The introduction to the stats acknowledges that there's no definitive way to know how many pit bulls and pit bull crosses (meaning dogs that are deemed to have 51 percent of the breed's genetic makeup based on visual inspection) are currently living in Castle Rock. However, of the roughly 600 bites catalogued by Castle Rock animal control over the past ten years, only twenty involved pit bulls or pit-bull crosses. None of the 21 bites deemed "severe" involved pits.
Here's the severe-bite breakdown:
Black Labrador/Yellow Labrador/Mixes: 4More dog-bite data was obtained from the City of Centennial, unincorporated Douglas County, the portions of unincorporated Douglas County that correspond to Castle Rock mailing addresses, and unincorporated Parker. None of those areas ban pit bulls, yet the figures from 2010 to 2017 consistently show that incidents of pit bulls biting people lag well behind those involving Labrador retrievers and German shepherds.
Huskies: 4
Boxers/Mixes: 2
German shepherds: 2
Cats: 2
Alaskan Malamute/Australian shepherd/Belgian Malinois/Borzoi/Great Pyrenees/Mastiff/Rottweiler: 1 apiece
In no area do pit bulls finish higher than fourth in the number of bites against humans. And homes with Castle Rock addresses in unincorporated Douglas County didn't register a single pit-bull bite of a person during the seven-year span.
The statistics don't include information on how many total dogs from each breed are in an area, so it's impossible to calculate the percentage of each that bit people. But in terms of sheer numbers, the teeth of Labs and German shepherds were far likelier to sink into your flesh than the choppers on a pit bull.
Here are the stats, illustrated with photos from our "Parade of Pit Bulls" slideshow.
City of Centennial Animal-to-Human Dog Bites 2010-2017 by Breed and Severity
Number 1: Labrador retriever
Minor: 58
Moderate: 25
Severe: 1
Unknown: 3
Number 2: German shepherd
Minor: 27
Moderate: 15
Severe: 2
Unknown: 3
Number 3. Chihuahua (short hair)
Minor: 26
Moderate: 0
Severe: 0
Unknown: 1
Number 4: Australian cattle dog
Minor: 19
Moderate: 6
Severe: 1
Unknown: 0
Number 5: Pit bull
Minor: 17
Moderate: 4
Severe: 1
Unknown: 2
Unincorporated Douglas County with Castle Rock Mailing Address Animal-to-Human Dog Bites 2010-2017 by Breed and Severity
Number 1: German shepherd
Minor: 9
Moderate: 2
Severe: 0
Unknown: 2
Number 2: Labrador retriever
Minor: 6
Moderate: 1
Severe: 0
Unknown: 4
Number 3: Boxer
Minor: 3
Moderate: 0
Severe: 0
Unknown: 0
Number 4 (tie): Australian cattle dog
Minor: 2
Moderate: 0
Severe: 0
Unknown: 2
Number 4 (tie): Australian shepherd
Minor: 2
Moderate: 1
Severe: 0
Unknown: 0
Note: No pit bull bites recorded in this category
Unincorporated Douglas County Animal-to-Human Dog Bites 2010-2017 by Breed and Severity
Number 1: Labrador retriever
Minor: 69
Moderate: 20
Severe: 1
Unknown: 9
Number 2: German shepherd
Minor: 44
Moderate: 24
Severe: 2
Unknown: 5
Number 3: Australian shepherd
Minor: 35
Moderate: 6
Severe: 1
Unknown: 5
Number 4: Pit bull
Minor: 28
Moderate: 10
Severe: 1
Unknown: 0
Number 5: Australian cattle dog
Minor: 22
Moderate: 9
Severe: 0
Unknown: 6
Unincorporated Parker Animal-to-Human Dog Bites 2010-2017 by Breed and Severity
Number 1: Labrador retriever
Minor: 13
Moderate: 1
Severe: 0
Unknown: 0
Number 2: German shepherd
Minor: 5
Moderate: 3
Severe: 0
Unknown: 1
Number 3: Jack Russell terrier
Minor: 5
Moderate: 0
Severe: 0
Unknown: 0
Number 4: Pit bull
Minor: 4
Moderate: 1
Severe: 0
Unknown: 1
Number 5: Labrador retriever
Minor: 4
Moderate: 0
Severe: 0
Unknown: 0
Click to access all of the dog-bite statistics assembled by the Town of Castle Rock.
