By Tracy Doyle, realpitbull-l member

1.) Since 1992, the breed most involved in fatal attacks has been the Rottweiler, not the pit bull.

2.) Although there are no accurate or even near accurate census records for dogs in the U.S., in some populations pit bulls are estimated to comprise some 30-40% of the dog population, making it a very popular breed. Considering that there were an estimated 53,000,000 dogs in the U.S., and assuming that pit bulls make up 10% of that population, there would be approximately 5.3 million pit bulls in our society. In 2000, 13 pit bulls were involved in 8 fatal attacks. That is roughly ONE dog out of 204,000 - or .000385 percent of the pit bull population.

3.) Over the 37-year period from 1965-2001, pit bulls have been blamed for an average of 2.48 human fatalities per year.

4.) About 40 people (children) per year die by drowning in 5-gallon water pails. A person, during their lifetime, is 16 times more likely to drown in a 5-gallon water pail than to be killed by a pit bull.

5.) Approximately 50 children in the US are killed every year by their cribs - 25 times the number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.

6.) Approximately 150 people are killed every year by falling coconuts. Therefore, you are more than 60 TIMES MORE LIKELY to be killed by a PALM TREE than a pit bull.

7.) Each year, 350 people drown in their bathtubs. You are 151 times more likely to be killed by your bathtub than you are by a pit bull.

8.) It is estimated that about 500 deaths per year are caused by aspirin. You are more than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.

9.) Every year, more than 2,000 children in the U.S. are killed by their parents or guardians either through abuse or neglect. A child is more than 800 times more likely to be killed by their adult caretaker than by a pit bull.

10.) It is estimated that 5,000,000 dogs per year are killed in shelters. Since in many places pit bulls make up 30-50% of the shelter population, and are less likely to be considered for placement than any other breed, guessing that 25% of those dogs killed is a reasonable estimate. Therefore, it can be assumed that perhaps 1.25 million pit bulls are killed per year.

Therefore - it is at least a HALF MILLION TIMES MORE LIKELY that a pit bull will be killed by a HUMAN than the other way around.

11.) For every pit bull who kills, there are hundreds of thousands that DON'T.

In the year 2000, pit bulls were involved in 8 fatalities.

From the National Safety Council: Numbers of Deaths Due to Injury, United States in 2000: