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I’m a supporter for a national, non-profit dog attack victim’s group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks and supporting victims. Thank you for keeping your citizens safe by banning pit bull-type dogs.

It is not an accident that your pit bull restrictions are being challenged. Cities and towns are facing enormous pressure from multi-million dollar lobbying organizations like National Canine Research Council, which conducts its own anti-BSL research, and by people sympathetic to the pit bull lobby [https://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/pit-bull-lobby/]. As you may know, these organizations spend tens of millions of dollars disputing both local bans and enforcing bills at the House level to prevent BSL state-wide. [https://www.dogsbite.org/legislating-dangerous-dogs-bsl-faq.php#statepreemption]

As a result of lobbying pressure to remove restrictions on pit bulls in Kansas, there have been 45 serious attacks in the past three years [https://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/attacks/pit-bull-attack-database/]. Cities like Pratt, Kansas, are already questioning their decision to remove the ban. [https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Pit-bull-attack-in-Pratt-leads-to-new-discussion-over-ban-lifted-last-year-507333111.html]

The main issue with pit bull attacks is that they cause much more serious damage than most dogs. Pit bulls can be deemed dangerous or euthanized after an attack, but that doesn’t prevent their attacks in the first place. On average, 30 people are directly killed every year by pit bulls in the USA. Hundreds more people die of related causes such as falling downstairs to escape an attack, having a heart attack during the mauling, or being hit by a car escaping an attack. Thousands are hospitalized for emergency surgery and reconstructive surgery with skin grafts often requires multiple procedures over a period of years. Please follow the Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/NationalPitBullVictimAwareness/] for daily reports of multiple pit bull attacks in the media, and read about the victims. The same data is pictured visually in maps, which link to actual media reports of pit bull attacks and deaths. [https://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/attacks/map-of-attacks-2019]

Pit bulls make up 7% of the dog population but inflict 72% of dog bite-related human fatalities [https://blog.dogsbite.org/2019/05/2018-dog-bite-fatality-statistics-discussion.html]. Anyone who understands statistics knows this is enough proof they are dangerous in our neighborhoods. Most insurers don’t cover pit bulls because they can’t afford the actuarial risk.

It is hard to justify removing restrictions on pit bulls given the medical evidence. Thirty-four articles published in refereed medical journals conclude pit bulls pose the highest risk of biting, cause the most damage per bite, and the most deaths by dogs. Some studies examine thousands of cases. Compared to one study published by the AVMA journal 6 years ago, which relied entirely on articles dating back to the 1970s [https://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog_bite_risk_and_prevention_bgnd-1.pdf], all medical studies in the past 6 years conclude pit bulls pose the highest risk of biting and cause the most damage per bite. [https://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Articles-in-Refereed-Medical-Journals.pdf]

Level 1 trauma center dog bite studies are reporting a higher prevalence of injuries from pit bulls than all other breeds of dogs, a higher severity of injury, and require a greater number of operative interventions. [https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-studies-level-1-trauma-table-2011-2018.php] There are 1,160 cities in the USA and 50 countries outside the USA that enact breed specific ordinances because pit bull type-dogs present an unreasonable risk to health and public safety. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/56495216/Estimated-U-S-Cities-Counties-States-and-Military-Facilities-with-Breed-Specific-Pit-Bull-Laws]

Supporting breed specific legislation not only increases public safety but decreases pit bull breeding and the number of pit bulls being euthanized at shelters. BSL also cuts down on the transport and re-homing of dangerous pit bulls between states from No Kill shelters, which are desperate to reduce their numbers.

No other type of dog needs lawyers and million-dollar lobbies to protect them. No other breed-specific group claims their dogs can’t be recognized or identified by people outside their group. And no other group uses the tactics of the tobacco lobby to convince people their dogs are safe. There are more than 300 types of dogs that won’t attack people, even if they’ve been abused or neglected. These are all red flags that should make legislators question the intentions of special interest groups much more closely.

I hope you will consider these facts when considering any appeal for removing restrictions for pit bull type dogs in your community.