The BSLWorkshop
Responsible Dog Ownership & Legislation
Info
What exactly is breed specific legislation?
What are some of the implications of this
type detrimental legislation?
The very best and most inclusive explanation I have found is at The Animal Council website. Please take the time to read through this page and familiarize yourself with what breed specific legislation really is.
The Animal Council BSL explaination
Just as strongly as any Council member or Congressperson feels it necessary to ban the ownership of dogs of certain breeds in order to give the impression (illusion?) of safety to his/her constituants, I feel equally as strong about keeping the breed I have loved and responsibly owned for over twelve years. In fact, I think its safe to say that we actually share a common goal. I want my dogs to be safe from people who break the laws by careless non-compliance to ordinances, by abuse to the breeds in all of it's various forms; from training for dog fighting to use as a weapon. These are the very same people who should be the focus of the issue at hand. The people who abuse, use cruelty, and own dogs as a macho status symbol are the threat to society, by creating unsafe situations. In no other crime do we tolerate the criminal behavior, and punish the vessel of the criminal behavior.
For example:
No drunk driver who kills a child gets his car taken or destroyed and walks away. Nor do we punish the people who are not involved, but happen to own a similar make and model to the negligent party.
No pedophile has a hand removed and walks away. Nor do we punish the people who are not pedophiles but fit the physical description of such.
No drug dealer has his drugs destroyed and walks away. Likewise, the unfortunate people who live on the same block as the drug dealer but do not deal drugs, are not punished because one person chose to break the law.
No parent or caretaker kills a child by negligence or carelessness and walks away except in the case of a dog attack. In these cases, the dog is destroyed while the cause of the problem remains, and the tragic victim, the child, lies cold and dead in a grave.
Why does every person who owns a dog of a similar breed also have to carry the burden for the criminal negligence and carelessness of another person?
Imagine for a moment a world in which the vessel of the crime is punished and the person perpetrating that crime walks free.
Tell me why we choose to not deal with neglectful parents, caretakers or the irresponsible owners of any dog in the same manner we deal with any other crime?
Then tell me why our country is allowing this to happen over and over again...never once addressing the criminal yet wondering why the problem continues to exist?
Will our countries’ neglected children who have been maimed or died, or those who will be due to their parents’ negligence, have suffered in vain because our officials find it easier to remove innocent animals from responsible owners than to address the real problem?
Leisa Boysen 2006
Why are dog bite reports inaccurate?
From the National Canine Research Foundation
Pit Bull is not a breed but a term used to group three different breeds of dog. Yet these three breeds are always grouped on dog bite reports as “pit bull." They don’t do this for other breeds so it looks like pit bulls have more bites. You never see “Retrievers” on the report where Goldens,
Breed identification: there are 20+ breeds of dog that are commonly mistakenly identified as pit bulls. Any dog that is medium build with short hair gets identified as a pit bull. There are many incidents that were reported as pit bull attacks when in fact they are other breeds. That part doesn’t get press because the official breed identification is done days later.
The biggest problem with dog bite reports is they do not include population. To be accurate you must analyze bites and breed population together!
Example: 15 dog bites by pit bulls in
All Dogs Bite
No group of people are more appalled by a dog bite than the responsible owners of the breed that has done the biting!!! Why is that? Because in this age of heightened media influence-bombarding us at a hypnotic level in the car, at home from the TV or radio, newspapers, home pages on our email accounts we are inundated with the latest "media craze", which is now the "pit bull". (a slang term which covers several breeds of dog) As the statistics page on this website will prove, you are more likely to fall out of bed and die from the fall than to be bitten to death by a dog.
But the purpose of this paragraph is to clearly show that all dogs can bite...all breeds of dogs can bite! When a city moves towards banning any particular breeds in the name of safety, they are often times being driven to do so by media induced hysteria and pressure.
We all want safe communities. No one more than we responsible pit bull owners want to see those who are irresponsible punished! Those are the few who make us all look bad. And those are the few who create hardship all around...from thier dogs at large to thier chained for a lifetime "pets" living on a six foot chain, watching life go by and becoming increasingly more frustrated as each day goes by. Dogs are social creatures by nature. Those who own dogs irresponsibly also tend to be irresponsible in all other aspects of thier lives...from providing veterinary care, spaying and neutering to stop pet over-population all the way up to failing to provide proper parental supervision during child/dog interaction.
It is important to realize that because the media tends to focus on "pit bull" incidents does not make the other breeds incidents go away...they are there, they are just NOT newsworthy.
Please take the time to look at the Understand-A-Bull website and see other breeds who have been involved in bites. Then let the laws in your communities reflect on stopping irresponsible owners.
The Media and BSL
by Leisa Boysen
As we are all well aware…the media holds a tremendous amount of power over public perception of any given issue reported on.
We feel it is time to begin focusing on the media directly and asking hard hitting questions of THEM regarding the information they are putting out there regarding dog bites, dog attacks and breed identifications.
No one should ever be subjected to being approached by a loose dog or to a dog bite. Children should never have to endure being in harms way with a dog nor should our pets be at risk in their own yards or on walks.
How can these issues be addressed and community safety be provided? By focus on those who are irresponsible owners and those parents who do not properly supervise their children.
We have put together a list of questions we would like to see people from across the country flood mailboxes with in the instance of a less-than desirable account in the media of our breeds.
There is usually a link for the reporter and searching the “Contact Us” link will usually produce the Editor’s contact information, as well. We encourage all to take a proactive stance and email/call or fax questions to reporters to find out exactly where they got their information and urge them to focus on the true issues at hand.
Some questions to ask have been listed below. You do not need to use all of the questions and please add your own questions/information as well!
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*Who identified the breed involved in this story?
*Who was responsible for the dog (s) (and child if appropriate)in this story?
*What is this communities dog at large law?
*Do you forsee the responsible party being held accountable for this incident?
*Are there Responsible Dog Owners groups in your area?
*Does Animal Control have a timely response to dog at large calls?
*What exactly is the dog at large call procedure in this community?
*Will you be doing a follow up on this story regarding the issue of irresponsible _________________(owners/parents)
*I would encourage you, as a media source, to do some type of follow up which would include a true community service by bringing up what responsible dog ownership entails. I have taken the liberty of including an informational sheet which highlights many things responsible dog owners do in order to provide safety for their pets and those in their community, as well.
*Not only are media sources responsible for bringing us our news they are also responsible for truth in journalism and providing their community and readers with helpful information that enhances and encourages learning and change. I feel one of the greatest accomplishment and public service a news source can provide is accurate information and what can be done to address the true issue of the story. I would encourage you to follow up your story with information which would focus on the irresponsible party and what your community can do to address this issue.
Lets look at those "myths"!!!
From the ability to "lock on", chew with back teeth while holding with the front to having bite pressure unequalled by any other living creature in time, meet the infamous "pit bull"..........
This is what is known as a "bully smile"...there is nothing fearful about this.
This is simply the face of a happy, satisfied dog.
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOCKING JAW
The breeds commonly known as "pit bulls" are a tenacious terrier breed.
Any veterinarian can verify that there is no way a jaw can lock.
Dr. Howard Evans, Professor Emeritus,
We all agree that the power of the bite is proportional to the size of the jaws and the jaw muscles. There is no anatomical structure that could be a locking mechanism in any dog." As a Professor Emeritus from the
HOW ABOUT THAT BITE PRESSURE???
Is it true that a "pit bull" has the capability to crush a volkswagon with its bite?
Of course not...we all know better than that. But we all know there are so many different "quotes" about jaw pressure floating around out there, we would like to clear this up with a new study preformed this year by Dr. Brady Barr of National Geographic.
In Dangerous Encounters: Bite Force,
Here are the results of all of the animals tested:
Humans: 120 pounds of bite pressure
Domestic dogs: 320 LBS of pressure on avg. A German Shepard, American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) and Rottweiler were tested using a bite sleeve equipped with a specialized computer instrument. The APBT had the least amount of pressure of the 3 dogs tested.
Wild dogs: 310 lbs
Lions: 600 lbs
White sharks: 600 lbs
Hyenas: 1000 lbs
Snapping turtles: 1000 lbs
Crocodiles: 2500 lbs
Great Article!
ATTACKING THE DOG-BITE EPIDEMIC: WHY BREED-SPECIFIC LEGISLATION WON'T SOLVE THE DANGEROUS-DOG DILEMMA
Cornell University
A Comparison of Tethering and Pen Confinement of Dogs Seong C. Yeon, Glen Golden, Wailani Sung, Hollis N. Erb, Arleigh J. Reynolds, and Katherine A. Houpt College of Veterinary Medicine Cornell University This study compared general activity and specific behaviors of 30 adult Alaskan sled dogs, 19 male and 11 female dogs, on 3.5mtethers and in 5.9m2 pens. The investigators used activity level and steriotypies as indicators of welfare. The dogs spent most of their time inactive, either lying or sitting both on the tether and in the pen. They had more opportunity for interaction with one another but less space in the pen (5.9 m2 in the pen vs. 38.5 m2 on the tether). Standing on the hind legs (p < .05) occurred more frequently in the pens; circling was more frequent on the tethers (p < .05). The U.S. Department of Agriculture approves penning but not tethering of dogs; however, the behavior of the dogs in this study did not indicate an improvement in welfare in pens. There is agreement that proper housing is necessary for optimal canine welfare; however, despite research on some aspects, there is no agreement about what is a good housing environment for dogs. Space, exercise, and enrichment have been the subject of previous studies. The major differences in behavior occurred, however, not with increase in size but with either social or environmental enrichment. Hubrecht (1995) compared groups of dogs living in pens of 700 m2 or 7 m2. There were few differences in the main behavior classifications of active or inactive, but there were more repetitive behaviors in the larger pens. Larger pens resulted in more trotting and running. Hughes and Campbell (1989) studied beagles in cages measuring 12 m × 1 m or 1 m × 2 m and found that the dogs in the smaller cages traveled five times farther than those in the larger cages and were more ac-JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE, 4(4), 257–270 Copyright © 2001, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Click The Link Below To See The Full Study
The American Dog Breeders Association Position Statement on tethering