Mr speaker, I now move the bill be read a second time.
The bill that is being proposed is about the industry of Greyhound Racing. The main aspects of this bill are to bring justice to those who use live baiting, address the welfare issues surrounding this industry and to ban greyhound racing in all states of Australia. Greyhound racing is a cruel and degrading industry and putting a permanent ban on such a thing will benefit the society of Australia greatly.
Every year, around 20,000 greyhounds are bred in the hope that one of them will become the fastest runner on the track and its estimated 9 out of 10 greyhounds are killed because they don’t reach the expectations of the trainers. A special commission of inquiry was filed in New South Wales into their Greyhound racing industry and the results that came back were shocking. It
…show more content…
Many greyhounds live in cramped concrete cages and kennels or in small dirty pens for long periods of time and are not given the chance to socialise with other dogs. This leads the development of behavioural conditions and are usually incredibly fearful which can have negative effects on their wellbeing. Greyhounds who are deemed fast enough to run on the track are at risk of suffering serious and life threatening injuries. Injuries include head trauma and more commonly, broken legs. Many also die of cardiac arrest from over exertion and heat exhaustion. It is estimated that up to 200 dogs are injured during official races every week and around 5 are killed due to injuries being not worth the money to fix. Greyhounds who are ‘retired’ don’t have much of a life either. Most are killed before their 5th birthday and some of the females go into unethical and painful breeding programs. In order to stop this degrading treatment, we need a country wide ban of this cruel
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.
Media over exposes anything that has a negative effect on the pit bull breeds. It is their goal to adversely affect said breeds. These atrocious opinions of reporters distort the views of the public, making them think that one breed is a monstrous threat to society and needs to be banned. Breed specific legislation is unlawful and should be prohibited.
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.
One of the biggest issues with BSL is breed identification. A law that bans a “vicious” being is too broad and can encompass many individuals as it is a personality trait rather than a breed. These laws would then be dependent on what the legislators would define “vicious” to mean. Likewise, there is confusion on what breeds are dangerous. Dogsbite.org claims that breeds such as wolf-dog hybrids, dogo argentinos, presa breeds, cane corsos, and especially pit bulls are indeed dangerous animals and should be banned. However, there are discrepancies involved in even that statement. Of the listed breeds perhaps the most commonly targeted is the pit bull. But what exactly does anyone mean by pit bull? Merriam Webster defines “pit bull” as follows, “a dog (as an American Staffordshire Terrier) of any of several breeds or a real or apparent hybrid with one or more of these breeds that was developed for and is now often trained for fighting and is noted for strength and stamina”. On the contrary, the United Kennel Club has recognized the American Pit Bull Terrier, also called APBT, as a standalone breed since 1898 when UKC founder C.Z. Bennett registered her APBT Bennet’s Ring (Uk...
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
There are plenty controversial issues about bully breeds and whether they are acceptable or safe dogs to own. In July a woman was mauled in her yard and killed by a dog in Montreal. Due to this unfortunate incident the mayor Denis Coderre created a bill called BSL (Breed-Specific Legislation) which was approved by the legislation. This bill states that determined by their breed or pitbull features “American Pitbull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, American Bulldogs or any dog with strains of these breeds” will be unadoptable; they must wear a muzzle in public as well as a leash that’s 4 feet long and in most cases they will be euthanized due to their breed. BSL should be reversed because the real problem is irresponsible dog owners, the irresponsible owners will just switch breeds and any dog has the potential to hurt someone.
They can suddenly become killing machines and destroy everything including kill people. They even hurt their owners when they are unhappy. The dogs stand about 50cm high and weigh between 25kg to 40kg. If they want to hurt people, nothing can stop them. Steve Austin, who is elite dog trainer, said, “Anyone who has a pit bull would never admit it.” In April 26, 2014, the events is from the Daily Telegraph reported by Janet Fife-Yeomans. Pandelis Germanos, who has Caeser and another four pitbull-type dogs which is to prevent his house was got hurt from his Caesar and another four Pitbull-type dogs. When she tried to pull Caesar off her mother, she lost his two fingers. Another true event happened in 27 May, 2013, this events’ source is from The Daily Telegragh. Three vicious dogs savaged a man who is jogging. Due to a neighbours’ help, he did not die. Chris Thompson who was one of the people that fend off the dogs said that he had grabbed a pot plant and cracked it over one dog’s head and the shock made them disperse but then they came back and latched onto another person’s hand. A hard pot plant cannot cause any injury on the dog. Mr Keith Kirkpatrick, who is a Brisbane dog trainer and adviser to Brisbane City Council has said, “They’re not a good guard dog because when they bite they switch off. You can tap them on the head but there’s nobody home and their plan threshold is
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)....
Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to participate in many projects with Queen City Greyhounds related to rescuing greyhounds from the vicious cycle of dog racing. Many states have previously outlawed this practice, but in many southern states, major cities host greyhound racing as a commodity. Consequently, the dogs are viewed as nothing more than a means through which to make profit; if a dog is no longer able to race well enough to generate money, they will either be euthanized or put up for adoption by a
...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.
My impression from the fieldtrip is that the sport is more popular for the elder generations, whereas in the generation change, there will most likely be less loyal supporters of the industry irrespective of the exposition of serious ethical problems involved in the industry. Polls also show that more than 60 percent of the people supports the ban of the sport ("More than 60pc of people support greyhound ban: RSPCA", 2016). The global trend indicates that we will see less of greyhound racing the next years, also considered the regulatory changes, whereas they want to reduce the number of races and the dogs involved. Greyhound racing is now illegal in 39 states in the U.S, and recently Colorado also banned greyhound racing – which indicated increased consensus that the ethical issues overrides the gains alleged from the sport. Nevertheless, the sport is gaining growing popularity in Asia, whereas Australia is exporting numerous greyhounds to China and Vietnam (“RSPCA”, 2016). It is hard to predict the future of greyhound racing in Australia due to the newly implemented regulatory changes, but it seems that there is only a small chance that greyhound racing has a particularly long life span left in the Australian sporting
Contrary to that popular belief, dangerous animal behavior is the function of inherently dangerous dog owners, not inherently dangerous dogs. One fact that supports this is that pit bulls are the dogs most often shot during drug raids (TELLINGS v. Toledo). Besides the pit bulls that are owned by drug dealers for status symbols and protection, many pit bulls are owned by people that breed them for fighting. These poor dogs have a very slim chance of living a normal and happy life. This is not the fault of the dog, but the fault of the owners that should not have the dog, or should care for them better.
Have you ever been to a horse race? Seeing the riders give their horses a pat and an apple after the race, people cheering for their horse as it runs rapidly to the finish line? Seems like a great time. But what happens to those horses after they are done their race. What happens to the people who gambled their family’s lives savings. All horse racing should be shut down due to the well being of the horses, the effects of gambling, and the lack of interest.
Most homeowners normally have pets at home. You will realize that these pets normally provide companionship to their owners. Some of the common pets that are kept by most homeowners include: dogs, cats and so on. Pets are wonderful creatures. They require to be trained from time to time. Most people usually prefer keeping a dog as a pet.
“Virtually 96 percent of their lives are spent in chains or cages,” and “11 months a year they travel over long distances in box cars with no climate control; sleeping, eating, and defecating in the same cage,” as stated by PAWS, Protective Animal Welfare Society, is one of the many organizations that strives to protect animals right and sheds light on this horrific situation that should be stopped at once. This is an insight of what the animals have to endure just for our entertainment. PAWS also discuses when these animals are eventually allowed out of their cages they undergo “extreme ‘discipline’ such as whipping, hitting, poking, and shocking with electrical prods,” for training purposes to ensure that the performance goes without any complications. The transportation of theses animals is cruel and unusual no matter how it is looked at.