Reply #99: I don't think you were addressing my post, but perhaps I can be of assistance?

[jtuck004]

Questioning assumptiongs is always fair, btw. I have certainly been wrong before, and I would really appreciate a heads up if you see a flaw below.
And I know this overanswers your question, but this stuff always comes up and I had this file kind of handy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_attack (you can check CDC and other sites, the info is about the same)
" In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26"
My note: I think it was 30 last year, but you could google that pretty easily.

http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/ownership_calculator.asp - Assuming the population of the U.S. is 307,000,000.
Number of Pet Owning Households Pet Population
Dogs 45,681,600 77,609,600

I apologize for not having a source, but I am unaware of any national surveys that evaluated dog "size". Having worked in shelters, and a bit on the streets in more than one city it has been my experience that a large percentage, maybe half or more of all owned
pets, are "big" dogs - that is 40 lbs and up or so. If most owners weren't responsible the stats would be far worse. There are some regional surveys that agree with my experience in cities that I haven't been in, but your area may not have as many large dogs. Don't know.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm
The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,760 child fatalities in 2007.

This person was nice enough to compile the stuff I have spent some time with on other sites;
(As compiled from data reported by the National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 15, September 16, 2002)
http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html
Cause of Death/Age Range Under 1 Yr 1-4 yrs 5-14yrs
Total Number of Deaths 881 0.90% 1,826 1.90% 2,979 3.00%
Motor Vehicle 168 19.10% 651 35.70% 1,772 59.50%
Unspecified nontransport accid'ts 572 64.90% 266 14.60% 267 9.00%
Falls 8 0.90% 36 2.00% 37 1.20%
Poisoning and Noxious Subst's 14 1.60% 32 1.80% 45 1.50%
Drowning 75 8.50% 493 27.00% 375 12.60%
Exposure to Smoke, Fire, Flames 37 4.20% 290 15.90% 266 8.90%
Other Land Transport Accidents 2 0.20% 31 1.70% 98 3.30%
Complications of Med/Surg Care 19 2.20% 22 1.20% 31 1.00%
Accidental Discharge of Firearms 1 0.10% 18 1.00% 67 2.20%


I also apologize for not having a source other than my own experience for the low numbers of licenses, but
having volunteered or worked in more than one shelter, I can attest to how low licensing really is in most
municipalities, and I am sure most local shelters, if they will tell you, will confirm this. There are exceptions
such as Calgary, where they say it is near 90% - but they started low, made sure there was good compliance,
and got citizen buy in over the years. Other cities could learn by their good example.

As far as what happens when breeds are banned, there is public proof with links to the sources
on this blog - http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/failed_bsl/, as well as others. The most
common outcome to a breed ban is an increase in dog bites, large increase in expenses (And sometimes
rather large lawsuits) for animal control, and in some cases (Denver) an increase in the numbers
of the very dogs they were trying to rid themselves of.

The only real solutions are owner education, enacting and enforcing leash laws, and making spay/neuter
available to everyone, starting at no cost in areas of low income and making it easy and relatively
affordable as you go up the income ladder. Calagary is a great example - almost non-existent killing
in the shelter, education of dog-bite avoidance in two different grades of elementary schools, training
available for postpersons, meter readers, people who might meet dogs. More damn dog parks than I can count.

We are still going to have tragedies. But we could knock them down from 30 to 5 in a couple of years, I suspect.