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In early 2018, social media users were sharing a football-themed video clip, one whichexhorted viewers Do Not Adopt a Pitbull and featured scenes of cheering crowds overlaid with text statements reading They killed the most kids, They killed the most family members, and One breed killed 75% of the people who were mauled to death in 2017: The video quickly drew the ire of many pitbull owners and aficionados, who were aghast at its sweeping and condemnatory anti-pitbull rhetoric. The clip bore the imprint of the Dog Bite Law web site, which is linked to Kenneth M. Phillips, an attorney who specializes in — not surprisingly — dog bite law: It was unlikely that this clip would be aired as a commercial during the upcoming NFL Championship Game (commonly known as the Super Bowl) on 4 February 2018: Such an airing would be a tremendously expensive undertaking (with 30-second Super Bowl commercial spots now selling for about $5 million) and would quite possibly run afoul of the NFL's policies regarding acceptable commercial content. Most likely the timing of the video's spread (i.e., during the NFL playoffs) and its use of football imagery caused some social media users to presume it was intended to be a Super Bowl ad. Indeed, Mr. Phillips confirmed for us that this video originated with him and was not something to be aired during the Super Bowl: While pitbulls are often cited as contributing to the largest number, or greatest percentage of, dog bite incidents and fatalities per year, defenders of pitbulls maintain that it is among the least aggressive of canine breeds, that attack or bite incidents attributed to pitbulls often involve other breeds mistakenly identified as American Pit Bull Terriers, and that human behavior — not some inherent quality of breed — is what leads to companion animal attacks: We previously surveyed the issue of breed-specific legislation and dog bites in an article on this site.
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