Physician Says Laws Needed to Limit Vicious Dogs

We Need to Protect Our Children
Whitehall, OH - As Whitehall, Ohio considers stronger regulations for pit bulls, a physician writes a timely letter to a local paper. Physicians know best of all the seriousness of injury inflicted by vicious dogs.

"As a physician I see many unfortunate injuries to small children. One such incident was a boy of 8 years old who was attacked by a pit bull. His arms and legs were torn down to the bone, and half of his left ear was missing. He had been playing in his yard when the neighbor's dog jumped the fence and attacked him. The owner of the dog had to use a wood plank to knock the dog off the child. The child required surgery to clean and repair his wounds. His physical and emotional scars will be with him forever.

Every year, dogs bite 4.7 million Americans; half of these victims are younger than 10 years old. Children are 300 times more likely than adults to be bitten. Something needs to be done. While pit bull-type dogs and Rottweilers have been involved in more than half of deaths due to dog bites, all dogs have the ability to be vicious. The best solution would be to have veterinarians examine dogs yearly to screen for vicious behavior. But vicious animals are usually the result of their owners, and these owners do not take their animals to the vet and are unlikely to part with animals that have vicious tendencies.

For this reason, many communities are considering breed-specific laws to target breeds that are favored for their vicious behavior. I applaud the city of Whitehall for putting forth legislation to limit vicious dogs. National Dog Bite Prevention Week begins Sunday. During this time each locality should look at the potential danger of dog bites and take appropriate action. If that includes breed-specific laws in order to protect our children, then it needs to be done."

-DR. JOSEPH HYMAS

Labels: letter to the editor