Despite all we know, or think we know, about pit bulls, the truth just might surprise us all

This summer, the media was aflutter with news that a pit bull mauled a woman in Quebec. The report met with widespread outrage. Various municipalities in Quebec discussed enacting breed specific legislation (bsl) calling for a ban on pit bulls. The safety of the public was at stake. Questionable bite statistic reports were haphazardly repeated as gospel and legislation was drawn up to bring an end to pit bulls in Quebec.

Dogs Vilified

It was a sad time. Pit bull owners had to watch as their dogs were vilified once again. Outrage led to a knee jerk reaction rooted in fear. Unfortunately when we humans fear something, our first response is often to eradicate it. It does not matter if the fears are valid or not. It does not matter if the fears are backed by science. Quantifiable proof be damned. Full steam ahead toward that iceberg!

Pit bulls are not the bogeymen of the dog world. Most of what the general public repeat about them as fact is, in reality, a myth. There is nothing special about them as a breed. Certainly no prevalent characteristic which should incite the level of fear it does among the public. For that matter, in North America, pit bulls are not even really recognized as an actual breed. They are more so a grouping of dogs sharing similar characteristics.

Let’s put a couple of those myths to rest. Pit bulls do not have locking jaws. Biologically, their jaws are no different than any other dog. They do have tremendous power in their jaws but they are outclassed in terms of biting power by many breeds. The power in a dog’s jaws depends much on the size of the dog. This differs considerably from individual to individual especially within the pit family where you can have dogs weighing as little as 20 pounds to dogs weighing 120 pounds plus, biting power is no more a characteristic of pit bulls than any other dog (Duffy et al, 2008).

pit bulls not aggressive

Pit bulls do not have a gene which predisposes them to be aggressive. Actually, the pit bull continuously scores higher in standardized temperament testing than many breeds (Sacks et al, 1996). What this means is that while they can bite, they are less likely to do so than most dogs.

It is true, pit bulls comprise only a small percentage of the dog population in many areas but account for a large percentage of the reported dog attacks. However, these often quoted statistics can be very misleading (Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 2000). Actual reputable studies show that when follow up was done on reported attacks, in many cases the dog was misidentified as a pit bull (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2001). Furthermore, the number of actual pit bulls in any given area could not be identified with any accuracy and there were other, more important factors than breed which contributed to the attack (National Canine Research Council, 2016).

I say, actual reputable studies because there is not one peer reviewed research study done by any reputable group published in a respected scientific journal that shows breed is a reliable predictor in identifying aggression. On the flip side, there is a wealth of published studies from very reputable organizations which show breed specific legislation does not work.

bsl does not work

Animal welfare organizations like the American Society for the Protection of Animals, the American Humane Society, and the National Canine Research Council have all released position statements backed by extensive scientific research objecting to BSL. Groups such as the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Centre for Disease Control have performed some of the largest most exhaustive studies on the issue. All have stated clearly that breed is a poor indicator of aggression, that BSL does not work and warn people of the misleading nature of using bite statistics.

Even the White House stated that: “We (the White House) don’t support breed-specific legislation – research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources.” (Obama, 2013)

The scientific community has spoken quite emphatically. Breed specific discussion is a useless endeavour. Not only is it ineffective, but it is dangerous. It leads to a false sense of security of both the public and our elected officials. It creates an illusion of public safety which is not based in reality. It is, in effect, a placebo and a dangerous one at that.

Frankly, we the public, deserve better.

There are other factors which can enhance public safety and lead to an actual decrease in dog attacks (NACA, 2014). Laws which focus on responsible pet ownership, breed neutral dangerous dog legislation, and anti chaining legislation are a good start. Programs focused on public education, and dog classes which promote early proper and extensive socialization would help. Responsible pet ownership practices combined with legislation that focuses on individual dogs and owners would go much further in addressing public safety concerns than any enactment of breed specific legislation (AMVA, 2014).

So let’s put the focus where it is shown to be beneficial instead of chasing futile efforts.

As for the “pit bull attack” in Quebec which precipitated the discussion, there were some interesting developments which occurred. A panel of professionals was tasked to study the issue and provide the government with advice. A report from the panel was leaked which recommended against the ban of pit bulls and instead advised the government to implement regulations involving responsible pet ownership measures. The Quebec Order of Veterinarians participated in the panel and cited extensive research showing breed specific legislation does not work. Despite this, the Minister of Health, Gaetan Barrette has stated that BSL is not off the table as it is his opinion that “the risk with these dogs (pit bulls) is greater than with other dogs.” The municipality of Montreal has stated it’s intention to bring a pit bull ban into legislation.

Science has spoken quite clearly on the issue It is not science’s fault we, the public and our elected officials are refusing to listen.

As for the “pit bull” which participated in the attack, months later the dog was correctly identified by authorities as a registered boxer. It was not a pit bull at all.

The raging wildfire that has laid waste to an area larger than the Avalon Peninsula, wrecking one-tenth of Fort McMurray, destroying 2,400 structures and forcing more than 80,000 residents to flee, was first spotted 15-kilometres southwest of the city by an airborne forestry crew on May 1.  

Courtney Abbott, originally from St. Bernard’s, her husband Perry, originally from Little Harbour East, and their kids Luke, who will be four later this month, and Emma who just turned one, lived on 199 J.W. Mann Drive, in the area of Wood Buffalo. 

On the day everything changed, Abbott was at her office in downtown Fort McMurray while her husband stayed at home with both kids. “Lunch time, I had walked outside to go get lunch and was greeted with a clear blue sky. Twenty minutes later walking back to my building, myself and my co-workers could see a small amount of smoke which we thought was normal,” she began. Abbott and her co-workers had been listening to a news conference just an hour prior and had heard conditions would get worse after lunch. “Half an hour after getting back inside my building, I went to look out the window again and it had gotten significantly worse. I was texting my husband and he was telling me that things weren’t looking much better from our backyard. One hour after going inside I looked out the window to see the sky pretty much black with a lot of orange. My view from work was looking towards Abasand which was one of the hardest hit areas.”

bumper to bumper

Feeling uneasy, Abbott kept an eye on social media. “The evacuation notices started to come in for Beacon Hill and Abasand and then I read that the golf course in Wood Buffalo was being evacuated and my manager told me to go. I raced home as quickly as I could but there was already a traffic jam on the highway. Our home backs onto Real Martin Drive which is the only road in and out of Wood Buffalo. As I turned into the area, there was already bumper to bumper traffic leaving Wood Buffalo.”

When she finally arrived home, her husband was packing. At that point, they were on a voluntary evacuation notice and were told to be ready to go within half an hour. “We had the radio blasting in our house wherever we could so that we could pack and not miss any notices. We spent the next half an hour racing through our home. The whole time I was thinking, how do I pick what to pack? I really didn’t think the fire was going to be as destructive as it was, I thought we would leave for two or three days at the most.”

 Every light was turned on in their home as the sky outside was so dark it felt like they were packing in the middle of the night, even though it was only 3:00 p.m. “Every time I would run back upstairs I would lift the blind in our bedroom to look outside, hoping to see some improvement in the conditions, but every time all I saw was the bumper to bumper traffic on the only road out of our area. We decided to pack what we could in both vehicles and we would head south to our camper at North Buck Lake, about 2.5 hours away, as that is where my sister and her family were heading and they were taking my mom with them.”

Mandatory Evacuation

Abbott’s dad was still at work at Nexen, south of Fort McMurray, and was not in any danger at that point. Still, Abbott wished they were all together. “I remember standing in the kitchen and hearing the emergency alert blasting on the radio and I prayed it would be a test as I have only ever heard it that way in all of my life. Unfortunately it was not a test and immediately after I heard it, the area of Wood Buffalo was placed under mandatory evacuation and we grabbed our kids and dog and raced out of the house.” 

Like many fleeing the area, the Abbott family were stuck in traffic trying to reach Highway 63 to get out of town. “My husband had our son with him and I had our daughter and the dog. During this time we were trying to reach other family members to see where everyone was going as well as listening to the radio trying to figure out where we could go. There were conflicting reports of the highway going south being closed and unfortunately we were turned north by RCMP when we reached the highway. We headed north and eventually ended up at Firebag Village.”

There was so much chaos, so much fear. “Prior to our arrival we had pulled over several times trying to figure out what we should do. Should we turn around and try to get through so we could go south or continue on and hope we could find a camp that had room for us? At one point we pulled over and Luke asked me what was wrong and then told me he was hungry. Luckily I had snacks in the backseat of my car.

“I felt so helpless, I just wanted someone to tell us what we should do and that everything was going to be okay. I was so scared for my kids. We lost the radio before we reached Firebag, they had evacuated the downtown location but moved to the RCMP detachment in Timberlea, and I started to cry when they came back on the air. They were the one accurate source of information we relied on, and when they went off the air for the second time it felt like the ground was being pulled out from under me.”

Limited Supply of Gas

With a limited supply of gas, Abbott knew they had to make a decision and stick to it. They arrived at Firebag six hours after leaving their home. 

Once settled, Abbott checked Facebook for updates. “I came across a video that had been posted two hours prior of a man riding a bicycle down Real Martin Drive, the street behind our home. All I could see were lots of flames and lots of smoke, I couldn’t see our house in the video. I showed Perry and we just looked at each other and thought for sure our house and the rest of the street was already gone. It was then that he told me he was receiving alarm notifications while stuck in traffic but didn’t have the nerve to check them. All we could find out was that we had lost power at 6:58 p.m.”

Gas Station Blown Up

Abbott says they tried hard to stay calm because of the kids, but it was very hard to hold the emotions inside when they thought their home had burned to the ground. “I took Luke to get some food and then Perry was lucky enough to have his brother contact someone who was able to fuel up both of our vehicles. All we wanted to do was go south, there was only one way to drive out of Firebag and we still couldn’t figure out for sure if the highway was open. We finally got the kids to sleep and we continued scouring social media as we had been the entire evening and messaging friends and family to see where they were. My sister and her family and my mom had already arrived at North Buck Lake where they had their cabin and camper. They drove through flames on Beacon Hill and drove past the Flying J gas station just minutes after it had blown up. I felt like someone was telling me about a bad movie they had seen.”

Trapped and Nervous

 Starting to feel trapped and nervous, the family hit the road again hours later.  “Weather conditions were going to be the same as that day and we were scared the highway would be impassable if the winds picked up again. Perry found someone to give us a ride to our vehicles and we nervously went on our way. We could smell smoke when we walked outside the camp. We passed a lot of cars abandoned on the highway prior to reaching town. The smoke got worse at Suncor, just 30km north of town. It was very difficult to see and I had to turn off the vents in my car because the smoke was making my throat sore, although there was so much smoke it quickly filled my car.”

Reaching town again left her with a very eerie feeling, she says. “Fort McMurray is a town that works 24 hours a day and that night it was like a ghost town with the exception of a few people like us who just wanted to get out. There were also lots of emergency vehicles around. Crossing the bridge the hill on the right was glowing, which was part of Abasand. To the left, the downtown core was still lit up like nothing had happened. Driving up Beacon Hill everything was total darkness.” 

Abandoned Vehicles

“Once we reached the top, what was left of the Super 8 was still burning as well as the Centennial Trailer Park. I was so relieved when we made it to the other side of town. There were many vehicles and campers on the side of the road, some abandoned and some with people sleeping in them. We reached Wandering River 200km south of Fort McMurray and the lineup of cars waiting for fuel was unreal. There were already strangers arriving with fuel and water to help everyone out.”

They reached their camper about six hours after leaving Fort McMurray, a drive that normally takes 2.5 hours. “When I finally got out of my vehicle and knew that we were all safe, that was the first time I let myself really cry.”