The Making Of A Dangerous Dog - responsibilities of owners and breeders

Animals, Fall, 2001 by Pamela H. Sacks

Early this year, 33-year-old Diane Whipple was returning to her apartment in San Francisco after grocery shopping. In her sixth-floor hallway, she had the misfortune to encounter Marjorie Knoller, who was trying to shepherd two 120-pound presa canario dogs back into the apartment she shared with her husband, Robert Noel. One of the animals responded to Whipple's presence with a vicious and ultimately fatal lunge. The presa canario went on to rip off her clothes and spatter her blood all over the walls until authorities arrived and repeatedly fired tranquilizer darts to end the attack.

Soon after the mauling, its bizarre circumstances began to emerge. The dogs' owners, both lawyers, had obtained them through a prison inmate whom they had adopted. Law enforcement officials learned that the dogs may have been part of a scheme to produce fighting animals for guarding illegal drug labs in Mexico. Whipple, as it turned out, was the victim of a creature that could be inspired to become a killing machine.

The glare of publicity following the attack highlights a problem that has, ironically, grown along with the role of dogs in our lives. An estimated 55 to 59 million dogs live in U.S. households, more canines per capita than in any other country. Yet experts say that many people have no idea how to successfully coexist with man's best friend. Although fatal attacks are rare, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4.7 million people are bitten each year, 800,000 of them seriously enough to require medical treatment. When a dog feels threatened, becomes frightened, or has been encouraged to be aggressive and then draws blood, the tendency is to focus on the animal alone. The Whipple tragedy, however, underscores what experts have long sought to impress upon the public: when a dog turns dangerous, the blame nearly always must extend to the owner as well.

"One of the real problems is that people go into the relationship with unrealistic expectations and a lack of knowledge of animal behavior," says Carter Luke, vice president for humane services at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). When serious problems ensue, the owner's solution is often simply to give the dog away.

An increase in reported dog bites may be linked to a change in public attitude. Studies show that 40 percent of owners are more interested in obtaining a canine for protection than as a family companion. Some even view the dog as a weapon, so they choose a large and muscular breed. In these cases, it is not uncommon for the animal to be tied to a post and kept isolated, unsocialized, and untrained. "If you walk into a shelter today, you see a huge difference compared with 20 years ago," Luke notes. "You see mostly pit bulls and rott-weilers and some German shepherds and Dobermans."

Both genetics and environmental factors influence the making of aggressive dogs, and people have had a hand in both. Over the centuries, dogs have been selectively bred for certain traits, such as hunting, speed, herding, and aggression. As a result, hounds have sharp eyesight or a keen sense of smell, herders a strong work instinct, and toy breeds a penchant for affection.

The pit bull-mastiff type, with its powerful square head, thick neck, and exceptionally large jaw muscles, was bred for fighting and guarding. A dog with these characteristics is more likely to attack quickly and forcefully in defense of its territory and owners, according to veterinarian Nicholas H. Dodman, director of the animal-behavior clinic at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, Massachusetts. "In a dog 60 to 100 pounds, with a Big set of mashers ... and with a high prey drive, a light goes on: `Bring it down, bring it down.'" says Dodman, author of Dogs Behaving Badly. The pit bull is a cross between the bulldog, once used for bullbaiting, and terrier types--a mix that has created a tenacious shake-and-tear style of bite. The rottweiler was bred to zealously guard cattle on the way to market and to protect the purse on the return trip. The presa canario--a cross of the bardino majero, an extinct Spanish breed, and the English mastiff--is typical of dogs engineered to fight other animals.

It is not surprising, then, that pit bulls, rottweilers, and similar breeds inflict a proportionally large share of bites and account for many of those causing serious injury. In fact, an analysis prepared by researchers at the CDC, the Humane Society of the United States, and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) shows that, between 1977 and 1998, pit bulls and rottweilers were responsible for more than half of the 238 fatal attacks on humans.

Nevertheless, AVMA researcher and veterinarian Gall C. Golab emphasizes that no breed is inherently vicious and that, conversely, any type of dog can be dangerous if bred or trained to be fierce. What is more, fellow veterinarian Ilana Reisner points out, some kinds of dogs have gained a propensity for biting because of careless practices. The American cocker spaniel, for example, once sweet and docile, was bred indiscriminately when it became popular, and problems with health and temperament resulted; it soon gained a reputation for snappiness and instability.