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Florida’s new law concerning pit bulls is certainly stirring the pot and sparking some intense debate. This law, coming in October, will lift the ban on the breed. That has led to a flurry of both cheers and jeers.
A new Florida law that goes into effect in a few months will invalidate Miami-Dade County’s ban on pit bulls.
Lauree Simmons said the bans have unfairly cost dogs’ lives because there is a misconception that the breed is unpredictably more aggressive than others.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, every dog needs to be evaluated and treated as an individual — no matter its breed. Simmons agrees.
“I have more bites from chihuahuas and I have never been bitten by a pit bull,” Simmons said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the new Authorization of Restrictions Concerning Dogs law after state lawmakers passed it as Florida State Bill 942 and Florida House Bill 941.
When it goes into effect on Oct. 1, it will invalidate Miami-Dade County’s pit bull ban, which started in 1989 after a 7-year-old girl survived an attack that required reconstruction surgeries.
Although the state law invalidates the county ban, it still allows residential communities to ban specific dog breeds. Simmons said that too needs to change.
“Owner surrenders are up 60% — 40% of that is due to rent discrimination where people are downsizing, renting somewhere small, or moving into a different community,” Simmons said.
Simmons, the founder of the Big Dog Ranch Rescue, at 14444 Okeechobee Blvd., in Loxahatchee Groves, has been saving pit bulls for decades.
There are opponents of the law who are concerned about public safety without the ban. The National Pit Bull Victim Awareness is among the advocacy groups that continue to support breed-specific legislation.
It is unclear why Ron DeSantis is supporting a law that would override Miami’s pit bull ban. To be sure, many pit bulls — like many pit bull owners — are kind, peaceful, and responsible, and the dogs in many cases are a loving and positive presence in the home. Unfortunately, the consequences for irresponsible ownership, and sometimes just unforeseen circumstances outside of an owners control, can be devastating and fatal when it comes to this breed.
The pitbull activist Simmons is quoted above as saying “I have more bites from Chihuahuas and I have never been bitten by a pitbull.” This very likely is true, but totally ignores the relevant factor that a chihuahua attack causes far less damage than a pit bull attack. Just a few days ago, a 6-year-old died from a pit bull attack in North Port, Florida.
A 6-year-old boy has died after a dog-biting incident in North Port.
According to the North Port Police Department, the child sustained severe injuries to his chest Tuesday, so severe that he had to be airlifted to Sarasota Memorial Hospital initially after receiving life-saving treatment.
After he was stabilized, he was flown to Tampa General to get more treatment, but he died one day later.
“It was inside the home,” said Josh Taylor, public information officer of the North Port Police Department. “The dog was in a bedroom, the child walked into the bedroom to get something. Next thing you know, people heard screaming and jumped into action.”
In this case, there was no history or sign of aggression from this pit bull, which the family raised from a puppy, prior to its fatal attack on a child:
“From every bit of information we have so far is there’s no history of the dog acting out, which would indicate that something could possibly happen,” Taylor said. “The animal lived in the home from basically a puppy, a couple of weeks old, between 2 and 8 weeks, if I’m not mistaken, and you know, was a family pet.”
Investigators are still trying to figure out what triggered the attack.
NPPD could not say for certain if the dog was affected by fireworks and possibly acted out because of that.
Patrick Logue, master dog trainer and behavioral therapist at Bark Busters Home Dog Training, said it is a possibility.
“When dogs are in distress, when they’re adrenalized, that’s never a good combination,” Logue said. “Then you add kids into the mix. Kids bring their own stress, as any parent will tell you, and their own sense of chaos, and it is just a bad situation, especially when kids are unsupervised with dogs.”
Chihuahuas may bite and act up more, but when Chihuahuas attack the consequences are rarely if ever fatal for children. And the above is not an isolated case: a brief google search turns up countless incidents, many of which are even more gruesome than the case described above. Another case from this year involves a 3-year old girl whose face was ripped off by a neighbor’s pit bull. The poor girl is now outfitted with prosthetic ears.
A family in Michigan is raising money for a young girl who survived a gruesome dog attack.
According to WWMT, Arial Harrison, 3, continues to recover from severe injuries she sustained last year when she was attacked by a neighbor’s dog.
Harrison was playing on the trampoline at her grandmother’s house when the pit bull attacked. She lost her ears and most of her head is now a skin graft.
“I’m guessing the dog had snatched her by her head, her hair or something,” said Kendra Canen, Arial’s mom.
It’s not just children who are mutilated and killed by rogue pit bulls. Other dog breeds are frequently attacked and killed as well. Circumstances such as those depicted in the below video are not uncommon:
Anecdotes are anecdotes. So what are the statistics of the matter? Pit bulls make up less than 8 percent of the dog population yet accounted for over 70 percent of the fatal dog attacks from 2011 to 2017.
Given the statistics and the stakes involved, it seems reasonable for citizens to want to enact safety measures protecting themselves from this breed, especially in highly concentrated urban environments. It is unclear why DeSantis, who despite his troubled presidential campaign is an excellent and beloved governor, would want to contravene the will of the people of Miami on this matter.
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