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Editor, Index-Tribune:
I would like to offer another physician's perspective in response to Dr. Chagnon's Aug. 23 Op-Ed piece, "A doctor's defense of pit bulls."
As a practicing emergency physician, I have witnessed countless dog bites. Invariably, the most vicious and brutal attacks I have seen have been from the pit bull breed. Many of the victims have been children. In a recent study from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, pit bull attacks accounted for more ER visits than all other breeds combined.
In young children, the most common part of the body injured was the face. Numerous studies have proven that the number-one cause of dog bite fatalities is the pit bull breed. I am certain that many attacks are due to owner negligence, but the fact remains that many were unpredictable and were perpetrated by formerly "loving and loyal" pets.
Dr. Chagnon has every right to leave our town as she claims she will if pit bulls are banned, just like every one of her patients has the right not to attend her clinic where she brings her pit bulls. I applaud Mayor Pro Tem Joanne Sanders for bringing this issue to the forefront. In the interest of public safety, I recommend we enforce a spay/neuter requirement on pit bulls while reviewing and revamping all of our policies relating to animal bites.
Andrew Fenton, M.D.
Sonoma
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Obviously Dr Fenton does not know me---I do not force my dogs on anyone who chooses not to meet them. I am not such a fanatic that I lose my professionalism, and would thoroughly agree my patients have every right to choose another physician for any reason they so chose.
Philadelphia's stats are problematic in a number of ways. First, unfortunately those who choose a pit bull in that kind of urban environment are all too often choosing a dog for the wrong reason. Dr Fenton cites the article claiming they were "loving and loyal pets" though I am unaware most people admit to mistreating their dogs ("yeah, we beat him every day..." isn't a comment often heard, is it?). The fact Philadelphia has largely embraced Michael Vick as a sports hero says quite a bit about that city's values. In addition, people often misidentify breeds. If you mix a Boxer and a Labrador, guess what the result tends to look like? A short-coated dog with a big head and broad chest. Hmm, sounds like a pit bull!
Many much larger studies have been done than the one cited by Dr Fenton, and they have all shown pit bulls are not more likely to attack than any other dog, and there are obvious factors involved in the vast majority of cases where humans are injured by a canine of any breed. I would have hoped a physician would check his facts a bit better. I am curious to know exactly what he would do to revamp policies, especially in light of the fact the police chief states there has not been any pit-bull related event in anyone's memory here? How would Dr Fenton make us all safer?
The unfortunately reality of dog ownership is that many people get dogs for the wrong reasons. Many breeds become fads, yet there has not been a spike in catastrophic life altering attacks and deaths by chihuahuas and dalmatians. YES all dogs bite. NO pit bulls are not more likely to BITE. Dr Changon's comments regarding dog bites demonstrates a lack of common sense and critical thinking. I expect more from doctors.