Animal People Editor Summarizes Need for Breed-Specific Legislation in 600 Words

Communities Are Safer; Euthanasia of Pit Bulls Drops Dominic Solesky meets his heroes 5-months after surviving a near fatal pit bull attack. Whidbey Island, WA - Last week, DogsBite.org received another potent response from Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People. If readers recall, last July Clifton responded in detail to fact cooker Mark Robison of the Reno Gazette-Journal after Robison criticized the breed-specific dog attack log complied by Clifton since 1982.… [Read full blog post]

Dog Bites Increase 35% in Austin After the Adoption of 'No-Kill' Policy

2007-2011 Dog Bite Data Austin, TX - DogsBite.org recently reviewed 5-years of dog bite data gained from the City of Austin under the Freedom of Information Act. The data shows that dog bites have increased substantially since the city adopted a No-Kill policy in 2010. Between 2009 and 2011, dog bites increased 35%. The primary offenders of all bites were pit bulls and their mixes, responsible for 22% (1,288), followed by Labradors and their mixes, which inflicted 12% (682)… [Read full blog post]

New Canadian Study Shows Pit Bull Bans in Province of Manitoba Result in Fewer Hospitalizations

Injury Prevention, June 2012 Canada - Last week, the National Post published an article about a new Canadian dog bite injury study by University of Manitoba-affiliated authors that shows that breed-specific pit bull laws lowered the overall rate at which people were hospitalized with serious dog bite injuries over a 23-year period. The study focuses on the province of Manitoba and jurisdictions within it that banned pit bull-type dogs and jurisdictions that did not from… [Read full blog post]

30-Year Summary: Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada

September 1982 to December 26, 2011 DogsBite.org - Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, has released a 30-year summary of his report, Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to December 26, 2011, highlighting trends involving pit bulls. The data shows that fatal and serious maulings by pit bulls have greatly escalated in the past 10 years. Furthermore, 39% of the total number of pit bull attacks and 42% of the fatalities have occurred since th… [Read full blog post]