PUTTING FATAL DOG BITES INTO PERSPECTIVE

Dog Gone California would like to tell our readers that it is important to realize that the incidents of dog bite fatalities by ANY breed is very, very, very rare. In fact they are so rare, that there are not enough total dog bites from which to get any really accurate statistical information.

Let's look at some of the statistics:

There are from 15 to 20 dog bite fatalities in the entire country in one year, and that's out of the 64 million dogs that Americans keep as pets. That's far fewer than deaths from shark bites, lightning strikes, car accidents, parental abuse, etc.

The number of homicides in San Francisco alone in 2005 was over 90; yet so much focus has been on the single fatality from a dog. These are the facts. These are the numbers.

Overreaction by a Mayor and the State Legislature in passing SB 861 will not solve any dog bite problem, and the money spent on all of this could be put to far better use trying to solve the human homicide problems. Better solutions to the dog bite problem can be found elsewhere on this site. We just want you to realize that fatal dog bites are so rare that punishing responsible dog owners with onerous requirements specific as to breed is NOT a good solution. It is a very BAD one.