Ask Annie (March 24, 2013)

Dear Annie,

I have read a lot about certain states and municipalities who make laws against pit bulls and even want to ban them.  They say that banning pit bulls will help reduce dog bites and fatal attacks.  What do you know about this and why is this happening?

Signed,
Pibble Lover

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dear Pibble Lover,

What you are referring to (best known as "breed specific legislation") could better be described as one-big-gigantic-waste-of-time-and-money.  Not only are these laws very expensive to enforce, they are also difficult to enforce.  There is zero evidence that BSL (that's what my mom calls it) makes communities safer.

 The way I see it is this:

You've got a community filled with pet owners, and many of their companion animals are pit bull types, but others have poodles, German shepherds, chihuahuas and golden retrievers. Among all these breeds of dogs, you have a full-range of types of owners, from very-very-responsible to sorta-average-responsible, to not-very-responsible.  Let's just say that 10 percent of these dogs are tied out on a chain attached to dog house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (I have had neighbors like this, it happens!)  No matter the breed of these chained dogs, they are most likely going to develop aggressive tendencies -- toward people and other animals.  Somewhere between the average-responsible to not-very-responsible dog owners, you are going to have people who choose to forego licensing, micro-chipping, proper socialization and proper veterinary care and all of these issues have consequences related to public safety and health.  Some of these people are the owners of pit bull type dogs, but this lack of care is not restricted to the owners of any type of breed.

Now, let's look at the majority of all of these dog owners.  The majority of them are good, loving guardians of their dogs and treat them like family members. If BSL aimed at pit bull type breeds comes into a community, it is going to apply to all of the pit bulls, even if their only crime in life was that they got little pibble hairs all over the clean sheets in the guest room right before Easter weekend (yep, it happens happened).  Then what, you ask, happens to the dogs that are tied out in the rain, sleet and snow, scorching heat and deadly cold?  The ones that never get walked or taken on outings to socialize with other dogs and stretch their legs?  The ones that stay in a crate all day, everyday, and get treated like a piece of furniture in the house?  The ones who are never taught how to act or how not to react to unfamiliar experiences?  These are the dogs that, regardless of their breed, are more likely to bite/attack/snap without warning, even though the warning signs are all there, not in the dog (at least initially), but in the way the dog is being treated by their owner.  

 The "bad" owners get to keep their dogs (as long as their dog is not a "pit bull") and their dogs continue to suffer ... dog after dog after dog.  Bite statistics do not diminish in these communities, because BSL does not get to the bottom of the real problem, which is bad owners.

What if we lived in a world where humans who did not take good care of their dogs were not allowed to have dogs?  What would that legislation be called -- Human Specific Legislation, or HSL?  Kinda funny, but kinda not-so-funny, eh?

Here is a quote from a September, 2010 issue of Parade magazine:

"BSL causes friendly, properly supervised and well-socialized "bully dogs" and their owners to be punished. Such laws also impart a false sense of security, because limited animal control resources are channeled into enforcing the ban rather than focusing on enforcement of non-breed-specific laws that have the best chance of making our communities safer, such as dog licensing, leash laws, animal fighting laws, and anti-tethering laws. Recognizing that the problem of dangerous dogs requires serious attention, [many lobbying and animal rights groups] seek effective enforcement of breed-neutral laws that hold dog owners accountable for the actions of their animals." (Emphasis added.)

It makes me sad to know that many pit bulls end up in shelters because their guardians' landlord, or their HOA, or their municipality said they could no longer have their pit bull.  Not because of anything the dog had done, but because of what some other dog who had a bad owner did, and that dog just happened (unfortunately) to be a pit bull.  If I could, I would ask the people who make those laws what they are going to do when those same bad owners go and get another dog, this time a boxer, or a golden retriever, or a Boston terrier, and chain them up in the backyard, don't get them proper medical care, and don't teach them the basic things a dog needs to know, and those dogs bite or attack someone, then what's going to happen?  How many breeds will have to be banned before we start "banning" the behavior of the humans that abuse us and mistreat us and neglect us?

I wish more people would ask questions and get involved, like my readers.  Ask "why" and "how come" when things don't make sense.  Get involved.  Write letters.  Check out websites like badrap.org.  Read all you can about the true background of pit bulls and how brave and strong and smart we are.  And did I mention that we are among the gentlest of dogs when it comes to how we treat people?  Here's a great place to start if you want to read more true information about us.  

Here's fun little trivia fact:  Do you know why the pit bull type dogs are sometimes called "bully breeds"?  Did you know it has nothing to do with mistaking us for being "bullies" in our behavior?  It is simply a reference (at least when properly applied) to our ancestry, in that our descendants were bull dogs and terriers.  As Paul Harvey would say, "Now you know the rest of the story."