Five years ago a set of gnashing teeth sunk into the top of my left hand, leaving me scarred. The terrier I was grooming had had enough of me.

Just one of the perks of working with animals on daily basis for quite a few years.

Bites and scratches will happen, it is inevitable.

And out of the numerous times I’ve been manhandled, or dog-handled to be exact, there has never been a time when a pit bull or other bully breed has been to blame.

I’ve been chewed on by Chihuahuas, snapped at by Shih Tzus, terrorized by terriers, but never once have I been beat up by a bully breed.

I suppose I should clarify for those unsure of the terminology. The term bully or bully breed in the dog world refers to those dog breeds with similar physical characteristics such as a square shaped head or bulky body type.

The Presa Canario, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso, Boston Terrier, American Bulldog and Staffordshire Bull Terrier are all considered to be bully breeds.

There may be distinct genetic differences in these dogs, but due to their appearances they are grouped together.

Now, I’m well aware there are people who’ve been attacked by pits or other bully breeds. Just as I know my daughter has been bitten by a terrier and a friend was attacked by a Labrador.

The fact that they are immensely strong animals does not slip my mind.

I understand they can be incredibly intimidating.

But I’m here to tell you a thick spiked collar doesn’t necessarily reflect the temperament of the dog itself.

In a statement on canine genetics and behavior, Glen Bui of the American Canine Foundation discusses breed selective aggression.

“To state that a breed of dog is aggressive is scientifically impossible. Statistics do not support such a finding,” Bui said. “Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and within all breeds there can be dangerous dogs because of owner issues such as training the dog to attack, lack of training and socialization.”

The American Temperament Testing Society’s website has a fairly comprehensive list of dog breeds and their testing scores.

American Pit Bull terriers scored an 86.8 percent passing rate while the American Staffordshire terrier scored an 84.5 percent.

The smooth haired Dachshund scored a 68.8 percent while the Chihuahua scored 69.8 percent.

I’ve read several places how pits or other bully breeds account for many of the dog bite incidents, but based on the temperament testing and my own experience, I believe that to be untrue because of one thing.

People simply don’t report small dog bites. The damage isn’t as bad, so they don’t think anything of it.

We all expect the little dogs to be nippy, but we don’t do anything about it.

Yet we place breed selective bans on whole communities and expect that to solve a problem that isn’t actually occurring.

“One breed is not more inherently good or evil, vicious, harmful or helpful. It is man who is responsible for the dog’s behavior, not the breed of dog,” Bui said. “Those passing breed bans fail to understand that a mis-trained pit bull can be replaced with another breed.”