The Courier Mail 27th January 1996.Please Note: Original article in Black
EDBA response in Blue
Quotes from third parties in Red

By Mathew Horan.

Chopper is a loveable brindle dog with a big dopey grin and a tail that won’t stop wagging. 
Sounds like a typical American Pit Bull Terrier. 

Two weeks ago, he would have crushed your hand without a thought if you went to pat him. 
Did this ever happen, if he was so aggressive how was he handled? It would be incredibly dangerous to try to handle Chopper if he was this vicious? 

Chopper is a Pit Bull Terrier, the same breed of dog that mauled 76-year-old Toowoomba woman Barbara Stringer to death on December 27 last year. 
No the dog that killed Mrs. Stringer was NOT AN AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER.  Attached is a statement from Terry Collicutt Manager of Toowoomba & District Society for the Prevention of Cruelty stating the dog not to be a Pit Bull Terrier but a cross Bull Breed of some sort. 
Further S. Collier, from the University of New England, Armidale was set to Identify the dog, but the Toowoomba council destroyed the body and were unable to give a reason WHY?

But to look at chopper, who has undergone 2 weeks of intensive training and is now everyone’s best friend, you wonder how much of the talk of banning the breed is a knee-jerk reaction?
If Chopper was this vicious it would take more than 2 weeks to correct this behavior.
Breed Bans are all ways a Knee-Jerk reaction, as they have no chance of reducing dog attacks in frequency or severity. Also they are extremely expensive and unproductive. 

After Mrs.Stringers horrific death, local councils and state governments began an intense campaign to solve the dangerous dog problems in our cities.
YES, they started a campaign that was successful in allowing all councils to make Local Laws to deal with dogs at their discretion, including BSL. So far no shire in QLD has made any positive or successful steps in reducing dog attacks, 5 years later. This is because they misplaced their effort and failed to recognise dog attacks are a HUMAN problem not a dog breed one--had they used their resources to educate and enforce community laws, particularly leash laws, they may have significantly reduced public place attacks.

If local councils have their way, dogs like Chopper will become an extinct breed, the Do Do of the dog world. 
There is no breed called Pit Bull, the media has created this name, as well as using it flexibly applying it to ALL mixes of bull breeds when reporting attacks. This is deliberately misleading the public, as a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross is NOT A PIT BULL. There is only one breed with Pit in its name and that is the American Pit Bull Terrier, a very old pure breed. 

Are Pit Bulls that much more dangerous than attack dogs such as Rottweilers & German Shepherd, or is it a case of “no such thing as bad dogs, just bad owners?

BOTH SAYS THE RSPCA. Paul Edwards.

Pit Bulls were breed from Staffordshire Bull Terriers & Bull Mastiffs - Not to guard, or hunt, but to viciously rip other dogs to death in pits while their bloodthirsty owners cheered.

 “They can literally sever limbs,” the RSPCAs, Paul Edwards said.

Unlike German Shepherds, which lock their jaws, Pit Bulls move their back molars once they have bitten. Their lower jaw scissors back & forth to sever flesh from the bone. 
In the first few lines the RSPCAs Mr. Edwards has made many false and misleading statements, that will be explained in the facts section of this story. I point to an extract from Dr Brisbin of the University of Georgia.

"The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of Pit Bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any breed of dog. There is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any kind of 'locking mechanism' unique to the structure of the jaw and/or teeth of the American Pit Bull Terrier." 
 

They are not large dogs, but they have an enormous power-to-weight ratio. Their jaw strength is far greater than any other dog.

A Rottweiler will exert 800 pounds-per-square-inch jaw pressure and a Bull Terrier will exert 1200psi. A Pit Bull will exert more than 2000 psi. 

You can have savage Labradors and savage Chihuahuas, but none of them has the potential to maim & kill that a pit bull does.

42% of all dog related deaths in the US are from Pit Bulls - & they constitute 1% of all dogs. 70% of those deaths were children. 

A Rotty or Doberman are savage because they are territorial - they will defend their space. A Pit Bull is not savage in that sense-just unpredictable.
This is more blatant misinformation. Actually American Pit Bull Terriers are in the top few pure breeds in stability. I point to the results of the American Temperament Test www.atts.org . 

But underlying this ferocity is an overwhelming loyalty to their owners. Dog breeders & Trainers claim they are one of the most loyal breeds of dogs.
The American Pit Bull Terrier is one of, if not the most loyal dog breed known to people, this is the trait abused by cruel and neglectful people.

Even as much as traditionally loyal dogs such as Border Collies.

“They are the most loyal & courageous dog imaginable for their owners,” Mr. Edwards said.
A little truth from the RSPCA!

“But they are entirely unpredictable around strangers”. 

There are responsible people that own Pit Bulls – their dogs are just less likely to be dangerous than the grubs who blood their dogs & use them for fighting. 
This could be said about all dogs, to a degree, if any dog is treated badly problems are predictable.

People like that just use dogs as an extension of their egos. 
Yes they do and removing one or even ten breeds will not fix the problem! The only way BSL can stop these types is if all dogs are banned.

Many of the irresponsible dog owners do not register their Pit Bulls - and if they do they are registered similar to the one in the Toowoomba attack – as a “Labrador cross.” 
The dog at Toowoomba was a Labrador cross, with several breeds. Where is your evidence that it was an American Pit Bull Terrier?

Pit Bulls are not a registered breed in Australia, although they are in the US as the American Pit Bull Terrier.

From the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, they have gained attributes of a muscular dog, with a large, strong mouth and furrows to drain the victim’s blood away from their eyes. From the Bull Mastiff they gained a cold heart, lack of emotion, with a high pain threshold.
More Hype and Mis-information with no foundation in fact! If this breed is so naturally vicious why is it necessary to use such Lies & Hysteria to denounce it, instead of facts?

Mr. Kirkpatrick.
Dog trainers tell horrific tales of how cruel owners in the south-east Queensland throw their dogs in above ground pools to fight to the death while thousands of dollars are bet.

After 3 kills, the dog is retired and put to stud at $3000 a time - It’s big money trainer Keith Kirkpatrick said.
Sounds like tails to me, with the total lack of factual evidence so far what possible credibility do these people have left, but they go even further! 

But Mr. Kirkpatrick believes that bloodthirstiness can be trained out of a Pit Bull – to a degree. 

“They are like a loaded gun. There are situations you need one, and as long as you’ve got the training and have the safety catch on you’re okay. But if a kid picks up the gun…” he said. 
American Pit Bull Terriers are not "like loaded guns". This is a particularly unfortunate simile. Loaded guns by themselves have no agency and are only effective in a person's hands. A dog is a living and thinking creature whose behaviour is determined by a complex set of interacting factors, of which breed (genetics) is one. The fact that the overwhelming majority of Queensland's thousands of American Pit Bull Terriers have committed no offence refutes the loaded gun allegation. 

Chopper is a testament to his success. The 15 month old Pit Bull has been in intensive training at Mr. Kirkpatricks Cherokee farm in Manly for 2 weeks and has several weeks left. 

“When he came in he was very animal aggressive and wanted to bite every other dog,” he said. “Now he is really calm – he’s been taught he doesn’t have to punch everyone in the face when he walks down the road.
NO PERSON in this article knows any thing about Bull & Terriers! Chopper was showing a classic case of dog aggression common to many breeds. In dogs, aggression comes in many forms, Dog aggression is in no way related to Human Aggression.

Dogs and training are like kids – the ones that don’t go to school end up in Boggo Road. 

He emphasised that Chopper’s owner had been doing all the right things to train the dog – just that the dog needed intensive training to try to overcome inborn traits.

“There are a lot of irresponsible owners, especially in the city,” he said.
Yes there are, and they are the cause of the Unacceptable level of dog attacks from all breeds. 
I point to the “Declared Dangerous Dog” list from 1991 to Sep 1995 from Brisbane City, and there are NO APBTs. Note this article was written on the 27th January 1996. Further in 2001 the APBT was responsible for 1.8% of attacks at the Gold Coast and 1.01% in QLD. 

“Pit Bulls are fantastic dogs if you use them for something like pig hunting. But if you’ve got a ten ton truck, you don’t use it to go to the corner shop.” 

Mr. Kirkpatrick told of one Pit Bull used for pig hunting that was badly gored by a Boar. 
It kept on at the pig until it (the pig) was dead, then it had its guts pushed back in and washed off with whisky and stitched up. It was back chasing pigs in 3 weeks. 
No brain no pain. 
This is physically impossible, any vet will support that it is impossible to do this, because infection carried by pigs will cause massive infection. If a wound of this type was stitched up the dog would dye from infection (WITHIN DAYS) unless the dog received extensive veterinary care “including a long course of antibiotics”. Do Pit Bulls (NOT A BREED) have super healing and infection fighting abilities? 

This report also seems to be conflicting, with Pit Bulls being “loyal” and now no brain no pain. Is loyalty not a sign of intelligence? All animals have brains & feelings. If I cut thee does it not bleed and feel pain! Statements like this sicken me, as they are irresponsible and encourage animal cruelty.

Dog trainer Bruce Bonney believes most Pit Bulls are beyond redemption. 

“We had a few 5-week-old puppies along to classes and when I went to shake its neck to chastise it, it turned around with such strength and tried to bite me’” he said. “

This was a little puppy, but it had such incredible strength and absolutely no fear.” 
Bruce Bonny, do you normally judge entire breeds on the actions of one puppy? Also the puppy was taken to classes because it had obvious behavioral problems, hardly a credible example to base a description of an entire breed on.

“The owners had done everything right, but in the end of the day they had to put it down.” 

If a dog has that level of inbred aggression, it is only suitable for guard work, in close quarters behind a fence where no humans are allowed. 
I beg to differ guard dogs are not chosen for a high level of aggression, as then they would be impossible to handle or control. 

Keeping a Pit Bull is like taking a Lion from the zoo and putting it on a leash in the street.
There are a stated 10000 APBT living in Victoria.
Victorian dog bite statistics from 1997 to 1999 account for a total of 683 attacks on people. Of these, 127 were from ONE breed. The American Pit bull Terrier? Why good heavens no! The Pit Bull Terrier was recorded in only 21 of those attacks. (That’s 3%) Number 13 on the list of 20.
I think if there were 10000 Lions living in families there would be more than 21 attacks in 2 years.
 

THE FACTS

FACT 1. A Pit Bull bite is three times worse than a Rottweilers.

FACT 2. A Rottweilers has 800psi (Pounds Per Squire Inch Jaw Pressure).

FACT 3. A Bull Terrier has 1200psi, 

FACT 4. A pit bull’s bite force is 2000+ psi plus. 

Simply this is meant to mean Facts (2, 3, & 4) prove and substantiate Fact 1? 
DO THEY!!!
I would like to ask the Courier Mail what credible source of scientific evidence was supplied to them for this story? I point to the following study by Dr Brisbin.

Dr Brisbin of the University of Georgia states:
To the best of our knowledge, there are no published scientific studies.  That would allow any meaningful comparison to be made of the biting power of various breeds of dogs. There are moreover, compelling technical reasons.  Why such data describing biting power in terms of pounds per square inch Can never be collected in a meaningful way. All figures describing biting power.  In such terms can be traced to either unfounded rumor, or in some cases, to newspaper articles with no foundation in factual data.

FACT 5. A Pit Bull does not lock its jaw as do other dogs (ALTHOUGH THIS IS A FREQUENT CLAIM MADE AGAINST IT), but it lower jaw scissors back and forth to rend flesh from the bone. 

Both Lock Jaw and Scissor Jaw, are figments of the imagination of the uneducated. 

Dr Brisbin; This is anatomically impossible. Humans can move their mandibles forward to a degree because of an essentially flat dental plane. Dogs have greatly projecting and interlocking canine teeth and projecting cheek teeth that prevent movement forwards and backwards. I have a dog skull on my desk as I write and this type of movement can not be made. 

"The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of pit bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any breed of dog. There is absolutely no evidence of the existence of any kind of 'locking mechanism' unique to the structure of the jaw and/or teeth of the American Pit Bull Terrier." 

FACT 6 Pit Bulls are bred from Staffordshire Bull Terriers – Gaining their incredible musculature  - and Bull Mastiffs Gaining a Cold-Hearted lack of emotion and Phenomenal resistance to pain.
This is false. What are now called American Pit Bull Terriers are at least as old a breed as Bull Mastiffs, witch originated in the eighteenth century. Staffordshire Bull Terriers are a show variant, which emerged from the Old English Bull & Terriers in the 1930s. 

If these facts can be so falsified, what reliance can be placed on the rest of the commentary and future statements and reports made by these people? 

In the article under discussion Mr. Paul Edwards of the RSPCA claims that Pit Bulls can literally sever limbs with out producing evidence or a single case of it happening. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick, a dog trainer confuses dog aggression with human aggression in this article. This from a person of his knowledge is both confusing and distressing, Confusing as many breeds of dogs if poorly socialized can be dog aggressive. He would deal with this every day. Distressing to see a person of knowledge stating things as facts, of which he would have to know to be false. 
Mr. Kirkpatrick would see many Bull & Terrier types at his training, that are dog aggressive. Why is a particular breed portrayed after one individual dog, that is showing not so uncommon behavior that occurs in all breeds?

 A further common accusation against the breed is aired in the article. That is that “PIT BULLS” are responsible for 42% of all dog related deaths in the United States- sometimes a time period is added to this claim. There have been some studies in the U.S.A. that have reached conclusions like this, but they are flawed in two ways and usually written by anti PIT BULL groups. In the U.S. literature “PIT BULL” means any dog or crossbreed of at least four separate breeds, one of witch is the American Pit Bull Terrier. The other Breeds are the Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier. This puts all Bull and Terriers together and their crosses. This being the case why are all of the other breeds recorded individually and not in groups e.g. Herding dogs, Retrievers, Guarding Dogs, Gun Dogs etc. The second flaw is that the identification of the breed of an attacking dog is not recorded reliably. 

D. Eva Lydick, a member of the American College of Epidemiology, has reviewed these studies.  She concludes that the 

Studies are seriously flawed, and that none of the data necessary to test whether American Pit Bull Terriers have a higher that average breed bite rate are available.  Dr. Lydick makes the important point that even if “pit bulls” were shown to bite more frequently than other breeds it would be questionable whether this resulted from the inherent nature of the breed or from socialization factors, such as owners training or encouraging them to bite.  If the latter were the case, banning pit bulls would not reduce dog bite rates because these people would choose another breed.  As Dr. Lydick says, the nature versus nurture question has plagued geneticists, sociologist and other scientists for decades.  It is very simple-minded to clam that the behavior of a breed of dog is determined by its breed and that it has a “dangerous” or “unpredictable” nature. 

When this is considered and added to the unreliability of the data used to denounce the American Pit Bull Terrier, there are strong reasons to conclude that no effective case has been made against the breed, even in America and certainly in Australia.

By 
Peter Whitemin……