Pit bull image unfair to breed

Published 12:25 a.m., Times Union, Tuesday, August 30, 2011

In light of the Aug. 25 headline, "Vicious pit bull attack called worst in years," I want make sure that readers understand that "pit bulls" are not inherently vicious dogs. I have owned two rescue pit bulls and they are incredibly loving, gentle creatures. It is typical of this type of dog to be extremely people-friendly.
I urge the Times Union to look further into this story, so that this incident does not further the myth that pit bulls are inherently dangerous animals.

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Analysis: This is an example of statistical reasoning, or at least an inductive generalization (not much 'statistics' here really!). The argument is that since the writer has owned two rescue pit bulls that were loving and gentle, pit buls are loving and gentle in general. The problem with this argument is that only two cases are mentioned (which is not anywhere close to become statistically significant), and given that both pit bulls were owned by the same person, we can't even speak of a 'sample': the two pit bulls and their behavior could have been related in significant ways, such as coming from the same litter, having grown up in the same environment (e.g. the shelter they came from), and both having been with this writer, so if there is a 'sample size' to speak of, it's closer to 1! Indeed, this kind of argument can be seen as a 'refutation through personal experience' (refuting the claims that pit bulls are vicious): a type of argument that is very commonly made by people, but one that is highly problematic.