Poll: many back Ban on certain dogs

This article was under the one about Pits at home in the south!!
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http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/116937485856400.xml?mobileregister?nmet&coll=3

Support among area residents for banning dangerous breeds of dogs has increased dramatically over the last five years and so has the number of people identifying pit bulls as the dogs most likely to attack people, a new survey suggests.

In the Press-Register/University of South Alabama poll conducted last week, 52 percent of residents in Mobile and Baldwin counties said they believe breeds with a history of attacking people should be banned. That was up from 38 percent in a similar poll conducted in June 2002.

When asked to name the breed they most associate with attacks, 70 percent named the pit bull, up from 48 percent.

"That is definitely a statistically significant increase," said Keith Nicholls, a University of South Alabama political science professor who directed both polls. "There's been a lot of publicity about pit bulls of late. ... It's just gotten a lot worse."

The telephone survey of 403 adults in Mobile and Baldwin counties, conducted Monday through Wednesday, has a 5-percentage-point margin of error.

Count Felicia Maddox among the 52 percent who favor banning certain dog breeds. Two pit bulls attacked her father-in-law, Robert Maddox, in November as he was walking back to his Semmes home from his mother's house.

The 66-year-old man suffered a broken arm and deep cuts on his legs. Felicia Maddox said he has been undergoing arduous physical therapy.

It was the first of two high-profile attacks involving pit bulls late last year. Last month, a pair of pit bulls attacked Charles Henderson in his yard on Dauphin Island.

"I think that type of breed, they need to get away from that devil," Felicia Maddox said. "It's in their nature. Stop breeding them."

Some animal advocates, however, said breed-specific bans are difficult to enforce and miss the real problem of irresponsible dog owners.

It's un-American," said Michael San Filippo, a spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association. "It's profiling."

Dog advocates said pit bulls, because of their size and strength, can do more damage than other breeds. And they acknowledge hereditary traits play some role in a dog's behavior. But they also contend that many other factors influence dog behavior -- early experiences, socialization, training and health.

An outright ban of pit bulls would unfairly affect the many pit pulls that are perfectly peaceful, San Filippo said.


"They can be just these huge sweethearts who are good around children," he said. "They've got a good history as a pet, a companion."

Added Charles Franz, executive director of the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, "There's a lot of different breeds of dogs, and mixed-breed dogs, that have been known to attack people."

According to a 2000 study published in the trade journal Vet Med Today, 238 people died from 1979 to 1998 as a result of dog bites. Pit bull-type dogs and Rottweilers were involved in more than half of those deaths. But 25 different breeds -- including Great Danes, boxers and even a cocker spaniel -- also caused deaths.

Franz said his organization and the Alabama Humane Federation support proposed legislation that would address specific dogs and their owners. The bill died in last year's legislative session, but he said Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, intends to introduce it again this year.

Dozens of cities across the country have banned pit bulls and other breeds of dogs over the last decade. Franz said Broadview, Ill., even banned Doberman pinschers.

Lynne Fridley, past president of the Alabama Humane Federation, said many of those cities have experienced problems.

"Breed bans that were passed in other cities are really hard to enforce," she said. "It's unfair to the breed."

Breed bans also are problematic because breeds are hard to define, Franz said. He said pit bulls, for instance, are actually a lumping of several specific breeds, like bull terriers, Staffordshire terriers and American Staffordshire terriers.

"There's not a specific breed that's called a 'pit bull.' And there's a lot of mixed-breed dogs that have the look of a pit bull," he said.

One thing opponents and supporters can seem to agree on is the need to hold owners accountable for the actions of their dogs. Most respondents in last week's survey -- 85 percent -- favored more stringent regulations like a requirement for liability insurance, limits on the number of dogs someone can own and more-secure pens.

Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine, who has called for such regulation, noted that the county lacked the authority to enact those kinds of rules until voters approved a ballot measure in November. Implementation has been held up by a lawsuit challenging the way the constitutional amendment was passed, but Nodine said he expects the regulations will be implemented in the next six months.

"I believe it's an important issue, particularly in the western area of the county," he said.

Support for putting down a dog that attacks and seriously mauls a person -- 70 percent -- remained unchanged from the 2002 survey. That is actually 1 percentage point less than support for the death penalty for humans, according to one statewide poll last year.

Sixty-seven percent of the respondents of the most recent poll said they believe the law should allow authorities to bring criminal charges against a dog owner when the animal attacks and seriously mauls a person. That's up 5 percentage points from 2002.

The dog owner in the Semmes case, Brian West, faces a nonjury trial Monday on charges of letting his dogs run wild and failure to immunize them for rabies.

Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. said prosecutors may have other options in dog attack cases, depending on the circumstances. And he said municipalities may have their own ordinances.

"Every case is so fact-specific. There may be different charges arising out of a dog bite," Tyson said.

The most recent survey suggests people have grown more wary of dogs in their own lives. One in five said they worry that a dog in their own neighborhood might attack a person. That is up 6 percentage points from 2002.

Nicholls, the University of South Alabama professor, attributed that in part to media attention.

"If dog attacks have been in the news and there's a dog in your neighborhood, it stands to reason it's going to make you think about it," he said.