Breed Specific Legislation. (BSL)

I don't know if there are any people on ZU who know about Breed Specific Legislation but if there are I would really like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Breed Specific Legislation is pretty much the same as racism. Except with dogs. You see, people who support BSL believe that fighting dog breed, such as pitbulls, are better off dead.

I personaly don't think it's fair.
I mean, any dog has the capeability to bite. Not just fighting breeds.

Well, that's my opinion. What do you guys think???

Some breeds should go extinct. Like the ones that were over bred and suffer from genetic disablities, because people thought it looked so cute.

Well, there is some truth in that. Some breeds of dogs are more likely to attack than others. They're animals and that should be expected.

However, they certainly shouldn't be put to death. I agree with you, it is no different than racism.

Originally Posted by Catch~22

Well, there is some truth in that. Some breeds of dogs are more likely to attack than others. They're animals and that should be expected.

However, they certainly shouldn't be put to death. I agree with you, it is no different than racism.

I think the People's Republic of China is the only one saying that they should be killed. Probably most of them just want you to spay your dog.

Well I don't know about that. However there are many places in the U.S. that will not allow you to live there if you own certain breeds of dogs.

I'm not really sure how I feel about that.

Personally, I have a pitbull. He is the sweetest dog I've ever owned. With proper training, any dog can become affectionate. The only reason pitbulls commit more crimes is because they have more potential in dog fighting and are used more often. The breed itself is not malicious.

Any dog can become a threat with improper training. I think some states don't allow pitbulls anymore... which is a shame. They're the sweetest dogs if you just give them a chance.

They shouldn't kill any dogs, but they shouldn't continue breeding them, either. After a while the problem will be gone.

Originally Posted by GentleArtillery

They shouldn't kill any dogs, but they shouldn't continue breeding them, either. After a while the problem will be gone.

Why should an entire breed of dog be forced to disappear?
That's almost like a breed holocaust. :/

I agree with Moffy, it's those certain types of dogs that are used for bad things. It's not really the dogs, it's the people that trained the dogs... Isn't it?

Originally Posted by GentleArtillery

They shouldn't kill any dogs, but they shouldn't continue breeding them, either. After a while the problem will be gone.

Dog fighters will always use the next best breed. It will never stop.

Instead of attacking the breeds, we should attack the root of the problem, and that's the sport itself. Only then will we see a decline in dog attacks and such.

Originally Posted by GrandMoffTarkin

Personally, I have a pitbull. He is the sweetest dog I've ever owned. With proper training, any dog can become affectionate. The only reason pitbulls commit more crimes is because they have more potential in dog fighting and are used more often. The breed itself is not malicious.

The thing is, the breed itself is surprisingly prone to "snapping", and turning on it's owners with little warning. :/.

Originally Posted by Catch~22

Why should an entire breed of dog be forced to disappear?
That's almost like a breed holocaust. :/

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No, getting rid of a breed of dogs doesn't even begin to compare with the travesty that was the holocaust.

I agree with Moffy, it's those certain types of dogs that are used for bad things. It's not really the dogs, it's the people that trained the dogs... Isn't it?

No, some dog breeds are clearly more aggressive than others, and some breeds are, obviously, able to do far more damage to a person than others.

I see nothing wrong with only allowing trained owners (or perhaps no-one, depending on the breed.) to handle dogs that happen to be innately aggressive and large enough to harm/kill a human.

"Variability in behaviour has a wider range within a breed than between breeds. Within the discipline of psychobiology and animal behaviour there is no data from empirically supported studies, published in refereed scientific literature, to support the idea that one breed of dog is `vicious.' The adult behaviour of a domestic dog is determined overwhelmingly by its experiential history, environmental management and training." - Dr. Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D.

"There is no scientific proof that genetics cause a breed of dog to be aggressive, vicious or dangerous." - testimony from Standing Committee on amendments to the Dog Owners Liability Act. 2005

It is more common than not to hear 'pit bulls' referred to as "dog-aggressive". In fact, they aren't. Some may become fearful around other dogs due to a lack of proper socialization. But this happens with all breeds of dogs, not just 'pit bulls'. Unfortunately, this lack of socialization is frequently encouraged by those who fancy themselves 'pit bull' experts.

So why are so many 'pit bulls' involved in attacks on other dogs? Well, the answer is, they aren't necessarily involved more often than any other breed. For instance, Rottweilers are probably involved in just as many attacks on other dogs, yet they were not bred for dog fighting. They were bred to herd cattle and work as guardians. If put to the test, most people would have to honestly answer that it is not 'pit bulls' involved in most of the dog biting incidents in their communities. Some, maybe. But just as many Labradors, Goldens, Dalmations, Jack Russells, Poodles, etc. also stand accused of biting other dogs.

Originally Posted by GDwarf

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No, getting rid of a breed of dogs doesn't even begin to compare with the travesty that was the holocaust.

Oh, I certainly wasn't saying that it did. Of course not.

However I do find the two similar. I honestly don't think that we as humans have the right to decide what/who has the right to live and what/who doesn't. That is what I meant. I'm sorry if I came off different.

Originally Posted by Catch~22

Oh, I certainly wasn't saying that it did. Of course not.

However I do find the two similar. I honestly don't think that we as humans have the right to decide what/who has the right to live and what/who doesn't. That is what I meant. I'm sorry if I came off different.

Eugenics is different then mass-murder, but they both have the same effect. One's just a lot more humane.

Humans should never mess with the fundamental laws of nature. But how then do we have dogs? Why must I kill my post =/

Yes, some breeds are more prone to violent behaviour. Killing these dogs is something that shouldn't be done. It could have negative effects, just like if we killed off spiders that control fly populations. Then again, domesticated dogs have no natural predator or prey.

In other words, don't kill any animal. Except roaches that crawl on you o_0. We can start to breed these dogs out with calmer breeds. That could prevent a pit bull pandemic. Nice use of my p's huh?

Originally Posted by LightForestSage

Humans should never mess with the fundamental laws of nature. But how then do we have dogs? Why must I kill my post =/

Yes, some breeds are more prone to violent behaviour. Killing these dogs is something that shouldn't be done. It could have negative effects, just like if we killed off spiders that control fly populations. Then again, domesticated dogs have no natural predator or prey.

In other words, don't kill any animal. Except roaches that crawl on you o_0. We can start to breed these dogs out with calmer breeds. That could prevent a pit bull pandemic. Nice use of my p's huh?

While there's no spiecies that's born to be violent, there some spiecies that are likely to be more violent then others. These are normally the small dogs that have to bite as a form of self-defense. I'd still say that if a spiecies has too many genetic defaults it shouldn't reproduce.

I don't think I really agree with Breed Specific Legislation. I believe there was an attempt to ban certain breeds in Ireland a year or so ago, and a lot of people signed a petition to stop the BSL laws from going through. I've seen a lot of dogs, and I can say that any breed will bite. Some breeds can have more of a tendancy to bite than others, but if their damn owners just look after them properly, socialize them as puppies, then there's little that can go wrong. As somebody said earlier, if people wiped out Pit Bull terriers, then the type of scum who use the dogs for fighting/raise poorly because they want a tough-looking dog, they'd just get another big bad dog breed, and it wouldn't stop.

It's the people that are the problem, the 'chavs' looking for a 'status dog' and never managing to look after them properly, or the dog-fighters looking to get some profit from arranging fights at each other's houses. Children can also tease or provoke a dog into biting, but if people kept children away from the dog or at the very least, supervised them properly, there'd be very few incidences of 'mauled kiddies' and 'killer dog strikes again' in the news.

Blame the deed, not the breed.