Fatal dog attacks have doubled in the last decade

Fatal dog attacks have doubled across the country in the last decade, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Southern states like Alabama are certainly seeing an increase. The folks at the Greater Birmingham Humane Society believe we have more dog attacks in the South because we simply have more dogs, because unlike northern states, we don’t have spay/neuter laws and most municipalities don’t require dog registration. Whatever the reason, people here who have lost a loved one to a dog attack say something has to change.Albert Ford’s sister, Sharon Portis, died last November while riding her bike home from work in Ensley. She was mauled to death by a pack of dogs. Ford said, “It’s heartbreaking. It’s devastating. It hurts. And it’s something we have to deal with pretty much every day. She was out in a field that night and was attacked by dogs.”Last year, a pack of 13 dogs attacked a woman in Jefferson County. The incident was recorded on a nearby security camera. The victim was injured but survived.Ivana Sullivan of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society says the fact that we have an overpopulation of dogs here in Alabama is part of the problem. She said, “The population is so large and continues to grow every day. There are so many dogs running around freely in Birmingham and then they just reproduce and spawn more and more dogs.”Birmingham police have never identified the dogs that killed Portis, something that still worries her family. Ford said, “This is not a third world country. Incidents like this should not be happening in this city.”Just a few months ago, the leaders of nearly all of Birmingham’s neighborhood associations were calling on the City Council to mandate dog licensing and sterilization to reduce the number of dog attacks in the Magic City. The folks at GBHS hope that happens soon.