WHAT IS BSL (or Breed Specific Legislation) EDUCATION IS PREVENTION
DOG BITES ARE PREVENTABLE!
Breed-specific legislation (BSL), is any law, ordinance or policy which pertains to a specific dog breed or breeds, but does not affect any others. The term is most commonly used to refer to legal restrictions or prohibitions on the breeding and ownership of certain breeds.
BSL judges a dog by appearance, not by temperament. What ever happened to the old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover?"
DOG BITE FACTS
** 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year.
** Children make up 60% of dog bite victims.
**About half of all children in the U.S. will be bitten by a dog by the 12th grade.
**Nearly 20 people die a year from dog bites in the U.S.
**Every 40 seconds someone in the U.S. seeks medical care because of a dog bite.
**70% of dog bites occur when the dog is on the owner's property.
ALTERNATIVES TO BSL
1. Strengthen and/or enact leash laws is an excellent place to start. It's not the dog's fault it's loose - it's the owner's fault. Owners are responsible for containing their dogs. Many dog attacks reported in the news are committed by a loose dog or dogs running off their property.
2. Educate children, parents and dog owners about dog safety.
3. Focus on laws that hold dangerous dog owners responsible for their dog's behaviors. In most states when a dog attacks, the dog is put down. There is NEVER a consequence for the person who owned the dog. If there we laws where the owner got consequences for NOT training and keeping their dog safe, perhaps people would think twice and not be so haphazard with their dogs.
4. Strengthen animal abuse laws. Dogs can become aggressive as a result of cruelty/abuse, neglect, or improper care. A dog that is left alone in a backyard without socialization or mental stimulation can become unruly, destructive, and possibly aggressive. Chaining/tethering dogs is not only inhumane, it also fosters aggression. Chained dogs account for 25% of all fatal dog attacks.
5. Regulate Dog Breeders: Backyard breeders and puppy mills produce mass quantities of puppies that are genetically compromised, both behaviorally and health-wise. They breed for money, without concern for good temperament or public safety.
6. Increase low cost spay and neutering in all communities: Unneutered dogs, particularly males, are far more likely to attack a human than either neutered males or spayed females. Unneutered male dogs also tend to escape and wander more than neutered males. Then increase public awareness about the importance of spaying and neutering dogs.
7. Offer education to dog owners about proper ways to treat/teach/raise a dog. Never leave infants or children alone with any dog, spay/neuter your dog, keep your dog healthy (an unnoticed injury can make a dog aggressive), properly socialize your dog with people and other dogs in different settings.
BREED IDENTIFICATION IS IMPOSSIBLE
The biggest problem is that breed-specific legislation, true to its name, requires every dog to be classified as a certain breed. This is virtually impossible!
Breed misidentification leads to expensive, time-consuming lawsuits against the government, something that costs taxpayers a lot of money.
In our DEMOCRATIC society where one is innocent until proven guilty is NOT true in BSL. It is typically the owner's responsibility to "prove" that their dog ISN'T a specific breed.
