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Guidelines for Fatal Dog Attacks in the United States
Standardization of breed names
Please use these guidelines to help keep breed names accurate, consistent, and organized. Currently, the main page contains a variety of different formats (capitalizations, hyphenations, and sometimes spellings) for breed names. For example, the Labrador Retriever is capitalized in a variety of ways including: Labrador Retriever, Labrador retriever, and labrador retriever. While there are a number of different suggested ways to capitalize and hyphenate breed names, the recommendation of this guideline is to follow the format that the American Kennel Club and United Kennel Club use which is to capitalize all names in a breed name, for example: Labrador Retriever. In the case of mixed breeds, the format is also to capitalize all breed names but not the word "mix", for example: Labrador Retriever-Husky mix. In the case of pit bulls, since "pit bull" is not a proper breed but a dog type (a category of dog consisting of at least 4 breeds as listed on the pit bull Wikipedia page), the proper way to capitalize pit bull is with both names lowercase: pit bull (unless it is the first word in a sentence, or it appears as the beginning word(s) in a list/column, then it would be: Pit bull and "bull" should not be capitalized). If one of the proper pit bull breeds is identified, then all of the names in the breed name would be capitalized (like any other proper breed), for example: American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. If the number of dogs involved in an attack is more than one, for consistency it should be listed as: Breed (2). For example, if two German Shepherd dogs are involved, then it would be listed as German Shepherds (2).

Examples of breed name format, as recommended:

  • Labrador Retriever
  • Labrador Retriever mix
  • Labrador Retriever-Husky mix
  • Doberman Pinscher
  • American Pit Bull Terrier
  • pit bull
  • pit bull mix
  • mixed breed dog
  • pack of dogs

Examples if two dogs of the same or mixed breed are involved in an attack, as recommended:

  • German Shepherds (2)
  • Doberman Pinschers (2)
  • mixed breed dogs (2)
  • pack of dogs (2)
  • pit bulls (2)
  • Doberman Pinschers (2), German Shepherds (2), pit bull mixes (2)
Identification of breed(s) involved in incidents
The dog breed(s) or dog type(s) identified in the "Category of Dog" field should match the breed information provided in a news or law enforcement source. In the case that there is a variance (or disagreement) of the breed(s) involved in one or several news sources, then both breeds should be listed in the "Category of Dog" field. For example, if one news source describes the dog as a "mixed breed dog" and another news source describes the dog as a "Mastiff", then the "Category of Dog" field should include both descriptions as: "Mastiff or mixed breed dog". In this case, both news sources should be provided as references - one source to substantiate the breed as a "Mastiff" and the second source to substantiate the breed as a "mixed breed dog".

Note: In the case that a dog's description includes multiple (three more) breeds, then by definition it is a mixed breed dog and should be listed as a "mixed breed dog" in the "Category" field; however, the various breeds (if known) can be described in the "Circumstances" field.

After investigation, sometimes there is a final issued statement about the breed. In such an instance, the breed column should be corrected. The various earlier mentioned breeds MAY be noted in the circumstances, but should NOT be left remaining in the breed column.

Other decades[edit]

Were the articles covering the 2000s and 2010s deleted? FinnSoThin (talk) 21:28, 25 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they were deleted. Someone slipped a deletion request in under the radar for one page and the admin apparently decided to delete a few extra pages as well. See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of fatal dog attacks in the United States (2014) Astro$01 (talk) 11:32, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
It should have been merged, not deleted. The info should be recovered. Bad oversight by the admin imo. — AdrianHObradors (talk) 15:34, 9 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that the information should be recovered Profpedia (talk) 12:02, 22 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The deleted information should be recovered and re-organized in a similar manner as other countries pages on Wikipedia about fatal dog attacks. For example; Canada's page is organized by before the 2000s and after 2000s and it has not been edited or deleted like the USA page has.
Fatal dog attacks are indeed more rare in Canada compared to the United States where it is much more common, but the deleted data can be re-organized by decade instead of by year.
The article as of now post deletion of pre-2010 attacks makes it look incomplete or that the editors and admins are purposely omitting data from before 2010 which is making it look biased to one side when it should stay neutral. 184.148.217.186 (talk) 16:36, 24 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Absolutely, I agree the information should be recovered. You can’t just delete pages Wikipedia pages in such an arbitrary manner. Veritas Aeterna (talk) 18:57, 9 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Problem article[edit]

The previous discussions on the talk page have valid points in their criticisms of this article.

First of all, dogsbite.org should not be considered a reliable source, nor should its owner, Colleen Lynn. At the most, it should simply be used as a guide to point to the more reputable sources (similar to how you should not cite Wikipedia, but the sources that Wikipedia itself cites). At the worst, its run by a biased individual who's been accused of presenting misleading statistics and information.

Second, it's very tenuous to list the breed of dog. According to the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, "identifying a dog's breed accurately is difficult, even for professionals, and visual recognition is known to not always be reliable." I'm not sure what the policy is on this with regards to when news reports claim to know the breed involved, but at the very least, this should be added in the header.

Third, why is it only bites for the past few years?

This article is a mess, and these issues need to be addressed. Riffraff913 (talk) 19:58, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Also interesting that the first paragraph makes reference to a study about pit bulls being responsible for more fatal dog attacks than other breeds, yet makes no mention of all the research that says otherwise, that breed is a poor indicator for such uses, or about how difficult it is to define a breed (particularly without genetic testing). Riffraff913 (talk) 20:23, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That is because the multi-million dollar pit-bull lobby funded by Animal Farm Foundation (AFF), owned by Jane Berkey, with its own front organization to run biased studies, the National Canine Research Council (NCRC), which appear in AVMA, which is also pro-pit, produces the biased studies you have seen. Wikipedia is about truth, not biased studies. If the most common dog in rescues was Cane Corsos, and they were advocated as family-friendly dogs, with the horrors that currently result with pit bulls, we would be talking about them instead. Veritas Aeterna (talk) 15:55, 25 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The wiki on pit bull clearly explains that “pit bull” isn’t one particular breed, it is a list of breeds with a distinctive appearance that separate them from other breeds. So the dogs in question appear to be pit bull, they do not need a genetic test as proof, same as if I said a chihuahua attacked because it appeared to be a chihuahua. The sources claiming the attacks are from pit bulls are from the dog owners, eye witnesses, police, etc. If you have other sources disputing what those present at the time of the attacks saw, feel free to post those sources. Profpedia (talk) 12:12, 22 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If you have studies or research showing other breeds attack or kill, feel free to create a wiki pertaining to that breed and updating it with reputable sources showing fatal attacks. Profpedia (talk) 12:14, 22 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Possible Fabricated June 27th, 2021 Listing?[edit]

the June 27th, 2021 entry for a Cartyr Lou Evelyn Clinger seems to only exist documented on this Wikipedia page. further issues, like the breed of the dog being spelled in lower case as opposed to the Title Casing used throughout the article, ("pit bull," vs "Pit Bull,") and the description of the event being oddly detailed and story-like in contrast to the functional quality of other descriptions, suggest it's a fabricated event. i don't have the ability to edit this article, so wanted to flag. YellabelIy (talk) 15:55, 22 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for letting us know. I've removed the entry pending someone coming up with a reliable source for the event. — Trey Maturin™ 16:02, 22 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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