Miami pit bull victims Nyjah Espinosa, lower left, and Javon Dade Jr., lower right. (Beth Clifton collage)
From Teresa Chagrin, Animal Care and Control Specialist, Cruelty Investigations Department, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:
November 11, 2016
The Honorable Carlos A. Gimenez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County
Members of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners
Via e-mail: mayor@miamidade.gov; bjordan@miamidade.gov; district2@miamidade.gov; district3@miamidade.gov; district4@miamidade.gov; district5@miamidade.gov; district6@miamidade.gov; district7@miamidade.gov; district8@miamidade.gov; dennismoss@miamidade.gov; district10@miamidade.gov; zapata@miamidade.gov; district12@miamidade.gov; district13@miamidade.gov
Dear Mayor Gimenez and Members of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners:
We hope this letter finds you well. I am writing on behalf of PETA, the world’s largest animal rights organization, with more than 5 million members and supporters worldwide, approximately 25,000 of whom live in Miami-Dade County. We’ve been contacted by residents concerned about an ordinance being considered on November 15, 2016, that proposes to remove current restrictions on those who keep pit bulls.
PETA is the largest organization advocating for dogs & cats which has not fallen into pit bull advocacy at the expense of humans & other animals.
(PETA photo)
We believe current law better protects animals—including pit bulls—and people in the community, and we and our membership are opposed to the proposed ordinance.
“No one can deny that the pit-bull problem is breed-specific”
Miami-Dade voters upheld the county’s pit-bull regulations in a landslide 2012 ballot vote. No one can deny that the pit-bull problem is breed-specific, which is why targeted programs and exceptions are made for this breed in communities across the country. Breed-specific protection laws have nothing to do with “discrimination” and everything to do with protecting this most commonly bred and abused type of dog. The reality is that pit bulls and pit-bull mixes constitute a disproportionate number of discarded dogs in animal shelters across the country and are overrepresented in cruelty-to-animals cases.
Three of the pit bulls seized from the Miami home where Javon Dade Jr., 4, was killed by pit bulls in August 2014. (Miami-Dade Animal Services)
“When enforced, pit bull laws work”
When adequately enforced, pit bull–specific protection laws work: Two years after a temporary spay/neuter requirement for pit bulls was passed in Ypsilanti, the director of operations at the Humane Society of Huron Valley thanked officials for making the law permanent: “We’re very, very happy with the results and we want to see it continue. We love this breed and we don’t [want] to euthanize them anymore” [emphasis added].[1] In Aurora, Colorado, officials reported that after nine years of enforcing an ordinance that bans pit bulls in the city, bites involving the breed were down 73 percent, complaints and requests related to them were down 50 percent, and euthanasia of pit bulls was down a whopping 93 percent.[2] Unfortunately, the ordinance in Miami has gone largely unenforced, but if that changed, it could produce similar results.
The other three pit bulls seized from the Dade home. (Miami-Dade Animal Services)
“PETA supports legislation to protect pit bulls”
PETA supports legislation to protect pit bulls, because our office receives calls on a daily basis about ones who are neglected and abused. Many, not surprisingly, “retaliate” by attacking, injuring, and sometimes even killing people and companion animals. In March, a 66-year-old Leesburg woman died after a pit bull she had had since the dog was a puppy attacked her, causing such severe injuries that bones were exposed.[3] The dog had to be shot by first responders.
The pit bull who killed Nyjah Espinosa, 2, in Miami just before Christmas 2015.
Just days before Christmas in 2015, a 2-year-old girl in Miami-Dade County was killed by her father’s pit bull–type dog in a hallway at his home while visiting for the holidays.[4] The family had to start an online campaign to raise the money needed for her funeral.
In October of the same year, a 91-year-old Miami-Dade woman was found clinging to life in a pool of blood after she was attacked by three pit bull–type dogs at her home. She died at the hospital, and an autopsy report revealed that “[t]he skin of the scalp and most of the face [was] absent” and that bone was exposed on portions of her face.[5] She also sustained multiple rib fractures, lacerations to her liver and lungs, and contusions to her liver, lungs, and heart in the violent attack. Cases like these occur across the country on a regular basis.
Tank, pit bull euthanized after fatal attack. (Miami-Dade Animal Services)
Annals of Surgery
It’s well established that pit bull bites are far more severe than those of other dog breeds. The April 2011 issue of the medical journal Annals of Surgery published a report by doctors and nurses at University Hospital in San Antonio who examined 15 years of medical records of patients with dog-bite injuries admitted to the hospital’s level-one trauma center. They found that attacks by pit bulls were associated with a higher risk of death, caused more serious injuries, were more likely to require hospitalization, and resulted in higher medical-care costs than attacks by other breeds. After examining national statistics, the authors reported the following:
Leopard at Big Cat Rescue.
(Beth Clifton photo)One person is killed by a pit bull every 14 days.
- Two people are injured by pit bulls every day.
- One body part is severed and lost every 5.4 days as a result of pit-bull attacks.
The report (attached) concludes, “These breeds should be regulated in the same way in which other dangerous species, such as leopards, are regulated.”[6]
Pit bull who was later killed by other pit bulls at a Florida “rescue.”
“No one blames the dogs themselves for the current crisis”
Animal shelter workers across the nation see firsthand on a regular basis the mistreatment and neglect that pit bulls are subjected to. Infected wounds left untreated, eyes swollen shut and oozing blood and pus, broken or torn limbs left to “heal” without veterinary care, and ear-cropping “home jobs” are just a few of the atrocities that we often witness while working in our local community.
No one blames the dogs themselves for the current crisis, but it’s the duty of decent people who care about them to try to resolve it. PETA runs several mobile spay/neuter clinics in southeastern Virginia, and for years, we have sterilized pit bulls free of charge (1,045 in 2015 alone and more than 1,100 so far this year). While many people take advantage of our program, those who make money from breeding or fighting pit bulls have no motivation to do so and continue to breed these dogs while hundreds of others await homes in area shelters.
Some people won’t do the right thing unless the law requires them to.
Thank you for all your hard work for the citizens of Miami-Dade County. I can be reached at 443-320-1277 or TeresaC@peta.org if PETA can be of assistance.
Teresa Chagrin (PETA photo)
Respectfully,
Teresa Chagrin
Animal Care and Control Specialist
Cruelty Investigations Department
1Tom Perkins, “Ypsilanti Township Makes Pit Bull Spay/Neuter Ordinance Permanent,” 15 Jan. 2013, AnnArbor.com <http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-township-makes-pit-bull-spayneuter-ordinance-permanent/>.
2Rachel Sapin, “City Lawmakers Uphold Aurora’s Ban on Pit Bulls,” 4 March 2014, AuroraSentinel.com <http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/city-lawmakers-uphold-auroras-ban-pit-bulls/#sthash.5IThVxIH.dpuf>.
3Millard K. Ives, “Leesburg Woman Mauled to Death by Pit Bull, Police Say,” 1 April 2016, DailyCommercial.com <http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_e4e175f0-54b0-5508-bede-35ef7529cefe.html>.
4Willard Shepard, “Girl, 2, Killed in Dog Attack in Miami-Dade,” 22 Dec. 2015, NBCMiami.com <http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Girl-2-Killed-in-Dog-Attack-in-Miami-Dade-363300681.html>.
5Local10.com, “Autopsy Report Reveals Graphic Details of 91-Year-Old Woman’s Body After Dog Attack,” 8 Oct. 2015 <http://www.local10.com/news/autopsy-report-reveals-graphic-details-of-91-year-old-womans-body-after-dog-attack>.
6John K. Bini, M.D., et al., “Mortality, Mauling, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs,” Annals of Surgery, 4:253, Apr. 2011 <http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2011/04000/Mortality,_Mauling,_and_Maiming_by_Vicious_Dogs.23.aspx>.
Attachments
- John K. Bini, M.D., et al., “Mortality, Mauling, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs,” Annals of Surgery 4:253, Apr. 2011
- PETA Factsheet, “The Straight Scoop on PETA and Pit Bulls”
- John Nickerson, “Dog Bite Costs Stamford $290K in Settlement,” March 3, 2016, StamfordAdvocate.com
- Daniel Jackovino, “Pit Bull From Town’s Shelter Attacks Boy Who Receives 80 Stitches to Close Wounds,” 28 Oct. 2016, EssexNewsDaily.com
[1]Tom Perkins, “Ypsilanti Township Makes Pit Bull Spay/Neuter Ordinance Permanent,” 15 Jan. 2013, AnnArbor.com <http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-township-makes-pit-bull-spayneuter-ordinance-permanent/>.
[2]Rachel Sapin, “City Lawmakers Uphold Aurora’s Ban on Pit Bulls,” 4 March 2014, AuroraSentinel.com <http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/city-lawmakers-uphold-auroras-ban-pit-bulls/#sthash.5IThVxIH.dpuf>.
[3]Millard K. Ives, “Leesburg Woman Mauled to Death by Pit Bull, Police Say,” 1 April 2016, DailyCommercial.com <http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_e4e175f0-54b0-5508-bede-35ef7529cefe.html>.
[4]Willard Shepard, “Girl, 2, Killed in Dog Attack in Miami-Dade,” 22 Dec. 2015, NBCMiami.com <http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Girl-2-Killed-in-Dog-Attack-in-Miami-Dade-363300681.html>.
[5]Local10.com, “Autopsy Report Reveals Graphic Details of 91-Year-Old Woman’s Body After Dog Attack,” 8 Oct. 2015 <http://www.local10.com/news/autopsy-report-reveals-graphic-details-of-91-year-old-womans-body-after-dog-attack>.
[6]John K. Bini, M.D., et al., “Mortality, Mauling, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs,” Annals of Surgery, 4:253, Apr. 2011 <http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2011/04000/Mortality,_Mauling,_and_Maiming_by_Vicious_Dogs.23.aspx>.
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Good for PETA for being on the “right side of history” in protecting the public from pit bulls, and protecting even more unwanted pit bulls from being born and euthanized. However, I definitely take exception with the completely unfounded assertion that pit bulls attack people because they are abused and neglected. There is no evidence to support this whatsoever. Middle-class, indoor-pet, spayed/neutered pit bulls still scale fences and jump off balconies to maul passers-by. They still kill visiting kids, elderly people putting their food bowl on the floor for them to eat, etc.
People have to stop implying that pit bulls only attack because they have been abused, had a pencil stuck in their ear, had a bone taken out of their mouth, etc. In the vast majority of cases, the pit bull attacks out of the blue without any provocation whatsoever, bolting out a door and running a couple of blocks to rip a passer-by’s foot off, etc. Or they are upstairs, hear a child crying downstairs, come racing down and maul the child to death.
I’m in the genomics field and have been competing in dog sports for 39 years, as well as training and working with aggressive dogs, among others. Pits attack because they have been bred for 500 years for fighting genetics. That’s all. End of story. They require no more training or “abuse” to attack, than a Golden Retriever puppy requires to carry a toy in its mouth.
I loathe this organization for their position on feral/community/free-roaming/outdoor cats and their head’s stated “love” for killing animals as well as their reported collection and killing of almost every animal they collect from trusting people after leading them to believe the animals will be cared for and helped to find loving homes; but in this, I absolutely agree, which is why I am sharing the article to social media with that disclaimer.
Way to go PETA. Helping to shed the light on a very dark problem. Thank you! Miami needs to stop allowing this to get on the ballot every few years. How many times must citizens of Miami go through this festering wound of denial by pit bull advocates? This is embarrassing for Miami officials and the country.
Pit bull enthusiasts have long hated PETA–their rhetoric is far more aggressive against PETA than it is against dogfighters and other dog abusers, ironically.
PETA is the only organization willing to speak loudly against pit breeding because they aren’t as obsessed with PR/public image as the other big animal welfare groups are.