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But according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the total number of dog bites, regardless of breed, declined to 3,634 in 2007, down from the 5,300 reported in 2001. Attacks and bites can come from any breed of dog, notes Hoffman from the Mayor’s Alliance – and many people forget this.
“A pit bull could nip the pinky off of someone and it’s all over the news,” she says. “But a cocker spaniel eats the face off a baby and it’s maybe in two papers.”
At Animal Care & Control, which has a branch in each of the boroughs, about three to five cruelty cases involving pit bulls come in each week, Gentles said. These are the cases that require a partnership with law enforcement or the district attorney’s office, and often involve several dogs that have been severely abused – dogs likely not to be put out for adoption, but put to sleep.
