Introduction
There is a certain level of happiness that is only achieved when one owns a pet. This pet maybe kept for other purposes but as time progresses, the family members are able to incorporate the pet as part of the family. The amount of love that the pet receives depends on the level of interaction that exists between the family members and the pet. The more the interaction there is between the pet and the family members, the more love it will receive. Families have been keeping dogs for a very long time. For some families, the dogs are really helpful in terms of guarding the homestead but for other families, the dogs turn out to be big problems if for instance they are involved in dog attacks. However, it is next to impossible to predict the next dog attack that will happen based on the breed of the dogs.
There are states that have implemented the breed specific legislations that seek to ban some of the breeds of the dogs that exist. The bans were mainly created on the basis of how the dogs appeared and the frequency of the attacks that were carried out by the specific breeds (Burstein 322). The mostly affected breed is the American Pit bull Terrier which has been banned in many states. The legislators termed the dog as ‘horrifying’ and ‘dangerous’. There are many reasons to show that the legislators were wrong and that there are still more effective ways of ensuring that the dog attacks are prevented in the future other than banning these animals (Burstein 322). These animals could be maintained into good family members rather than the government restricting the breeding of these dogs.
In the years before, there were many incidences of dog attacks that were seen in various states. This prompted the respective governments of the said states to sit and discuss effective ways of dealing with the dog attacks. They analyzed the data that had been collected about the dog attacks and therefore created the laws that were meant to reduce the frequency of the dog attacks. The states came to a conclusion that the way the dogs appeared contributed to the nature of ferocity the dog will have. After careful analysis, the dog breed that had many cases where it had attacked the human beings was the pit bull (National Canine Research Council 1). The pit bull was thus banned from rearing by the governments of the affected states. There are other dogs that suffered the same fate as the pit bull. This was because they had been involved in several dog attacks. This method used by the governments was wrong. There was no scientific method that was used to arrive at the said conclusion that various breeds were dangerous just by the way they appeared (National Canine Research Council 2). It was simply an act of judgment based on a conclusion that had been arrived at inductively rather than using facts to arrive at the said conclusion.
There are other causes that cause dogs to bite human beings and yet these causes are nowhere near the breed of the dog. The nature of treatment by the owner of the dog is one major cause. This entails the health of the dog, level of training as well as the nature of socializing that is employed by the owner on the dog (Burstein 324). This several issues will determine if the dog will behave well or if the dog will prone to attacking people. If a dog is not well vaccinated in time, the dog might develop infections which might turn the dog into one that attacks people easily. Apart from being vaccinated, the overall health of the dog, the eating habits of the dog will also determine if the dog will react inappropriately towards people(Burstein 324). A dog that is not well fed tends to harbor offensive feelings towards people. The level of socialization between the dog and the owner also determines the nature of the dog (Burstein 324). If the owner of the dog is very social with his dog, it is virtually impossible for the dog to change and attack the owner if it is in the normal state without any infections.
The legal action that was taken by the governments against the pit bull was a bit harsh. The attributes possessed by this breed however are not enough to discriminate this breed against the others. The pit bull was initially trained by people as a fighting dog (Burstein 323). This is because of its fighting spirit as well as its strength. This breed was able to gain popularity throughout the country as well as in other countries. Each fight or major thing that involved the breed of dog was captured by the media. The actions were highlighted a lot and the different media houses hyped these stories according to their ability (Burstein 323). Due to this the people were afraid of the particular breed and this was a major contributor to the governments for them to legislate laws that would be in favor of the human beings. They were also not able to rationalize the fact that the dogs were just like individuals; that they could not bite anyone unless provoked by a person or a condition. They did not also take care of the carelessness that is portrayed by the dog owners that result in the dogs being more aggressive (Burstein 323). There are owners of these types of dogs who have been not giving the dogs the right training on how it should deal with human beings.
The legislators are also accused of not treating these cases equally. There have been other cases that have been involving serious injuries that have been inflicted on people by dogs of other breeds. However, the other breeds were not given the same attention that the breeds were given. They were not banned as immediately as the pit bull dog breed was. This was seen as punishment for the faithful dog owners who had taken good care of their animals (Williams 19). They were served the same punishment as those who were careless on their dogs. They were now at a loss since the dogs that they had loved were either killed or transported to family members or donated to others in other states that have less strict rules on the dogs (Williams 19). This is seen as in-justice to the person who has served his animals well.
As these laws were enacted, there was hope that the level of dog attacks would subside for some time .After eradicating the present cause of the dog attacks which was seen to be the pit bull breed (Polsky 1). However, after a few years, there were other new attacks which were recorded that were from different breeds rather than the breeds that had been banned. This showed that the ban on certain breeds of dogs was certainly not the answer. They needed a solution that would help the country stop this problem once and for all (Polsky 1). According to Polsky, the current world has a gap that separates what is scientifically right and what the human beings believe about the certain topic. People believe however that this exists due to the fact that the people have been misinformed about the topic under discussion (Polsky 1). He further says that the public and the policy makers should be advised on what the true behavioral nature of certain breeds are. This would help the policy makers to make informed choices that would help the country deal with this problem of dog bites.
However, there are other methods that can be applied in solving this problem of dog attacks. Since the attacks have been mostly targeted at the small children as well as the elderly, the dog owners should be taught on how to supervise the animals so that the dogs do not cause fatalities. The small children at school maybe between the years of 4 years and 7 years should be taught about the safety measures of dealing with the dogs. They should be enlightened on the times that are okay for them to play with the dogs and when it is not safe for them to play with the said animals (Williams 45). Enforcing the current rules that are used to limit the actions of the dogs will help reduce the incidences of these attacks. This will include imposing stronger animal control rules. These rules will ensure that the licensing as well as mandatory spray laws are re-enforced and any violations on these laws together with irresponsible owners will be subject to heavy fines (Williams 41). The owners of the dogs are also supposed to train and socialize their dogs so that the dogs will have good manners to the family members, to the public and to other animals in general. The owners are also advised against restraining the dogs. This is because; it has been proven that the dogs that are restrained have higher level of stress and protectiveness. This increase in stress increases the potential for aggression by the dogs. Good fencing also provides more security to the dog and ensures that the dog is safe from harming others not in the owner’s compound and also protecting it from accidents (Williams 44).
The reaction to ban several breeds by the governments of different states was a move that was put to action before its impacts could be reviewed fully as well as its effectiveness. The measure of reducing the incidences of dog attacks has however not fully satisfied its original intentions. The reasons above show as to why the law to ban all breeds that were involved in the dog attacks did not fully materialize to the expectations of the people who implemented the law. There are several states that have recently repealed these laws and have in turn constructed more effective policies that will help reduce these cases of dog attacks. The animal rights activists have also come out to present their reasons as to why the laws on banning certain breeds of dogs are ineffective and how they discriminate some animals on the basis of actions of a few of them and not all of them.
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