Humane Rescue Alliance
Humane Rescue AllianceMay 03
Philadelphia: Cop Kills Dog After Mauling Attack
Image copyright: Drew Hallowell/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
A Philadelphia police officer fatally shot a Cane Corso that was part of a pack of four dogs — including three pit bulls — attacking a 53-year-old man on the street.
Following the incident in the city's Mantua neighborhood, the officer was placed on administrative duty pending a probe. Investigators claim he tried distracting the dogs with his siren before firing three shots, after which the pit bulls ran off.
The Spin
Narrative A
People jump to conclusions when they hear about pit bull attacks because they're misinformed. As with any breed, whether or not a pit bull is aggressive depends on when it was spayed or neutered and how its owner raises and treats it. Even if society chooses to ban them, maintaining such a policy would cost far too much.
Narrative B
People who want to ban pit bulls aren't jumping to conclusions — they use common sense and follow the statistics. Pit bulls are disproportionately more inclined to maul people — especially children — because they're biologically wired toward aggressive behavior and built to impose maximum carnage on their victims. There's no reason not to ban them.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that Open Philanthropy will grant at least $99.4M towards animal welfare in 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.