Breed Specific Legislation: How Do We Stop the Onslaught?

Breed Specific Legislation or BSL is one of the most confusing pieces of business to come along in years.

Governments are finding it much easier to place a restriction on or completely banning a breed based on one or two incidents that occur.

Is this against our rights or is it business as usual?

Popular opinion leans toward a violation of our rights as citizens. Here in the United States we have many rights. Breed specific legislation invades on our right to privacy and our freedom of choice.

Breed specific legislation offers no real cure to the overwhelming problem of dogs and safety to our societies.

Once more BSL is a paranoid law that is placed because the ignorant public does not have an inkling of an idea about the real problem.

Jane Q public doesn’t see the over population, irresponsible owners who abuse and neglect their dogs, or the big picture if you will.

No, Jane Q Public sees, “Vicious Pit Bull/RottWeiler attacks 3 year old and kills them. More at 6.”

The media fans the flames because it pays to pour gas on a fire that is already out of control. Reporting? More like story telling.

Law enforcement and government agencies quote outdated dog bite statistics from the CDC. 1979 to 1998 to be exact.

These studies are supposed to show how Pit Bulls and other breeds are “potentially more dangerous than other breeds.”

When in fact they tell the truth if you read between the lines. There are approximately 20 fatal attacks by dogs on humans each year.

If you combined the known numbers of Pit Bulls and Rottweilers the number would easily reach into the millions.

5-10-30 million dogs that are supposed to be vicious man killers and only 20 human fatalities a year from dog attacks.

The numbers tell the truth. It is not the breed that causes dog attacks, be it fatal or not.

It is the irresponsible owners that cause these attacks and that is the root of our problem.

We as dog owners have a responsibility, yes every dog owner, has a responsibility to the public and other dog owners to not only educate as many people as we can, but to be responsible companions to our pets.

More education should be the order of the day for those involved on the front lines of the problem.

Animal control, shelters, breeders, rescues, and all the kennel clubs around the nation all need better education.

Our schools should have a dog bite safety class for all grades.

Current laws should be enforced too. Thus stopping the current irresponsible owners from becoming even more irresponsible because their actions go unchecked.

In my city it is illegal to have a dog off leash outside of 2 areas. These areas are off-leash dog parks.

Yet, anyone can walk down the street with an off-leash dog, the cops pass them, animal contorl passes them, and no one says a word.

Pit Bulls, other bull breeds and large breeds like RottWeilers are not any more vicious than the Poodle Aunt Miffie has.

It’s owners that do not take responsibility for their actions that are the problem and until we address that problem the BSL bandwagon will continue to roll and swallow up law abiding productive citizens around the world.

Jason Mann is the owner/operator of PitBullLovers.com a web site devoted to the positive image of the American Pit Bull Terrier.