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Since
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614/774-3472
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Bite Information
There
are no documented cases of dog related fatalities by spayed or neutered dogs of
any breed. The only recorded fatalities have been caused by unneutered males. If
you read the stories behind the headlines, the vast majority of dog bites/fatilities
are caused by dogs who are not kept as family members and who had shown serious
aggressive tendencies previous to the attack (despite what their owners/guardians
claimed). Dogs who spend the majority of their time tied out or caged with inadequate
exercise, kept in packs of 2 or more, without appropriate training and human contact
are far and away more likely to be involved in bites and fatalities than the typical
family pet. The
American Dog Owners Association (ADOA),American
Humane Society, American
Kennel Club (AKC), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA),
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Working Dog Federation
(AWDF), Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS), International Assocation of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), International
Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), National Animal Control Association
(NACA), National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), National Association of Dog
Obedience Instructors (NADOI), and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) all
oppose breed bans and support legislation that targets the problem - irresponsible
guardians and vicious dogs of any breed. Breed
bans punish law abiding citizens who keep well socialized, well trained, and loving
family companion animals and have very little effect on the criminals who are
responsible for creating dangerous dogs. Breed
bans are often expanded to include Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds,
Shar Pei, Old English Bulldogs, American Bulldogs, Bull Terriers, Huskys, Boxers...
no breeds are safe. California,
Florida, Illinois, Maine,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
Texas and Virginia have all made
Breed Specific Legislation ILLEGAL!
(BSL
is also illegal in Colorado, however, after a long legal battle, the city of Denver
does currently have a Pit Bull Ban in effect.) Any
attack made by a dog even remotely resembling an APBT makes National news, while
attacks and even fatalities by other breeds rarely are published anywhere except
local newspapers. Any
stocky brindle, blue, yellow or fawn dog can be labeled a Pit Bull - even your
friendly Yellow Lab. The APBT bite statistics are artificallly inflated because
they include dogs of many different breeds and mixes. For
a little perspective: In the period of time from 1965 to the present, there were
55 million dogs in the United States - which means that "there were .0000004%
of dogs in the population who fatally attacked people.
In the period from 1999-2002, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported
that, of accidental deaths in the U.S.,
43,730 were from cars and 16
were
from dog bites."
From the
Best Friends
Animal Sanctuary Library (Emphasis is mine)
How
effective are breed bans? "There are interesting statistics when considering
the Denver situation where there was a
dog bite fatality in 1986. Since the
BSL legislation was originally
enacted in 1989, there have been no
dog bite fatalities. Here again, the
statistic does not prove that this
is a
result of the BSL. Portland, Oregon,
also had a dog bite fatality
in 1986,
did not enact BSL, is approximately
the same size
as Denver, and there
have been no dog bite fatalities
since that
date. Dallas, Texas, also
had a dog bite fatality in 1986, did
not enact BSL and there have been
no dog bite fatalities
since that date.
Dallas is a much larger city than
Denver."
Also from the Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary Library (Emphasis is mine)
"Breed-specific
legislation is not an effective approach for regulating dogs' behavior in communities.
Although such bans might comfort individuals who have had unpleasant experiences
with particular breeds or have heard of attacks by specific dog breeds in the
media, the bans do not act to effectively regulate the behavior of any breed or
of dogs and their owners collectively. The bans carry with them too much
potential for arbitrary or improper enforcement: inaccurate breed identification
by officials, difficulty enforcing breed bans against mixed-breed dogs, animal
control, and court system overload, and the potential for not identifying a genuinely
"dangerous dog" as such because it doesn't fall into the specified breed
categories. Unfortunately, large breeds of dogs such as Dobermans, German
Shepherd Dogs, and Pit Bulls are popularly believed to be dangerous, and therefore
may be judged more severely by judges than smaller, "cuddlier" breeds.59 Government
officials at the local and state level should focus on the problem itself - dangerous
canine behavior - and concentrate their efforts on dogs' and owners' conduct.
In doing so, officials can maintain a safe community for both dog owners and other
residents."
From
the Animal Legal
and Historical Center (Emphasis
is mine) "[Karen]
Delise illustrates the information problem in the following graphic way (quoted
from E-mail by her to Attorney Kenneth Phillips): Consider
five fatal attacks included in the CDC statistics. A
man was bitten in the forearm by a Pit bull. The bite was not serious but introduced
into the wound was a virulent and fast spreading bacteria. The man died 4 days
later from this virulent bacterial infection. A
teenage girl give birth to a infant, distraught and frightened, she tossed the
hours-old infant into a neighboring-junk-strewn yard where two Pit bulls resided.
The dogs killed the newborn. A
German shepherd mixed breed dog went into a bedroom, lifted a newborn out of a
crib and carried the infant (by the head) into the living room where the adults
were seated. A
man restrains his girlfriend, while ordering his Pit bull to repeatedly attack
her. He is eventually convicted of murder and is serving a 20-year sentence. An
elderly man attempts to stop his German Shepherd dog from fence fighting with
his neighbor's dog, the dog turns on his owner, severely mauling him, inflicting
fatal head and neck wounds. The
CDC was right, in that five people died as a result of a dog bite. But were all
these bites the result of aggression? Were they the same type or level of aggression?
Which behaviors initiated the attack, human or canine? So the number of deaths
by dogs (as per the CDC) cannot be used to define aggression, or the aggression
of certain breeds, as aggression is not defined or qualified.
From
Dog Bite Law
Alfons
Estelt of the American Temperament Test Society, Inc., stated the following with
respect to pit bulls: "The American Pit Bull Terriers participating in our
temperament evaluation have thus far shown a passing rate of 95%. The other 121
breeds of dogs in our tests showed the average passing rate of 77%"
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