The American Pit Bull: Nature vs Nurture

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 laws cause numerous loving dogs to be put down each year (BSL, n.d.). Some laws and rules that are enforced are logical under circumstances, but others are questionable. Many people believe it is only Pit-bulls and Rottweilers that are targeted by BSL laws, but there are various breeds of dogs targeted with Breed Specific Legislation. In fact, there are 75 dog breeds in the United States that have been banned or restricted with BSL laws (75 dog breeds…, 2012).

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 83 (3), 227 – 245. Tuber, D. S., Miller, D. D., Caris, K. A., Halter, R., Linden, F., & Hennessy, M. B. (1999). Dogs in animal shelters: Problems, suggestions, and needed expertise. American Psychological Society, 10 (5), 379 – 386.

Stories like this have cast a shadow over the lowly pit bull breed and caused entire communities to take up pitchforks and push for legislation to ban the pit bull from existence. Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) is a quick solution to the public frenzy created after a media-reported dog attack. However, BSL is rapidly proving to be ineffective. Counties are finding that BSL is too costly, it provides the public with a false sense of security, and it does not address animal abuse, even inadvertent abuse by loving owners. Breed Specific Legislation and Dangerous Dog laws are two ways states and counties deal with dog-bite related attacks.

Acknowledgement of the problem is the only way we can begin to solve it. Animal cruelty dates back farther than many of us think. Learning To Give has used sources such as the ASPCA, the American Humane Society, and a veterinary forensics symposium to verify that dog fighting as a sport began as far back as the twelfth century. Dog fighting continued across Europe for several centuries until the baiting of larger animals was strictly prohibited in 1835. Dog-on-dog combat became a cheaper alternative and was exported to various other countries, including the United States (Learning To Give).

Sadly aggression is one of the most noted accounts for a dog owner to make the judgment to give up a pet. Sometimes, if a dog is considered behaviorally unsound and cannot be rehabilitated, euthanization is the last drastic step. Aggression directed toward owners is not a unique occurrence, and it is one that causes an emotional struggle between owner and pet. Assessment and treatment of this troublesome behavior problem must take into account the owners safety as well as practical expectations for improvement. Comparatively mild aggression may be... ... middle of paper ... ...t: A risk factor for non-play bites?

This type of animal abuse has been going on for centuries and continues to happen very often in present day. The dog fighting problem in the United... ... middle of paper ... ...niFile Full Text Select. Web. 10 April 2014 Henry, Bill C. and Cheryl E. Sanders. “Bullying and Animal Abuse: Is There a Connection?”.

Pit bulls accounted for 59% followed by rottweilers with 14%. All though some pit-bull have attack, by far these incidents are rare. Enacting breed restrictions on all pit bulls to punish the neglect of a few dog owners is inhumane. Myths are stories passed from one generation to another, and there a various extreme amounts of myths told on pit bulls. Pit bulls in general are amazing animals, a faithful dog to there owner just like any other.

Likewise, there is confusion on what breeds are dangerous. Dogsbite.org claims that breeds such as wolf-dog hybrids, dogo argentinos, presa breeds, cane corsos, and especially pit bulls are indeed dangerous animals and should be banned. However, there are discrepancies involved in even that statement. Of the listed breeds perhaps the most commonly targeted is the pit bull. But what exactly does anyone mean by pit bull?

Yet somehow people still discriminate a breed they cannot identify. Luckily, many professional opinions put such discriminations to rest (Madhani, Tullis). Many people doubt that aggressive pit bulls can be rehabilitated, but dog training professionals would argue otherwise. People in opposition to owning pit bulls feel that the dogs put society in danger because of their behavioral traits. Many also believe that

[Reveal topic & relate to audience] Now, you may think that situation is a bit farfetched, especially in this day & age, but it's happening to dogs around the world. What I'm talking about is breed specific legislation (or BSL) which targets certain dog breeds considered dangerous and makes ownership of these dogs illegal. As more and more people share their lives with dogs, we need to be knowledgeable about the effects dogs can have on our communities. III. [Establish credibility] As a life-long dog lover, I have run into BSL many times: from apartments with dog size limitations to cities that outright ban certain breeds.