It seems this is whats going on in Denver right now. There are certain cities in the US and countries that have bans on certian breed dogs. There are insurance companies that won’t write homeowners policies for people who own certain breeds. One breed in question, and the one Denver is in the news for now is Pit Bulls.
Bound Angels has rescued many breeds and never turned away from any specific breed. As a trainer of “trouble dogs,” I find it hard to pinpoint any one breed as being more aggressive in nature than another. There are stronger breeds, and breeds with stronger personalities than others, but dogs are dogs. ALL dogs have the proclivity to bite or become aggressive, be it a 7lb Chihuahua or a 170 Rottweiler. The underlying factor, for the most part is owners. I find that people who own certain breeds should be better suited to deal with their personalities.
Forest, the pit bull in Denver is in violation of BSL (breed specific legislation). That is a ban on a specific breed in a city. Reading the news story, one finds that this is the second time the dog has been caught running loose. Which in my opinion points to an owner who can’t control his dog, not a dog that should die because the owner can’t control him. As I have said on countless occasions, its not the dogs, but the owners who are the problems. Its owners who teach / train dogs to be aggressive whether intentionally or inadvertently. Forest is causing quite a stir, but for all the wrong reason. I agree that a dog running free is not a good thing, but it doesn’t matter to me what the breed is, whether a poodle or a pit. There are no bad dogs or good dogs, there are only dogs. You can not judge a dog according to its breed, just like you can’t judge a man by the color of his skin or religious beliefs. Profiling is wrong, and in a compassionate society we should be a bit more aware of that.
So the question comes to mind, why is the dog being punished for the mistake of his owner? Shouldn’t the fine be imposed on the owner for violating a leash law? How barbaric to KILL an animal that has committed no crime other than being born! Forest has no record of biting, attacking or aggression. He has shown exemplary behavior at the shelter. We spend millions of dollars for laws and legislation and enforcing them. This money could be put towards education and animal care. In 2008 we live in a society where our government uses your tax dollars to murder 5 MILLION shelter animals each year. We spend millions of dollars to incarcerate animals whose only crime is being born.
If any blame lies in this case, it is on the person who does not control his companion. If you own a dog, you must be responsible for it and not allowing it to run free is one of those responsibilities. I agree that a law was broken here, however the dog is NOT at fault and the punishment does not fit the crime. Any BSL is idiotic and archaic. We stopped drowning witches persecuting blacks jailing Japanese and confining Jews to ghettos. Have we come so far, only to slide back further by now attacking the innocent animals?
Compassion towards animals and towards each other is something we all need to take a close look at, Denver should take a close look at its BSL. READ THE ARTICLE HERE.