I believe there should be no breed specific legislation banning pit bulls in the United States. There does not exist a pit bull problem in America, but rather a human problem. For many years, pit bulls were iconic to the American landscape and were not perceived as a threat, but instead a loyal family pet. What changed?
In the mid 1980’s there was a resurgence of the “sport” of dog fighting. The top dogs of choice for these fights were pit bulls. (Bastian) Pit bulls were probably chosen for a number of reasons. First, pit bulls are powerfully built and they have the most pressure in their bite of any canine breed. (Pisani 2015) Another reason is there are a lot of pit bulls out there. Although pit bull attacks have been well publicized, the ratio of reported serious bites to the number of registered pit bulls is relatively low- roughly .0012%. In comparison, Chow-Chow’s are far more dangerous having a ratio of .005% of bite to registered dogs attacks. However, there are only 240,000 registered Chows in the country, so they are not a victim of canine racism. (Pisani 2015) Dogs having been bred to fight caused a shift in perception. Aggressive behaviors are the result of training and not breed.
In fact there is no known breed called “pit bull”. What we commonly call pit bulls are really American bull terriers. However, any class of dog that exhibit certain physical traits (especially mixed breed dogs) can be determined to be “pit bulls” based on appearance alone. (Bastian) This makes breed specific legislation targeting pit bulls all the more dangerous, as in some states animals can be euthanized in shelters for being pit bulls when there has been no clear genetic determination the animal is indeed of pit bull origin. (Bastian)
Pit bulls used to have the nickname of “the nanny dog” because they were so good with children. (Pisani 2015) In addition, they are a breed that for over 100 years was of pride to the American culture. In World War I, a pit bull named “Stubby” won 13 decorations for his service in the trenches. Pete the Pup of Little Rascals fame was a pit bull. A pit bull has served on the logo for both Buster Brown and RCA records. (Pisani 2015) It doesn’t seem likely companies would choose animals that represent vicious killers for family friendly brands. The first half of the century pit bulls were an American favorite. Again, I say pit bulls are not the problem, people are. “For over 100 years, holding the owners personally responsible was enough to prevent attacks and the breed was perceived as very child friendly.” (Bastian)
Making people accountable for the actions of their animals will serve to prevent pit bulls being trained to fight and kill, thereby making dog fighting much less profitable as well. The fines should be steep for these individuals as well as enforced jail time. In addition, when individuals realize they will be held accountable for the actions of their pets, we will see increased use of leashes and fencing, more responsible pet ownership and careful consideration when adding a pet, any pet, to the family.
Currently only 17 states ban breed specific legislation. That leaves 33 states that either have or are permitted to have breed specific legislation and pit bulls lead the list in discrimination. Not only is there no evidence that such laws do not diminish overall dog attacks (Pisani 2015), but according to the article “Why Specific Legislation is Not the Answer” (2016), “A recent study showed that even people very familiar with dog breeds, cannot reliably determine the primary breed of a mutt, and dogs are often incorrectly classified as ‘pit bulls’.”
How many dogs are waiting in shelters never to be adopted due to misidentification? How many animals are destroyed because they are assumed to be dangerous with no supporting evidence other than breed? If we made the same assumptions about any one group of people as we do about this one misunderstood class of canines we would be guilty of prejudice. Breed specific legislation targeting pit bulls not only condones prejudice, but justifies slaughter, without evidence to support that it helps in any way.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has stated it is not a breed that determines risk. Risk factors are the dog’s behavior, general size, the number of dogs involved and the vulnerability of the ‘victim’ that determine whether or not a dog will cause a serious bite injury. (“Why Breed Specific Legislation is Not the Answer”)
Those people who have been bitten by a dog, particularly a pit bull, will remain in favor of the legislation. However, how many of us (myself included) have received boundless love, loyalty and affection from pit bulls or dogs that have pit bull in them? They provide companionship to thousands of people. How many innocent lives have been destroyed because dogs were identified pit bull or misidentified as pit bull? What rights have we to impose senseless legislation that creates no discernible improvement?
There should be NO breed specific legislation targeting pit bulls permitted in the United States. It does not reduce the risk of bites. It leads to the overkill of a species that has done more harm than good for the human population. It has not been shown to improve the behavior of individuals regarding their behavior with their pets. Breed specific legislation targeting pit bulls has no benefit. Pit bulls are not the problem, humans are. It’s time to end breed specific legislation targeting pit bulls.
References
Bastian, Jon. (n.d.) How Did Pit Bulls Get Such a Bad Rap? Retrieved from https://
www.cesarsway.com/about-dogs/pit -bulls/how-did-pit-bulls-get-such-a-bad-rap/
Pisani, Elana. (2015) Pit Bull Discrimination-A Real Problem Retrieved from https://
www.globalanimal.org/2015/07/10/pitfull-discrimination-a-people-problem/
Why Breed Specific Legislation is Not the Answer. (2016) Retrieved from https://
www.avma.org/public/Pages/Why-Breed- Specific-Legislation-is-not-
the-Answer.aspx
