Justin Miller Miller 1

O'Brein
ENC 1101
April 12, 2011
Breed Specific Legislation – It Won't Work

Breed specific legislation, also known as bsl, is a law, ordinance, or statue which is aimed solely

at a particular breed or group of breeds of dog. These laws are almost always directed only towards pit

bull type dogs, including American staffshire terriers,staffshire bull terriers, bull terriers, American pit

bull terriers, boxers, bull mastiffs, cane corsos, dogo argentinos, American bulldogs and even chow

chows, but have also been known to include rottweilers, doberman pinschers, german shepherds,

malumutts, akitas and other husky type dogs. City, county, and even state governments have used these

types of laws to ban or restrict the ownership of certain dogs in an effort to reduce dog attacks. Bsl has

been the “wrong answer” to a media hysteria and false facts since the early 1980's. These types of

ordinances do not work and only provide the community with a false sense of security while ripping

away several innocent family pets from responsible dog owners.

Politicians have used bsl as a quick fix, but it does not work because it does not address the real

problems. The law makers base their decisions on the belief that particular breeds of dogs are

inherently vicious. They contend that pit bulls have locking jaws and greater muscle potential. These

myths are simply not true. Instead, the real problem is the irresponsible ownership of any dog, regard-

less of it's breed.

In 1989 Denver enacted a pit bull ban after two “pit bull attacks”, one in 1986 where a young

child died and another in 1989, in 2004 Governor Bill Owens enacted a statewide bill that prohibited

local municipals from enacting breed specific legislation. Denver had that bill overturned and Denver

has prohibited pit bull type dogs since. Since the banned was reenacted in 2005 over sixteen hundred

pit bull dogs have been put to death! So there should be no more dog bites right? Wrong! According

to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, during the period between 1995 and

2006 Denver reported two hundred and seventy three dog bite related hospitalizations while near-by
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Boulder, a city with no bsl, only experienced forty six dog related hospitalizations. That is over five

times as many bites even though Denver's population is not even twice that of Boulder's.(Colorado

Department of Public Health and Environment pg.) According to information from Colorado

Association of Animal Control Officers Labrador Retrievers top the list of dogs most likely to bite at

13.3 percent, while Pit Bulls trail a far second at 8.4 percent and German Shepherds round out the top

three dogs most likely to bite you at over seven percent. (Colorado Association of Animal Control

Officers Labrador Retrievers pg.) Karen Delise, founder and director of research for the National

Canine Research Council, points out that breed specific legislation does nothing to curb the dog bite

problem, “I find it interesting that the only area, region, city or county in Colorado where the breed ban

happens to be is the only county with a higher than normal rate dog bite hospitalization.”(Delise pg.)

Delise also adds, “The breed ban isn't working. It is not addressing education or irresponsible

owners.”(Delise pg.)

Similarly, in 1989, Miami's Dade county enacted their own pit bull ban. In 1990 Florida

changed their statues to allow for no county government to enact laws which are breed specific but

allowed Dade to keep there ordinance with a grandfather clause. A 2007 report from Miami Dade

County Animal Control,as posted on March 7,2008 in the Miami Herald, found similar results. In Dade

county, or the breed ban county, there were 992 bites. In Broward county, the non-breed ban county,

there were only 616 bites. That is nearly one third less! Once again the answer is not breed bans!

The current 2010 Florida Statutes 767.14 reads as follows “Additional local restrictions

authorized. - Nothing in this act shall limit any local government from placing further restrictions or

additional requirements on owners of dangerous dogs or developing procedures and criteria for the

implementation of this act, provided that no such regulation is specific to breed and that the provisions

of this act are not lessened by such additional regulations or requirements. This section shall not apply

to any local ordinances adopted prior to October 1, 1990.” (Florida Statutes.) Unfortunate for many
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responsible dog owners (and other citizens of Florida) Representative Perry Thurston has made it his

personal mission to have this statue changed. His most recent bill died at the Agriculture and Natural

Resources Policy Committee level. If given his way Thurston would like to allow each city, county, or

municipal to put breed bans in place to lead to the abolishment of all pit bull type dogs. If this bill ever

passes pit bulls would not be the only dogs at risk, as it will leave every county or city to outlaw any

dog of their choosing, more popularly, rottweilers, chow chows, doberman pinchers, akitas, and boxers.

Currently ten other states have state level laws that do not allow for breed specific ordinances or laws

to be passed by lower level municipals; these states are Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New

Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. California allows only for breed

specific spay and neuter laws.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals', or better known

as the A.S.P.C.A' s, website they are not supporters of b.s.l and are joined by the United States Center

for Disease Control in their position that breed specific legislation does not make our communities or

companion animals any safer but instead cost taxes payers many millions of dollars and are very

difficult to enforce. After a study of fatal dog attacks on humans by the United States Center for

Disease Control (CDC) they decided that there was to many inaccuracies in the dog bite data and the

identification of the breed of dogs in the bite incidences. The CDC further noted that it is highly likely

that people who exploit dogs by making them vicious will replace regulated breeds with those dogs of

unregulated breeds(CDC pg.). The Center goes on to list factors besides breed that may influence a

dogs likelihood to bite including heredity, sex, age, earlier experiences, socialization and training, as

well as reproductive status. It was also determined by the CDC, after the study, that ninety seven

percent of fatal dog attacks were committed by dogs not spayed or neutered, seventy eight were not

kept at a pet capacity and eighty four percent were due to owner neglect, either in the care of the animal

itself, or in its keeping, such as being left unsupervised with children. The study further detected that a
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tethered dog is nearly three times as likely to bite than one who is not tethered or has not been kept

tethered. Proving the author's position that laws which hold owners accountable for their keep and care

of their pets would prove far more beneficial than breed specific legislation which does not hold

anyone accountable and usually allows people guilty of gross negligence to hide behind the destruction

of innocent animals.(A.S.P.C.A pg.)

Review of the website for The Humane Society of the United States will find that they too are

opposed to breed specific legislation. To understand their position on bsl you would need a quick

lesson in statistics. To use their example, if a study reported that there were fifteen dog attacks in a

particular area and five of them were by golden retrievers while the other ten offenses were committed

by pit bulls, one would first induce that pit bulls were the more dangerous breed. But if you further

investigated to find that the canine population in that area consisted of only fifty golden retrievers and

five hundred pit bulls then the pit bull would actually be the safer of the breeds, statistically speaking.

It is often the case that the popularity of a breed, and therefore the large amounts of that breed present

in an area, is not taken into account causing inaccurate statistics to fuel the argument for bsl in the first

place(The Humane Society of the United States pg.).

Temperament is defined, by W. Handel, a German Police Dog Trainer, as “the sum total of all

inborn and acquired physical and mental traits and talents which determines, forms and regulates

behavior in the environment”(Handel pg.). The American Temperament Testing Society is a great way

to show the stability of a dog's temperament and because of breed specific legislation can provide

breeders and dog fancier's with an invaluable means of evaluating their dog's temperament. The test

simulates everyday situations in a park or neighborhood setting while the dog's stability, friendliness,

aggression, and protectiveness is being judged by three separate reviewers. Temperament testing give

pet owner's insight into their dog's behavior and can be an education tool for learning a particular dog's

behavior strengths and weaknesses. The society can also have an impact on a breeder's breeding
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program and provide for positive influences on dog legislation. According to their website, as of June

12,2010 and accumulated since the start of the society in 1977, the American Pit Bull Terrier has an

eighty six percent passing rate with six hundred and sixty four out of seven hundred and seventy two

passing the test. The pit bull's ranking is higher than that of many other popular family pets including

the cocker spaniel at eight two percent, the airedale terrier at seventy seven percent, the beagle at eighty

percent, the dalmatian at eighty two percent, and even the collie at a low eighty percent. It is important

to note that the website states that the pass-fail rate is a measure of a dog's ability to deal with humans

and situations involving humans in the environment and not meant to measure a particular breed's

aggression.(American Temperament Testing Society pg.)

It seems to be the agreed upon theme of all of these well educated groups and centers that breed

specific legislation will not work. It is the mutual belief that breed specific legislation only causes the

community to have a false sense of security, encourages irresponsible, criminal minded people to

acquire the banned breeds, and can cause people to hide their dogs which restricts their care and

socialization making the problems worse. They all agree that the correct answer is strictly enforced and

comprehensively written non-breed specific dangerous dog laws be implemented nation wide. These

laws should provide stiff penalties for dog owners who are negligent in their keeping, handling, or

treatment of any dog. Laws addressed at punishing the owners of dogs that attack, harm or kill another

individual will be far more effective at lowering the number of dog bites than ones aimed at punishing

a mindless animal. Forced education, mandatory insurance and permitting would be far more effective

at protecting a community from the dog bite problem than unfair, discriminating breed specific

legislation.

With all the hype surrounding the pit bull it is hard to believe that they were once used as the

United States military's symbol of pride and loyalty, that the beloved, faithful pooch on the Our Gang

show was a pit bull and at one time every American family had a pit bull then referred to as “the
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nanny's dog”. Some politicians and legislators would not want you to hear stories about dog's such as

K-9 Popsicle, the pit pup found in a deep freezer during a drug bust, left for dead, after being used as a

bait dog for dog fighting. He retired at the top of his game, winning a medal for the biggest drug bust in

Texas history. Or of Kristine Crawford's group of rescue dogs, known as the Crawford Team, who are

currently one of the top respected search and rescue team in the country, all of which are American Pit

Bull Terriers. The Crawford Team was used in such high profile cases as the search for Laci Peterson

and the 2003 Spaceship Columbia explosion. If supporters of breed specific legislation have their way

even these dogs will not be safe from their clutches! If they have their way some day there will be no

dogs left. So if you have a canine companion of any type know that breed specific legislation can

effect you and your dog; it is only a matter of time before all the pit bulls, rottweilers and akitas have

been eliminated. Then will your breed become the popular breed, the breed at the top of the misleading

dog bite list? How long before your dog is the target of breed specific legislation?
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Works Cited

2007 Top biting dog breeds (Miami-Dade & Broward County, FL).http://www.game-

dog.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27179 , Mar. 08, 2008

ASPCA .Breed Specific Legislation. http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/breed-

specific-legislation.aspx , April, 13, 2011

ATTS. Breed Statistics .http://www.atts.org/statistics.html , June 12, 2010

Deanna, Admin. Does BSL Really Work. http://fortheloveofthedogblog.com/news-updates/does-bsl-

really-work , March 3, 2009.

Pit-bull advocate 101.What Is A Pit Bull-Type Dog?

http://www.pitbulladvocate101.com/PitbullType.php,2009

The 2010 Florida Statutes(including Special Session A).http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?

mode=View20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=breed&URL=0700

-0799/0767/Sections/0767.14.html , December 31, 2010.

The Humane Society of the United States. Dangerous Dogs and Breed-Specific

Legislation.http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/facts/statement_dangerous_dogs_breed_specif

ic_legislation.html, February 10, 2010

The Proper Pit Bull. Pit Bull Rescues, Shelters and Breeders.http://www.the-proper-pitbull.com/pit-

bull-rescues.html, 2006-2010

Thurston.HB 543-Dangerous Dogs. http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?

BillId=42937&BillText=dogs&HouseChamber=H&SessionId=64. July 1, 2010

Wins against Breed Specific Legislation - 2009.http://www.understand-a-

bull.com/BSL/BSL2009Wins.htm. 2005.