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What was thought to be a walk in Paradise on one of the prettiest beaches in the world suddenly became a struggle for survival. A female tourist was viciously attacked by two mixed breed pit bull dogs and in desperation she was only able to shake the attacking dogs after going into the sea. Her medical treatment and recovery included hundreds of stitches, several major operations and tens of thousands of dollars of medical bills. This does not include compensation for pain and suffering. When one observes the seriousness of these injuries, it was widely speculated that the only the victim’s determination to survive saved her life. Undoubtedly had the victim been a child, death could have easily followed. This is the same area of the beach where my twelve year old daughter had gone horse-back riding a week before. Apparently under the current laws, the owners of the dogs were charged the maximum fine permitted in the local Magistrate Court, a meager $ 200..
Obviously the government of the Bahamas continues to ignore the potential danger of pitbull dogs and fail to act within the best interest of the public as a number of other attacks resulting in very serious injury have also been reported. Even one of the daily newspapers last year expressed their concern on the lack of concern by the government to ensure public safety. To the contrary there appears to be a proliferation of pitbull sales in the Bahamas where the sale of these animals are advertised and fetch top dollars. In particular, the female, because of its breeding and investment potential can demand several thousand dollars as is often indicated by rewards when these animals are missing.
The Bahamian public have known first hand for a long time the extreme danger of pitbulls, when a seven year old girl walking on a public road in Nassau was mauled to death by a pitbull in the late 1980’s. The authorities of the day claimed that they will spay or neuter all remaining pitbulls in the Bahamas and ban their imports. With time, pitbulls will be eliminated from the Bahamas. This policy was never carried out even though an import ban was implemented. The pitbull breeding industry flourished. Authorities turned a blind eye to the activities of pitbull breeders even when the sale of these dogs were publicly advertised. What a stupid policy of allowing domestic breeding and banning their imports. That is the equivalent of allowing Bahamians to grow marijuana while banning the imports to marijuana.
Of even more concern is the fact that some of these pitbulls were bred with wild potcake dogs that freely roam the streets. No one is certain what portion of the pitbull’s genetic characteristics are actually passed on as victims of these mixed breed have also been mutilated. The danger from pitbulls is due to their unique neuromuscular structure in their jaw. Their massive muscles can exert a pressure of 2,000 lbs per square inch. That is sufficient force to crush any bone in the human body. When biting its victim, the jaw locks and even decapitation will not release the grip. According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia in 2001, 55 deaths, the majority of which were from pitbulls, occurred from dog attacks. Almost every week on televisions there are reports of attacks. The unpredictable nature of pitbull attacks is what creates such a danger about them. Some pitbulls have attacked even their owners and people they have known for a long time. So far 36 countries around the world, including most of the European countries have outwardly banned pitbulls. Such bans often came about as a reaction to a tragedy. Other countries severely restrict the activities of pitbulls by confining them to very secure premises and requiring the owners to maintain millions of dollars in liability insurance.
So far the current Bahamian PLP government has only talked about an Act to control the wild dog population as indicated by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Honorable Alfred Gray. No indication has been given by him as to what his government will do about pitbulls and the obvious danger that pitbulls pose to the public. The only useful utility that pitbulls seem to possess since their introduction into the Bahamas in the 1970s, was to intimidate and protect the “stashes” of drug dealers. The Bahamas government, in particular the Ministry of National Security must live up to their responsibility to protect the Bahamian public to produce whatever legislation is necessary to eliminate the pitbull menace from the Bahamas.
Now is the time for government to act. Failure to do so will be most reckless and negligent since the Bahamian public will continue to be at risk.
Dr. Leatendore Percentie
