Indeed BSL wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the losers.
Don't blame the people trying to do what they think will protect themselves, their dogs, and their children - blame the deadbeats, the want-a-be tough guys...
How long have you been in the states? If you only deal with one side of something then you clearly can't see the whole picture. As if this is what you believe it is not an accurate image.
Pet bull owners do just as much harm to the breed. Due to being in denial about their dogs and allowing incidents to happen. They are just as much to blame. I do still blame the law makers for their ignorance, but aside from that I do very well blame the owners. Not only street thugs, all the irresponsible owners. The majority of people bitten by dogs are children and it is usually by a family pet or a yard dog. This includes when it comes to Pit Bulls. It is not simply dogs owned by "low lifes".
The majority of Pit Bulls I've known or encountered have been fine dogs. At least when it comes to people, irregardless of their environment (ghetto dog or middle class house pet). However I have met some man aggressive dogs, they do exist. Yet the owners don't have to be "wanna be tough" or drug dealers. One of my good friends had a female Pit, raised from puppy, obedient, took the dog out and socialized but still developed man aggression. I attribute it to more fear based. They might seem protective to someone at first but you realize the dog is actually a coward. Another older couple had a dog that was nuts. At least by the definitions of this breeds temperament. The dogs nature was more that of an defensive guardian breed. These people treated this dog like their child, in a way she was bevausr their kids were grown. However she was extremely territorial and man aggressive. She was also dog aggressive with a high prey drive. It was a lot for them to handle, especially when the guy started to have some health issues. It was very stressful for them and not what they wanted. I can tell you similar stories of dangerous Pits I've known. Including one that sent a kid to the ER with a severe head injury. Similar story the couples "baby", especially the wife. She was a super nice lady and thought of her animals as kids, didn't raise them to be substitute balls of whatever. When clueless but well meaning pet owners have a powerful dog it can be a disaster too. Then you have the yard dogs that live on chain or with low fencing. This is NOT responsible ownership but it's no different than owners of any other breed the Labs, GSDs, Goldens, Huskies, ACDs, Boxers, Mutts, ect I see. They don't want an aggressive problem dog, they don't want a status symbol but their "pet" is sentenced to the backyard for life once it's no longer a cute puppy. When its a Pit who behaves aggressively or even bites it's a big problem.
This isn't even including the countless issues with dog to dog aggression or other animals. My cousins own Pit was PTS as dangerous for killing a cat. The dog had prey drive towards strange cats and even though they were pretty responsible with a trained, pet raised neutered dog it still happened. Most incidents are not even like that they are out right ignorance and denial. They take their dog to the dog park then when it attacks another dog they freak out because they were never expecting it to happen and a dog ends up dead. Or they let their dog run loose, which is clearly irresponsible but they think she won't go anywhere and would never hurt anyone. When you try to tell them different they say YOU are the problem with the breed, you think they are monsters, you don't understand. It's so frustrating. Some people turn against the breed or their own dog when incidents happen. Seriously claiming they can't trust the dog, the dog just snapped, ect. Almost nothing angers me more, especially if they were told NOT to leave their dogs alone together, not to let their dogs mingle with a bunch of strange dogs, not to let them run loose. After informing you have the breeds reputation is your fault or that their dogs are not fighters when something finally happens then they are crying to you!
Remove the street owners from the equation and you remove the problem in those areas. Not in small towns or even cities where they are popular PETS. So you still have problems and possible BSL being proposed.
A growing number of states (even regions/states) have liability insurance - some make it a finable offense (to a degree you can even face jail time if you keep getting fined) to even have something remotely resembling a pit bull if you don't have at least a minimum of $100,000 liability insurance...
It is still an unfair form of BSL. It also doesn't help the problem. An unfit jailbird is not going to muster up money for insurance. Some don't even have car insurance! They will keep their dogs and if anything let them be PTS if they are found owning them. It only hurts the people who are already responsible in the first place. Like my friends brother his Pit is registered, neutered, microchipped with the required liability insurance, but then his dog was never going to harm anyone so he's being unfairly "taxed" in a way while the irresponsible Pit owners in the city are still owning their Pits without insurance. The same reason why bans only hurt good owners & good dogs. Miami has had ban for decades yet irresponsible owners don't care and they still have fighting busts there. Criminals have a total disregard for the law.
I agree with the BYB and better laws. But what is a BYB? Is it just someone whimsically breeding? Is it someone breeding dogs with no titles (either with no health testing or little health testing - or simply bred out faults from generations of working with a particular bloodline)? Is it someone that breeds working dogs (again, what is the principle to health testing?)? Is it someone that breeds dogs outside the standard? Is it someone that breeds a "fad" [a number of designer dogs are plagued with a BYB aspect]? Unfortunately, BYB breeders are not quite like a puppy mill which is sort of "cut & dry".
I'm not really for a lot of breeding regulation. I think it can be good but is also a slippery slope so one needs to really consider it. I'm in full agreement of it not being cut and dry, just as on the other forum I have my ideas but it can vary a lot.
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
We don't do that with people having children and working out two methadone clinics [pharmacist] which is for narcotic / opiate addiction [and heroin amongst other drugs] I see many, many, many people that shouldn't have children. I can't say much - patient confidentially - but there's a number of children born to these people [young children] on multiple drugs already to combat the problems caused by drug abuse / alcohol abuse by mother and heavy exposure to [cig & other] smoke.
Oh yeah there are a lot of people who should never, ever have children. However this is a completely different issue. You are talking about human reproductive rights vs owning an animal. Natural pro creation that people consider a human right vs unnatural selection to own a luxury animal (besides necessary working dog of course).
The problem is, the pit is a powerful dog and most slack jaws [thugs, criminals, losers, etc.] that own it on the street aren't fit to own a fruit fly as a pet yet alone something like a pit bull. Those fools and the BYBs that take advantage of those fools' demand for the pit bull by breeding "mangy mutts" together [as most street bred pit bulls are 90% mutt] where the criteria is they're big and nasty ... who gives a "sh*t" if the dog has the mental stability of a cracker box... are the cause for BSL.
Again those people are by far not the only problem but if what you are saying is true then most of the issue is mutts. Not actual Pit Bulls but misrepresented mutts due to ignorance spread by law makers, fear groups, plain ignorant people over the years. Misuse of the word Pit Bull has had dire consequences for the breed itself and for other dogs caught in the mix.
And that's the other problem - APBT [or pedigree pit] or street pit - the "breed" has become a catch phrase for pretty much anything that looks like a bully but doesn't meet the standard of other breeds. I've had people tell me "look a pit bull" and I am looking at something that is a lab x boxer or similar.
Exactly. So when you ban Pit Bulls or have all these requirements these idiots don't even know what a Pit Bull is. If it looks like a Pit to them or they want to say it a Pit that can be a death sentence.
Ask a person with little dog knowledge to point out a pit bull - they'd point to a dozen mix breeds and probably more than a few pure bloods. It's the same thing that happens with wolves & coyotes [do you know how many people say that their mix breeds (pound puppies) look like wolves & coyotes - because 90% of the time those people wouldn't know what a wolf or coyote looked like unless it was chewing on their read end].
And you find Canada "stupid" with their BSL. Try some European countries, they go nuts.
Pretty much. I was going to mention this right up above England DDA is really sad. If a dog is deemed a Pit Bull by looks it can be a huge heartache for the owner it does not matter if the dog is a Boxer/lab mix or a pure SBT it is "legally a Pit Bull" because the dog warden says so. This is what crazy laws get us.
