OPPOSE SB 5094!

RE:  SB 5904:  http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2017-18/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5094.pdf#page=1


Dear Senate Local Government Committee chair Brian Dansel:

    Please oppose SB 5094! 
   
    If passed,  SB 5094 would prevent Washington cities and towns from effectively preventing fatal and disfiguring dog attacks before they happen,  by preventing communities from adopting legislation pertaining specifically to pit bulls,  pit mixes,  and a few closely related breeds,  cumulatively less than 7% of the U.S. dog population,  but responsible nonetheless for more than 80% of all dog-inflicted fatal and disfiguring injuries.

    We are Washington residents and voters since 1996. 

    I am a journalist and statistician,  working on news beats pertaining to animals,  public health,  and occupational safety for more than 45 years.  My wife Beth is a former police officer,  animal control officer,  veterinary technician,  and pit bull rescuer.

    Since 1982 we have logged and analyzed fatal and disfiguring dog attacks throughout the U.S. and Canada,  more recently adding logs specific to India,  the United Kingdom,  and South Africa.  In every nation the data is strikingly similar:  pit bulls,  pit mixes,  pit variants such as the “American bully,”  and closely related breeds such as the bull mastiff,  Presa Canario,  Dogo Argentino,  and Fila Brasiliero account for 80%-plus of fatal and disfiguring attacks.  This is no surprise,  because historically these breeds have been bred specifically for fighting,  and farther back ancestrally,  to guard slaves and wage war.

    You may read the latest data pertaining to dog attacks on humans,  complete through 2016,  when 91% of human death and disfigurement victims were injured by pit bulls,  at:

http://www.animals24-7.org/2017/01/03/91-of-dog-attack-disfigurement-victims-in-2016-were-mauled-by-pit-bulls/

    The complete statistics,  1982-present,  showing that over the past 34 years,  88% of the human victims of fatal or disfiguring dog attacks were injured by pit bulls and  their closest canine relatives,  are here:

http://www.animals24-7.org/2017/01/03/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-u-s-canada-1982-2016/

    The data pertaining to dog attacks on other animals,  2013-present,  showing that 87% of the dogs who kill or badly injure other animals are pit bulls,  are here:

http://www.animals24-7.org/2017/01/11/record-32550-pit-bulls-killed-or-badly-injured-other-animals-in-the-u-s-in-2016/

    A considerable volume of related information about dog attacks is here:

http://www.animals24-7.org/2016/01/21/links-to-more-than-100-reasons-why-breed-specific-legislation-needs-to-be-enforced-and-reinforced/

    Finally,  let me call to your attention a table which appears at the very end of the data logs,  1982-present:

    Pit bull & pit mix attack trends,  1982-present

* The 1992 data line represents the first 10 years of data collection:

YEAR    PIT BULLS      CHILDREN      ADULTS       KILLED       MAIMED
       in attacks

      Running       Running      Running      Running      Running
       total  YEAR   total  YEAR  total  YEAR  total  YEAR  total  YEAR

1992*   105            45           60          18            38

2002    732    86     347   45     248   22     62    6      395   54
2003    860   128     397   50     304   56     75   13      466   71
2004    939    79     435   38     330   26     83    8      504   38
2005   1083   144     496   61     370   40     97   14      585   81
2006   1197   114     525   29     417   47    111   14      648   63
2007   1275    78     555   30     440   23    124   13      685   37
2008   1401   126     596   41     476   37    138   14      739   54
2009   1563   162     669   73     527   51    162   24      832   93
2010   1808   245     779  110     607   80    191   29      974  142
2011   2103   295     881  102     718  111    214   23     1172  198
2012   2394   291     971   90     850  132    245   32     1353  181
2013   2966   572    1187  214    1090  240    275   30     1760  407
2014   3569   603    1451  264    1369  279    307   32     2211  451
2015   4217   648    1660  209    1723  354    341   34     2670  459
2016   4969   752    1901  241    2074  351    366   25     3255  585

    The Best Friends Animal Society,  American Veterinary Medical Association,  and ASPCA introduced their ongoing campaigns to repeal breed-specific legislation between 1992 and 2001.  Note that the numbers of fatal and disfiguring pit bull attacks on humans have been higher in every year since 2002 than in the entire decade 1982-1992.

    The Humane Society of the U.S. joined them in 2008.  Since then,  the total number of pit bulls involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks each year has increased nearly tenfold,  the number of child victims per year is up nearly fivefold,  the number of adult victims per year has increased nearly tenfold,  there were record numbers of fatalities in five out of nine years,  and the number of disfigurements per year has increased eleven times over.

    Again,  please oppose SB 5094!

    Thank you,

Merritt & Beth Clifton

-----------------------------

Merritt & Beth Clifton, editors
Animals24.7@frontier.com
www.Animals24-7.org
POB 101,  Greenbank,  WA  98253

Cell: 360-969-0450
Landline: 360-678-1057

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