Breed-specific legislation (BSL) is law(s) passed by legislative bodies both at the town and the state level that ban or restrict ownership of certain breeds of dogs. This legislation is typically in reaction to a serious dog attack or series of dog attacks. The concept behind this legislation is that it is the dog specifically the breed of the dog that is the reason behind the attack(s) on humans. What the lawmakers and supporters of these laws fail to realize is that any breed can attack, anything with teeth can bite, and that those that seriously harm a human represent a very tiny percentage of all individuals of that breed.
Furthermore, the "facts" that lawmakers and those supporting these laws use -- aka the bite statistics -- are innately flawed at so many levels that the validity of these "facts" is very suspect at best and utterly false at worst. And yet lawmakers and supporters of BSL blindly and prejudicially enact these laws anyway. I will grant you that it is easier to blame the dog than the humans responsible for the dog but the inescapable fact is that biting dogs are the result of irresponsible ownership and irresponsible breeding NOT the breed of the dog. Yes some breeds of dogs can inflict more damage because of their size but a Pomeranian killed a child. Ask anyone in the animal care field (groomer, veterinarian, boarding facility, etc) and they will tell you that these breeds being banned are actually less likely to bite than many other common breeds.
All dog owners and dog lovers should fight this legislation because it punishes prejudicially and it does not solve any problems. Dogs suffer not because of what they did but because of what 1 or 2 dogs that look like them did. We have learned the hard way in the human world that judging based on color of skin or shape or any other physical characteristic and assuming behavior based on appearance is profoundly innappropriate and just plain wrong. Why do we think it is okay to do the same in the canine world? Every dog deserves to be judged on its own merit.
Furthermore, the responsible species here -- the humans -- need to be held accountable. Breeders not paying attention to temperament, not socializing their puppies, releasing them to new homes at 4 and 6 weeks of age, etc need to be held accountable. Owners who fail to provide proper socialization, training, restraing, or worse yet neglect, abuse, or encourage aggression need to be heavily penalized for their actions. We need to punish those responsible NOT make everyone else -- human and canine -- suffer because of the actions of the few.
ALL breeds will be susceptible to banning once the first breed is banned because all breeds have one individual out there that has acted aggressively and that is all that is needed to deem the whole breed "vicious". Here is a list below of some of the breeds that are already banned in places either by name or by description. Some of them will likely surprise you and many of you may have one of these breeds in your home right now! BSL affects ALL dog owners. The goal of many supporting BSL is the eventual elimination of all domestic dogs. So do not think your dog is not at risk -- so thinking may be a fatal mistake for your beloved pet!
List of breeds currently named or described by BSL:
AIREDALE TERRIER; AKITA ; ALASKAN MALAMUTE; ALSATIAN SHEPHERD; AMERICAN BULLDOG; AMERICAN HUSKY; AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER; AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER; AMERICAN WOLFDOG; ARIKARA DOG; AUSTRALIAN CATTLE DOG; AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD; BELGIAN MALINOIS; BELGIAN SHEEPDOG; BELGIAN TERVUREN; BLUE HEELER BOSTON TERRIER; BOUVIER DES FLANDRES; BOXER; BULLDOG; BULL MASTIFF; BULL TERRIER; CATAHOULA LEOPARD DOG; CHINESE SHAR PEI; CHOW CHOW; COLORADO DOG; DOBERMAN PINSCHER; DOGO DE ARGENTINO; DOGUE DE BORDEAUX; ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL; ESKIMO DOG; FILA BRASILIERO; FOX TERRIER; FRENCH BULLDOG; GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG; GOLDEN RETRIEVER; GREENLAND HUSKY; GREAT DANE; KEESHOND; KOTEZEBUE HUSKY; LABRADOR RETRIEVER; MASTIFF; PRESA DE CANARIO; PUG; ROTTWEILER; SAARLOOS WOLFHOND; SAINT BERNARD; SAMOYED; SIBERIAN HUSKY; STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER; TIMBER SHEPHERD; TOSA INU; TUNDRA SHEPHERD; WOLF SPITZ
The first thing that you can do is to focus on your own dog(s) and make sure they are good canine citizens that are not contributing to the public outcry against dogs. This is of particular importance for those of us with what these people deem innately "vicious" breeds. You can help by supporting breeders who do focus on temperament, do socialize their puppies, and do keep them until 7-9 weeks and NOT support pet stores selling puppies, puppymills, or mass breeders who are selling sickly and undersocialized puppies at less than 7 weeks of age
The second thing you can do is fight any BSL that arises in your political location be it city, county, or state. Make this an issue that you vote for when it comes to selecting candidates to support. Write your representative at these levels and tell them that you will NOT support BSL. And finally do support legislation designed to punish irresponsible owners and breeders.
The third thing you can do is join a group. There are lots of good organizations out there fighting for the rights of our companion dogs. There is a list at the bottom of this section of such organizations. Power in numbers and it is time that we the dog owners and fanciers make our voice heard! The animal rights activist have been organized and lobbying for years to take our companions away from us -- we need to fight back!
Organizations that help fight Breed-Specific Legislation:
Links for more information:
Petitions to support:
PLEASE ALL U.S. CITIZENS SIGN THE PETITION TO CONGRESS
WHEN SIGNING A PETITION -- PLEASE SIGN SINGLEY, THAT IS, ONE NAME TO ONE LINE
PLEASE ONLY SIGN A STATE PETITION IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT