ARE you right to trust your instincts if you cross the street when you encounter a snarling pit bull with an equally forbidding owner? A new study suggests that the owners of so-called 鈥渧icious鈥� dogs commit more crimes than those who do not own such a dog.
and her colleagues at the University of West Virginia in Morgantown examined whether owners of vicious dogs 鈥� those classed by the American Kennel Club as breeds with a high risk of causing injury to humans 鈥� were different in personality and behaviour to others. Their online questionnaire of 758 students, 563 of whom owned dogs, revealed owners of vicious dogs were significantly more likely to admit crimes such as vandalism, illegal drug use and fighting than other dog owners and those without dogs ().
It鈥檚 not just a dog鈥檚 breed but also the character of its owner that may make the dog aggressive, points out , a psychologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. 鈥淚t takes both nature and nurture to make a bully,鈥� he says.
Advertisement
