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What will BSL Do?
What will BSL do to stop the incidence of dog attacks? In a simple word: NOTHING.
Prince George’s County, Maryland here in the US has on the books a ban on pit bulls since 1996. As of June, 2004, the county government has been looking at REPEALING the ban. Why? It has not produced the desired results at all. Dog related incidents have not stopped. Pit bull owning has no stopped - in fact, it has gone underground. Those who the law needs to target are thumbing their noses at it. Laws do no matter to these people at all. The only dog owners affected by the ban are those who deserve to own a dog - any breed they want.
For more on the possible PG County, MD repeal efforts please check out:
http://www.akc.org/love/dip/legislat/tcjune04.cfm
http://www.gazette.net/200232/laurel/news/116411-1.html
http://www.marylanddogfederation.com/page3.html
Will BSL stop illegal dog fighting? No. Dog fighting is illegal in all fifty states and is a felony in over forty of them and has dog fighting stopped? No. It has just gone underground. What stops dog fighting is improving animal control.
Most communities have very poorly staffed animal control for their size. Increasing the powers A/C has to remove dogs and search if there is probable cause. Better education regarding what signs to look for. Since many dog owners and competitors use treadmills and weight pulling to keep dogs in shape, just these elements are not enough. Just owning a pit bull does not mean you fight dogs. Sadly, there is not much good information regarding what to look that could mean illegal activity is going on. For more on this, please check out: http://www.pbrc.net/rewards.html
The issue with BSL is that it fails to address the root cause of dangerous dogs: the owner.
In 22 years or working with dogs in various capacities, willingly and openly working with supposed inherently “dangerous breeds” and their owners, I have first hand knowledge of what creates a dangerous dog - THE HUMAN ASPECT. I have yet to work with a Pit Bull or any other breed assumed inherently dangerous by the less than knowledgeable general public and legislator that in a responsible home is a dangerous dog.
On the other hand, I have worked with a couple Beagles, a Bichon Frise, several Labs and lab-crosses, a Dachshund and many other assumed “safe” breeds that due to the people owning them were either well on the way to becoming or had already become very risky dogs. So why not ban them as well? Well, because you cannot ban Snoopy... Please, read here for a personal experience of mine that became my first serious anti-BSL article.
You Can’t Ban Snoopy
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