Recently a building inspector in the Jefferson County village of Bluford was bitten several times while trying to save his beagle from a pair of pit bulls. The site quotes a study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control that indicates the reported number of dog bites requiring medical care rose 36 percent from 1986 to 1996.
Most communities have ordinances in place that regulate dangerous animals.
Springfield passed a revised animal-control ordinance in 1999 after a small dog was killed in a pit bull attack. According to Springfield's State Journal-Register, the ordinance doesn't disallow vicious dogs, but dogs identified as vicious must be confined or muzzled. In Decatur, the city's animal-control ordinance prohibits residents from owning vicious dogs. Most times, however, dogs are not deemed vicious until after an attack. Keeping a dog restrained may not be enough.