My Pet World: Dogs with a pit bull 'look' continue to get a bad rap
These questions don't directly relate to pet behavior or health, but instead are answers to questions regarding my opinions on timely pet-related topics.
Q: You recently wrote about breed-specific bans and communities banning pit bulls. These dogs are always in the news. It seems that whenever there's a dog attack, a pit bull is involved. Why in the world wouldn't you want to ban them? -- D.S., Fort Lauderdale, FL
A: Just because news reports say a dog is a pit bull doesn't mean this is true. Most dogs you see on the street with a stocky muscular body and broad head of a certain size are called "pit bulls." However, we now understand with modern genetic testing that many such dogs are merely mixed-breeds that fit a certain look. Their genetic background might not even include true Pit Bulls.
I suggest dogs with a pit bull look may be the most common dogs in America. So there's also a numbers game going on. You're not likely to see many reports of American Foxhounds attacking anyone. That's not only because when well socialized, these dogs are very unlikely to attack, but also because there are so few of them.
Years ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped paying attention to the reported breed in the event of a dog bite. For starters, their studies determined that the breed in such incidents is often misidentified. What's most important is why a dog of any breed or mix bites in the first place. We know the most common explanations for dog attacks, and breed is not a big factor.
If you want citations to back up this information, check out the new American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior position statement on Breed Bans, which I co-authored with Ontario, Canada-based veterinary behaviorist Dr. Sagi Denenberg at: http://avsabonline.org/uploads/position_statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements1-25-13.pdf
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Q: If you're such an animal lover, why do you endorse feral cat colonies being placed where rats are for rat control? -- B.C.D., Chicago, IL
A: So, you like rats, do you? Domestic pet rats are, in fact, great pets; they're very interactive and surprisingly intelligent. Sadly, rats don't live very long.
City rats are also intelligent, and clearly the Norway rat (though not actually from Norway) is a survivor, co-habitating with people around the world for centuries. In New York City alone, it's estimated there are about 70 million rats.
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