Murders vs Maulings: what we fear does not reflect the facts

In 2010 and 2009, the most recent years for which reliable, fully-investigated information is available concerning dog bite fatalities, 33 and 31 humans respectively were fatally injured by dogs. Most of these dogs were resident dogs, socially isolated in backyards or on the end of chains; many of the fatalities involved unsupervised children left to wander outdoors or left alone inside with unfamiliar dogs. Many of the dogs had been forced to endure extreme abuse.

Sixty-four human lives is not insignificant, particularly from the perspective of the friends and family members left to pick up the pieces left after these tragedies. But it is not a large number considering the population of humans and dogs in the US (310 million and 70 million, respectively).

Thousands of years of evolution and biological fine-tuning have created a predisposition within humans to fear predator species - and that includes dogs. Media reports with gruesome details of dog attacks recognize this fear, capitalize on it, and perpetuate it. In particular, pit bull attacks will often make national news.

But what about human murder rates? Unless a murder is particularly horrific, murders often don't make the news. They certainly don't make national news. And the standard murder (for lack of a better term) does not initiate a violent emotional reaction and public outcry.

Indeed, it seems from media and citizen reactions, that there is much more to fear from the risk of a dog-bite fatality than a murder.

Of course, this is untrue. Here's a glimpse of the statistics for a few states.

State	2010 Murders	Scaled 2010 Murders*	Dog-bite fatalities (all breeds)	Dog-bite fatalities attributed to pit bull type dogs
Arizona	409	90.8	0	0
Florida	987	219.3	3	none reliably confirmed, 2 reported**
California	1809	402	7	2 (confirmed)
Texas	1249	277.6	2	none reliably confirmed, 1 reported
Washington	152	33.8	0	0

** of these two reports, one was reliably identified as not a pit bull type dog

State	2009 Murders	Scaled 2009 Murders*	Dog-bite fatalities (all breeds)	Dog-bite fatalities attributed to pit bull type dogs
Arizona	370	82.2	1	0
Florida	1034	229.7	2	0
California	1971	438	4	none reliably confirmed, 2 reported
Texas	1355	301.1	5	none reliably confirmed, 3 reported
Washington	194	43.1	0	0

*The scaled population takes into account the difference in total human vs total canine population nationally. There are approximately 4.5 times more humans than dogs in the US.

Thus, in 2009 and 2010 you were around 250 to 500 times more likely to be murdered by a fellow human than attacked and killed by a dog irrespective of breed. And, if human and dog populations were equal, you'd still be 60 to 100 times more likely to be murdered than mauled to death. Murders are rare occurrences. Dog bite fatalities are rare to the point of being statistically insignificant, particularly at the state instead of the national level. From a statistical perspective, they are purely chance occurrences.

Of the fatalities included in the chart, only four were caused by family dogs, only one of which was even debatably a pit bull type dog. So I will repeat the sentiment I will repeat until the day I die: if we treat our dogs like members of our family, they will always live up to their moniker as man's best friend. And yes, this includes our pit bulls.