, and they accounted for 63% of the dogs involved in fatal attacks (Table 2).”
Bini’s source used media accounts for the breed descriptions found in Table 2. Queries of the CDC database and state vital statistics reveal that from January 2006 to March 30, 2009, there were 101 dog bite related fatalities, involving at least 187 dogs. My findings, based on interviews with veterinarians, animal control, and police investigators, reveal that most of these dogs, however they may have been described in the media, were dogs of unknown pedigree. Only 24 of the 187 dogs can be described as purebred dogs, either on the basis of documented pedigree or other reasonable evidence. In light of a recent published study, (4) breed identifications of mixed breed dogs of unknown origin cannot be considered reliable, whoever made the identifications.
Table 2, Column 3:
Dr Bini et al have not totaled the registered dogs that satisfy their definition of “pit bull.”
The first breed listed in Table 2 is “pit bull,” with a total of 2239 registrations for 2007. The authors footnote that “the term pit
bull refers to dogs from the following breeds: American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.”
The authors also footnote that “data presented only for dog breeds for which registration information is available from the American Kennel Club (AKC).”
Even as the authors use breed club registrations as a tool to analyze the US dog population—a practice with which most animal experts disagree—Dr Bini et al seem unaware that the most popular of the 3 breeds they define as “pit bull” (ie, American Pit Bull Terrier) is not recognized by the AKC.
American Pit Bull Terriers are registered by the United Kennel Club (UKC) or the American Dog Breeders Association. The UKC is the second largest breed registry in the United States, with 250,000 registrations annually. The American Pit Bull Terrier ranked as the second most registered breed with the UKC from 2005 through 2010.
Selective Use of Published and Unpublished Sources. There are approximately 25 to 30 dog bite related fatalities per year in the United States. With such a small sample, any errors made in the collection or reporting of such incidents is significant.
There are numerous errors in the source material used by Dr Bini concerning dog bite related fatalities. I list only a few. Additional case examples are available on request.
In addition to relying exclusively on news stories, Dr Bini’s source chose selectively among conflicting media accounts to extract “data.” Dr Bini’s source counts the following as “pit bull fatalities”:
1. Cause of death was not a result of dog bites: On February 9, 2007, James Chapple was attacked by 2 dogs identified by the me- dia as “pit bulls.” Mr Chapple received severe injuries but fully recovered and was discharged from the hospital. On May 17, 2007, Chapple was found dead in his bed. The Shelby County Medical Examiner (Case nos. 2007–1177) listed the cause of death as hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Dog bites were neither the cause nor a contributing factor in the death of Mr Chapple.
2. Unresolvable disagreement as to breed descriptor: On October 5, 2008, a 2 month old boy was killed by a dog. One media source reported the dog to be a “pit bull” on the basis that “neighbors believe the dog to be a pit bull.” Other news stories quoted the Hawaiian Humane Society, which had custody of the dog, which officially reported that the dog “was not a pit bull.” Honolulu Police Investigators list the dog as a “Sharpei mix” on their incident report. (Voith)
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Annals of Surgery r Volume 255, Number 5, May 2012
Copyright © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
www.annalsofsurgery.com | e11
Letter to the Editor
Annals of Surgery r Volume 255, Number 5, May 2012
The conclusions reported in a peer reviewed medical journal should rest on a foundation of valid data. It is imperative that authors consider all sources carefully and judiciously. Dr Bini and his colleagues would have been well advised to consult animal professionals on subject matter that was clearly outside their area of expertise.
Karen Delise, LVT
National Canine Research Council New Market, Maryland
REFERENCE
1. Delise K. Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Be- hind the Statistics. Manorville, NY: Anubis; 2002.
2. Delise K. The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression. Manorville, NY: Anubis; 2007.
3. Bini JK, Cohn SM, Acosta SM, et al. for the TRISAT Clinical Trials Group. Mortality, Maul- ing, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs. Ann Surg. 2011;253:791–797.
4. VoithVL,IngramE,MitsourasK,etal.Comparison of adoption agency breed identification and DNA breed identification of dogs. J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2009;12:253–262.
∗Dr Marder is a graduate of the University of Penn- sylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and she completed the University’s first behavior residency. She currently serves as Director of the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston. She is also a dog fancier, who showed Australian terriers.
Disclosure: The author declares no conflicts of interest. Copyright ⃝C 2012 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ISSN: 0003-4932/12/25505-e11
DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e318250c8f9