http://sify.com/news/over-2-800-mailmen-bitten-by-dogs-in-us-news-international-kgsjEdchafd.html

June 18, 2010

"Mailmen in the US have become the worst targets of dogs and over 2,800 of them were bitten by canines in America in 2009, latest statistics say...'It's really tragic, a thing that every letter carrier dreads,' Drew Von Bergen, spokesman for the National Association of Letter Carriers, was quoted as saying by Xinhua. Unfortunately, there's hardly a letter carrier who has not been involved in some dog incident, he said...Mail carriers are not the only victims. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, over 4.7 million dog bites occur annually in the US, with approximately 60 percent of the victims being children...Each year, 16 Americans die from their dog-bite injuries, and more than 300,000 people visit hospital emergency rooms for treatment of dog bites, according to the US Centre for Disease Control."

Interventions to prevent dog attacks can be as follows:

(1) One instance where ANY breed of dog attack another pet or human and cause damage--each case assessed at an individual basis by the local municipality, the county has the right to put down the dog. (Exception is criminal trespass).

(2) Any local municipality at their own discretion may incorporate an ordinance that Individuals with felony criminal record cannot own a pit bull.

(This will keep pit bulls away from people with drug offense and felony criminal records who are more likely to use pit bulls as instruments of terror).

REASONS AND ANALYSIS:
(1) The above covers ANY breed of dog that attacks and does not discriminate breeds.

(2) Pit bulls require responsible owners, thus important to keep them away from those individuals with felony convictions, including those with a history of drug offenses: It cannot be argued that pit bulls (and mixes) do not merely bite-they grab and shear flesh; most commonly children are victims.  Many medical experts (thoracic surgeons, pediatricians) say pit bulls and children do not mix:

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2010/02/26/Doctor-Pit-bulls-Rottweilers-dangerous/UPI-15221267207028/

ATLANTA, Feb. 26, 2010 (UPI) -- Pit bulls and Rottweilers that attacked children often belonged to the family or the neighbors, a pediatric surgeon in Atlanta said. "People get this false sense of security" because they know the dog and think it won't hurt anyone, said Dr. Mark Wulkan of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. One child's scalp and ears had been torn off and other children suffered skull injuries, damaged tracheas and face wounds. Several children died, including a 5-day-old baby mauled by the family's pit bull, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Wednesday. Pit bulls and Rottweilers caused the most serious injuries among the children treated at Children's Healthcare, Wulkan said."


Home owner's insurance often will not cover you (or you must take out a high policy) for pit bull owners:


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/lifestyles/2049482,4_5_JO16_PETINSURE_S1-100216.article

QUOTE: "According to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 4.5 million people in the U.S. are bitten annually by dogs, with more than half of them requiring medical care. Those bites make a huge chomp into liability claims, accounting for a third of them in 2008 and costing $387.20 million. In general, most homeowners policies cover pets, until the homeowner gets into the underwriting, according to Bierman, of Boudreau Fischer Bierman Insurance Agency in Minooka. When the applicant answers the question, "Do you have any pets?"


Even the United States Marine Corps has officially banned pit bulls on military basis due to the problems they cause (Marine Corps Order P11000.22 Ch 6, released in August 2009), mandated all installations ban any breed of pit bull, does ban specific breeds of dogs due to statistical analysis and claims filed:

http://www.marines.mil/unit/basecamppendleton/Pages/News/2009/BreedBanArticle.aspx

Dangerous dog legislation  is a common sense intervention to a growing problem of dog fighting and human victims of dog bites

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12086816

Mar 04, 2010 6:45 PM EST Thursday, March 4, 2010 6:45 PM EST Updated: Mar 04, 2010 6:45 "ALBANY, GA (WALB) –What you consider a safe pet, others may consider a dangerous animal. Many people in south Georgia own dogs that some call dangerous breeds that shouldn't be around children. According to the Clifton study, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74 percent of attacks and 68 percent of the attacks are upon children. "You take on a huge responsibility because of their size and they are so powerful and they can do so much damage sometimes not even meaning to," said Daniel

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,