When something like the satiric "Super Bowl" video, "Do Not Adopt a Pit Bull," goes viral, a relatively small group of pit bull advocates takes it as their cue to spread misinformation about the breed, such as that pit bulls are "nanny dogs" and perfectly safe with people. In fact, pit bulls are the #1 canine killers of children, #1 canine killers of dog owners, and #1 killers of the members of dog owners' families. They are the least safe dog in the country. Despite the overwhelming evidence of this, coming from newspapers, court decisions, and studies by hospitals and cities, this relatively small group of pit bull advocates continues denying that evidence. I refer to them as the "lunatic fringe."
Refusal to consider facts is terrible, anti-intellectual and risky when it comes to the dangers presented by pit bulls and other things. I am reminded of smokers who say they don't believe smoking is bad because their habit hasn't hurt them. True it is, that only a half million people per year will die from smoking, which is a small percentage of smokers (there are 36 million in the USA). People who smoke are ignoring the consequences to them and their families, and increasing the burden on taxpayers. Tobacco smoking costs the healthcare system $170 billion a year, and public programs like Medicare and Medicaid pay for most of these costs. To me, it's crazy and wrong to ignore danger, and selfish to impose that danger and those costs on the rest of us, whether the source of the danger is cigarettes or pit bulls.
