I recently came across an old research paper of the above title written
in 1974 (full article here) that investigated an increase in the
incidence of dog bites in New York city from 1965 to 1972.
There were a few findings I found quite interesting such as the increase
in large aggressive breeds kept specifically for security being a big part of
the problem, and that there were more free-ranging dogs in lower income areas,
but there is one paragraph from their discussion that is worth quoting
word-for-word:
“The attacks
of packs of so-called stray dogs have often
drawn much attention in the popular press. In many instances these packs of dogs
are composed not of unowned, stray dogs but
of owned dogs which are allowed to
roam freely. Such animals often form packs in
the morning or evening hours, particularly around a female
in heat. The unowned, stray dogs
are infrequently aggressive and more
often than not bite only when provoked or
harassed. In contrast, owned dogs which are permitted to roam
the streets develop a sense of territorial
possession, which includes not only the property of their owners but also the
area in which they roam. A stranger walking down such a
street risks being bitten by an aggressive dog which considers
the street its territory.”
Apparently, blaming strays for
the deeds of pet dogs was the case over 40 years ago as well as now. Even the
implied cases of packs of stray dogs may actually have been pets that were
never identified as such.
The authors do not attempt to
explain why pets are aggressive in their territory more so than strays (which
presumably also have a territory) but I believe this comes down to the effect
of socializing dogs to people. Pet dogs react to people as they do to other
dogs whereas dogs that have never been owned see people as people and dogs as
dogs. Therefore, unowned dogs can bite a person as a physical threat but pets
will also bite a person as a social threat making them much more dangerous.
This is a fundamental difference between the behavior of pet dogs and those
that have never been owned. I really wish it was more widely understood as it
is a key argument when trying to persuade dog owners’ to control their pet in
areas that also have unowned dogs on the streets. Put simply: IT IS NOT OKAY TO
LET YOUR PET DOG ROAM JUST BECAUSE OTHER DOGS ARE ALREADY OUT THERE.
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