Preventing Fatal Dog Attacks | Parade.com
Preventing Fatal Dog Attacks
Dogs have killed at least 20 Americans so far this year, including a 3-day-old infant, a 20-year-old man, and an elderly couple last month alone. In two of the three attacks, the killers were pit bulls. In the last 27 years, more than 320 people have been killed by dogs—nearly half of them pit bulls. Though still small, the number of dog-bite fatalities is increasing: from an average of 13 a year in the 1990s to more than 30 annually in recent years.
In response, local governments from Prince George’s County, Md., to Dodge City, Kan., and Denver, Colo., have enacted “breed-specific” legislation banning the possession of pit bulls. Montana, Oregon, and Hawaii are considering statewide bans. Jim Graham, a councilman in Washington, D.C., wants to bar pit bulls from the nation’s capital. “Anyone who has been near a pit bull can tell you why they need to be banned,” Graham says. “There is something endemic in this breed that prompts violence and cruelty when raised in the wrong hands.”
Animal-protection groups like The Humane Society of the U.S. say the problem lies with irresponsible owners, not their pets. “Pit bulls are the fad ‘dangerous dogs’ right now, but if they are banned, reckless people will simply find another breed,” says Adam Goldfarb of The Humane Society, which supports consumer education and strict enforcement of leash laws. Besides, the group claims, there is little evidence that breed-specific legislation is effective. U.S. cities where pitbulls are outlawed have not seen dramatic decreases in attacks, nor are there fewer deadly dog bites in Great Britain, where pit bulls have been banned for almost 20 years.
— J. Scott Orr
Preventing Fatal Dog Attacks
Dogs have killed at least 20 Americans so far this year, including a 3-day-old infant, a 20-year-old man, and an elderly couple last month alone. In two of the three attacks, the killers were pit bulls. In the last 27 years, more than 320 people have been killed by dogs—nearly half of them pit bulls. Though still small, the number of dog-bite fatalities is increasing: from an average of 13 a year in the 1990s to more than 30 annually in recent years.
In response, local governments from Prince George’s County, Md., to Dodge City, Kan., and Denver, Colo., have enacted “breed-specific” legislation banning the possession of pit bulls. Montana, Oregon, and Hawaii are considering statewide bans. Jim Graham, a councilman in Washington, D.C., wants to bar pit bulls from the nation’s capital. “Anyone who has been near a pit bull can tell you why they need to be banned,” Graham says. “There is something endemic in this breed that prompts violence and cruelty when raised in the wrong hands.”
Animal-protection groups like The Humane Society of the U.S. say the problem lies with irresponsible owners, not their pets. “Pit bulls are the fad ‘dangerous dogs’ right now, but if they are banned, reckless people will simply find another breed,” says Adam Goldfarb of The Humane Society, which supports consumer education and strict enforcement of leash laws. Besides, the group claims, there is little evidence that breed-specific legislation is effective. U.S. cities where pitbulls are outlawed have not seen dramatic decreases in attacks, nor are there fewer deadly dog bites in Great Britain, where pit bulls have been banned for almost 20 years.
— J. Scott Orr