Does appearance determine personality?
After almost six years of costly enforcement of breed specific legislation, (BSL) Italy has lifted its breed ban and is replacing it with a law that will hold owners accountable for their dogs. In September of 2003, Italy placed into effect laws that banned or restricted 92 breeds including not just controversial breeds such as the Rottweiler and Pit Bull, but breeds such as the Corgi and Border Collie. Italy later dropped the deemed dangerous list to 17 breeds, and just this past April, removed the restrictions all together. In light of the new law, Health Undersecretary, Francesca Martini said “This is a historic day because we have established for the first time the responsibility of the owner or the person who is momentarily in charge of the animal.”
Dog advocates and experts globally have argued that dogs are individuals and aggression cannot be pinned on specific breeds as a whole. Many share the thought that banning an entire breed is nothing but a costly band-aid fix to quiet the hype caused by the media. Until owners are held responsible for their negligence, incidents will continue to occur even if specific species are eradicated.
Possibly following suit to Italy’s new reversal on BSL, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has ruled in favor of an appeal challenging the constitutionality of the Denver, Colorado breed ban, which currently restricts owners with American Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bulls, American Bull Dogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and dogs that appear to be mixed with the listed breeds. Since the Denver ban was re-enacted in 2005, over 1,000 dogs were subsequently euthanized. In their decision, the Tenth Circuit Court is quoted to say "with its affections for its friends, and children in particular, its off-duty quietness and trustworthy stability, [the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is] a foremost all-purpose dog."
In 1988, in Dade County, Florida, a breed ban was enacted. In 2002, it was estimated that over 50,000 of the banned breeds were residing there.
In 2001, Baltimore, Maryland estimated the cost just to enforce breed specific legislation, (had it passed), would total more than $750,000. Unbeknownst to many tax payers, BSL is very costly. Examples are given using the Economic Impact Calculator.
June 9th, 2008, Holland lifts its breed ban against Pit Bulls after discovering that fifteen years of BSL did not decrease the number of dog bite incidents. After euthanizing many puppies that had Pit Bull appearances, they concluded that physical traits did not pre-determine temperament.
Ignoring statistics and efficacy of BSL, Canada remains firm on their stance to ban specific breeds. On June 9th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeal to remove their ban on Pit Bulls. In 45 years, there had only been 1 reported fatality resulting from a “Pit Bull” attack in Canada, out of 47 cases of fatalities involving at least 100 dogs, most of which were sled dogs. The one listed incident was the result of provocation by a drunken roommate.
Charlotte currently does not enforce breed specific legislation with the exception that Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes cannot be adopted from the Charlotte Mecklenberg Animal Care and Control, (CMACC) Facility. Members of the rescue community are trying to help present solutions to change the city legislation preventing their adoption, without putting the dogs in danger of being adopted by fighters.
In hopes to provide more than a band-aid fix, programs to promote responsible ownership are sprouting throughout the country in an effort to help with breed discrimination caused by negligent owners.
For more info: Visit the National Canine Research Council, and Pit Bull Rescue Central BSL, or email Sara at dogexaminer@yahoo.com.
Comments
Of course if breed bans are not enforced, it's hardly going to work. Miami Dade's breed ban does curtail dog fighting a great deal-dog fighting IS surprisingly rare compared to the rest of the state and Miami-which is common place. Holland recently lifted their pit bull ban but dog fighting is sharply on the rise.
Making something illegal does not work to curb the behavior of people who already break the law. For instance, banning pit bulls will only result in law-abiding citizens not owning them. It won't have any effect on drug dealers, dog fighters, or gangsters owning them. And those are precisely the people who create dangerous dogs.
Luke, you are right that if a law is not enforced it will not prove effective. The real question though is whether the right law is actually in place to begin with. Forgive my crudeness, however, saying that killing dogs will solve the dog fighting problem is about the same as saying killing children will stop the child molestation problem; same principle.
If what is currently in place is not working, why not look to find a better solution? Don't kill kids and dogs, castrate sex offenders and hold owners accountable for their abuse.
Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "enforcing" ineffective laws, why not use that money to regulate owners. Enforce stricter punishment for fighters and those who train their dogs to be violent. If the dog is not registered as a breeder, enforce sterility; it's healthier for the animal anyhow.
It's all about stepping back & seeing the big picture instead of a quick fix.
Sara, you have one of the best insites I have heard yet !!! And to luke and HM You people need to do a little more research . From where you got your nebbers, I don't know, but they are a bunch of crap !!!
The Council Bluffs pit bull ordinance went into effect in January 2005.
Bauermeister said there were 29 pit bull attacks on people in 2004, 12 in 2005, six in 2006, two in 2007 and none so far this year.
Toronto, Canada - Since the Ontario Dog Owners' Liability Act took effect on Aug. 29, 2005, which bans the breeding, sale and ownership of pit bulls in the province of Ontario, reports of bites by pit bulls in Toronto have dropped dramatically. In 2004, there were 130 reports of pit bull bites. The numbers decreased greatly in subsequent years: 71 in 2005; 53 in 2006; and 44 in 2007.
San Francisco claims success with their regulation of pits. Pit Bulls by the Numbers
Between February 1, 2006 (when the law took effect) and August 25, 2007:250 fix-it tickets have been issued 204 citations have been issued
38 pit bulls or pit bull mixes have been seized
About 500 have been spayed or neutered
Pit bull euthanizations dropped 24 percent
Shelter occupany rates dropped from 3/4 to 1/4
To MH: Basic logic tells you that if you phase out a type of dog, there will be less incidents involving that type of dog.
Here are the questions that should be asked (and hopefully answered):
Did the problem owners replace this type of dog with another?
Did other types of dogs INCREASE in their bite statistics? This has been proven to happen in other jurisdictions that implemented bans.
Was there a drop in the overall number of people bitten / seriously injured / killed, regardless of breed?
Is it moral to "legally" exterminate an entire breed (or type) of dog when literally 99.95% of that breed has never been and will never be involved in a bite incident?
Nobody questions the fact that, if you exterminate a breed through banning and mandatory sterilization, that breed will eventually disappear from all ownership, rescue, and bite statistics. But have you accomplished anything in terms of public safety?
MH? Can you please inform US where you got your statistics on Ontario Canada so WE can review them?
By the way. In ALL of Canada in the past 45 Years there has been one fatality from so called pit bulls and the OWNER was being attacked when the dogs did.
OH and in case YOU don't know this there have been an estimated TWELVE THOUSAND dogs put down in Ontario since the ban. In 2007 TAS "ticketed" people on average ONCE every THREE days. Those are the people who stood UP against them. I wonder how many didn't stand up to the intimidation? There have been THREE Canadian fatalities since the BAN and NOT one by a pit bull type dog. NOT ONE! There has also been SO many dogs of questionable lineage SLAUGHTED in Ontario and almost ALL taken from caring responsible dog owners and THEIR families. OH and in Denver while pit bull type attacks are down OVERALL dog attacts ARE UP with the Golden Retreiver NOW leading dog bites and attacks. It's the OWNERS not the dogs who have to pay!
MH
There is no National Bite Registry in either the U.S. or Canada,so you have no bite Statistics.
There is one Can. Bite Study called the CHIRPP.
A portion of the Testimony from the OVMA(Ontario Veterinary medical Association.) prior to their Ban.
//www.ontla.on.ca/committee-proceedings/transcripts/files_html/2005-01-24_M009.htm#P672_181318
[quote]...A study by the Canadian hospitals injury reporting and prevention program examined the dog breeds involved in attacks that were serious enough that the victim sought medical attention at one of eight reporting hospitals. The study revealed that 50 different types of purebreds and 33 types of crossbreeds had been involved in the attacks, the most common breeds being German shepherds, cocker spaniels, Rottweilers and golden retrievers...[/quote]
CHIRPP and Canadian Fatalities
//nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dog-bites/dog-bites-worldwide/
Odd...Texas has an Anti-BSL provision engineered into it's state law by the Dog Lobby.
Since January 2006 they have sustained 19 DBRFs..15 by Pit Bulls, 3 by Rottweilers and 1 by a GSD/Doberman combo. The Anti-BSL provision isn't working.
Allowing those with a vested financial interest in the selling of dogs craft public safety laws is dangerous....Almost like allowing the alcohol lobby to pervert a legislative hearing on regulating drunk drivers.
Joe Munn wrote: "Odd...Texas has an Anti-BSL provision engineered into it's state law by the Dog Lobby.
Since January 2006 they have sustained 19 DBRFs..15 by Pit Bulls, 3 by Rottweilers and 1 by a GSD/Doberman combo."
This is not true. If you call any mixed breed dog involved in a fatality a "pit bull" then of course you will have these type of "numbers."
Most of the dogs involved in Texas fatalities were NOT identified by animal control professionals as "pit bulls" - nor was DNA testing done on any of these animals.
DNA testing is now proving that visual breed identifications (even when done by animal care experts) are not even remotely reliable.
Strange how you do not mention any of the circumstances that led to the Texas dog-bite fatalities.
Do you not imagine that this information may be more useful in addressing these tragedies?
I want to point out that Canada as a whole is not banning "pit bulls". Ontario is the province with the BSL . I am , however deeply disapointed in the Supreme Court of Canada.
Let me get this straight... Pit Bulls are easily identifiable when being sold or when tax free subsidies like free spay neuter are being handed out, yet impossible to identify after a mauling?! Especially when Most Animal Control Departments handle and euthanize them by the truckload! Magic dogs!
Selected via the fighting Pit killing Bulls, Bears and other Pits...yet considered Nanny dogs! It's magic!
Not human aggressive but the leader in Human DBRFs by a mile.... also the leading biter in every community that tracks bites by breed! Magic Dogs!
How does the Dog Lobby compensate NCRF?
Is it by the written word or by the mauling? Seriously, we've seen this conduct by industry with the Tobacco Lobby back in the 50s and 60's.
Magic Dogs!
I just wanted to say thanks to Sara, (the author of this article) for bringing what's going on in Italy to our attention. BSL often creates a lot of dialogue and I think it's great - like any other hot topic issue in this country, you are going to have people who support a ban and those who fervently oppose one. For more on what BSL can teach us about profiling check out: tinyurl.com/m54cbo
Reedu Taha
Animal Welfare Examiner
Joe Munn, I am interested to know what your direct experience with the breed is. Be careful where you gather statistics, they can be swayed to benefit either side based on who is gathering the information & reporting it. I was part of the bite statistics in 2006; I was bitten by an UNCONSCIOUS dog I was examining.
To help wipe out some of the bias, I did a project in 2007 regarding breed identification using statistics reported through Animal Control in Mecklenberg County. In a completely random sample using people off of the street that do not work with dogs regularly and individuals working with dogs regularly, (vet hospitals, the Humane Society, and Animal Control)I conducted a survey using breeder stock photos of 20 breeds commonly mistaken for Pit Bulls.10 people out of 100 were able to identify the Pit Bull. If anyone is interested in seeing the full study and the results, feel free to email me and I will send you a copy. This does include actual dog bite statistics as well.
I just don't understand how a breed specific legislation can be instaured when there is no dog bite registry, no appropriate dog bite statistics and no DNA tests done on all dogs to base it on and support it! What a waste of money, effort and lives.
Love that video! Thanks for sharing.
And I'm a proud mom of a pit-mix. She's the most amazing dog in the entire world.
joe you're an idiot
Sara, thanks for a great article! Wish all of the Examiners were much more like you.
im amazed at how ignorant and slighlty retarded most of these comments are.
it doesnt take much to see that none of the people who comment negatively on pits
have never owned one, and have little knowledge of what there actually like. media
hype isnt fact,but unfortunatly this where the dogs get there stereotype and are pigoen holed.
i can tell you now if you have experience with dogs, a maltese is more likely to give you a whack
then a pitbull,regardless of how its brought up.
The problem with pitbulls is there dedicated loyalty and devotion to the owner that they have,when
this is taken advantage of for the wrong reasons by careless owners, they are bound to hurt something,
this is what these owners instill in the dogs, not what the genetics do.im sorry but half these comments
where written by morons. much love to other responsible pitbull owners,the pits that we have lost for
various reasons and people with half a brain.
thankyou sarah for an informative insight into that,if only the government over here in Australia
wasnt so pathetic. if some of the people with such strong opinions got off there backside and rescue
one,then and only then will they see that its behaviour from the owner which ditermines how the dog
behaves not the breed. ALL of them would eat there words and have a best friend for life.
punish the deed not the breed.
Yes they are magic dogs ;)
They are wonderful dogs. That's people like Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, Humphrey Bogart, Fred Astaire, and Helen Keller WERE ALL PIT BULL OWNERS!!! Jon Stewart, David Spade, and Bernadette Peters enjoy their company now! They do so because these dogs are loyal, loving, devoted, protective, funny, smart, and, yes, good natured. BSL laws are stupid and wrong and made by ignorant jackasses. It isn't the dog, IT REALLY IS THE OWNER. that determines how the dog behaves!
Only one word for you "dissapointed" BRAVO !!!!! I lied, lol !!! I am pleased to say, that you also have a great insite !!! Bless you !!!
Excellent article and may other countries follow suit. BSL is expensive and wrong. The crime should be deed not breed and owners taking most of the responsibility. FREE LENNOX, VENUS, MILEY AND SIMBA, four innocents of this law because of they way they look but who have done nothing.
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