• EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 years ago

    Okay, I’m trying to understand your argument here. Are you saying that pitbulls are being racially profiled and that information from other dogs aren’t being collected or that bites of the same severity by other dogs aren’t being correctly gathered or are bring suppressed? And, if so, what are the factors that should be taken into account when discussing dog bites or dog aggression?

    • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think the reason they are making that comparison is that there are a lot of other factors that feed into the final numbers. Crime stats aren’t a final determination of the inherent criminality of different groups of people. Things like poverty, arrest rates, and conviction rates all skew the numbers.

      With pit bulls, people often get them because they want a dog that’s “tough” and they essentially train (or don’t train) them to be bad dogs. The dog itself isn’t at fault.

      Anyone who’s been around a lot of dogs will tell you that small dogs are more bitey. The fact that a pit bull is stronger and can do more damage is also not the dogs fault.

      • puppy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        Anyone whos been around a lot of dogs will tell you that small dogs are more bitey.

        There you go, thats exactly the point. But they aren’t killing any babies. Pitbulls were bred for fighting. People have Tigers and Lions as pets too. Is that also justified?

        The fact that a pit bull is stronger and can do more damage is also not the dogs fault.

        Of course it’s not the dog’s fault. It is just an animal. It’s the breeders’ and the owners’ fault. Nobody is advocating for euthanasing Pitbulls. Maybe just get a Golden Retriever if you’re just looking for a pet next time.

        • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 years ago

          Nobody is advocating for euthanasing Pitbulls.

          There are a shitload of people who advocate for completely destroying this breed of dog.

          • puppy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yes, the breed should be distroyed. But not the poor living animals. We should simply stop breeding more of them. Pitbulls are a freak of nature created for the amusement of humans.

            • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              2 years ago

              I mean, dog breeding is in general terribly inhumane. All dogs should ideally be mutts. They’d certainly all be healthier and have a better quality of life.

    • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      The other user who responded to you, @evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world, does a good job of analyzing the core idea here. To quote Benjamin Disraeli, there’s lies, damn lies, and statistics. Black people are no more “innately inclined towards criminality” than a pit-bull is innately inclined towards mauling people. Where people of color have been historically over policed, profiled by the criminal justice system, and generally set up to have a higher rate of criminal statistics than other ethnic groups, pit-bulls face similar statistical problems. Bite statistics are often self-reported by people who either witnessed a dog attack or who were themselves victims of one. Identifying a dog’s breed by sight, especially for mixed breed dogs, is nearly impossible, and more error prone than accurate. And for a pound, any “big dog with a blocky head” immediately gets labeled as a pit-bull, even if it has literally no pit-bull DNA. These dogs are routinely adopted by people who explicitly train a dog to be mean to people, as opposed to socializing them. The fact that they also have this reputation as guard dogs or attack dogs exacerbates their reputation.