Splashed across the news feed on bing.com is a sensational story about a mother who bit the ear off a pit bull that was savagely attacking her 2-year old daughter. Story headline: “Mother acted on pure instinct when she punched the dog in the mouth and bit off its ear when it attacked her little girl…both mom and daughter are recovering—and the brutal beast has been put down” (nydailynews.com). This “vicious beast” is the criminal and the mother is no-doubt a hero. There’s no mother out there that would have done the same thing however, the way this article explains the story is sensationalized, the author clearly meant to demonize this dog. Stories like this have cast a shadow over the lowly pit bull breed and caused entire communities to take up pitchforks and push for legislation to ban the pit bull from existence. Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) is a quick solution to the public frenzy created after a media-reported dog attack. However, BSL is rapidly proving to be ineffective. Counties are finding that BSL is too costly, it provides the public with a false sense of security, and it does not address animal abuse, even inadvertent abuse by loving owners.
Breed Specific Legislation and Dangerous Dog laws are two ways states and counties deal with dog-bite related attacks. Dangerous Dog Laws regulate or prohibit ownership of a dog that has already shown signs of aggression or violence. According Hussain (2006) “dangerous-dog laws tend to be more effective, efficient, and addresses the problem of the ‘dog-bite epidemic’ by objectively examining a dog’s prior conduct rather than making subjective evaluations of viciousness based solely on breed” (pg.2). Breed-Specific Laws severely regulate or prohibit ownership of a d...
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...4, 2014, from http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/stop-animal-abuse/fact-sheets/breed-specific-legislation.html
Dog Bite-Related Fatalities. (n.d.). National Canine Research Council. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/dog-bite-related-fatalities/
Fact Sheet: Prince George's County Breed Ban. (n.d.). marylanddogfederation.com. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.marylanddogfederation.com/uploads/1/6/6/0/16605940/pg_fact_sheet_cost.pdf
Huemer, A. (2000). Scapegoats & Underdogs: The Pit Bull Dilema. The Animals Agenda, 20(4), 31-38.
Hussain, S. G. (2006). Attacking the Dog-Bite Epidemic: Why Breed-Specific Legislation Won't Solve the Dangerous-Dog Dilema. Fordham Law Review, 74(5), 2847-2888.
Medlin, J. (2007). Pit Bull Bans and the Human Factors Affecting Canine Behavior. Depaul Law Review, 56(4), 1285-1320.
Pit bulls are targeted in this ineffective solution to dog attacks. Perhaps the reason why pit bulls are feared by society because we are afraid of what they are associated with. Pit bulls are often thought of as a gangster’s pet; a role in violent and illegal activities. People stereotype this breed because of the unfortunate acts of few. In contrast, society needs to understand that they are being racist towards a breed of dog. Denver’s systematic killing of pit bulls could be compared to the actions of the Nazis during the holocaust. Although BLS is not even close to being on the same scale as the Holocaust, it is targeting and killing a specific group of living beings. Breed Specific Legislation is genocide of this breed. Denver alone has killed at least 3,500 pit bulls. It’s heart wrenching to think about how many families lost their steadfast companions because of the ignorance of others. A common phrase among pit bull supporters is, “Judge the deed: not the breed”. This rings true; if we are to bring justice to the breed, then we need to abolish BSL. True pit bulls are a far from the monsters they are made to
What words come to mind when one hears the words “pit bull?” How about aggressive, violent, or dangerous? In many cases, this isn’t actually true. Because of the negative media attention for attacks on humans and other dogs that pit bull breeds receive, many Americans place a stigma on pit bulls, tagging them as dangerous and vicious. This stigma typically applies to all pit bulls, not just the ones that are actually dangerous. To remedy the issue of dangerous dogs attacking other beings, the legislative act known as breed-specific legislation is being debated throughout the United States. Gary J. Patronek, a veterinary doctor, defines breed-specific legislation as a law than “bans, restricts, or imposes conditions on ownership of specific breeds or dogs presumed to pose greater risk of biting people” (788). Breed-specific legislation is commonly debated in communities that have recently experienced a dog-bite related injury or fatality (Patronek, Slater, and Marder 788). However, this law would ban all dogs of the pit bull breed or any related dog based solely on their breed, rather than disposition. Therefore, breed-specific legislation should not be enacted throughout the United States because is biased against pit bulls and is ineffective in reducing dog-bite attacks by ignoring other aggressive dog breeds.
Most of the dogs on this list are common household pets, like the Labrador retriever, and are normally non-aggressive and very friendly. Many times these dogs show no sign of aggression and pose no threat to society. Perspective One Breed-specific laws were put in place with the expectation to help prevent dog bites and attacks. The State and Federal government both came to the conclusion that this is a positive way to promote safety from dog attacks. “Both state and federal courts consistently uphold the constitutionality of breed-specific pit bull laws.... ...
In recent years it has been the pit bull which has come under the scrutiny of legislative bodies, as their reputation becomes more and more sullied by street crime. To say “pit bull,” however, is a vague reference to several pit bull types, which are considered separate breeds by registries like the American Kennel Club (AKC). Each type has a slightly different breeding history; many began with the breeding of bulldogs with terriers to produce a loyal, compact and tenacious breed (“American Pit Bull Terrier”). The three standard pit bull types most often mentioned by name in breed-specific legislation include the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. That is not the extent of the legislation, however, which also includes dogs that “substantially conform to the breed standards established by the American Kennel Club” (Melvindale)....
Bad owners should be punished with their dogs, and good owners should not have to suffer because of another person’s actions. Thousands of innocent dogs would be saved from untimely death each year if the unwarranted and bias killing of them was itself made illegal. Discrimination is a terrible ideal and BSL is just that, and should not be implemented in any county, of any state, in any
Enacting and enforcing strong leash laws is another very effective way to help reduce dog attacks and its easy to tell whether or not a dog has a leash on, unlike the difficulty of trying to determine the breed of some dogs. If a dog is on a leash the owner has control of it, even if said dog does lunge at someone. But leash laws can't just say you must have your dog on a leash. They also need to address dogs being tied out and left outside alone. Do...
...ociated Press published an article “Pit Bulls are A Danger to Society,” yet this year, the same publisher issued an article “Attitudes and Laws Against the Pit Bull Soften – The Big Story” in which the Pit bull advocates hail the changes as recognition that breed-specific laws discriminate against dogs that are not inherently aggressive or dangerous should not be discriminated against or victimized. The debate puts millions of pit bull owners up against a relatively small group of activists against the breed and challenges the notion that Pit Bulls that are well-cared for had any history of aggressive behavior in the first place, closing the argument by again stating what the Canadian Encyclopedia explained, that their actions were just a park of the cycle of favorites and least favorites that has always been and always will be in the history of ownership of dogs.
Campbell, Dana M. "Pit Bull Bans: The State Of Breed-Specific Legislation." Gpsolo 26.5 (2009): 36-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
In 2005, the Ontario Liberal government passed The Dog Owner’s Liability Act: a ban against pit bull terriers in the province. After the bill passed, Attorney General Michael Bryant said, “Mark my words, Ontario will be safer” (Ontario passes ban on pit bulls, 2005). The legislation prevented people from acquiring a number of breeds of dogs that would be classified as pit bulls. In addition, Ontario residents who already owned a pit bull terrier prior to the ban were required to neuter and muzzle their animals. Such policies against this breed of animal are not unprecedented. In fact, similar laws are already in place in Britain, France and Germany. In Canada, Winnipeg has had a ban against pit bull terriers in place for 20 years (Ontario passes ban on pit bulls, 2005). Ontario and other regions have imposed these sanctions because the evidence clearly indicates that pit bull terriers pose a much higher than average risk to people.
An increasing number of pit bull attacks have occurred over past decade. People who are attacked by pit bulls always suffer serious injuries because of the pit bulls’ sharp teeth and strong muscles. In October 19, 2009, Dr Hugh Wirth who is the RSPCA’s Victorian president renewed calls for American pit bull terriers to be bred out of Australia. The current laws require owners of pit bulls to register their pit bull. While some people are satisfied with the laws because they think that they are safe, others disagree. From my own perspective, the laws should be improved. The government should ban these fierce dogs and wipe them out instead of just registering them. In my opinion, there are three reasons why I am in favour of Dr Wirth’s proposal.
Sorentrue, Heather. “‘Marion County Debates Putting Down Violent Dogs” Central Florida News 13 2 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 June 2010.
b. “Many people have a difficult time properly identifying a true Pit Bull, so added to the statistics are those dogs that have been misidentified. Considering these factors, the actual number of attacks attributable to American Pit Bull Terriers is considerably lower than represented,” according to the real pit bull. i. Do you think a 4 pound Pomeranian dog would hurt anybody? ii. Stated in the Dog Bite Law, “The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family 's Pomeranian dog.” a. The American Temperament Test is a test that measures a dog strong avoidance, unprovoked aggression, and panic without recovery. “American Pit Bull Terriers passed the test at a rate of 85.3%,” according to Pitbulls.org. They have the highest test scores, and they out beat the golden retriever “family dog” by 7.7%. iii. I identify the justice of my rival’s claim, but I disagree with my rival’s 100 percent about pit bulls having the highest attacks. c. Now you can see how my rival made a mistake because they didn’t evaluate and understood the facts as clearly as they
On June 20, Charlotte Alter posted an article on TIME website titled, “The Problem with Pit Bulls”. In her article she starts with an event that happened to a three year old little girl that was attacked by three Pit Bulls. The little girl and her family were in KFC and one of the employees asked her to leave because her face was “disrupting their customers”. Half of the little girl’s face is now paralyzed and she has also lost her vision in one of her eyes because of the three Pit Bulls that attacked her. Her grandfather killed the three Pit bulls that attacked her; however her grandfather is now facing charges of child-endangerment. KFC was so generous to donated money to the family to help with her medical bills. But yet the rant is more
Currently, pit bulls have been reported by the media with very horrific and disturbing news of having attacked a child or being shot by a police due to aggression while some are reported to have been abused or neglected by its owners (Forderer and Unkelbach 534). And because the reports keep coming with heated discussions, more and more people have forged a frightening image of pit bulls even to the extreme of refusing to take care of such breed. Pit bull advocates claim that the dogs get a bad reputation considering that people should learn the dogs are not inherently aggressive. What the pit bull advocates would like to point is that the owners of the pit bulls should be considered guilty for mishandling of their own dogs. There are owners of pit bulls that even encourage the dog to be aggressive in order to fight and protect them in a wrong manner and wrong degree of training (Forderer and Unkelbach 536). Pit bull advocates claimed that a well socialized and well trained pit bull would be very intelligent and could be one of the gentle dogs imaginable.
First is classification, meaning people or animals are categorized and then put into an us versus them situation. In people, a good example of this would be the Jewish people during Hitler’s reign. They were considered to be less than human, and perfectly fine to destroy, just because they were different. In comparison to BSL laws, we say that “ pit bulls”, rottweilers, and other so called aggressive breed dogs are dangerous compared to “regular” dogs who are not dangerous. The media makes this worse because they are constantly classifying these dogs as being nasty fighting dogs that are owned by gang members, drug dealers, dog fighters, thugs, and other persona non grata.