Latest research shows dog breeds that bite most often, do most damage

In May, a neighbor’s pit bulls attacked a 9-year-old boy in Johnston County. In February, three pit bulls attacked a Durham woman. Both survived but suffered serious injuries. They were among the victims of the estimated 4 million dogs bites per year in the United States. While dog bites normally don’t make headlines, they seem to get extra attention when pit bulls are involved.

WRAL Investigates found it difficult to find reliable data on which breeds of dogs were involved in the most attacks. The Centers for Disease Control used to track dog bites but stopped decades ago. Several websites track more recent dog attacks, but attribute the breed to local media reports. According to Animals 24-7, a non-profit, digital news source of animal news, there were 5,460 dog attacks that resulted in serious injury between 1982-2014. The group attributed almost 3,400 of those bites to pit bulls. However, pit advocates say the data isn’t always accurate, because pit bulls aren’t always properly identified.

“My job isn't to implicate one breed or another. I just have to call it like I see it,” says Dr. Charles Elmaraghy, a pediatric head and neck specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. He and four colleagues just released a report that used data from dozens of other dog bite studies, as well comprehensive data from dog bites they treated over a 15-year period at two hospitals. The group came to one conclusion according to Elmaraghy, “Pit bulls had high frequency and high degree of severity.”

The doctors examined skull size and shapes of dogs involved in the serious bites they saw. They also graded the injuries of patients.

“Level one would be a pretty minor injury," Elmaraghy said, "Level six would be there's tissue loss and some disfigurement, and, again, pit bulls had a greater proportion of those fives and sixes.”

Elmaraghy admits some of the research is skewed, because they saw only the most seriously injured patients. But, he adds, their findings were not surprising, “It's somewhat intuitive to know that a bigger dog would have a higher degree of severity with their bite, so we just validated that.”

The group plotted dog breeds based on bite frequency and bite severity. Pit bulls, mixed breeds and German Shepherds scored the worst. Bassett Hounds and Border Collies the best. “We're not trying to say that these dogs are overly aggressive,” says Elmaraghy of their findings. “Usually there's some level of provocation that lends itself to these dog bites,” and according to the Elmaraghy, a lot of the provocation comes from young children who may not understand the proper way to act around dogs.

“They’re the sweetest dogs,” says Jacob Rogers, a pit bull owner who also helps foster and adopt out pit bulls through Carolina Adopt-a-Bulls. He feels the pit bull reputation is unearned. “It’s a lack of information a lot of times,” Rogers said.

Rogers also feels the dogs get the blame when dog owners are equally liable when bites or attacks happen. “It goes back to responsible pet ownership. It’s understanding the pet’s behavior, personality,” he said.

Rogers says that’s even more true when young children are around a pit bull, or any dog, “Monitor the child and the dog and understand that children may be as refined as we are when it comes to petting dogs and being in front of them.”

Elmaraghy agrees, “Any dog breed with appropriate supervision from parents can be safe.” When we interviewed Elmaraghy, he routinely emphasized their findings weren’t meant to deter people from owning or adopting certain breeds. Instead, he hopes families will use their findings to make smart choices when getting a dog.

“Everyone loves Legos right, but you wouldn't bring the small Legos around your 18-month-old because they could choke on it. Similarly, with a dog that could bite with a high degree of force, you just need to be careful,” he said.

Elmaraghy also addressed pit bull advocates who take shots at what the research concluded. “They can argue all they want, however dog bites occur, and pit bulls can bite with a high degree of force, and those are not things you can dispute. There's fact.”

Dog bites in Wake County

In Wake County, five agencies respond to reports of dog bites. While the county tracks dog bites overall, no one tracks the breed associated with each bite.

Here's a look at the month-by-month number of dog bites reported recently in Wake County.

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