Highlights: In a bizarre turn of events last month, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would ban American XL bullies, a type of pit bull-shaped dog that had recently been implicated in a number of violent and sometimes deadly attacks.
XL bullies are perceived to be dangerous — but is that really rooted in reality?
I do alot of work and give a fair amount of donations to a animal rescue facility that fits thru about 400 dogs per year. Pit bulls have without question been the most likely to be aggressive out of all the dogs that file thru. We get many other aggressive dogs but the pits are the only ones that stand out.
This may be due to their strength or due to the above average likelihood of them being raised in aggressive environments. There are also nice pits but regardless I am completely against breeding them and more so, there is no logical argument to be made breed them.
I wonder if it could be do to unconscious racial bias? I’m aware of research that shows people disproportionately associate pitbull ownership with black culture, and of research that shows white and black toddlers each view black toddlers as inferior.
There’s definitely a selection bias: you work at a place that handles neglected, abused, or unwanted dogs, and bully dogs are very popular. The selection of dogs you see doesn’t include those that already live in forever homes, where they will die of old age without ever being anything but a loyal and trusted family member. Also, I bet that if you tested the DNA of 50 dogs you visually identified as being pitbulls, maybe half of them are not actually pitbulls.
I find this rhetoric extremely dangerous. This is what eugenicists say. It’s what the most delusional racists say.