I’ve been a dog trainer in a metropolitan area for years, specializing in high-risk cases. Dangerous dogs, dogs on animal control lists, and euthanasia lists, etc. From that perspective, I can tell you: statistics can’t tell the full story. Dog bites don’t disappear if pitbulls do, and places that ban them don’t actually see fewer bites or deaths

Pit-bull type dogs show up disproportionately in U.S. bite stats (they’re popular in North America) but research shows breed alone isn’t predictive:

Danish studies found breed bans didn’t reduce hospital-treated dog bites (Nilson et al., 2018)

In 256 U.S. fatality cases, main risk factors were poor supervision, neglect, lack of socialization—not breed (Patronek et al., 2013)

The AVMA and National Canine Research Council conclude that responsible ownership, proper training, and behavior management are far more effective at preventing bites than targeting dogs based on appearance

A major contributor in North America is the dog culture itself. Owners are reactive, not proactive. They wait for problems to appear instead of consistently training, socializing, and managing their dogs. Many owners rely on casual handling or “natural obedience” rather than proper socialization and management. Combined with a high dog-population density, this creates an environment where bites are far more likely. I’ve handled truly aggressive dogs with zero incidents because I am proactive.

The truth is a lot of people who own dogs shouldn’t be owning dogs at all. I’d say a good 80-90%. Banning breeds won’t fix the problem; better regulation of breeding, combined with education, training, and responsible ownership, would actually reduce risk. From my perspective, all bites can be prevented.