Can The General Public Spot A ‘Dangerous Dog’?
The U.K. Dangerous Dogs Act was enacted in 1991 and contained elements of dangerous dog law and breed-specific legislation (BSL). Some people believed the government passed the act simply to relieve public concerns, despite strong opposition and without evaluating the evidence. Research since has shown that banned breeds do not cause the majority of bites; however, the number of dogs seized for appearing to be a prohibited type rose in the aftermath. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals claims that dog bite incidents increased despite the act. It is also possible that the act, which is still in existence, had and continues to have a broader impact on societal perceptions of dogs.
Previous studies found that the public does not have a good understanding of dangerous dogs and have difficulty identifying banned dog breeds. This study aimed to evaluate the public’s overall knowledge of banned breeds and whether or not they are able to distinguish between Pit Bull Terrier (PBT) -type dogs, and other similar bull breeds. It also looked at whether or not people who have worked in dog-related professions have a higher identification accuracy, and which characteristics are thought to be important in determining a dog’s dangerousness.
To do this, researchers analyzed an online survey completed by 762 individuals that consisted of 63 questions. The first section collected demographic information about the respondents, including whether or not they had previously worked with dogs. In the second section, participants were shown 30 different dogs, 22 purebreds, and 8 mixed breeds, and asked to identify the breed of each. In the third section, participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with the current U.K. method of identifying PBT-type breeds after viewing 20 pictures of “bull breeds.” The participants were also asked to rate the importance of certain physical and behavioral characteristics in determining how dangerous a dog is. Finally, they were provided a comment box to include any additional factors they believed to be important.
The study found that the mean respondent only identified 13.2 breeds of the 22 purebred dogs correctly, with no difference in the accuracy of breed identification between purebred and mixed breed. Additionally, only 3 of the 20 pictures of “bull breeds” were identified correctly more than 80% of the time. On average, participants correctly identified 12.4 of the 20 bull breed dogs. Individuals who worked in dog-related professions showed higher breed knowledge and obtained higher pit bull identification scores.
Overall, behavioral characteristics, such as whether the dog had previously bitten a human, were considered significantly more important than physical characteristics in determining how dangerous a dog is. Irresponsible “ownership” was mentioned by 91 participants as an important additional factor.
The results of this study were consistent with previous findings that it is difficult for individuals to accurately identify breeds, particularly bull breeds. It is evident that there is a lack of education surrounding banned types of dogs. The findings showed that people with dog experience are more able to correctly identify breeds, but not consistently. Interestingly, those who had worked with dogs professionally had a more negative view of BSL. Overall, the results raise concerns about how the current U.K. legislation works to identify dangerous dogs, particularly PBT-type dogs, and the impact the legislation has – and has already had – on dogs.