“It’s serious wounds and fatalities at stake—not “bites”.”
According to the CDC, the amount of dog bite related fatalities has not risen (accounting for the increase in both human and dog populations) since pit bulls became popular. There are also several other places that have found pit bull bans to be useless, including Denver, Colorado and the UK (whose bites have risen significantly since their ban was enacted).
Calgary does not have breed specific legislation, but instead opted for responsible dog ownership laws that effect ALL dog breeds through the education and regulation of their owners. Since their legislation was enacted, they have seen a dramatic decrease in serious attacks from all breeds, as well as having an estimated 90% licensing rate for all dogs, which is amazingly high.
"...According to the CDC, the amount of dog bite related fatalities has not risen (accounting for the increase in both human and dog populations) since pit bulls became popular. There are also several other places that have found pit bull bans to be useless, including Denver, Colorado and the UK (whose bites have risen significantly since their ban was enacted). Calgary does not have breed specific legislation, but instead opted for responsible dog ownership laws that effect ALL dog breeds through the education and regulation of their owners. Since their legislation was enacted, they have seen a dramatic decrease in serious attacks from all breeds, as well as having an estimated 90% licensing rate for all dogs, which is amazingly high..."
Having dogs draw blood on me three times over 60 years, I am very attentive to serious dogbites and fatalities.
Canada may not sufficient Pit Bull types to draw from to draw meaningful data. (Much less the many fatalities precipitated by Pit Bull types and owners we must stake claim to—in these United States).
I'd ask that jaw configuration (tooth positioning and ratio) be correlated along with populations of Pit Bull types before reaching any conclusions.
(If you have a .pdf file, my ancient computer will prefer it in HTML).