Posted by R on 8/12/2001, 9:41 pm Aug. 8 -- Spotting a bad dog may be a lot harder than most people think, say "It's scientifically impossible" to determine which breed will bite or even The genetic differences between a Chihuahua, a German shepherd and even a As for statistics used to support the idea that some breeds are more Wagner presented the results of a study on the "dangerous dog" laws of Although they look different, dog "breeds" have no more scientific basis than The same goes for behavioral traits. Good training beats out any minuscule Most dog bites happen at home with the family dog biting a family member, After all, it's a lot easier to whip up a frenzy about pit bulls than border That is what happened in Germany, where 49 "foreign breeds" were targeted by The law was passed last year against the advice of German veterinarians, said What's more, she said, the law has led to dogs being restricted to the point
Researchers: Bad Dogs Hard to Find
By Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010806/baddog.html
animal researchers.
which dogs truly belong to which breeds, said dog researcher Cornelia Wagner
of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
timber wolf are virtually non-existent and the behavioral differences in
breeds has more to do with training than breeding, said other researchers.
dangerous, the numbers are misleading, said Anthony Pobderscek of the
University of Cambridge Veterinary School. "There's a problem getting
records," he said. "Golden retrievers bite, Labrador retrievers bite, but
don't get reported."
Germany earlier this week at the meeting of the International Society for
Anthrozoology in Davis, Calif.
do "races" among humans, said canine researcher James Serpell of the
University of Pennsylvania.
genetic differences among breeds, said Pobderscek. Current dangerous dog
statistics can't be trusted because, among other things, you just don't know
what happened to cause the attack or dog bite, he said.
said Pobderscek. The dangerous dog breed issue has more to do with the public
image of certain breeds and the way the media handles incidents involving
those breeds, he said.
collies, and pick and choose statistics to fit the argument.
the law after a series of highly publicized dog attacks, said Wagner. Local
favorites, like German shepherds, were spared. The German law requires
sterilization, expensive permits, muzzling, travel certificates and proof
that the owner needs of a "dangerous" dog. Dogs must also pass a temperament
test.
Wagner.
that they are being psychologically and physically harmed. It's taken a year,
but now German law makers are beginning to realize the problems with the law,
she said.
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