Indiana Man Mauled to Death by Pet Dog on Christmas

[Drahthaardogs]

71. How about some opinions from a Top 5 Vet school proffessor and national renown canine behaviorist?

BONNIE V. BEAVER, BS, DVM, MS, DACVB, Professor and Chief of Medicine, Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University
Executive Director, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists

By its origin, a pit bull is a fighting dog that takes very little stimulus to initiate aggression, and it will continue to fight regardless of what happens.

Pit bulldogs have been responsible for about 70 percent of the deaths of humans killed by dogs since 1979.

The AVMA warns veterinarians to be careful about supplying behavioural evaluations of dogs for insurance purposes.

"It's risky for veterinarians," said Dr. Beaver, explaining that there are many situations in which a dog may behave aggressively, and temperament tests can't rule out the possibility of aggression. "You don't have temperament tests that can identify all possibilities."

I am not sure if that meets your definition of "inherently vicious"; however, as a breeder and trainer of dogs myself, I think it is pretty clear that most informed people believe there is a genetic predisposition to aggressive behavior that when coupled with the breeds' athleticism, power, and habit of "kill shaking" rather than biting and letting go, these dogs are capable of inflicting massive damage when they do attack. Only deniers believe that genetics, breeding, etc. play no role in a dog's temperament and subsequent behavior. As one prominent trainer notes, "A dog dies with the temperament he was born with. You can modify it, you can train around it, you can hide it, but you cannot change the fundamentals of it". THAT is why we breeders chose different breeds for different jobs. Genetics has a huge role in things. To say otherwise is nonsensical.