I submitted a public information request to Contra Costa County Animal Services for photos of the dogs confiscated from Steven Hayashi that were reported to have fatally mauled Mr. Hayashi’s 2-year old grandson.

In response to that public information request, I received the following photos that show questionable breed heritage and mixed breed dogs of undetermined origin. The photos clearly demonstrate the issues with breed identification.

The reason Chako is posting these photos is in response to debate about whether the dogs were, in fact, Pit Bulls. Apparently a cousin of Hayashi’s has been on forums claiming the dogs were all mixes, not Pit Bulls. While I believe breed is irrelevant, I think it makes absolutely no sense to even comment on breed without photos.

I don’t think it does any good one way or the other to distort the truth. If the dogs are purebred Pit Bulls, then denying that they are simply reduces one’s credibility. If the dogs are not Pit Bulls, then labelling them as such is just another way of perpetrating a falsehood.

Unfortunately, the angle of the photos makes it difficult to tell for sure. One dog is only visible from the side, with its head turned away from the camera. At least one of the dogs is very noticeably un-Pit Bull like in its appearance and appears to be a labrador or possibly mastiff mix.

So, take a look at the photos, and if you think you can tell what breeds these dogs are, speak up in the comments section.

From my perspective (and having only the photos to go on), these dogs are mostly mixed breed dogs. One looks nothing like a Pit Bull. If I met the first dog on the street, I’d swear it had no Pit Bull in it whatsoever.

People have said that even the owner calls the dogs Pit Bulls. The owner procured his original dog from a shelter. The shelter apparently released the dog unsterilized, which is a huge “NO” in California. Anyone who has worked in rescue understands that shelters are not often accurate on identifying breed, and they tend to call anything that looks remotely like it could have some bull or terrier breeds in it a “Pit Bull” mix.

A shelter that releases a dog unsterilized is already suspect in its reputability to begin with. Therefore, it matters not what Hayashi thinks his dog may be. In actuality, he just doesn’t know. He didn’t see the parents, and he got his dog from a shelter that apparently called it a “Pit Bull mix.” That’s a designation applied to almost any dog of mixed breed origin with shorter hair in many shelter systems. It’s come to mean nothing.

What is undeniable is that the media has labelled these dogs–all of them–as Pit Bulls. The San Francisco Chronicle reported, “The toddler was fatally mauled when he entered the home garage where the family kept…pit bulls.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t see Pit Bulls in the photos below.

One final point, just because I have to comment on it. Very few, if any, of these dogs would match San Francisco’s breed checklist for a Pit Bull.

As an example, the second dog has a narrow muzzle, a narrow chest, and absolutely nothing that is well-muscled. San Francisco’s checklist calls for a broad skull, strong underjaw, a heavy and muscular neck attached to muscular shoulders, a deep broad chest and wide front and muscular hindquarters. There’s nothing broad, deep, wide or muscular on that dog. It matches almost nothing of San Francisco’s checklist.

(NOTE THERE WERE FIVE Dogs in the household, two were outside at the time of the attack, and the photos submitted were not all high quality. One dog had its head completely turned away from the camera, on a side shot. The other dog was in poor condition and the photo was somewhat graphic so we opted not to publish it).

In yesterday’s post, I looked at how two different media outlets reported the two most recent dog-bite related human fatalities in California. Still, one example doesn’t make a rule. Today, I’m going to go with some cold, hard statistics, thanks to research done by Libby Sherrill for her documentary Beyond the Myth.

Libby interviewed Carl Friedman, the former Director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control. Hardly, an opponent of breed-specific-legislation (BSL), he wrote a canine response working group report that cited Denver, Colorado as a “best practice” for breed specific legislation. Denver, of course, has an outright ban on Pit Bulls and has euthanized thousands of innocent dogs.

However, even he recognizes that the media gives unequal coverage to dog bites. In an interview with Sherrill, he stated, “When a Pit Bull, let’s say, mauls somebody or a Pit Bull bites somebody, chances are you’re going to see that on the first or second page of the newspaper and probably on the five O’clock news or six O’clock news. If another dog bites somebody or a different breed bites somebody, chances are it won’t even be reported.”

Sherrill’s documentary looked at how the media reported on two significant dog-related fatalities of children. The first was Kate-Lynn Logel, killed in 2005 by her family’s Malamutes. A newslibrary.com search containing the phrase “Kate-Lynn Logel” yielded 18 articles.

A newslibrary.com search containing the phrase “Nicholas Faibish” yielded 292 articles.

The study showed that 68% of news articles reporting “pit bull” or “pit bull mix” attacks mentioned “pit bull” in the headline. Only 8% of news articles reporting on attacks by other breeds mentioned the breed in the headline.

This type of inequitable reporting is not limited to dog attacks. It’s so common in the media, that it has a name: agenda-setting. What agenda setting boils down to is simple. The media decides what’s important to report on, and in making that choice, the media tells people what’s important, and how the media reports on those issues influences how people think about those issues.

So, next time you take in a news story about a dog attack (or, really, any other issue), before you form an opinion on the subject, it might be wise to do your own research based on sources outside the media (which can admittedly be hard to do, since even the Centers for Disease Control used the media as a source in its famous 1997 dog-bite related study).

Today, a dog killed another 2-year old child. This time in San Diego. As sad and tragic as this horrific incident is, it unfortunately stands as an example of inequitable news coverage.

California has seen two recent fatal. In one, a dog identified as a Pit Bull killed a 2 year old in northern California.  Today, a dog identified as a German Shepherd killed a toddler.

Let’s take a look at how two media outlets reported the attacks.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the “Pit Bull” attack as follows:
Owner of pitbulls that killed CA boy arrested.
It even reported on a nonfatality involving a dog identified as “Pit Bull”:
Pit bull bites 7-year-old Oakland girl in the face

The German Shepherd attack was headlined as, “Dog mauls toddler to death in Tierrasanta”

San Francisco chronicle also reported on the German shepherd story: 2-year-old mauled to death by family dog

But when a Pit Bull simply bit a girl in the face in the Oakland incident, the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the breed in the headline: Pit Bull bites 7-year old Oakland girl in the face.

And the Concord fatality:
Step-grandfather talks about killer pit bulls

The unequal reporting makes an association between “Pit Bull” and attack or mauling but not other breeds because the other breeds generally aren’t mentioned in the headline. Unless you clicked on the story of the German shepherd, you’d have no idea what the breed was (and may have even assumed it to be a Pit Bull because that’s what people are used to seeing in headline news). The day the Oakland girl was bitten in the face by a Pit Bull, other children in the bay area were bitten by dogs not identified as Pit Bulls. It happens every day in every city in America, and yet most were not reported.

The old adage, “Dog bites man, isn’t news. Man bites dog, is news,” has taken a dark turn in today’s society. Now, it’s “Dog bites man, isn’t news. Pit Bull bites anything, it’s headline news.”

Today I met with a nice gal interested in volunteering for Chako. She asked me how and why I founded Chako, so I told her The Story. I’ve told it only a handful of times, but it’s both sad and amusing at the same time.

I was a graduate student at Texas A&M in 1996. I bought a house there, since Texas real estate was ridiculously cheap at the time (a shock to someone like me from California). Being young and naive, I decided I’d get a dog (nevermind the instability of a college student’s life, budget issues, etc.). I grew up around Pit Bulls. My parents owned champion show and weight pull dogs. I knew I wanted a Pit Bull. I wasn’t going to show my dog, however. I just wanted a companion.

So, I eagerly strolled into the only shelter in the small duet town known as Bryan-College Station. That was the Brazos County Animal Shelter.

I walked up to the lady at the counter and said, “I’d like to adopt a dog. Do you have any Pit Bulls?”

She looked at me like I was about to pull out an Uzi and pepper the place with bullets. Her eyes went narrow and she replied, “No. We don’t adopt out vicious dogs.”

Of course, I knew Pit Bulls had a bad rap, but not quite that bad. “Pit Bulls aren’t vicious,” I told her.

“Why do you want a Pit Bull? Only drug dealers have Pit Bulls.”

I found the conversation very strange. Only drug dealers have Pit Bulls? What the hell did that make my parents? Would I have to start checking their sock drawers?

I took a breath. “I’m not a drug dealer. I’m a doctoral candidate at Texas A&M University.”

She shrugged. “Sorry, but we don’t adopt out Pit Bulls.”

“Well, what do you do with them when you get them?” I asked.

“We euthanize them,” she responded, matter-of-factly.

I was astonished. “What do you do with puppies?” I mean, they had to have some kind of system for puppies.

“We euthanize them, too.”

“Even puppies?!” What kind of sick, cruel, twisted organization would kill puppies? I wondered.

“Yes. We don’t adopt out vicious dogs,” she repeated.

“Well, if you get one that you’re going to euthanize, can you call me?”

Her eyes narrowed again, and she tilted her head. “What? Do you mean like a rescue?”

I had never heard about “rescue” before, but I figured out what it must be from the context. “Yes,” I replied, without hesitation.

She pushed a ledger book toward me. “Put your information into the rescue book.”

I did.

Then, I went home and researched Pit Bull rescues on what counted as the Internet at that time. There were virtually none. The United Kennel Club had a national rescue, but that no longer existed.

So, I formed the Chako Pit Bull Rescue Association (what it was called back then) and started pulling dogs from the Brazos County Animal Shelter.

Soon thereafter, I got a call from a woman named Deirdre about a dog in a shelter. The name of the shelter escapes me. The dog was a Pit Bull, and it was scheduled to be euthanized because the shelter had a policy that mandated all Pit Bulls be killed. She volunteered at the shelter.

I became a woman on a mission to save that dog, writing faxes, making phone calls — you name it. It was so long ago, I can’t remember for sure what the outcome was, but I think they ended up transfering the dog to another shelter that did not have a “kill all Pit Bulls” policy. (Oh, how I wish I could remember for sure.)

Anyway, Deirdre ended up adopting a dog from Chako. That dog was named Carla. Her name today is Carla Lou, and she just celebrated her 16th birthday. Oh, and she happens to be the mascot for the wildly successful Pinups for Pitbulls, which Deirdre founded.

People often ask me how I came up with the name “Chako.” It’s in honor of my childhood dog, Chako. He was the greatest dog that ever lived. I swear. Yes, I know everyone’s childhood dog is the greatest dog, but really he was! (Apologies to my current dogs, Tauri and Savvy, who thankfully cannot read this blog).

I had a vision in my head of Chako somehow falling into different circumstances, through no fault of his own, and ending up in one of those “no Pit Bulls” shelters. I imagined him in a concrete cage, alone, until finally someone went into his kennel, snapped a leash on him, and walked him to a room where he’d be killed…for no other reason than he happened to be a Pit Bull.

I get teary eyed just thinking about it, and it never even happened. So, for all the “GREATEST DOGS IN THE WORLD” out there who have found themselves–through no fault of their own–homeless, Chako Pit Bull Rescue exists. Unfortunately, we cannot save them all, but we can save one at a time.

And that is the story behind Chako Pit Bull Rescue.

There has been a lot of talk in northern California lately about Pit Bulls and possibly banning them because, frankly, “we only really hear about Pit Bulls killing people.”

Of course, we know that’s not true. In 1980, the first year the CDC study covered fatal dog bites, Great Danes topped the list of dogs that killed people.

But the issue isn’t about breed. It’s about making sure that people who own dogs choose to own dogs that are SAFE around people and managed responsibly — regardless of breed. It’s about not having a false sense of security because one owns a Labrador or a Golden Retriever or a Border Collie (all of which have been involved in fatalities or serious dog attacks on human beings).

It’s about preventing deaths from any dog, regardless of breed.

We are going to take a moment and remember the victims of fatal dog bites from dogs other than Pit Bulls, to remind people that, if we really care about public safety and making sure people aren’t seriously hurt or killed by dogs, that we cannot and should not just focus on one breed of dog.

Below are recent fatal or VERY serious dog attacks that have not made extensive news:

1. Liam Perk, 2 years old, killed, Florida, Weimaraner
2.  Austin Demeter, toddler, Neopolitan Mastiff, British Columbia
3. Reggie Young, UK, killed, Lakeland Terrier cross.
4. Carolyn Mahon, Rottweiler, Florida, critcally injured.
5. Kyle Holland, five years old, killed, Labrador and German Shepherd/Husky mix, Michigan
6. Hoa Yun, Rottweiler, killed, Oceanside, CA
7. Krystal Brink, 3 years old, killed, “Sled Dog,” Alaska
8. Olivia Rozek, infant, killed, Illinois, Siberian Husky
9. Boys, Labrador and German Shepherd, MD
10. James Sims, 11 years old, Labrador, mauled, Washington State
11. Christian Elder, 3 years old, Labrador, lost ear in the attack, Virginia
12. Ashlynn Anderson, killed, 4 years old, Oregon, Rottweiler
13. Robert Hocker, infant, killed, Husky, Minnesota
14. Baby (name not released), critical condition, Labrador Retriever, Kansas
15. Triston Reed, 9 years old, mauled, Washington, Border Collie
16. Dustin Faulkner, 3 years old, killed, Husky, Georgia
17. Kate-Lynn Logel, 7 years old, killed, Denver area, Colorado, Alaskan Malamutes
18. Lacey Burke, Carlsbad, CA, mauled, Collie mix.
19. Elayah Brown, killed Fort Worth, TX, Mixed Breed
20. Aiden McGrew, killed South Carolina, Labrador Retriever

Chako advocates euthanizing dogs, of any breed, that are vicious or have demonstrated that they are a danger to human beings. We believe in tough laws that hold people criminally responsible if they keep a dog they know to be dangerous, and that dog hurts a human being. We want to have all dogs treated humanely and to be kept as family pets, not isolated in small kennels, back yards, or kept on chains their entire lives. We don’t want a single child to die from a dog bite, ever — regardless of the breed of dog involved. We want to see all dog owners be held equally responsible for their pets and equally accountable for any injuries their dogs cause.

We hope the media reports responsibly on this issue, and gives comparable coverage to dog bites of all breeds, based on the severity of the bite and the injury, not the breed involved. We care about all dogs and all people, and we want to see society deal responsibly with this issue, for all dogs and all human beings.