Bill Bruce Is Coming To Australia

[mita]

Mita may be right that there is a change in reporting. It would require research to figure out what is behind the numbers; the figure caption indicates that there was a change in how bites were recorded after 2009.

I agree that the proposition requires more research. But makes some sense that a new model which assures public safety by focusing on behaviours, would be matched with increased awareness, reporting & recording of 'bite' behaviours. Good news is that the focus has gone off pursuing certains breeds.... totally disassociated from actual reported behaviours.

Mel has a good point that even the increased dog bite stat, is quite low given the size of the population. There's some comfort in the fact that incidence of dog aggression against humans tends to be pathetically low when compared with human aggression against fellow humans.

Statistically dogs are more peaceful fellow 'citizens' than humans.

Edited November 25, 2013 by mita

[sandgrubber]

See also

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/calgarians+unleash+torrent+bite+reports/8411084/story.html

or Google "dog bite Calgary"

Calgary introduced its new dog laws in 2006. The definition of bite was made more restrictive in 2009 (presumably causing the decline in bites that year). But if an Australian city showed the increase seen from 2009-2012 the politicians would be going nuts.

I don't think the numbers in 2012 are particularly low, given that the definition of dog bite is more restrictive than in many places. Calgary's population is about 400k less than that of Perth. What are the annual figures for dog bites in Perth? Calgary reported ~200.

The fines being handed out are high, and that's right and good.

btw., I'm not saying the Calgary model is bad, I'm saying it tends to be oversold. If anyone is going to the Bill Bruce lecture, it would be good if they asked a question about the trend over the last few years.