Pit Bull bites up 20% in Mecklenburg County

Since the beginning of July, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control has recorded 23 bites. Most of the pit bulls bites caused only minor damage, but some were serious. Last month a 9-year-old girl was hospitalized after being bitten in the face. Melissa Knicely with Animal Care and Control says the pit bull attacks are up this year in part because more people own the dogs. "They're the trendy dog to have right now. It's the dog of choice," says Knicely. "So whatever's the trendy dog to have there's obviously going to be more incidences involved with that dog. Same as a golden retriever and a lab. They're higher usually on the bites because there are so many of them." Pit bulls also tend to show up in police reports more often. On Friday, police shot two pit bulls that were released on them while officers were serving a search warrant. Animal Care and Control keeps track of dog bite statistics in Mecklenburg County. In the fiscal year ending June 30th, pit bulls represented 208 bites. Labrador Retrievers were second with 152, followed by German Shepherds and Chow Chows.