22.0. Conclusions
1. The “Pit Bull” “breed” does not now nor has it ever existed.
2. The major problem does not originate with “Pit Bulls”: it originates with:
A. peoples’ inability to identify a dog’s breed: this includes most of the public, i.e., bystanders, pet owners, police, medical workers and animal control personnel. Most, if not almost all, persons cannot determine the “breed” of a dog by appearance, and consequently, most dogs that are called ““Pit Bulls” are NOT “Pit Bulls”, but other breeds or mutts;
B. lack of knowledge about the development of breeds and identifying multiple breeds and mutts as “Pit Bulls”;
C. how a “breed” is created;
D. marketing in general and the scam and making money: the reason why “Pit Bulls” exist;
E. the scam and the scammers;
F. unearned bad reputation;
3. Television, radio, Internet, social media, etc. only add to the problem by blaming “Pit Bulls” to advance their agendas when, in most cases, the dogs are probably other breeds or mutts.
4. Most myths about aggressiveness, locking jaws, 1600 pounds of biting force, etc. are just myths and untrue.
5. All studies that have been done that included so-called “Pit Bulls” indicate that these dogs are no different than other breeds, and in most cases, are “better” dogs than many other breeds.
6.The forces driving the expansion of the myths, misinformation and reputation of the so-called “Pit Bulls” are the people profiting from the hype, i.e., the people “breeding” the dogs, the people registering and/or certifying them to be “Pit Bulls” and the media who sensationalizes anything that supposedly involves a so-called “Pit Bull”. The public’s lack of knowledge of what is a “Pit Bull”, what is another breed of dog or mutt and the “Chicken Little syndrome” on steroids, i.e., the sky is falling, only exacerbates the problem with reports of events attributed to “Pit Bulls” when the dog(s) involved were some other breed or mutts.
