Attacking Dog Breeds: Truth or Exaggeration?

Did you know that Pit bulls and Rottweiler’s together are accounted for 84 percent of fatal attacks in 2011? This is why people shouldn’t be allowed to keep Pit bulls as pets. Statistics have shown that Pit bulls are one of the two most lethal dogs in the United States. This is why it’s not in my favor to house such a dangerous dog. There are various reasons why I’m against pit bulls being as pets and those are the Dangerous Dog Act of 1991, dog fighting, and the possible harm these dangerous dogs cause to the community.

Web. 21 Apr. 2014. Mellor, David, et all. "Childhood Cruelty to Animals: A Tri-national Study."

Introduction and Background As more people bring dogs into their homes, the rate of dog attacks continue to increase. In an attempt to reduce violent dog attacks on citizens, many U.S. States are turning to a tactic known as Breed Specific Legislation. Breed-specific legislation (also known as BSL), also referred to as breed-discriminatory legislation (also known as BDL), is a law or ordinance that prohibits or restricts the ownership of specific breeds of dogs, and/or dogs presumed to be mixes of one or more of those breeds (Breed-specific legislation (BSL) FAQ, n.d.). The harshest of the BSL laws is a complete ban, which prohibits breeds of dogs to be kept within state borders. Breed specific legislation also includes less absurd limits that include mandatory spay and neutering, muzzling, property posting requirements, special insurance requirements, breed-specific limitations, and various other rules.

Breed-specific legislation is a broad term that includes laws that ban or restrict the type of dog a person can own. Bree- specific legislation, or BSL for short, is often described as something that protects people or makes the world a safer place. In reality, there are many issues with this type of legislation. The whole premise of BSL is based off of misconceptions, it punishes innocent people and animals, and it does not ultimately lower the amount of people bitten each year where it is implemented. These laws are discriminatory, unjust, and unproductive.

The media makes this worse because they are constantly classifying these dogs as being nasty fighting dogs that are owned by gang members, drug dealers, dog fighters, thugs, and other persona non grata. The second stage that we can compare to genocide in the human world is symbolization. This means giving the targeted group a name or symbol that creates negative impressions on the group. One of the ways we do this as it regards to dogs is use of the term “ pit bull”. There is actually no such thing as the breed pit bull, that is a slang term given by the media that actually covers many different breeds of dog such as the staffordshire terrier and the cairn terrier.

Therefore, breed-specific legislation should not be enacted throughout the United States because is biased against pit bulls and is ineffective in reducing dog-bite attacks by ignoring other aggressive dog breeds. Many people associate a negative connotation with the dog breed “pit bull.” These dogs are thought to be dangerous and problematic. However, much of this can be attributed to the mass amounts of negative media attention that pit bull breeds receive as opposed to other breeds of dogs that can be just as dangerous. For example, The National Canine Research Council did a four-day study on dog-bite repo... ... middle of paper ... ...: 735-743. Patronek, Gary J., Margaret Slater, and Amy Marder.

If you’re a pit bull owner in Sioux City, Iowa, you are faced with certain ordinances that make it more difficult to own and keep your dog. This is Sioux City’s attempt to keep its citizens’ safe and prevent the abuse and harm of the pitbull. The city is trying to promote safety and animal advocacy. This ordinance is not effective because it punishes the animal and not the owner; it also does not take into account the animals individual personality. Legislators should create laws that consider all dogs based on their individual behavior and hold owner accountable for their animals.

Have you ever been or seen someone attacked by a dog? Dog attacks are a growing problem in the U.S today, often resulting in the euthanasia of usually non-aggressive dogs. Instead of direct euthanasia, these are the three details we need to focus on; we need more compensation because aggressive behavior displayed by dogs is usually a form of communication not a direct act of violence. Statistics of dog attacks have been running since the 1980’s, keeping tabs on the amount of attacks based upon breeds. Most of these attacks are brought on by miscommunication between humans and canines, due to the different types of communication.

Gibson, Hanna. “Dog Fighting Detailed Discussion.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. Michigan State University College of Law, 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

This question is one the Riverside County should have asked themselves before passing a law that can hurt many dogs and families. Looks exercise the power of vision upon living creatures, every living thing has had judgmental value on “looks” no one or nothing ever has that perfect look. So why judge a dog on how it look? People judge pit bulls by their looks on they look too muscular, they have scary jaws, devilish eyes, and cropped ears, but these features do... ... middle of paper ... ..., October 8). RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Supervisors pass pit bull sterilization ordinance | Politics | PE.com.