January 11, 2008

Pit bulls: friend or fiend?

By Bill Highlander
Editor

On Dec. 30, 70 pounds of snarling terror lunged at Elizabeth Cinco as she entered her sister’s home on Quimby Road. Tazz, a boxer-pit bull mix, bit her leg. The 48-year old grandmother was holding her 20-month old toddler and tossed the baby on a couch, hoping to distract the dog away from the child while she tried to fight the dog. But the dog went after the baby, ripping her face and exposing the jawbone. The grandmother was severely wounded as well an attacked also by a second dog.

A common Pit Bull Terrier

Finally, a relative controlled the dogs. Cinco tried to drive the baby and herself to a hospital, but her injuries forced her to pull into a mall parking lot and wait for emergency help to arrive. The baby has undergone reconstructive plastic surgery. Cinco is recovering from the dog bites.

The two dogs were euthanized.

In July 2007, five pit bulls killed the pet Chihuahua of John Pace in full view of his family, afraid for their own safety. Two of the pit bulls were put down and the puppies sent for adoption.

Are pit bull dogs dangerous or can they be loving, gentle pets?

Deadly attacks by pit bull or pit bull mix dogs seem to be increasing. The Center for Disease and Prevention found that fatalities from dog bites average about 12 per year and news reports indicate that that average is getting higher. Pit bulls or pit bull mixes count for the majority of fatal bites.

The United Kingdom, Netherlands and New Zealand have banned or heavily regulated pit bulls. A spike in dog attacks caused Massachusetts to require muzzles, leashes and neutering of the breed. Cities across the U.S. have banned or required restrictions.

In 1989, Denver made it “unlawful to own, possess, keep, exercise control over, maintain, harbor, transport or sell any pit bull within the city.” California has allowed cities, for example, Santa Monica, to regulate pit bulls, but state breed-specific legislation has not been successful.

Carl Friedman, San Francisco Animal Care and Control, helped get a local ordinance that all pit bulls must be sterilized. The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Friedman as saying “you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to know we have a problem with pit bulls.

Allstate Insurance will not issue homeowner insurance to Californians who own pit bulls and seven other types of dogs believed to be risky.

Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal World, stated “Pit bulls and Rottweilers are accordingly dogs who not only must be handled with special precautions, but also must be regulated with special requirements appropriate to the risk they may pose to the public and other animals, if they are to be kept at all.”

John Cicirelli, deputy director, San Jose Animal Care and Services, estimates that the number of pit bull and pit mix dogs in the city is more than 10,000 and could be higher.

But the Humane Society and animal rights proponents oppose breed specific legislation, Beth Ward vice president Humane Society Silicon Valley says the breed can be “gentle, loving pets with responsible ownership.”

Ward says the pit bull breed does not have a trait of being aggressive to humans, although they can be threatening to other dogs. “Any large dog can kill, “ Ward adds, “it’s the responsibility of the owner to train.”

In the past 18 months, the Humane Society Silicon Valley has brought in 116 pit bull or pit mix dogs. About half (46 percent) were made available for adoption or rescue and 54 percent were euthanized.

The Society says only “exceptional” dogs are put up for adoption. Each dog is evaluated and matched with the adopting family. Since the pit bull program began, the average number of days a pit bull waits for adoption has dropped from 41 days to 27 days. The adopted dog must be spayed or neutered, undergo required training, and spend 75 percent of the time in the house with the family.

Ward emphasizes that pit bulls can make wonderful pets if the owner is responsible.