Scream Can Provoke Any Dog to Attack

* Pit bulls are not the only breed of dog that pose a threat to young children (“Cause of Pit Bull’s Attack Unclear,” July 19). Any dog is a potential danger under certain circumstances. The stimulus most likely to provoke an attack is high pitched screaming or screaming associated with tantrum-like crying behavior. Once an attack begins, the child panics and screams harder and louder, compounding the problem.

Any experienced dog breeder or kennel owner can probably document stories of attacks by other dogs--for instance, on puppies or adult dogs screaming in pain as a result of accident, catching a paw in a gate, being bitten in play fighting, or any activity that causes a dog to vocalize its pain. The other dogs will try to kill the animal.

As the wolf is considered the nearest ancestor of our dog (canis familiaris) , it may be in the deeper instincts of dog behavior that there must be no weakness in the pack, only the fittest may survive and the weak must be eliminated. Or, it may be that the animals respond to the stimulus of a screaming animal to aid the others in the kill and share in the spoils of the feast.

Vocalizing in the manner described is far more apt to bring about attack than a dog considering a child crawling on the floor as a form of prey. I caution all my clients who have dogs and children to discourage the children and their friends from screaming when they are at play.

GEORGE E. MARSHALL

Ojai