DogsBite.org - Today, a wonderful comment was left at a blog post we recently published that reports yet another pit bull attack. If a study suggested by this commenter was ever done, every city across the U.S. would enact regulations around pit bulls. The 20-year old argument, yet still loudly drummed, "It's the owner not the breed," would be silenced forever.
How Much Do Pit Bulls Cost All of Us?
Comment: "Has anyone done a breed-specific study on how many tax dollars are spent dealing with the pit bull problem? How much for first responders, police, ambulance, then AC, costs for kenneling the dogs, feeding, euthanizing the dogs...time spent on paperwork by the police and AC, making reports...court fees, mediation fees, if there is a dangerous dog hearing, or if the owner is charged with criminal misconduct for having a dangerous dog. If the victim has no insurance, or insurance does not cover the complete cost of medical treatment entirely, then the taxpayers will pick up the cost of that also.
When private insurance picks up the costs...on the RARE occasion that a victim successfully sues the dog owner for damages...then the insurance industry just passes along the costs to the rest of us by raising our rates, or simply raising rates for ALL dog owners. When another animal is the victim...pet or livestock....again, the owner can try to sue, but is usually stuck with the cost of vet care/replacing the animal.
There is a huge monetary cost to our continued indulgence of this one subgroup of dog owners, who, by their own admission, think its a good idea to carry a small crowbar (break stick) with them to pry their dog's jaws off of anything it might decide to grab. It's simply bizarre that society keeps pandering to these people by refusing to regulate the breeding of these dogs."
The problem with pit bull dogs is everybody's problem. From children to senior citizens, from dog owners to nondog owners, from horse owners to livestock owners -- the entire common taxpaying base is victimized financially by these dogs. Many of us are victimized physically by them too. The only people who typically go unpenalized are the pit bull owners themselves.
Related articles:
View More Comments, Editorials and Letters to the Editor - DogsBite.org
No one has done a study on the costs because the powerful dog lobby has managed to get data collection on a national level cessated.
The US petcare industry is a $40 billion a year juggernaut that does not want to be regulated…Public safety be damned!
A study of this type should clearly be done. Let’s just take one small example: Michael Vick. According to this article http://dogblog.dogster.com/2007/11/29/michael-vick-to-pay-900k-for-rehabilitation-and-care-of-abused-dogs/
“In their motion last week, federal prosecutors revealed that the costs associated with seizing, maintaining and finding homes for the dogs were significant, estimating the total cost at $928,073.”
There were 54 pit bulls recovered from Vick’s operation. So that comes to $17,186.54 per dog. I’m guessing that’s because of the lengthy rehabilitation involved in rehoming these dogs or the lifetime care if they can’t be rehomed. $17,186.54. Imagine if every homeless dog had access to that kind of money with a guarantee that if they could not be adopted they would have a home for life anyway, separate from all other animals.
This is a disgrace and should be utterly unacceptable for anyone concerned with the high euthanasia rates in shelters of ALL pets.
http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-hopets5660447apr24,0,5525838.column
Yet another pit industry sprouts…
$20 a head. Look on the bright side. Maybe this is a way to offset their costs?
Pit bull owners that actually want to address the pit bull problem? That are actually looking at the “drowning numbers of pit bulls” across the nation? Simple answer that needs no conference: MANDATORY SPAY / NEUTER of pit bulls.
Oh, but that would be a “breed-specific” measure wouldn’t it? So SCRAP that! Let’s just keep euthanizing pit bulls by the hundreds of thousands and focus on “owner education” instead. Let’s spend more time and money on making genetically bound pit bulls “more adoptable.”
Insurance providers AIN’T going to change their mind about this breed. Liability is liabilitiy period.
They don’t want owner education, they want non-owner education. They think that if every single one of us meets a nice pit bull we will suddenly see the light and denounce the evil that is BSL. These people don’t have a clue, which explains why their dogs are such a problem in the first place.
We need two studies done. This finacial one for sure. With the Freedom of Information Act we should be able to get information from places that have had a recent attack and find out how much it cost the town, and if applicable, how much medical bills were at the local hospital. Also, I would like a listing of places that adopt out pit bulls that were confiscated from the fighting industry. I bet the citizens of those areas would be motivated if they knew that was going on. Two groups have done pit bull centered studies in the past, one about how owners cope with owning these dogs, the other showing that criminals are more likely to own them. I wonder of either of them would like to do another study.
I bet West Memphis Police have a handle on costs related to pit bulls: Worker’s Compensation coverage for emergency treatment, physical therapy, off duty recovery periods, light duty reassignment, and in the worst of cases, disability retirement.