In the past 10 years, the South Carolina Department Of Health and Environmental Control recorded 74,433 incidents in which people were harmed by dogs, usually dog bite incidents. The explosion in the pitbull population is one of the contributors to this problem. There is a bill pending in the state legislature that could help solve it.
Pit bulls bite the most number of people, they are the #1 canine killers of children, and are particularly dangerous to the family that adopts them -- when pit bulls maul and kill, their usual victims are their owners, the children of their owners, and the parents of their owners. One-quarter to one-third of the entire pitbull population in the United States has to be euthanized every year because of over breeding, and at any one time more than 50% of all pit bulls in the country are up for sale or adoption. (See Pit Bulls: Facts and Figures.)
To curb this serious and costly problem, Representative Chip Huggins (R) of the South Carolina House of Representatives sponsored House Bill 3709 which would require the registration of fertile pit bull dogs including the payment of a $500 registration fee. The intended effect would be to reduce the number of new pit bulls. This is a good law which should be enacted as soon as possible because it is a humane solution to the pitbull overpopulation issue, and ultimately will help to keep safe the residents of South Carolina. Cities, counties and states across the country should all enact similar laws.
