"Dogsbestfriend and southmum i beg to differ.
Have you never heard of young children being mauled by staff/pit bull types?
How many times have we read in the papers about young children being killed by grandparents/uncles dogs
Dogs DO attack babies and children."
OP, I do not base my judgement on what I've "heard" - for which you mean read in the papers - but on fact, cold, hard solid evidence and a considerable number of years experience.
I did not say that dogs do not attack humans, be they children or adults. I said that there is NO proven correlation between dog-aggression and human-aggression.
How many times do I "hear" of it?
A fuck site less times than my own children have worked with, handled and interacted with rescue dogs.
A fuck site less times than my own children have gone to sleep with a German Shepherd, a Staffie or a Staffie cross on their beds, to name a few.
A fuck site less than I read "Two large German Shepherds share fresh bread with child", which is what's happening in my house right now, just as thousands of kids are sharing food, time and a home with large/powerful/much maligned dogs across the country right this very minute. I won't read that sort of headline because it isn't news, it isn't unusual.
The "pit bull types" you speak of generally have their breed decided by journalists and not dog experts, long before the experts even get to look at the dog in question . Please remember that it takes a lengthy court case with expert witnesses of many years experience to determine what is and what is not an APBT or an APBT "type". That's why most vets and even we rescuers, who see all sorts, cannot say for sure that a dog is a Pit or Pit type or not. We can have a good idea, hazard a better guess than the man in the street - and certainly the bloody Fleet Street hack - but that's about it.
Even with the advice of expert witnesses in a court of law the definition of an APBT or "Type" is NOT an exact science but involves such considerations as muzzle and leg measurements. Not only do I doubt if the journalists who declare that an attacking dog is a Pit or a Pit "Type" have the same skills as these expert witnesses, I equally doubt that they've met the dogs they're declaring are Pits and have got their tape measures out to prove it either!
Please - you are falling for and adding to exactly the type of bullshit and hyperbole that I was referring to. It costs lives but the victims of that bullshit are not human ones.