BSL is just that BS for Losers. I, thankfully, live in a province that hasn't enacted such stupidity although it's been discussed a few council meetings. BSL is the easy way out. A dog breed is causing news because it mauled someone? Ban it than obviously it will stop:eyeroll:. Dog's bite - period. Were the breeds that encompass "pit bulls" bred to not back down in a fight? Yes. However, so were German Shepherds, Doberman Pinchers, Rottweilers, Belgian Malinois, and even the Jack Russell. Ironically each have been considered "dangerous" breeds.
I don't own a pitbull, nor do I know that stats on them so I won't touch too much on their traits, however BSL is a death sentence for both bad dogs and good. For instance, your dog is a labrador/boxer cross that loves everything, has never attacked/bitten anything, and would rather jump off a building than harm a child or another animal, but someone decides it looks to "pitbull"- like therefore you have to muzzle it. People become afraid of your dog, because the muzzle denotes it's a bad dog even though it's not. Your dog gets things thrown at it in the street, people attempt to strike it while you walk down the sidewalk, scream at you and your dog, you feel scared for yourself and your dog. Your dog becomes scared too and becomes terrified of strangers, of sudden movements, of outside, and then one day your dog get's out of the gate and animal services catch it - your dog is now taken from you, thrown into a shelter for an "assessment" and determined to have the "possibility to be dangerous" because of it's "breed". You have been informed that your dog will not be released to you and instead you are given a date to for it to be euthanized unless you give up your dog and get it out of the province. And this poor dog is considered the bad? Ridiculous.
This happened to a friend of my family, her dog was the best dog ever until this happened. She now lives in Edmonton with my aunt and is recovering from a whole lot of fear issues regarding strangers who are carrying objects, walking toward her, yelling, and quick movements. But she's alive, many dogs that had similar stories occur aren't. Maize still is an amazing dog for what she's endured.
BSL doesn't stop bad people from creating bad dogs, no matter the breed. It also doesn't prevent stupidity in regards to dog behaviour, proper breed selection for owners, and ownership of human error. It does however, murder good dogs just because they either are born the wrong breed or look too bully like. It only works to punish the good dog owners.
Government needs to spend more time and effort on teaching responsible ownership, positive training methods, proper selection of breeds, making new laws to prevent BYBers, dog fighting rings, dog abuse, etc. instead. Heck, if I had it my way, I'd force prospective puppy buyers to have to go through a pre-adoption class and be forced to take a test before they even get to sniff a dog.
Oh, I've dug up so articles from the AVMA that discuss why BSL doesn't mitigate bite incidents.
http://nationalcanineresearchcounci... Dog Bite Risk_AVMA_FINAL w corrected URL.pdf
Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) FAQ I NCRC
Sorry of the long response, the mention of BSL makes me mad
