Area organizations argue dog aggression more about training than nature

June 30--A dog attack in Carlisle on June 20 is an all too familiar scenario for one Mechanicsburg family.

Three years ago, Nelly Smith experienced a similar confrontation with a pit bull in which it had jumped its owner's fence and approached a much smaller dog. In that incident, Smith and her terrier, Ginger, survived the attack with the help of bystanders -- something that was not the case in the Carlisle incident in which a dachshund was killed by the loose dog.

Still, Smith and her husband, Jason Smith, who now have two small boys, are concerned about the state of loose animals in the area, and pit bulls in particular.

"I'm terrified of pit bulls (now)," said Nelly Smith, who noted that she had dog-sat a pit bull in Harrisburg with little problem years before. "I couldn't walk for months in town."

Nelly Smith had suffered an injury to her hand, having picked up Ginger when she saw the pit bull, who ripped her dog out of her grasp. She said the pit bull had grabbed the back leg of their dog's leg, which likely saved Ginger since the dog had not gotten a hold of her neck. The incident resulted in interior and exterior stitches for Ginger, as well as long-lasting behavioral effects.

Smith explained that Ginger used to interact well with dogs until the attack when she was 4 years old. Now 7, Ginger has issues getting along with other dogs, she said.

"She gets very overwhelmed, and she'll growl at other dogs," Smith said. "With big dogs, she'll get nervous."

Jason Smith said he's worried there will be a time where Ginger will encounter another pit bull, growl and unintentionally provoke it into an attack. It's one of the reasons why he said he'd like to see less pit bulls -- and certainly less loose pit bulls -- on the streets.

Numbers

Smith said he didn't want to see all pit bulls euthanized, but he said there should be better education of what pit bulls can do.

In both the Carlisle and Mechanicsburg incidents, the pit bull jumped a fence that may have otherwise been high enough for another dog. Jason Smith said the fence the dog jumped in Mechanicsburg was already 6 feet high.

"That's a pretty sizable fence," he said. "But pit bulls can jump it. If (pit bull owners) don't have higher than a 6-foot fence, they shouldn't put it in their back yard."

In the Mechanicsburg case, the result of the court case was to equip the property with a 6-foot fence with special fencing at the top and require to muzzle the dog whenever it was outside -- euthanasia had not been on the table since this was the first biting incident in which the dog was involved. Those requirements never came to pass since the pit bull had escaped a second time before the final court proceeding. To their knowledge, the dog was never found, though Jason Smith said he suspects it could have been picked up and taken to a shelter.

Smith said he and other Mechanicsburg residents have heard of other instances where pit bulls were reported loose in the streets, but Mechanicsburg Borough Police Lt. Margaret Myers said those complaints -- especially regarding pit bulls -- are not common occurrences in the 2.2-square-mile borough.

"We respond to every call we get, but there are dogs of all breeds running loose in town," she said. "I don't think we have any more problems of dogs running loose than any other town."

Myers said there were approximately 124 reports of dog reports in 2012, 2013 and so far in 2014. Of those, 14 were identified by the person reporting it as being pit bulls, though Myers said some dogs may be confused for pit bulls. She noted that some of those reports also includes multiple loose dog reports for one dog, so there have not necessarily been 124 separate loose dogs in the borough in that time frame.

Dog bites

Though there are other breeds that are reported loose across the area, the question is the aggression of those animals, and a main part of the debate against pit bulls is if the breed is innately aggressive.

A Centers for Disease Control special report looked at more than 300 human dog bite-related fatalities in the country from 1979 to 1996 and found that most victims were children and most of the dogs involved were pit bulls. The report said pit bull-type dogs were involved in about a third of the fatality reports from 1981 to 1992, though Rottweilers were responsible for about half of the fatalities reported from 1993 to 1996.

The CDC noted in its report, however, that the data can't necessarily be used to "infer that certain breeds of dogs are more likely to bite than others and should, therefore, be banned or regulated more stringently." The CDC said there is an inherent problem in determining a dog's breed with certainty for enforcement of breed-specific ordinances, and additionally, fatal attacks represent a small proportion of dog bite injuries to humans so they should not be a primary factor in driving public policy concerning dangerous dogs.

Furry Friends Network co-founder and president Robin Scherer said she has a Yorkshire terrier that is more likely to bite someone than her pit bull. She noted the terrier is like that because it was abandoned and now it needs time to warm up to someone without biting them.

"I'm not saying the bite is the same as another dog, but you have to add this into consideration," she said. "Dachshunds bite, and they are very high up on the bite scale. All dogs bite. It's all in how any dog is raised."

Amy Kaunas, executive director for Humane Society of Harrisburg Area, agreed that the aggression of a pit bull largely relates to how it was trained.

"What the pit bull has going for it is its raw intelligence," Kaunas said. "It has an ability to learn, and that can be used for good and not so good. It's amazing what people do to their dogs to destroy them."

Obstacles

The Humane Society has tried to educate people and steer them away from the theory of "aggressive nature" by holding events, such as the Pity Party for dog owners who have adopted pit bulls and have enjoyed their new dogs.

Kaunas said more adopters are looking at pit bulls as an option, but there are other new concerns that reflect society as a whole being unwilling to see pit bulls like other dogs. She said adopters are simply unable to afford caring for a pit bull because of increased liability insurance for certain breeds.

Pit bulls fit into the breeds that are deemed "dangerous," and the Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance said while Pennsylvania Dog Law prevents insurance coverage discrimination based on breed of dog, insurance companies can choose not to insure based on any reason, including breed designation, even without a sign of aggression.

A Forbes 2012 article highlighted some of the riskier dog breeds for insurance companies as pit bulls (No. 1), Doberman pinschers, Rottweilers, German shepherds, chows, great Danes, perry de presa canarios, akitas, Alaskan malamutes, Siberian huskies and wolf-hybrids.

Even with conflicting data, it's the size of those types of dogs that has Nelly Smith concerned. She said someone her size wouldn't be able to control such a dog in case something triggered it and it got aggressive with another dog or person outdoors.

"I would like to see more education on the responsibility (for pit bull owners) and liability," she said.

___

(c)2014 The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.)

Visit The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.) at www.cumberlink.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services