Pit Bull Bites Down More Than 90% In Toronto

I know liars figure and figures lie, but the latest numbers from the City of Toronto make it pretty clear that breed bans and muzzle bylaws have put a major dent in the number of dog bite incidents over the past five years.

For those of you new to the game, Michael Bryant was our Attorney General here in Ontario and the political muscle behind a 2005 province wide ban on breeding or buying Pit Bulls. Otherwise, you had to muzzle your Pit Bull and Terriers when they were out for a public stroll.  All of this happened in the face of increased complaints about dog biting attacks.

Since then, Pit Bull bites in Toronto have dropped from 71 in 2005 to six in 2010. My weak math says that’s about a 92 percent dip.

A freedom of information request by globalnews.ca shows the number of bites reported to Toronto Public Health has declined dramatically. The stats also suggest the number of “legal” pit bulls has dropped almost in half. Not all that surprising, when it’s illegal to buy or breed the dogs.

That’s not to say everybody’s buying our story.

New Democrat MPP Cheri Di Novo tells Global’s Laura Zilke, “Toronto humane society did a study – a far-reaching study. They covered four years, this was five years after the bill was passed – and they found absolutely no difference.”  But there are two things to consider here. First, the humane society was bent on opposing the ban and ignoring the attacks from the word go. Second, Di Novo’s trying to spin this into a political issue rather than a matter of community safety.  We got these numbers from Toronto’s Public Health department. No spin. No political axe to grind.  So…maybe…just maybe…Michael Bryant was more than a little bit right when he banned Pit Bulls.