Why education on dog behavior matters

Last week, 5 year old Katya Todesco was fatally bitten by a "pit bull" type dog in Simi Valley, CA.  The local newspaper there did a good (and interesting) follow-up story on the girl's death.

Police officials say they are not sure why the dog attacked the young girl as they were playing together in the back yard. But some evidence certainly exists.

Interestingly, Kathy Jenks of the Ventura County Animal shetler said the dog is "not aggressive, nust fearful."

This is an interesting coment. People tend to not realize that "aggression" shows itself in many forms.  It's not always the dog that is pulling at the end of its leash that can bite. Often times, it is extremely fearful dogs that bite out of fear that cause problems. The only two times I've ever been bitten in my life were by fearful dogs (and no, neither of the bites have been from any bully breeds). 

So you look at what we know about the attack, it starts making a lot of sense. Fearful dog, in the yard with a young girl that would be unlikely to recognize fearful behavior, and the girl "fell into" the dog (which would have scared a fearful dog) and the dog struck back.

Understanding dog behavior matters. And until we start talking about it instead of talking about "breeds" more bites will occur.

Jenks seems to get the situation out in Ventura County -- noting that she feels like 'pit bull' bites are reported more often than bites by other types of dogs. "The whole world is afraid of pit bulls so they report them," says Jenks. "People tend not to report bites from other dogs because it's the 'family dog' or a little dog."

Yip.

Comments

[Selma]

Good post. Dogs we call shy and sharp are much more likely to bite than confident, dominant types.

Most bites are caused by fear of something, since biting is a last resort for most dogs. They usually bite because their many signals indicating escalating discomfort are ignored or in the case of a little kid, not interpreted.

Dogs which are encouraged to gratuitously attack anyone are a tiny minority. A professionally trained guard or attack dog is less likely to bite someone than a timid pet that lives in a state of anxiety that may go unnoticed by the owners.

[Anna C]

Wow.
Two comments:
First - the ACO said " 'We need to seriously look at and rethink this whole thing that says people have the right to own a dog," Jenks said. "The companionship of a dog is a privilege, not a right, and not everybody should be extended that privilege.'" and I have an issue with that statement. I do think you can take rights away from an irresponsible owner but I do not think that owning a pet is a privilege. But for the most part Jenks seems better than many some others.
2. The dog was intact. While I do think this should be a voluntary act (to neuter/spay one's animals) I am surprised that Jenks did not comment on that aspect.