Posted on 12/04/2025 3:38:10 AM PST by Norski
CLINTON, North Carolina; DUFUR, Oregon––
"Pit bull rescuer and longtime Village Dental Clinic dental assistant Barbara Hunter Brewington, 38, of Bonnetville, North Carolina, on November 23, 2025 became simultaneously the 75th person killed by dogs in the U.S. during 2025, tying the record 2024 toll, and the 58th U.S. pit bull fatality, breaking the 2023 U.S. record for deaths by pit bull..."
" . . .As Kabir also mentioned, Brewington’s death was “the second fatal dog attack reported over five days in North Carolina,” following the unwitnessed November 18, 2025 pack attack death of Michael Bodenheimer outside his home in Thomasville..."...
" . . .Meanwhile in Ohio In Ohio, meanwhile, state law from 1987 until 2012 defined pit bulls as “inherently vicious,” therefore requiring pit bull owners to keep their pit bulls behind secure fences, muzzled in public, and insured against liability.
The Ohio law withstood several court challenges, but was undone by the combined efforts of Toledo Blade publisher John Robinson Block, the Best Friends Animal Society, the pit bull advocacy group Animal Farm Foundation, and then-Ohio County Dog Wardens Association president Mark Kumpf.
Since then, Ohio has experienced 25 dog attack fatalities, 21 of them by pit bull, and at least 1,700 disfiguring pit bull attacks..." ...
(Excerpt) Read more at animals24-7.org ...
I love animals also
and pet sit a lot
but am super particular about the dogs I will sit
a lady down the road from me was killed by a pit bull last year
and even prior to that I had experiences that make me not want to engage with the breed
A breed that should be exterminated.
All breeds have their pros and cons.
There exists a number of articles on the site; perhaps this list may be of interest; here are two links to articles on the genetic items manifested physically in the pit-bull breed-type.
excerpt:
“ . . .Dog brain study refutes every major claim of pit bull advocacy
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 BY MERRITT CLIFTON
(Beth Clifton collage)
Looking at normal dogs’ brains shows how “fighting breed” brains differ
BOSTON, POMONA––There may already be weeping and gnashing of teeth among pit bull advocates, and perhaps significant fundraising underway to trump up rebuttals, too, following the September 2, 2019 Journal of Neuroscience publication of “Significant neuroanatomical variation among domestic dog breeds,” by Harvard University evolutionary neuroscientist Erin Hecht.
Erin Hecht and friends.
(Jon Chase/ Harvard staff photo)
Authors did not go looking for trouble
Hecht and five distinguished co-authors did not set out to pick a fight with organized pit bull advocacy.
In truth, Hecht et al largely side-stepped the pit bull-related implications of their findings in their article and post-publication statements.
Yet Hecht et al demolished the bedrock creed of pit bull advocacy that canine form, function, and behavior are inherently unrelated...” ...
Yes. It is a good site for statistics. Here are some samples.
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https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics.php
dog bite victim and dog bite statistics
In the 15-year period of 2005 through 2019, canines killed 523 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 66% (346) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths. | More »
Home » Dog bite statistics
quick statistics
dog bite studies
dog bite fatalities
fatality citations
studies index
Dog bite statistics ::
Each day nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens require emergency care treatment for serious dog bite injuries.
1 Annually, about 12,480 citizens are hospitalized due to dog bite injuries.
2 The below statistics and studies examine injury occurrence and the breeds of dogs most likely to inflict severe and fatal injuries.
Reviewing Quick Statistics or Dog Bite Studies is a good way to become familiar with these statistics. Also see our report that reviews Level 1 trauma center studies from 2011 to present.
Quick statistics
A collection of national nonfatal and fatal dog bite statistics and study-specific statistics. Data include the number of U.S. citizens injured and killed by dogs each year, hospitalization rates for dog bite injuries, costs associated with dog bite injuries, single and combined year dog bite-related fatality statistics, as well as national and worldwide statistics about restricted breed laws. Sources of these statistics are government bodies, medical researchers, insurance and nonprofit organizations.
View quick statistics »
Areas within Quick Statistics are reviewed and updated annually. The most recent dog bite study based on federal data was published in 2020 (See all Government dog bite studies).
Dog bite studies
View literature reviews of retrospective medical studies (2011 to present) and (2009 to 2016) examining severe dog bite injuries by breed in Level 1 trauma centers across major U.S. geographical regions.
Current dog bite fatality studies and studies examining the effectiveness of legislation restricting dangerous dog breeds are listed as well.
Most studies listed on this page are open access. Sources are peer reviewed medical science journals, studies by government bodies and nonprofit organizations.
View recent dog bite studies »
For a full listing of dog bite injury and related studies divided into multiple categories, please visit our Studies Index, which includes many more open access dog bite-related studies.
Dog bite fatalities
A collection of U.S. dog bite fatalities separated by year and their related statistics for the 20-year period of 2005 through December 31, 2024 recorded by DogsBite.org.
Annual reports from 2005 to 2019 contain an analysis of that year, including breeds of dogs involved, age and gender of victims, risk and relationship factors, such as family dogs versus non-family dogs, attacks by chained dogs, attacks involving four or more dogs, dog ownership information and state level information.
View dog bite fatalities »
In May 2018, we issued a multi-year fatality report: U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities: Breeds of Dogs Involved, Age Groups and Other Factors Over a 13-Year Period (2005 to 2017)
Dog bite fatality citations
A collection of news reports, separated by year, for each deadly dog mauling over the 20-year period of 2005 through December 31, 2024 recorded by DogsBite.org For instance, in 2019, we collected over 1,025 news reports from local, regional and national news sources pertaining to dog bite fatalities for that year. We also collect photographs, videos, audio dispatch logs, police reports, and legal and legislative materials.
Learn about the 33 parameters we collect in our data collection method.
View dog bite fatality citations »
Our annual Breed Identification reports from 2013 to 2024 contain photographs of dogs involved in fatal maulings collected from news reports, law enforcement and social media websites.
Dog bite studies index
Our studies index contains U.S. dog bite injury studies separated into categories, including: nonfatal dog bite injury studies, fatal dog bite injury studies, dog bite injury pandemic studies, government dog bite studies, meta-analysis dog bite studies, restricted breed law studies, aggressive dog behavior studies, vicious dog ownership studies and more.
Some are cross-listed in more than one category and many are open access.
Studies marked by an “abstract” label require payment to read in full.
View dog bite studies index »
Studies in our index include all studies used in our literature reviews, such as our review of Level 1 trauma center dog bite studies (2011 to present) and our 2009 to 2016 special report.
Citations
The Changing Epidemiology of Dog Bite Injuries in the United States, 2005–2018, by Tuckel PS, Milczarski W, Injury Epidemiology, 01 November 2020.
U.S. Inpatient Stays for Dog Bite Injuries (1993 to 2014) and U.S. ED Visits for Dog Bite Injuries (2006 to 2014). HCUP Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project HCUP. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Accessed: December 13, 2018
A possible addition to your protection collection:
“Fire extinguishers are the non-lethal alternative to shooting an attacking dog with the highest success rate.”
Responded to ANIMALS 24-7 posting
Prince (Fire Marshall, Torrence, CO) posted to Facebook in response to a posting by ANIMALS 24-7 editor Merritt Clifton, which brought together into a single statement the advice he has offered on many occasions about how best to respond to a dog attack.
[See 15 real-life tips for surviving a dog attack (2019 edition)]
The Clifton posting read in entirety:
“I recommend fire extinguishers as the safest and most humane tools for interrupting a dog attack, since using a fire extinguisher does not require closely approaching the dog, it does not have to be aimed very accurately to have a deterrent effect, it does not quickly run out of ammunition, it does not produce an erratic ricochet, and is non-lethal. But if the fire extinguisher is exhausted while the dog attack continues, the empty cylinder can be used as a shield, a club, or a bite stick, as appropriate.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Most animals retreat”
“Besides the deterrent effect of the fire extinguisher’s contents, which tend to make animals quickly short of breath without lastingly harming them, most animals, including most dogs, retreat from the snake-like hiss of a discharging fire extinguisher.
“There should be a fire extinguisher in every kitchen, near every fireplace, in every car, near the driver in any bus, truck, or taxi, and prominently and visibly located in every public building or place of business.
“Fire extinguishers have about a 70% success rate in stopping pit bull attacks. Guns have only about an 80% success rate at stopping the dog with the first shot fired.
“Among the other popular non-lethal devices used to stop dog attacks, pepper spray and Mace must be relatively accurately directed, and are typically carried in small containers meant for use at close range. Pepper spray and Mace have about a 40% success rate in stopping pit bull attacks.”
” I was recently scanning the adoption dog pics at the Gwinnett County animal shelter website and 90% are pitbulls.”
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Extremely common situation.
🤣
I like the idea - however, is there a small fire extinguisher that I could carry on my hikes? I can’t see lugging around a standard-sized extinguisher, even around the block (but I may have to if I keep seeing that menacing dog).
https://www.vat19.com/item/mini-firefighter-fire-extinguisher?zCountry=US
https://elementfire.com/blogs/articles/rethink-small-fire-extinguishers
https://www.amazon.com/mini-fire-extinguisher/s?k=mini+fire+extinguisher
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